‘I don’t know you any more. You’ve been lying to me for months, maybe years. You could be capable of anything because I don’t know who you are. I went in to your work and talked to Betty.’ Tracy felt her anger rise even though she was trying very hard to keep control of it. ‘I got the whole story how they would have liked to sack you but they couldn’t, even though you were screwing the boss’s wife, letching after college students.’
He shook his head. He was still sitting on the bed. Jackson was beginning to wake up. ‘I wasn’t, Tracy… I admit I kept things from you but we’d been through such a lot and you’ve been so strong through it all but I know there’s only so much you can take. It’s all lies, especially about the boss’s wife. I’ve been waiting to see what they’d do about reinstating me. I will take them to a tribunal otherwise. I swear to you, Tracy, that I would not be unfaithful to you.’
Tracy started to back out of the room. ‘Leave Jackson alone then. He doesn’t know you; he’ll be frightened if he wakes up and finds you sitting on his bed.’
‘Why would he be? I’ve met him before.’ Tracy stared at him as she shook her head.
‘Danielle came around here looking for you when you were at work. I saw him then.’
‘Why didn’t you tell me?’
‘We had enough things on our plate.’ She shook her head. Tracy wasn’t ready to believe what Steve was saying. ‘I admit it, Tracy; I’ve been depressed. Every day for six months I’ve been sitting in the warehouse, waiting for you to leave for work so that I could come home. I’ve been hoping that things would work out on their own. The last thing I thought we needed was this.’ He looked at Jackson. ‘But maybe it’s a blessing in disguise.’ Jackson opened his sleepy eyes and looked at Steve and then at Tracy, who smiled and nodded her reassurance. Jackson looked back at Steve and gave him a big smile.
Jeanie and Carter walked back in to see Robbo behind his desk.
‘It was just bits of furniture and a collection of all kinds of junk,’ said Jeanie, taking off her coat. ‘Memories – it looks like his whole life is in there. He must have been living there in fear of really telling Tracy what the matter was.’
Carter shook his head. ‘I think he’s had a breakdown, looking at the stuff in there. He’s collected all sorts of junk. Must have spent a fortune on it: stuffed animals even – a weird collection. If that’s what’s in his head – he’s lost the plot.’
‘You searched all the way through it?’ asked Robbo.
‘We opened every box.’
‘Bowie thinks we should bring Christian Goddard in now,’ said Robbo. ‘He thinks it’s time to get heavy-handed.’
‘What do you think?’ asked Carter.
‘It’s got to be him. From what we know of him he will be aware of how far we’ve got because he’s fed us all the clues. If he thinks we’re getting too close to him we run the risk that he’ll go out in a blaze of glory and take Danielle, and whoever else he might have in there, with him. I’ve been looking into his history.’ He showed them the page of search engines he had working on Goddard. ‘There must be something on him somewhere. He needs to have had a journey to this point. You don’t start killing overnight.’ Robbo looked at his Facebook page. ‘He’s travelled a bit. I’ll run a check with Interpol again.’
‘Okay.’ Jeanie scrolled through his photos.
‘It says he’s been to Thailand, Laos, Fiji, Australia, New Zealand. He must have learnt about exotic pets in Australia; he worked in a zoo there. He was back here in 2010 – that’s when he set up the online pet business and also registered for his first course in college. I think we should bring him in. We can’t risk another minute of him being out there if he’s Hawk.’
Jeanie pointed to an image of a street and someone walking in a small camera.
‘Is that Ebony’s camera?’
‘Yeah. She is meeting Goddard tonight. I’ve been thinking about what you said about if there’s a possibility that he knows Ebony and I don’t think we should take the risk.’
‘I agree. We’ll have Goddard brought in and get a search warrant for his house,’ said Carter.
‘What do you want Ebony to do?’ asked Robbo.
‘We’ll salvage the evening. Tell Ebony to arrive late at the pub, after Goddard’s been picked up, and then see if she can get any extra information on him from some of his ex-girlfriends.’
‘Where is she going?’
‘For drinks to a pub called The Pear and Peach – it’s on Upper Street.’
Ebony stepped into a doorway to take the call from Robbo.
‘It looks likely he’s Hawk. We have to find out where he’s holding Danielle.’
‘Okay, Guv.’
‘We’re bringing him in for questioning but we don’t know where Danielle is being held yet and we need more evidence. Arrive at the pub thirty minutes late. People will still be there and you can pick up what information you can. We are still not sure of an address for him. He doesn’t seem to be living at the one he gave. He may be using a second premises.’
Jeanie took a call from the officers outside Tracy’s house.
‘Steve Collins is back home.’
‘Okay, give Tracy a call and make sure she’s all right.’
She phoned Tracy.
‘You okay, Tracy?’
‘I’m okay. Steve is here.’
‘Yeah, I was just told. Have you spoken to him about things?’
‘He’s been living a bit of a lie.’
‘I know. We found out about his job. Carter and I went to see where he’s been holing up. It isn’t a pretty sight. He’s obviously been going through a difficult time mentally. Is he going to stay?’
‘Jackson seems to be okay with him. He got a smile. That means a lot, I think. At least we know he’s not Daddy Pig.’
‘Yeah – you’re right.’
‘Are you any nearer to finding Danielle?’
‘We have someone we are going to bring in for questioning. He’s a man who we know she was seeing as a friend and more. We are getting closer. I’ll be over tomorrow morning but you can phone me any time, Tracy.’
She heard Tracy sigh. ‘Thank you, Jeanie.’
Robbo was still searching Interpol when Jeanie returned to his desk.
He looked up as she approached. ‘A couple of interesting cases came though from Australia. Two women died in Perth, both in their twenties. Both left a baby. Another three women disappeared in New Zealand, again all three left a child. There was one older woman in her forties found in 2006 in familiar circumstances to our women in a remote farm five hundred kilometres southeast of Adelaide. She was found with a garish mask of make-up on her face; she’d been strangled. Her body was wrapped in spiders’ webs by the time they found her.’
‘She was forty?’
‘Forty-five. No small child anywhere. She was from Britain. I don’t know a lot more at this stage. I’ll keep looking and I’ll get in touch with the police out there.’
Robbo took a call.
‘They’ve picked up Goddard outside his house and are bringing him in here to Archway Police Station; officers are in there searching the house now.’
‘Tell them we are looking for a possible second premises,’ said Carter. ‘There might be some correspondence with some other address on it – electricity bill, that kind of thing. I’ll get ready to interview him. Robbo, you need to prepare some questions for me specifically about this history.’
Chapter 48
Ebony took a detour on the way to Islington. She was glad that it had been decided to bring Christian in. She would do all she could that evening to find out where he could be holding the women if the police search of his home didn’t find them. She needed to talk to some of his less forthcoming conquests just in case more information was needed. She got a text on the way. It was from Yan.