Daniel nodded and flipped his pad shut.
‘I’ll take you through,’ said Turner.
As he was led to the interview room, Daniel felt the familiar claustrophobia of police stations engulf him. The walls were papered with public authority notices about drink driving, drugs and domestic abuse. All the blinds were closed and dirty.
The interview room was windowless. The walls were painted pale green and completely blank. Straight ahead of him sat Sebastian. The police had taken the boy’s clothes and so he was dressed in a white paper suit, which crackled as he shifted in his chair. The oversized suit made the boy seem even smaller and more vulnerable – younger than eleven. He was strikingly beautiful, almost like a little girl, with a wide heart-shaped face, small red lips and large green eyes full of intelligence. His very pale skin was sprinkled with freckles over the nose. His hair was dark brown, and neatly cut. He smiled at Daniel, who smiled back. The child seemed so young that Daniel almost did not know how to speak to him and did his best to conceal his shock.
Sergeant Turner began the introductions. He was a tall man – even taller than Daniel – and seemed too large for the small room. He hunched as he introduced Daniel to Sebastian’s mother, Charlotte.
‘Thank you so much for coming,’ said Charlotte. ‘We really appreciate it.’
Daniel nodded at Charlotte and then turned towards her son.
‘You must be Sebastian?’ he said, sitting down and opening his briefcase.
‘Yes, that’s right. You can call me Seb if you like.’
Daniel was relieved that the boy seemed so open.
‘All right, Seb. Pleased to meet you.’
‘Pleased to meet you too. You’re my solicitor, aren’t you?’ Sebastian grinned and Daniel raised an eyebrow. The boy would be his youngest client, yet his words made him seem more confident than teenagers he had defended. Sebastian’s searching green eyes and lilting, proper voice disarmed him. The mother’s jewellery seemed heavier than she was; the cut of her clothes expensive. The fine bones of her hand moved birdlike as she stroked Sebastian’s leg.
This little boy must be innocent, Daniel thought as he opened his folder.
Coffee and teas and chocolate digestives were brought in. Sergeant Turner then left them alone, so that Daniel could meet privately with his young client and his mother.
‘Please may I have one?’ asked Sebastian, his clean slender fingers, so similar to his mother’s, hovering over the biscuits.
Daniel nodded, smiling at the boy’s politeness. He remembered being a child in trouble, navigating an adult world, and suddenly felt responsible for the boy. He slung his still-damp jacket on the back of the chair and loosened his tie.
Charlotte was combing her fingers through her hair. She paused to examine her manicured nails before clasping her hands. Daniel’s own mother had had very long nails and he paused for a moment, distracted by them.
‘Excuse me,’ she said, raising her heavily made-up eyelids and then lowering them again. ‘Will this take long? I must pop out to call Seb’s father, to let him know that you’re here. He’s in Hong Kong, but he asked for an update. I’m going to run home quickly in a minute. They said I could bring Seb some clothes before they start questioning again. I just can’t believe that they took all of his clothes. They even took a DNA sample – I mean I wasn’t even here …’
The air was thick with the wet leather of the briefcase and the heavy musk of Charlotte’s perfume. Sebastian rubbed his hands together and sat up straight, as if strangely excited by Daniel’s presence. He took one of Daniel’s business cards from their slot in his folder and sat back in his seat, admiring it.
‘It’s a nice card. Are you a partner?’
‘I am.’
‘So you’ll be able to get me off then?’
‘You’ve not been charged with anything. We’ll just have a quick chat to go over your story and then the police have some more questions for you.’
‘They think I hurt that boy, but I never.’
‘You mean, you didn’t,’ whispered Charlotte. ‘What have I told you about that?’
Daniel frowned in private acknowledgement of Charlotte’s out-of-place reproof.
‘OK, so do you want to tell me what did happen on Sunday afternoon?’ said Daniel. He took notes as the boy told his side of the story, about going out to play with his neighbour, Ben Stokes.
‘The Stokeses are just a few doors down,’ added Charlotte. ‘Now and again they’ll play together. Ben’s a nice little boy, quite bright, but he’s a little young for Sebastian.’
‘He’s only eight,’ said Sebastian, smiling at Daniel and nodding, looking him full in the eye. He put a hand over his mouth as if to suppress a laugh. ‘Or should I say he was eight. He’s dead now, isn’t he?’
Daniel made an effort not to start at Sebastian’s words.
‘Is that funny?’ Daniel asked. He glanced at Sebastian’s mother, but she was distracted, looking at her nails, as if she hadn’t heard. ‘Do you know what happened to him?’
Sebastian looked away. ‘I think somebody might have attacked him. Maybe a paedophile.’
‘Why do you say that?’
‘Well, they’ve been asking me all these questions. They think something’s happened to him since I saw him last and I suppose if he’s dead it must have been a paedophile or a serial killer or something like that …’
Daniel frowned at the boy, but he seemed calm, considering Ben’s fate as if it were merely an intellectual question. Daniel pressed on, quizzing Sebastian on his actions before and after he returned home the day before. The boy was clear and consistent.
‘Fine,’ Daniel said. He felt as if the boy might trust him. He believed him. ‘Mrs Croll?’
‘Please call me Charlotte, I’ve never liked my married name.’
‘Fine, Charlotte. I just wanted to ask you a couple of things too, if that’s OK?’
‘Of course.’
Daniel could see that she had a spot of lipstick on her teeth and, as he turned to her, noticed the strain in her small frame. Despite the careful curls and the precise eyeliner, the skin around her eyes was tired. Her smile was an effort. If she knew about the lipstick on her teeth, Daniel thought, she would be mortified.
‘When the police found Sebastian today, he was home alone?’
‘No, I was at home, but asleep. I’d had a migraine and taken a couple of tablets for it. I was dead to the world.’
‘When Sebastian was taken away, according to the police report, he said that he didn’t know where you were.’
‘Oh, he’d just be kidding. He does that. He likes winding people up, you know.’
‘I was just winding them up,’ echoed Sebastian eagerly.
‘The police had no idea where you were; that was why they asked for a social worker …’
‘Like I said,’ said Charlotte quietly, ‘I was having a lie-down.’
Daniel pressed his teeth together. He wondered what Charlotte was hiding. He felt surer of the boy than he did of his mother.
‘And on Sunday, when Sebastian came home, were you there?’
‘Yes, when he came in from playing with Ben I was in the house. I’m in all the time …’
‘And you didn’t notice anything strange when Sebastian returned home?’
‘No, not in the slightest. He just came in and … watched some telly, I think.’
‘And what time did he come home?’