Cold Justice (6 page)

‘Just the holiday home down there.’

‘That’s it? No relatives or ex-wives?’

‘That’s it, so far.’

‘Where is the house?’

‘It’s a village called Penhal. It’s popular with people from London. Most people have heard of it or its posh neighbour Rockyhead.’

‘We never came to Cornwall when I was a kid,’ said Carter. ‘The furthest we went was Margate. Well, let’s scan the footage of the funeral again. We’re running out of options. Plus, Jeremy Forbes-Wright didn’t just die, he committed suicide – is there something in that? He books into a hotel and then calmly slices through his own wrist. Christ almighty – I’m flippin’ freezing. Let’s go back in there and I suggest you take the wife somewhere and get her to open up.’

‘Guv? I’m not sure.’

‘Yes. She’s your type – straightforward, no frills.’

‘I’m not the best in these circumstances. I’m not trained as an FLO.’

‘Just do it for me, Eb. Trust me. I know what you’re good at and what needs work.’

When they got back to the flat, Lauren looked perplexed but relieved to be getting out of the house. She went to get her coat without hesitation at Ebony’s request to talk privately. Toby watched her put it on with a pleading look in his eyes; as if she was leaving him to be thrown to the lions. He was looking for a small sign that she didn’t blame him. He didn’t get it. She would blame him for ever.

‘I think we should take Russell,’ Lauren said, and Willis went to get him.

Jeanie handed her a small backpack like the one Willis used when she was running. ‘It’s got the poo bags and some treats in it. I took him out yesterday – it’s best to keep him on a lead because he tries to run away.’ Jeanie put Russell on the lead and handed him to Ebony. She followed Lauren outside.

‘Do you mind if we walk towards the park?’ Lauren asked. ‘I feel somehow nearer to Samuel there.’

‘We can walk around the outside,’ answered Willis, as she noted the search parties had sectioned off the far and central sections of the park.

Lauren pulled on her mittens and hat and buttoned her sheepskin jacket up to the top. ‘I’ll take him,’ she said, referring to Russell, and Willis happily relinquished the lead and the backpack. They walked in silence for a few minutes and Willis watched the officers searching further up the hill and to the left of them. She looked at the buildings that lined the park. Some were residential and she could see people inside, looking out wondering whether Samuel would be found.

Lauren walked slowly to allow Russell time to explore.

‘If this is an opportunist thing then my son will be long gone from here, won’t he?’

‘It’s too early for us to draw conclusions.’

‘Really? I always thought the first few hours were crucial.’

‘Lauren, I know it feels like you’re in a nightmare at the moment but please take a few good breaths and try and stay calm.’

Lauren stopped walking and looked at Willis. At the same time a photographer came within a few feet of them and started taking photos. Willis stepped in front of him and an officer appeared to escort him away. ‘Do you think he’s dead?’

Willis was wishing that Carter hadn’t sent her out with Lauren. She knew her job was to allow her to talk in the hope that she might reveal some important facts, but it wasn’t her forte.

‘We are doing everything possible to find Samuel. Tell me about yesterday. There might be some tiny, minute piece of information that starts a chain reaction.’

‘How can this get Samuel back? Why don’t you just get in your car and drive around the streets? Someone might have left him somewhere. That happens, doesn’t it? People abandon the child?’ She looked at Willis, pleading with her eyes, ‘When they’re finished?’

‘We have patrol cars out looking, Lauren. We have officers swarming these streets to find him. We’ve put out a public appeal. The best thing you can do for me is talk.’

Lauren sighed, frustrated. ‘What do you want to know? My husband went for a walk with our son and he came home with an empty buggy. I don’t know how the hell it happened.’ She turned away as she fought back the tears.

‘Tell me about the funeral.’

She took a deep breath. ‘Where do you want me to start?’

‘How was Toby in the morning?’

‘Toby was the same as ever: quiet, introspective, didn’t want to talk about it. We left home at ten. We arrived early. Toby stayed in the car. I got out and walked around with Samuel, looking at the graves. It all seemed so farcical and yet so sad. I’d never even met Jeremy Forbes-Wright, for Christ’s sake. Never seen him, so far as I knew. He’d never asked to meet me or to see his own grandson.’ Her voice rose in the damp dead of the park. She took a deep breath and shook her head, calming herself. ‘A police cordon had been set up around the small chapel.’ They walked and Lauren talked. ‘We’d been told there would be press, there would be politicians wanting to pay their last respects. It seemed like it was such a lot of fuss to me, but we didn’t really have a choice. He left exact instructions – we just had to follow them – it felt weird.’ They walked on around the park.

‘Six pallbearers carried the coffin in. Toby didn’t want to do it.

‘The coffin came out with flowers on it but nothing personal. I guess that was no surprise. I don’t know whether you know or not but for most of Toby’s life he didn’t see his father.’ Lauren sighed heavily. They had been walking for half an hour now. Willis wiped her frozen nose with a paper tissue from her pocket.

‘How was Toby coping?’ she asked.

‘I looked across at him – he was chewing the inside of his cheek as they carried the coffin inside. Does that when he’s stressed. I knew what was worrying him most – the speech. For Toby, that’s far more difficult than you can imagine. He is so shy, so cripplingly shy.’ She paused as she collected her thoughts. ‘I tried to help him. I knew it was the worst day of his life – the final humiliation by his father. Toby hates to attend any gatherings of more than two other people. He sneaks away early if we ever have a dinner party. But yesterday he had to read a poem and talk about a father he hated; and who, for some reason, hated him. Jeremy Forbes-Wright was a lot of things to a lot of people – but to Toby he was a controlling bully. Toby didn’t find much to say that was good about his father. The Home Secretary got up and told a few funny stories about Jeremy. Then someone read a psalm.’

‘How did Toby cope with it all?’

‘After the service, Toby didn’t answer anyone, whatever they said. He just stuck out his hand and let people shake it. I said, “Thanks for coming,” but it felt stupid. I had no idea who they were, except for the guy who’d written me about the house in Cornwall – Stokes, who introduced himself to me. Toby seemed to be in meltdown. We’d opted for a private burial so luckily we could get away from the crowd. The coffin was put back inside the hearse and driven further into the cemetery. The vicar said a few words. Toby said nothing as we stood around the grave and then Samuel started to really whinge.’

‘Do you remember seeing anyone else there then?’

‘There were people tending graves, laying flowers, and groundsmen. There seemed to be a few joggers. It all seemed quite a buzzing place. People were walking their dogs. The burial was over quickly and we headed home. We stopped on the way to get something for Samuel to eat. That’s it really.’ She looked across at Willis and shrugged. ‘We got back to our flat but we just were so deflated. I suggested we should head down to take a look at Jeremy’s house in Cornwall. I wanted to see it.’

Willis didn’t interrupt as Lauren talked and they walked on.

‘Toby and Samuel don’t have a great relationship. I mean, they do, but he doesn’t usually care if Toby is there or not. I have had to make big compromises where Samuel is concerned. You must have noticed the age difference. For me, I wanted a child whatever. But Toby didn’t. I must be honest, I think he married me thinking that I was past it.’

Lauren stopped and grabbed Willis’s hand. ‘Please, please, just tell me it will be all right. Tell me that he will be found safe and alive. Please tell me they won’t make him suffer – he’s my world.’ Lauren looked about to collapse.

Willis was thinking of an honest but hopeful response and wishing Carter hadn’t made her do this. Lauren watched her closely.

‘I can promise you that we’re doing everything to find him.’

‘What? What are you doing, tell me.’

‘We have to cover all bases until we have more of an idea why he was taken. So, we have posted extra officers on every exit out of London and out of the UK. We are looking into every known paedophile who is on the sex register and who lives in this area. We are searching houses. We are also looking into the possibility that there will still be a ransom demand. The person who took Samuel may know that Toby has just inherited from his father. We are looking at all the CCTV footage of Toby and the route he said he took when Samuel went missing.’

‘What do you mean, “said”? Don’t you believe him?’

‘I don’t mean to imply anything by that – it’s standard procedure that we look into every possibility. The truth is that Toby was with Samuel when he was abducted. He is the last contact we have with Samuel. Whether I believe him or not, we still have to do that in order to try and pinpoint the exact spot Samuel was taken. Tell me what you were doing.’

‘I was working for a while. I tried Toby’s number but he didn’t answer and then the weather outside seemed to be getting really bad so I stood and went to see if I could spot them. A woman had stopped outside. She was staring up at me. Then something distracted me and when I looked back she was gone. Toby phoned and I went down to the foyer.’

‘What was she like, the woman you saw?’

‘She was dressed in dark clothes. She had a scarf around her face and her hood was up.’

‘Did you recognize her from the funeral? Do you think you could have seen her before?’

‘I didn’t see her face but I would have remembered what she was wearing probably. She wasn’t smart enough to have been one of the mourners. Her coat was a shiny oilskin type, too big for her. It was dark green.’

‘How old would you say she was?’

‘I have no idea. I didn’t see her face at all. Only her eyes and she was too far from me to tell anything.’

‘Her body language? Was she slight, short? Tall?’

‘As I looked down at her I remember thinking she was able to stand the gusts of wind and hold her own.’

‘So stocky?’

‘Not stocky but steady on her feet. I don’t know – that doesn’t make sense, does it?’

‘Keep thinking for me and we’ll get her drawn up when we get back to the apartment. Jeanie will help. So, when you took the call from Toby, how did he seem?’

‘He was distracted. I guessed he was battling the wind, he wasn’t used to the buggy. I should never have said they should go out. I knew Toby wasn’t in the right state of mind and Samuel was just getting a cold – grizzling.’ She looked across at Willis.

Willis thought to herself:
If he’s still alive that’ll be
the least of his worries.
She stopped and turned her head away from the icy wind. Below them the Maritime Museum was lit up. Willis noted the officers around the entrance.

‘Lauren – I think it’s time we got back.’ Willis was a few steps ahead before she realized Lauren wasn’t following. ‘Is there something else you wanted to tell me about yesterday?’

Willis looked at Lauren’s expression. She seemed to be struggling with something.

‘Not about yesterday.’

‘Then what?’ Willis was distracted by the commotion going on. There was a flurry of activity around one of the bins by the entrance to the museum. She wanted to get Lauren away just in case they’d found Samuel’s body.

Lauren caught her up. Willis sped up as they walked towards home.

‘Toby and I haven’t really been getting on for a while. We don’t share a bed any more. I sleep in with Samuel.’

‘Has that been going on for long?’

‘Two years.’

‘I’m sorry, Lauren. I suppose the pressure of having Samuel changed your life?’

‘Toby’s not interested any more. I knew he was bisexual when I married him. I thought we’d be fine. I thought we were well matched in our own way. I don’t need a macho-man. But I think he’s become interested in someone else. I don’t know whether that’s a man or a woman. Could it have anything to do with Samuel going missing?’

When Willis got back Carter was still there, waiting for her. They went into the kitchen to talk privately.

‘They’ve found something.’

‘What?’

‘Just been verified now. It’s Samuel’s suit,’ answered Carter.

Willis and Carter went to join the others in the lounge and share the news. Jeanie sat next to Toby on the sofa as Lauren stood, shell-shocked, in the middle of the room.

‘It means he’s dead,’ Toby said as he stared dumbstruck at his wife.

‘No, it doesn’t.’ Carter was stern. ‘They changed his clothes for a reason. They wanted to disguise his identity. That means there is still hope he’s alive.’

‘Lauren,’ said Willis. ‘Can we sit down and draw the woman you saw on the street below?’

‘What woman?’ Toby asked. ‘You never said about a woman before.’

‘There was a woman staring up at me, that’s all. I’m trying to remember every small detail, anything that will help.’

‘Was she at the funeral?’ asked Carter.

‘I didn’t see her there.’

Lauren went to her desk to get some paper. She sat with Willis and Jeanie at the kitchen table.

Lauren shook her head as she looked at the finished drawing. ‘It isn’t much to go on, is it?’

Jeanie picked up the drawing and went to show Toby and then Carter. ‘Toby, did you see a woman like this, while you were out?’

He shook his head. ‘I honestly never looked at anyone. I pushed Samuel around in the buggy. I looked at the view across London but most of the time I had a lot to think about. My father had just died. A father who hated me and then left me a dog and a load of debt. Sorry I can’t be more helpful.’

‘Toby, we need to look into your father’s affairs, his personal correspondence. We would like to search his flat and look into his phone records. We need to look at every possible lead now. Do you have a set of keys?’