Jessica was feeling increasingly uncomfortable because of how hot the room was. As she was thinking about undoing a button on her shirt, Rachel put her feet down and sat up slightly straighter. ‘I know who’s got him.’
Jessica and Esther exchanged a confused look. ‘Who?’ Jessica asked.
‘It’s his dad, Adrian. I told the police last night and this morning they should be round his house to find him.’
Jessica had also read that in the report. Someone had visited Adrian Corless to let him know his son was missing but he insisted he hadn’t seen the boy.
‘What makes you say that?’ Jessica added.
‘We separated last year and have been arguing over custody ever since. The court ruled in my favour a month or so ago and he said then he wasn’t going to leave it there.’
Jessica was surprised by how calm the woman was. It was clear she was in some sort of shock but Jessica would have expected her to be showing more emotion. As Rachel finished speaking, the Christmas-tree lights switched themselves on and began to blink. The woman barely acknowledged them, simply saying, ‘They’re on a timer.’
Esther finished writing and looked up. ‘Can you think of anyone else, aside from your former husband, who could be involved?’
Rachel shook her head. ‘Why did someone contact me last week making sure Lloyd was okay?’
Jessica knew it was because Lloyd’s name had been on the list she had found at the allotment. So far that information had been kept within the force. Revealing its existence to the parents of the children involved would almost certainly result in one of them talking to the media. That was the type of thing which could cause very unhelpful headlines or, even worse, a panic about how safe children were in general. The added problem now was that if the media did find out about the list, the force would face massive criticism for not being open about it in the first place. Jessica knew she would be better placed to answer but also realised she had to be careful what to say.
‘That was a reaction because of Isaac Hutchings’s disappearance,’ she said. ‘We were checking in with parents who had children of a similar age.’
It was a half-truth but Jessica felt uncomfortable uttering the words. There were lots of follow-up questions that could have been asked – especially as there was no obvious link from Isaac to Lloyd – but Rachel said nothing.
With not much else they could get from Rachel directly, Esther and Jessica exchanged a look and stood together. They said their goodbyes, left a business card and slowly walked back to their cars.
The sky was still clear of clouds but the temperature had dropped by a degree or two, a total contrast to the heat from Rachel’s living room. Jessica knew dusk was imminent, children walking along the street in ones and twos on their way home from school. Across the road, the large Santa sitting on the driveway was now lit up, rippling in the breeze.
‘What do you reckon?’ Jessica asked.
‘I reckon that Santa needs a bloody kitchen knife taking to it,’ Esther replied. Jessica laughed, appreciating her response. ‘Honestly? I don’t know,’ Esther added. ‘I’m going to have to phone in and see what’s going on at our end. No one knows who’s supposed to be leading the investigation. From what I gather, our lot have been at the school today trying to see if anyone saw anything, while your lot have been checking cameras in the local area. Someone’s going to have to sort out who’s supposed to be doing what.’
‘I want to see the ex-husband,’ Jessica said. ‘What are you going to do now?’
Esther looked at her watch. ‘Oh, sod it, I’ll phone in later. Let’s go see this Adrian guy.’
‘What did you make of Rachel?’ Jessica asked.
‘She’s in shock, you never know what you’re going to walk into with these situations. Everyone thinks a mother’s going to be shouting and demanding results, either that or running through the streets trying to find their kid. Some are like that but a lot act like Rachel – they don’t know what to do with themselves. They sit at home and wait for the phone to ring or the doorbell to go. It’s the right thing to do really.’
As they reached their cars, the lights flickered to life on the giant Christmas tree at the front of the house next to the one with the oversized Santa. The illuminations alternated colours, blinking on and off. ‘Imagine living opposite that,’ Esther said. ‘I’d be out there with a chain-saw in the middle of the night.’
Jessica was partly in agreement. ‘Nah, that’s too obvious. The best thing to do is pour a litre or so of petrol in the pot it’s in. The whole thing will wilt in a few days.’
Esther looked at Jessica with a big grin. ‘Ooh, that is naughty. Aren’t you a dark horse?’
Jessica shrugged. ‘I’ve had thirty-odd years of people pissing me off – I’m full of ideas.’
‘Well, I’ll remember not to get on your wrong side then.’
Jessica unlocked her car. ‘Do you know where we’re going?’
‘I have the address somewhere. I know it’s not in Manchester – I think it’s up Preston way. Just follow me.’
As Esther got into her vehicle, Jessica watched her in the rear-view mirror, wondering why she had made such a fuss earlier.
14
Jessica rarely took her battered old car on the motorway, largely because she didn’t trust it not to break down. Esther’s powerful new vehicle could have comfortably sped away from her at any point as they travelled in convoy along the M61.
Unmoving traffic was backed up in the opposite direction as they drove and the sun had disappeared below the horizon by the time Esther parked outside a house on the outskirts of Chorley. Jessica pulled in behind her, only realising how cold it was when she got out of the vehicle. She could feel chills on her exposed hands as she opened the door to get into Esther’s car.
‘It’s bloody freezing out there,’ she said.
Esther reached across to the back seat and picked up a file before handing it over. ‘I’m in a bit of trouble,’ she said. ‘I’m supposed to be staying with the victim. I’m heading back after this.’
‘Why did you want to come here?’
Esther flicked her long brown hair behind her head and scratched her ear. ‘I’m not in trouble trouble. It looks like I’ll be spending a decent amount of time with Rachel until her son is found . . . or not.’ She hesitated over the last two words before continuing. ‘I just want to meet Adrian. We’ve only heard one side of the story but it would be nice to have both before going back.’
‘Do we know if he’s got a girlfriend?’ Jessica asked.
Esther shook her head. ‘There was nothing in the file so, if he does, she doesn’t live with him.’
‘That’s what I thought.’ Jessica opened the car door and again felt the bitter cold. ‘Right, let’s go.’
Because it was almost dark, it was a lot harder for Jessica to judge the type of area where Adrian Corless lived. His house didn’t appear to have a number, leaving Jessica and Esther to check the adjacent terraced properties to make sure they were at the right one. Rather than a plastic double-glazed door, the house had an old-fashioned wooden one, the type Jessica knew officers loved to kick in if the opportunity ever arose. She’d had a conversation with a member of the tactical entry team a few months ago in the station’s canteen where he told her new-style doors had taken most of the fun out of the job. ‘It’s one thing to use a battering ram on those things,’ he said, ‘but nothing feels quite as good as sticking your boot right through one of those old wooden ones.’
In the apparent absence of a doorbell, Esther thumped loudly on the frame. A light flickered inside and the door was opened by a tall thin man with round-rimmed glasses. He had a shaven head and was wearing a pair of jeans with a slim-fitting T-shirt. He looked the exact opposite of what Jessica might have expected. Perhaps because Rachel was so insistent he was somehow involved in Lloyd’s disappearance, Jessica had a picture in her head of him being large and menacing. Instead, after seeing the man, she had two letters in her mind: ‘IT’.