Jessica slid the photo of the rugby team out of an envelope, pointing at one of the teenagers crouching down. ‘Is this you, Jacob?’

He took the picture from her, peering closely as a large grin spread on his face. ‘Yes. Wow, I’ve not seen this in years. Where did you find it?’

Jessica ignored his question. ‘Can you tell me anything about the other players?’

Jacob blew out, scratching his head. ‘Not really. We won the league this year, only lost one game. Do you know much about rugby?’

Jessica shook her head but Izzy spoke. ‘Only Union, I don’t follow League.’

The man smiled. ‘Cool, a rugby chick. Nice.’ Jessica was a little surprised her colleague was into sport but wasn’t convinced the officer would be overly impressed by being called a ‘chick’. She certainly wouldn’t have been but the constable said nothing.

Jacob pointed to a few more faces in the picture. ‘I played in the centre. This guy here played outside me and then Eddie and Liam were our two wingers.’ He had pointed to Ed Marks.

‘Can you think of anything significant away from the pitch that might have happened? I know you went to school with some of the players too.’

Jacob looked a little rattled for the first time. He handed back the picture to Jessica, screwing up his eyes. ‘How do you mean?’

‘You tell me? I’m a woman of the world; I know what groups of lads get up to.’

‘We were only eighteen or nineteen.’

Jessica raised her eyebrows and made sure she caught Jacob’s eyes. ‘Sometimes that can make it worse.’

‘I’m not sure I know what you’re getting at.’

Jessica wasn’t convinced. After having his arms open and being happy to eye them both up, he had now crossed them and was looking at the ground. ‘Two people from this photo have been hurt,’ she said. ‘We’re not sure why and we’re talking to other people in it to see if there’s a reason anyone might be able to think of.’

Jacob scratched his head, beginning to look a little nervy. Jessica noticed his dark tattoo circled all the way down from the bottom of his neck to the tip of his little finger. Even though she had never been much of a fan of body art, it was impressive.

‘How badly were they hurt?’ he asked.

Jessica didn’t want to give too much away. If the man did know anything, it was better to keep him on edge. ‘They were just hurt,’ she replied coolly, trying to make Jacob look at her.

‘I’m not sure what you want me to say. We were young lads but most of us could get served in pubs and we had a few good times. There’s nothing wrong with that, is there?’

‘Again, you tell me. Did anything go particularly wrong?’

‘No . . . well, not really. The season after that we went on a bit of a tour. You know what it’s like with boys having a bit of a laugh, not everyone likes it, do they?’

‘Who didn’t like it?’

‘A few of the locals where we went drinking. One of the coaches ended up quitting too.’

‘Why?’

Jacob stood, not wanting to talk any longer. ‘I’ve got to get back. I did say I only had my dinner to talk.’

Jessica wasn’t in the mood for being mucked around. ‘You’ll have to be quick then. What happened with the coach?’

‘Nothing. Look, things just got a bit out of hand, some of the team were a bit drunk. They used to wind him up anyway and call him names. As well as coaching, he worked at the school. Anyway, he had that look, do you know what I mean?’

‘No, what look?’

‘You know, like glasses and that, like he was a paedo.’

Jessica tried not to roll her eyes. ‘He looked like a paedophile because he wore glasses?’

‘No, it wasn’t like that. He had this limp too.’

‘So because he limped and wore glasses, you and your friends accused him of molesting children?’

‘No . . . well, yes.’

Jessica was finding it hard to disguise her contempt. Although Jacob was well-built, his frame had almost shrunk as he stood. He was slumped with his shoulders down and head drooping towards the ground, clearly embarrassed about what had happened at some point in the past.

‘What did you do to this man on tour?’

‘I told you, it wasn’t me. Some of the lads were pissed up and we were staying in this giant hostel place. They stripped him then threw him in a freezing cold shower. After that they tied him to the roof of our minibus and left him overnight.’

‘What happened then?’

‘Well, it was the middle of winter. He ended up in hospital but no one owned up to it and nothing happened. He didn’t grass or anything and everyone was really impressed but he didn’t come back to coaching after that.’

‘I wonder why.’

Jacob was suddenly angry. ‘Look, I told you it wasn’t me. We were only kids mucking about.’

‘I’m sure that’s how he saw it when he spent a night strapped to a bus in the freezing cold.’

Jacob sounded defensive. ‘All right, it’s not like it was yesterday or anything, it was ages ago.’

‘Anything else you want to tell us about?’ Jessica could see in his face that he wasn’t going to say anything further, even if there was more to come. It was why she had tried to hide her contempt but the effort had become too much.

‘I’ve got to get back to work.’

‘What was his name?’

‘Who, the coach? You can’t reckon he’s involved? He was only this little skinny bloke.’

‘What’s his name?’ Jessica spoke firmly to show she wasn’t in the mood.

‘I don’t know, it was ages ago. Mr Wright, something like that. Michael I think. Look, what’s going on with people being hurt?’

‘We’re not sure yet but if you see anyone limping who wears glasses I’m sure you’ll know exactly how to act.’

Izzy wrote the man’s name down as they noted the school he taught at was the same one Edward Marks had gone to. If he was a former staff member, his contact details should be on record somewhere. The two women walked back to the car.

‘Do you think we should have given him more information?’ Izzy asked.

‘No, we don’t even know if the rugby team is the link yet. It’s not as if we should be telling him or anyone to be vigilant because we don’t know who the targets are – or if there’s more to come.’

‘What do you reckon about the coach?’

‘Who knows? They sounded like right little shits.’

Izzy hummed in agreement. ‘It’s a bit of a long wait from then to now if it is the coach though, plus it’s a pretty extreme form of revenge.’

‘I know. I doubt it’s him; it’s a bit obvious. Still, it’s someone else to go talk to. Anything that keeps us out of the station.’

‘Well, if you hadn’t have broken the air-conditioning, it wouldn’t be too bad.’

‘Oi, that sounds like something Dave might say. Just for that, I’m driving.’

When they were back in the vehicle, Jessica made sure to drive as steadily as she could. She didn’t swear and was extra careful not to be angry with other drivers. While she drove, Diamond checked in with Rowlands. Jessica couldn’t make out much from the one side of the conversation she’d heard but the constable sounded a little excited about something.

‘What was that?’ Jessica asked after the other woman had hung up.

‘You remember the stain you told us about on the floor in January’s kitchen?’

‘It was either blood or gravy.’

Izzy laughed before composing herself. ‘Dave says the labs have been on and emailed through some results. It’s blood and it definitely comes from Lewis Barnes.’

11

The morning briefings were really beginning to wind Jessica up because her case was being treated as a distant second priority compared to the disappearance of Christine Johnson. Jessica wouldn’t have minded quite so much if Reynolds and Cornish were actually getting anywhere.

Cole had told them all that the superintendent was on the brink of becoming personally involved in the hunt. Jessica knew DSI Aylesbury from when he had been DCI and didn’t have a clue quite what he thought he could add by interjecting himself. She had drifted in and out of the talk but, from what Jessica had heard, they really didn’t have any ideas what had happened to the MP’s wife. In between the conversation with her husband on the phone and him arriving back from Parliament, she had simply disappeared. There didn’t seem to be anything untoward in the couple’s finances, none of their vehicles had moved, their cleaner hadn’t seen anything and the woman’s passport and other documents were still at the house.