At hearing that, Jessica could feel the butterflies in her stomach, knowing they had found the right person. It wasn’t a long journey but Dave spent most of his time laughing at Jessica’s description of Sue. He didn’t even seem that interested in the apparent sex parties that were occurring on the street, which was perhaps the biggest indication to Jessica that her colleague was growing up.

After knocking on the woman’s door, Benjamin’s former wife introduced herself as ‘Deborah Sturgess’ and invited them in. Jessica would have guessed the woman to be somewhere in her late forties but her eyes were bright and youthful. She had greying hair that had been bleached blonde. It came down to her shoulders but had been tied into a ponytail. There was little point in wasting time so, after being offered seats in the living room, Jessica confirmed the details about who the woman’s husband was and where he lived. It was clear they were talking about the man that had years ago been vaguely linked to Toby Whittaker’s disappearance.

‘When was the last time you saw your ex-husband?’ Jessica asked.

The woman shook her head, speaking confidently. ‘Maybe a month? We divorced six years ago but are on okay terms. We see each other a few times a year, not often.’ Jessica wondered why the woman had kept her ex-husband’s last name but it wasn’t really appropriate to ask.

‘Have you had any contact at all since then, perhaps by phone?’

‘Not really. I’ve got a key for his house and go around sometimes when he’s away to open and close the curtains, that kind of thing. That’s not very often though.’

‘Does he work away? We’re trying to get hold of him but neighbours say they haven’t seen him recently.’

‘He works at home. He became a writer a few years ago after giving up teaching. That’s why he used his other name. You mentioned it on the phone. He’s always been known as “Ian” for the whole time I’ve known him. When he started writing, he went back to using his first name.’

‘I don’t suppose you know of some other way to contact him? We could do with speaking to him.’

‘Is it something serious?’

Jessica didn’t know the best answer to give, so offered the one the woman wanted to hear. ‘No.’

Deborah stood and started looking around. ‘Like I said, I’ve got a key for his house. He has one for here too. It’s here somewhere – it really isn’t like him to go missing. I’ll try his mobile first.’

At first she fumbled with her own mobile but after muttering something about being out of credit, Deborah walked across to a desk phone on a table at the back of the living room. She read a number from a list pinned to the wall and typed it in but looked up a few seconds later. ‘He’s not answering. I’ll have a look for the keys and we can go over. I hope he’s okay.’

She had almost left the room, when Jessica’s phone buzzed to say a message had arrived. She glanced at it and then turned to the other woman.

‘Mrs Sturgess. Could you look at this for me?’ Jessica flipped her phone around to show her the photo of the digital artist’s impression of the dead driver. Jessica could see Deborah nodding, a confused look on her face.

‘Yes, that’s Ian, is he okay?’

22

Rowlands went to speak but stopped himself, while Jessica didn’t know what to say. They had not only found out the identity of their driver – but because Benjamin Sturgess was included in the Toby Whittaker file, they had discovered a direct link to Isaac Hutchings. As with everything else, it threw up yet more questions. Jessica and Dave hadn’t even looked at each other, let alone spoken, but the look on their faces must have said it all. ‘Is something wrong?’ Deborah asked.

Jessica still wanted the woman to let them into her former husband’s house. Now he was dead and the prime suspect for Isaac’s abduction and murder, they would be able to get access to his property anyway – but the formalities and legal hoops would take longer than she wanted to wait. Not only that but if Benjamin had abducted Toby Whittaker fourteen years ago, Deborah would have been married to him at the time. She might well be the only witness to whatever had occurred in the past – or she could be involved. The time would come to let her in on what they knew but, for now, Jessica needed the woman’s help.

Thinking quickly and hoping Rowlands followed her lead, Jessica pocketed her phone. ‘No problem. We just need to find him.’

Deborah looked from Jessica to Rowlands before turning around and starting to hunt for the keys again. While her back was turned, the two detectives locked eyes and had a silent conversation where Jessica told her colleague she knew what they were doing wasn’t exactly by the book but he should trust her. Their non-verbal sparring was interrupted as Deborah turned around holding a key ring with two keys attached. Deborah said she wanted to take her own vehicle, so the three of them walked out of the house, only to be met by a man in his twenties walking down the driveway towards them. He appeared slightly confused as he saw the two officers but turned to Deborah, offering a cheery, ‘All right?’

Deborah finished locking the house before turning to face him properly. ‘I’m on my way out, dear. Come back later if you want.’

He nodded an acknowledgement before asking the question Jessica dreaded. ‘Is everything okay?’

Whether on purpose, she quickly allayed any problems. ‘No, it’s fine, nothing serious. I’ll be back later if you need me.’

The man said goodbye before turning and walking back to a car parked on the road. Before Jessica could walk away, Deborah added quietly, ‘That’s Stephen, he’s a friend of the family. Best not get him involved.’

Jessica wondered if the woman knew things weren’t quite right.

Throughout the journey to Benjamin Sturgess’s house, Jessica wondered how it could possibly be that Benjamin, or Ian, or whatever he was calling himself, could have been involved in both the Toby Whittaker disappearance and now Isaac’s fourteen years apart. From what Harry said, Toby had a close relationship with his teacher, which was the only tenuous link to that first case. Fourteen years on, that now-former teacher had been driving a car with a kidnapped dead child in the back.

The return drive to Benjamin Sturgess’s house took longer than it had the other way, traffic beginning to back up during the late afternoon and a frost already starting to settle as the sun went down. They parked on the road outside the house and Jessica could feel Sue watching them from the window next door. She didn’t dare look just in case the woman took it as a hint to come and get involved. She knew a larger search team would return to the property at some point in the near future but, for now, she wanted to get a feel of the person she had spent the past few weeks struggling to find.

Deborah unlocked the door and it was clear no one had been around for a while because of a pile of mail on the mat. Deborah stepped inside, collecting the letters before holding the door open for the two officers. She didn’t speak and Jessica knew she must now know something wasn’t quite right. Deborah sat on the stairs just inside the door and started to flick through the post as they walked past her into the living room.

Despite the length of time she had been in the job, every now and then Jessica caught herself thinking like a civilian. As she walked into Benjamin’s main room, an irrational feeling overtook her as she expected to find something that would ensure everything made sense. Maybe there would be a confession note or some obvious trace of either Toby or Isaac, or both? As it was, everything seemed normal. There was a flatscreen television on a cabinet, a sensible sandy-coloured carpet, regular cream walls, a leather sofa of the type which could be found in houses all around the country. Everything, including the photos on the wall, was just normal, normal, normal.