‘Lucy? I don’t know. The poor woman’s been forgotten in all this. I might visit her just to make sure she’s all right.’

‘I heard you didn’t get on too well last time.’

Jessica raised her eyebrows. ‘That wasn’t really her fault. We spent fourteen years not finding her son, then rocked up and said, “Here’s his football shirt”. I’d be pissed off too. Someone should at least let her know what’s been going on.’

‘Do you need me to make something up about where you’ve gone?’

‘No, sod that. If I get any grief I’ll just go to the papers. Bollocks to the lot of them.’

31

Jessica called Lucy Martin and asked if she could visit. Toby’s mother didn’t seem too pleased but didn’t object either. She was on her own when Jessica arrived, but appeared better than on the previous occasion they’d met. She’d tied her long black hair up in a neat ponytail and was wearing a long red jumper with tight jeans. Jessica remembered her husband, Neil, telling her how December was a bad time emotionally for his wife. Lucy seemed to have more of a healthy glow to her as she let Jessica into the house.

Jessica wondered if she had misjudged Lucy’s mood during the phone call because, as the woman showed her into the living room and offered to make tea, she seemed perfectly comfortable. She brought in two mugs and then settled on the sofa across from Jessica, tucking her feet underneath her. ‘Neil will be home in about an hour. He picks the girls up after school,’ she said. Before Jessica could reply, she added: ‘I’m sorry about last time.’

‘How do you mean?’

‘When you were here before and I was a bit off-hand. I know everything that happened back then isn’t your fault.’

Jessica waved her hand. ‘It’s fine, don’t worry.’

‘Why are you here?’ Jessica realised she didn’t really have a reason. Lucy must have read it in her face because she added: ‘I saw all the stuff on the news about that man being responsible for the other boy. I guess I wondered if . . .’

‘I came to make sure you were all right. I didn’t know how everything on the news might have affected you over Christmas.’

Lucy smiled slightly. ‘Did Neil talk to you last time?’

‘No, I . . .’

‘It’s fine if he did. Whatever he said was probably true, I’m not that good when the evenings draw in. Then Christmas comes along. I try to keep it together for Olivia and Tasha but it’s hard.’

Jessica was struggling to know what to say but Lucy seemed happy to talk. ‘Did I tell you that City shirt you found was Toby’s last-ever Christmas present?’

‘No.’

‘Dean, his dad, was always a big football fan but Toby wasn’t really interested for the first few years. I think it was just one of those things that when he got to a certain age he wanted to be like his dad. I still remember Dean’s face when Toby came down to breakfast one morning and asked for the City shirt. It was as if Dean himself was getting the present.’

‘I’ve never been into football myself.’

‘Ha! Me neither. I think you pretty much expect it when you have boys.’ Lucy took a sip of her tea. ‘Do you have kids?’

‘No, no . . . I’d never cope. I can barely look after myself.’

Lucy laughed. ‘I used to think like that. It’s just one of those things. Before you know it you’re in the swing and it’s as if you knew what you were doing all along. You get the odd moments but, most of the time, you just trust your instincts.’

Jessica wasn’t so convinced she had those motherly instincts. ‘What are the girls like?’ she asked.

‘They’re great but it’s different from having boys. Everyone says they’re going to be a nightmare when they become teenagers together.’

‘Isn’t that the same for boys and girls?’

‘I don’t know, maybe. I’m just going by what other people say. My other daughter, Annabel, wasn’t great as a teen but that was understandable with what happened to Toby, and then me and Dean separating. It’s no wonder she won’t speak to me.’

There wasn’t much Jessica could add, as she didn’t know the woman well enough to offer anything other than general condolence. It did seem as if Lucy was getting a lot of things off her chest that she had been coping with over a long period of time.

‘I invited Annabel up for Christmas,’ the woman continued. ‘I always do but she didn’t respond. I don’t even know if she’s got children of her own or anything.’

‘Did you tell her or Dean that we’d found Toby’s clothes?’

Lucy untied her hair and let it fall around her shoulders. As she spoke, she re-tied it into a tighter ponytail. ‘I told Dean. He was going to come up but I told him there wasn’t much point until you found . . . something.’

‘We did look,’ Jessica assured her.

‘I know, I’m not saying you didn’t, it’s just . . . I’ve been waiting all this time for someone to come around and say you’ve found Toby. I don’t know when I stopped thinking he’d be alive but I always expected something. When you came around that first time, I thought that was it, you’d found his body or something else and I’d be able to let it go.’

‘I’m sorry.’

‘No, don’t be, it’s not your fault.’ Lucy stood and picked up her mug. ‘Do you want another?’

‘No, I’m fine.’

Lucy left Jessica alone in the living room. While she was gone, the detective stood, examining the photos on the wall. Most of them were of Olivia and Natasha, who looked strikingly similar to each other. There were a couple of just Lucy and Neil in various poses where they seemed happy. Jessica remembered her brief suspicion about Neil himself. He was certainly someone who gained from everything that happened but she hadn’t followed it up other than a brief look into his background.

When she was trying to think of a motive, it was the one question she’d kept returning to. There was apparently no sexual motivation and there weren’t too many people around who killed for the sake of killing. With that in mind, it left her stuck with the same question: assuming he was responsible for both, what did Benjamin Sturgess gain from taking Toby and Isaac?

‘That was taken in Marbella,’ Lucy said from behind Jessica, who hadn’t heard her re-enter the room. She turned to face the woman, then looked back at the wall. The photo was of Lucy and Neil sitting together, each raising a glass of wine to the camera. ‘We left the girls with Neil’s parents and went away for a week,’ Lucy explained. ‘I didn’t want to go because we had never left them before but he talked me into it. We had a good time but I was always worrying about everything being all right at home.’

Lucy sat on the sofa again, wrapping her legs underneath her as Jessica returned to her seat. ‘Did the man on the news take my son too?’ Lucy asked. Her eyes were fixed on Jessica, who felt compelled to answer.

‘I don’t know.’

‘Are you just saying that?’

‘No, I really don’t know. We can’t question him because he died in a car crash.’

Lucy nodded but didn’t stop looking at her. ‘Do you think it was him?’

Jessica paused, thinking of how she should answer. ‘I’m not sure I should say.’

‘Why are you here, then?’ Lucy hadn’t raised her voice but there was definitely a harsher tone to her words. Jessica knew she had a point. Deep down it was why she had come – because she wanted to tell someone what was going on.

‘I could get into trouble if I tell you things I shouldn’t.’

‘I won’t tell anyone.’

The two women were still watching each other and Jessica looked into Lucy’s eyes before making the decision. She knew it was not procedure but felt that Lucy deserved an answer. She took a deep breath. ‘I don’t know if Benjamin Sturgess kidnapped and killed your son but I think he probably did. There’s no way we’ll be able to prove it and I’m not sure you’ll ever get justice. I can only say I’m sorry.’