DS Jessica Daniel series: Think of the Children / Playing with Fire / Thicker Than Water – Books 4–6 (31 page)

As she was lost in her thoughts, the music went silent and Jessica heard the sound of the television, volume raised, crackling through the speakers. Everyone stood and looked towards the screen
as Big Ben appeared and the countdown began. Jessica joined in half-heartedly before the cheering began. Adam didn’t seem bothered by her lack of interest and kissed her before pulling her in
close. She could feel the vibration on her ear lobe as he whispered ‘Happy New Year’ softly. Jessica didn’t reply but hugged him tight. She knew she was a hypocrite after
everything she had said but, as the first line of ‘Auld Lang Syne’ began, she made a silent resolution that, no matter what, she wasn’t going to mess things up with him again.

Jessica wasn’t enjoying her first week back after New Year. A case which involved a string of street robberies over the Christmas period had been dumped on her while
everyone seemed to have conveniently forgotten that somewhere out there Benjamin Sturgess had an accomplice.

She was sitting in the station’s canteen picking at a plate of chips when Rowlands dragged a chair across to sit opposite her. ‘Are you okay?’ he asked.

‘Yeah, I just can’t get this Sturgess guy out of my mind.’

‘Izzy told me you asked her to look into some things quietly. She’s not been able to get away to see you but she says she hasn’t found anything.’

‘Me neither. I just wanted to re-check the guy’s past. See who he used to be friends with, that kind of thing. I’ve been trying to look into Deborah too.’

‘The wife?’

‘Yeah, what did you think of her?’

Rowlands shrugged before taking a chip from Jessica’s plate and biting it in half. ‘I dunno really. Hard to read.’

It was exactly how Reynolds had described Deborah Sturgess after interviewing her and Jessica would have used the same expression too. ‘I’ve not found anything,’ she admitted.
‘I checked her and her husband, the marriage, the divorce, all of it. They’re just so
normal
. If he hadn’t crashed that car we would never have found any of
this.’

‘Why would he wait so long?’ Rowlands asked.

‘How do you mean?’

‘We’re assuming it was him who kidnapped and killed Toby. If that was the type of thing that got him off, why would he wait fourteen years to do it again?’

‘Iz was looking into that a few weeks ago because I thought the same. We couldn’t find anything to connect him to any other disappearances from the past few years. Honestly, I
don’t know.’

‘There wasn’t anything to connect him to Isaac though, was there?’

Jessica nodded reluctantly. ‘I guess . . . I just . . . how could he go undetected for so long if he was taking other kids during that time? I don’t understand why you would kidnap a
child just to kill them.’

Dave stole another chip. ‘Who knows why half these nutters do what they do.’

Jessica winced. ‘It’s more than that. Think about the cases we examine and the motives people have. These aren’t the first children to be snatched, but there’s always a
reason, even if it’s only in the perpetrators’ own twisted heads. There are sickos who do it for sexual pleasure – but Isaac wasn’t abused in that way. Maybe you do get off
on killing – but why would it be specifically a child? There would be so many easier targets. Look at all the people who live on the streets, or even those who walk home on their own after
dark. If killing people excited you, wouldn’t you be more likely to choose a different situation?’

Rowlands held up his hands open-palmed. ‘I don’t know. Maybe he liked killing kids? Perhaps it was a challenge to get away unseen?’

‘I thought of that but it still doesn’t really make sense. Think of the list we found. Why write their names and addresses down? Why that order? Isaac was at the top, so was he
planning to kill all nine but do it from the first name to the last? If you just got off on killing children, why would you bother with all that formality? You’d do your homework, watch the
schools and check what time everyone left and so on, then you’d strike. Even if you had access to those details – and we’re pretty sure Sturgess didn’t – then why
would you go through all that effort?’

‘And the map too.’

Jessica nodded. ‘Exactly. I’ve been banging on about that ever since we found it. You only need a map if you don’t know where you’re going. Even if it was Sturgess who
was responsible for Toby Whittaker’s disappearance all those years ago, he didn’t know where the clothes had been left. If he did, he would have just gone there.’

‘So do you think his ex-wife was in on it?’ The constable didn’t sound convinced by his own question.

‘I don’t know, maybe. I’m not convinced she told us everything. She gave us just enough to wrap things up neatly from her point of view. She’s not a suspect but she
didn’t really dish the dirt on her husband either. It’s just very . . .
tidy
.’

Rowlands nodded and Jessica could see his mind working. ‘Have you told the DCI all this?’

‘Sort of. I spoke to Jason but I don’t think it’s up to either of them. From the outside we look successful. It’s only us who know how shit we’ve done.’

Rowlands gave her a weak smile. ‘It’s good that you care, Jess.’ She looked back at him and thought about how much he had grown up over the past couple of years, then realised
she had too. He must have been able to tell she was feeling uncomfortable because he quickly spoke again. ‘Is there anything else?’

Jessica sighed. ‘Not much. Results have started dribbling in on everything that was recovered. Forensics say there are traces of Isaac on the carpet from the shed but we expected that. No
blood though, curiously. Adam’s working on it, so he’s already told me – even though it isn’t official. The search team didn’t find anything at Sturgess’s house
other than the computer and phones. All the emails he sent to Nathan Bairstow were recovered, so we know he was telling the truth.’

‘Is he going to be charged anyway?’

‘I’m not sure, it’s with the CPS, but probably. We have the evidence and a confession. Forensics reckon there’s nothing else they can recover from the phones while the
number those two texts were sent to is apparently untraceable. Whoever had that SIM card hasn’t used it since we found out about the number.’

Rowlands finished the final half of the chip he was holding before reaching for another but Jessica batted his hand away. ‘They probably ditched it after whatever they were planning came
off,’ the constable added.

‘Exactly. Either way, that’s about all we’re getting. With Deborah’s statement about Benjamin using the name Glenn Harrison, the allotment key being found on
Sturgess’s body and Nathan’s statement – plus the emails they recovered – that’s it done.’

‘Did Jack tell you to stop working on it?’

‘Not as such, they’ve just given me loads of work to try to ensure I don’t have time to do any more.’ Jessica picked up the final chip and held it out. Rowlands took it
from her, swallowing it in one.

‘Thanks,’ he said with a mouth full of potato.

‘I don’t know how Chloe puts up with you.’

Rowlands grinned. ‘Have you been back to see the parents?’

‘I spoke to the liaison officer who was with Kayla, Isaac’s mum. She’s doing okay, just a bit shaken by the way everything came out. Our lot wanted to get it across the news
over Christmas to make them look good, but they didn’t bother to think of her feelings. I spoke to Esther from the kidnap team a couple of days ago. She checked in with Rachel, Marcus and
Lloyd Corless and reckons they’re about as back to normal as they’re going to get, considering how dysfunctional they all seem.’

‘What about Toby’s mother?’

‘Lucy? I don’t know. The poor woman’s been forgotten in all this. I might visit her just to make sure she’s all right.’

‘I heard you didn’t get on too well last time.’

Jessica raised her eyebrows. ‘That wasn’t really her fault. We spent fourteen years not finding her son, then rocked up and said, “Here’s his football shirt”.
I’d be pissed off too. Someone should at least let her know what’s been going on.’

‘Do you need me to make something up about where you’ve gone?’

‘No, sod that. If I get any grief I’ll just go to the papers. Bollocks to the lot of them.’

Jessica called Lucy Martin and asked if she could visit. Toby’s mother didn’t seem too pleased but didn’t object either. She was on her own when Jessica
arrived, but appeared better than on the previous occasion they’d met. She’d tied her long black hair up in a neat ponytail and was wearing a long red jumper with tight jeans. Jessica
remembered her husband, Neil, telling her how December was a bad time emotionally for his wife. Lucy seemed to have more of a healthy glow to her as she let Jessica into the house.

Jessica wondered if she had misjudged Lucy’s mood during the phone call because, as the woman showed her into the living room and offered to make tea, she seemed perfectly comfortable. She
brought in two mugs and then settled on the sofa across from Jessica, tucking her feet underneath her. ‘Neil will be home in about an hour. He picks the girls up after school,’ she
said. Before Jessica could reply, she added: ‘I’m sorry about last time.’

‘How do you mean?’

‘When you were here before and I was a bit off-hand. I know everything that happened back then isn’t your fault.’

Jessica waved her hand. ‘It’s fine, don’t worry.’

‘Why are you here?’ Jessica realised she didn’t really have a reason. Lucy must have read it in her face because she added: ‘I saw all the stuff on the news about that
man being responsible for the other boy. I guess I wondered if . . .’

‘I came to make sure you were all right. I didn’t know how everything on the news might have affected you over Christmas.’

Lucy smiled slightly. ‘Did Neil talk to you last time?’

‘No, I . . .’

‘It’s fine if he did. Whatever he said was probably true, I’m not that good when the evenings draw in. Then Christmas comes along. I try to keep it together for Olivia and
Tasha but it’s hard.’

Jessica was struggling to know what to say but Lucy seemed happy to talk. ‘Did I tell you that City shirt you found was Toby’s last-ever Christmas present?’

‘No.’

‘Dean, his dad, was always a big football fan but Toby wasn’t really interested for the first few years. I think it was just one of those things that when he got to a certain age he
wanted to be like his dad. I still remember Dean’s face when Toby came down to breakfast one morning and asked for the City shirt. It was as if Dean himself was getting the
present.’

‘I’ve never been into football myself.’

‘Ha! Me neither. I think you pretty much expect it when you have boys.’ Lucy took a sip of her tea. ‘Do you have kids?’

‘No, no . . . I’d never cope. I can barely look after myself.’

Lucy laughed. ‘I used to think like that. It’s just one of those things. Before you know it you’re in the swing and it’s as if you knew what you were doing all along. You
get the odd moments but, most of the time, you just trust your instincts.’

Jessica wasn’t so convinced she had those motherly instincts. ‘What are the girls like?’ she asked.

‘They’re great but it’s different from having boys. Everyone says they’re going to be a nightmare when they become teenagers together.’

‘Isn’t that the same for boys and girls?’

‘I don’t know, maybe. I’m just going by what other people say. My other daughter, Annabel, wasn’t great as a teen but that was understandable with what happened to Toby,
and then me and Dean separating. It’s no wonder she won’t speak to me.’

There wasn’t much Jessica could add, as she didn’t know the woman well enough to offer anything other than general condolence. It did seem as if Lucy was getting a lot of things off
her chest that she had been coping with over a long period of time.

‘I invited Annabel up for Christmas,’ the woman continued. ‘I always do but she didn’t respond. I don’t even know if she’s got children of her own or
anything.’

‘Did you tell her or Dean that we’d found Toby’s clothes?’

Lucy untied her hair and let it fall around her shoulders. As she spoke, she re-tied it into a tighter ponytail. ‘I told Dean. He was going to come up but I told him there wasn’t
much point until you found . . . something.’

‘We did look,’ Jessica assured her.

‘I know, I’m not saying you didn’t, it’s just . . . I’ve been waiting all this time for someone to come around and say you’ve found Toby. I don’t know
when I stopped thinking he’d be alive but I always expected something. When you came around that first time, I thought that was it, you’d found his body or something else and I’d
be able to let it go.’

‘I’m sorry.’

‘No, don’t be, it’s not your fault.’ Lucy stood and picked up her mug. ‘Do you want another?’

‘No, I’m fine.’

Lucy left Jessica alone in the living room. While she was gone, the detective stood, examining the photos on the wall. Most of them were of Olivia and Natasha, who looked strikingly similar to
each other. There were a couple of just Lucy and Neil in various poses where they seemed happy. Jessica remembered her brief suspicion about Neil himself. He was certainly someone who gained from
everything that happened but she hadn’t followed it up other than a brief look into his background.

When she was trying to think of a motive, it was the one question she’d kept returning to. There was apparently no sexual motivation and there weren’t too many people around who
killed for the sake of killing. With that in mind, it left her stuck with the same question: assuming he was responsible for both, what did Benjamin Sturgess gain from taking Toby and Isaac?

‘That was taken in Marbella,’ Lucy said from behind Jessica, who hadn’t heard her re-enter the room. She turned to face the woman, then looked back at the wall. The photo was
of Lucy and Neil sitting together, each raising a glass of wine to the camera. ‘We left the girls with Neil’s parents and went away for a week,’ Lucy explained. ‘I
didn’t want to go because we had never left them before but he talked me into it. We had a good time but I was always worrying about everything being all right at home.’