Killer Plan (23 page)

61

He hadn’t seen his
mother for ages. He missed her more every day, and he missed his brother so much it was a physical ache in his stomach, making him feel sick. They had never been separated before. At first it had been an adventure going off like that, all by himself. Brian had made him feel special because he had wanted only him, and not Matt. He had never gone away without his brother before. For the first time in his life he had felt independent, and free. Brian wanted to be called by his first name, not Mr Something, or Sir. It had seemed very grown up, addressing him by his name. The novelty soon palled.

It was over a week since he had gone home with Brian, and apart from the ice cream it was boring. Brian kept telling him his brother had gone away to another friend of their mother’s, because she needed some time to grieve. Ed wasn’t sure he believed him any more.

‘How much longer do I have to stay here?’ he asked.

Brian’s face twisted so he looked ugly. Ed didn’t like him any more.

‘I’m disappointed in you,’ Brian replied quietly.

Ed didn’t care how Brian felt. He wanted to go home.

‘Sit down. We need to talk.’

‘I don’t want to sit down. I don’t want to talk. I want to go home.’ He was close to tears.

‘Sit down, I’ll get you some ice cream, and then I’ll explain why you can’t go home.’

He spoke with an air of finality that scared Ed.

‘I don’t want any ice cream. I want to go home.’

Brian shook his head.

‘You can’t go home, not yet.’

‘Why not? You can’t stop me.’

‘There’s no point. The house is empty. Your mother’s not there.’

‘I don’t believe you.’

‘Why would I lie about it? Your mother’s gone away to recover from the shock of losing your father. It’s understandable, isn’t it? She needs time to get over it. That’s why you and your brother have come to stay with me and another friend of your mother’s.’

‘Why can’t I see Matt? Where is he?’

Brian shook his head again, as though he was really sad about it. ‘I’d like to take you there, and I would if I could, but it’s too far away. And anyway, I’m not sure it would be a good idea to travel there right now.’

‘What do you mean?’

Brian gazed at him earnestly. ‘You know I care about you.’

Ed nodded his head, uncertainly.

‘I promised your mother I’d look after you and keep you safe, and that’s what I’m going to do, whatever it takes. There’s something you need to know about. The people who killed your father, they want to kill you and your brother too. Matthew has been taken far away, somewhere they’ll never find him, and the police have put your mother in a safe house. No one knows where you are. I managed to whisk you away in time, before the bad people caught wind of where you are. But it’s not safe for you to go out of the house right now.’

Ed sat down. He thought about what Brian had said.

‘What about the man who came looking for me here?’

‘He was a scout. They must have sent spies out to all the people who knew your mother, all the friends she trusted. But he never went back to report he’d seen you.’

‘Won’t they wonder what happened to him?’

‘They won’t know for certain that he saw you. But they might find out what happened to him, and then they’ll be back.’

Ed was really frightened now. He couldn’t understand why Brian was talking so calmly. He jumped to his feet.

‘We need to call the police.’

‘No. We can’t do that.’

‘But the bad people might come back.’

‘Yes. That’s why we’re going to hide you, somewhere safe, until this is all over. You have to keep very quiet if you hear anyone in the house, and not let anyone know where you are.’

‘What if they see me?’

Brian smiled. ‘Where you’re going to be hiding, no one will see you. No one will know where you are but me. And I’m not going to give you away. You do trust me, don’t you?’

Ed nodded although he wasn’t sure if he trusted Brian or not. The first chance he had, he was going to run away. If he went straight to a police station, before the bad people saw him, he would be safe. He decided Brian was weird. He would never say as much to Brian, but he didn’t trust him, not one little bit.

‘Come on, then.’

‘Where are we going?’

‘Come with me.’

Pulling a torch out of his pocket, Brian led him to the hall where he opened a door to a narrow cupboard under the stairs. Ed had never looked in there before. Now he saw that it was packed with boxes and bottles of cleaning stuff. There was a broom, a dustpan and brush, a hoover and a bucket and mop. It smelled funny in there. With barely room for Ed to stand behind him, Brian opened a low door on the far wall. Crouching down, he clambered through the doorway and disappeared. His voice sounded echoey as he called out to Ed to follow him. Resisting an urge to turn and run, Ed manoeuvred his way past the broom and hoover, and squatted down on his heels to peer through the opening.

In the beam from Brian’s torch, he made out a narrow wooden staircase that led down under the floor.

‘Come on,’ Brian called up to him. He couldn’t see him in the darkness. ‘It’s a secret hiding place. No one but us knows it’s here!’

Responding to the jubilation in Brian’s voice, Ed felt a rush of excitement. This was a real adventure! Cautiously he made his way down the crude wooden staircase. The floor was dirty, covered in grey concrete. A few paces away, Brian face was lit from below. He looked ghastly, grinning in the white torch light.

‘No one will be able to find you here, and you’ll be safe as long as you stay quiet.’

Although it was an adventure, and Brian was with him, Ed was scared. Brian stepped back and was swallowed in darkness.

‘I can’t see,’ Ed complained. ‘I don’t like it here.’

‘I’ll leave you the torch,’ Brian said, suddenly brisk. ‘There’s a bucket when you need to go, and I’ve left you enough supplies to keep you going for a few days. No ice cream, because it would melt, but there’s chocolate and sandwiches and fruit. It’ll be fun, like camping. And you can sleep here.’ He waved the torch around until it rested on a camp bed that was made up with blankets and a pillow.

‘You’ll be quite safe here,’ he repeated. ‘But you have to keep quiet. I’ll leave you now but don’t worry, I’ll be back soon to see how you’re settling in.’

He turned and walked towards the narrow staircase, the ground ahead of him illuminated in the beam of light.

‘You said you’d leave me the torch!’ Ed called out in a panic.

‘Yes, I was just finding my way to the stairs. Here you are.’

He put the torch down on the bottom step, still switched on so its beam lit up the plaster wall. Hurriedly he climbed the stairs which were lit from above through the open door. Before Ed could remonstrate, Brian reached the top and scrambled through the opening.

‘Wait,’ Ed called out, ‘wait! I don’t like it here. I don’t want to stay here by myself…’

The door closed with a sharp crack leaving him in darkness.

Cautiously he shuffled across to the torch. Seizing it, he tried to hold it steady, but the beam of light shook in his grasp making the shadows in the cellar move as though they were alive.

62

Geraldine was about to
leave when she received a message that a woman was asking to speak to her.

‘What’s it about? Only I was just going to try and arrange to speak to Dave Robinson’s sons – if we can get near them,’ she added under her breath.

The sergeant who had brought her the summons grinned. ‘That’s what she said she wants to talk to you about.’

‘I hope she’s got them with her this time,’ Geraldine said. ‘I’ve heard enough excuses about why we can’t speak to her sons.’

The sergeant shook his head. ‘She’s on her own.’

Geraldine set off for the interview room, prepared to be firm. Expecting Caroline, she was surprised to see a stranger waiting there. The woman didn’t look much older than twenty. She had highlighted straight blonde hair that hung down to her shoulders, and a broad, pleasant face.

‘Did Mrs Robinson send you?’ Geraldine asked without any preamble.

‘You mean Ed and Matthew Robinson’s mother?’

‘Yes. Did she send you to see me?’

‘No. But I wanted to talk to someone about the twins.’

‘What about them?’

‘I’m their school teacher.’

Geraldine sat down. ‘I’m listening.’

‘I’m concerned about the twins, both of them. We all thought it was wrong to send one of them to school, and keep the other one off…’

‘What do you mean? Weren’t they both at school today?’

‘No. Matthew came back to school almost straight away – possibly too soon – but we haven’t seen Ed, not since their father’s death.’

Geraldine hid her alarm.

‘Where is Ed?’

‘That’s just it. We don’t know. His mother told us he’s staying with a friend of hers, which we all thought was a bit odd, keeping one son at home and sending the other one away, especially seeing as they’re twins. But today Matthew said he heard his mother tell a police officer that Ed was at home. He might have got the wrong end of the stick, but if his mother
is
lying about it, I just thought maybe someone ought to look into it and find out exactly what
has
happened to Ed. Matthew genuinely doesn’t seem to know where he is, and he’s worried. He seems to think his brother just disappeared, so perhaps he has gone to stay with one of his mother’s friends. I mean, it could be that Matthew misheard, or lied about what his mother said to your colleague. Kids do lie for all sorts of reasons, and it would be perfectly natural for Matthew to want some attention, given what’s happened…’

Geraldine interrupted her. ‘Matthew wasn’t lying. I was the police officer their mother spoke to. I didn’t realise Matthew was listening. His mother told me both boys were home and asleep in bed.’

The two women exchanged an apprehensive glance. There was no point in Geraldine trying to hide her anxiety any longer. She thanked the teacher for coming forward.

‘Do you think something’s happened to Ed?’

Deliberately Geraldine adopted a reassuring smile in an attempt to mask her true feelings. ‘I’m sure there’s a sensible explanation.’

It must have been obvious she was lying. She couldn’t help wondering whether Ed was the twin who had been present when Robert’s body had been moved. Perhaps he had seen too much. She thanked the young teacher for coming forward, assuring her they would keep her informed. As soon as she finished talking to her, Geraldine mustered a search team and returned to Caroline’s house. She went to the door by herself. This time she didn’t hold back.

‘We’d like to come in,’ she announced. ‘I’ve got a team waiting outside. We can have a quick look around now, or we can come back later with a warrant and take the place apart.’

It wasn’t much of a choice.

Caroline’s face went white. ‘The boys are asleep upstairs,’ she blurted out.

As though to prove her wrong, one of the twins appeared in the hall behind her. He was fully dressed.

‘Has Ed come home?’ he asked.

There was no point in Caroline attempting to sustain her lie. Geraldine took a step forward and spoke softly so the boy couldn’t eavesdrop again.

‘Caroline, you need to tell me the truth. Something’s happened to Ed, hasn’t it?’

Caroline turned a stricken face to her, but said nothing.

‘I can’t help you if you keep lying.’

Tears welled up in Caroline’s eyes, but her voice was curiously expressionless. ‘No one can help me. Not now.’

‘I will, if you tell me what’s happened.’

Caroline turned and went inside, calling to her son to go upstairs. He just stood in the hall, watching. Geraldine followed her in and closed the front door. With a hurried glance at Matthew, Caroline ushered Geraldine into the front room and shut the door. She sat down facing Geraldine, and spoke quietly.

‘Ed’s been missing for eleven days.’

Geraldine was staggered. ‘Eleven days? What do you mean?’

‘He’s been kidnapped.’

‘You’re telling me your ten-year-old son’s been kidnapped and you didn’t report him missing?’

Caroline glanced towards the door as though afraid Matthew might be listening. ‘No, I did. I reported him missing.’

Struggling to control her sobbing, Caroline described how she had gone to the police station the day after her son’s disappearance to tell them he had been kidnapped.

‘It was the Monday. I went there as soon as Matthew was at school. I had to get him out of the way first because I’d told him Ed had gone to stay with a friend of mine.’

More lies. Geraldine wondered if Caroline could help it, and if it was reasonable to believe anything she said.

‘I’ve been going out of my mind with worry,’ Caroline burst out suddenly. ‘Please, you have to help me.’

‘Let’s go through this step by step. When did this alleged kidnap take place?’

‘Sunday night. And it’s true. I know it is. He’s called Brian.’

‘Hang on, I want to go through this step by step,’ Geraldine insisted. ‘How did it happen?’

‘I don’t know. He went to the shop and he never came back.’

‘How do you know he was kidnapped?’

‘There was a note.’

‘A note?’

‘Yes. When he didn’t come home, Matt and I went out looking for him and when we got home there was a note on the doormat. It was from Brian.’

‘Have you still got it?’

Caroline pulled a scrap of flimsy paper out of her pocket. On it was written ‘ED’. Nothing more.

‘Is that it?’

‘Yes. It was in an envelope but I don’t know what happened to that.’ She stared at Geraldine, appalled. ‘I should have kept it, shouldn’t I?’

Geraldine dismissed her regrets, assuring her the writer had probably been wearing gloves. The days of tracing criminals from their fingerprints were long gone. Geraldine picked up the slip of paper by one corner, and dropped it into her purse.

‘So Ed disappeared on Sunday evening and you received this note through the door shortly after.’

‘Yes.’

‘And you said this note was from someone called Brian?’

Caroline explained how she had met someone from her junior school in the park, and he had kidnapped her son.

‘What makes you think it was him?’

‘I know it was.’

‘And you said you went to the police ten days ago? What happened?’

‘Nothing happened. They didn’t believe me. I think it was because my headscarf looked weird.’

‘Headscarf?’

Caroline described how she had worn a disguise when she had gone to the police station. The more the woman talked, the more far-fetched her story sounded, with a shadowy kidnapper threatening to kill Ed if she went to the police.

‘I get it that the kidnapper doesn’t want the police involved,’ Geraldine said, as she struggled to make sense of the garbled account. ‘But what
does
he want? Do you have any idea why anyone – why Brian might have wanted to kidnap your son?’

Caroline hesitated. ‘No.’

Yet again Geraldine thought she was lying.

‘Caroline, you have to tell me the truth.’

Caroline shook her head. Geraldine tried again.

‘You’re going to have to give me something more than that to go on.’ Geraldine waited, but Caroline just began to sob. ‘If you know anything, anything at all about the person who’s taken your son, you must tell me.’

‘His name’s Brian and he went to Cartpool Junior School. We were there at the same time. And now he’s taken Ed. That’s all I know...’

Geraldine wondered if the woman was unhinged, whether by grief or guilt it was impossible to tell. If she hadn’t already been mentally unstable before her husband’s death, she might well be now.

‘Did Ed have something to do with your husband’s death?’ she hazarded.

Caroline stopped crying abruptly. ‘What do you mean?’ She sounded genuinely shocked.

Geraldine pressed on. ‘Did Ed know too much? Is your husband’s killer the kidnapper? Caroline, help me out here. Why would anyone want to kidnap one of your sons? What’s going on that you’re not telling us?’

Caroline became agitated. She stood up in one swift movement and went to the door of the living room.

‘I don’t know what you mean. You have no right to come here making accusations. We’re the victims here, me and my boys.’

‘Caroline, you need to start telling me the truth. Is Ed here?’

‘No. No. He’s gone. He’s gone. You have to find him. You have to find Brian.’

Bending double, she wrapped her arms around her waist and began to wail. That much at least was genuine.