LK: Did you go there again?
CR: No. The only other time we did it was in the park.
LK: I should tell you that we have obtained occupancy records for Adelaide Court for the period in question and there was no one called Baker living there. Either on the top floor or anywhere else.
CR: So? Loads of people sub-let.
LK: Officers have also questioned tenants who were living there at the time and no one remembers seeing you.
CR: I’m not bloody surprised. I went there once at, like, midnight.
JM: [intervening]
Camilla, if this man forced you – if there was any sort of assault –
CR: He didn’t rape me, if that’s what you’re getting at.
JM: I can arrange for you to see a trained counsellor –
CR: Jesus, it was just sex, OK? I liked him, he liked me. It didn’t mean anything.
LK: Not until you got pregnant, anyway.
CR: Yeah, well, that wasn’t the plan, was it.
LK: And you say that this Mr Baker was going to register the child’s birth?
CR: Right.
LK: Do you know if he did that?
CR: I assume he did. I haven’t spoken to him about it.
LK: Have you spoken to him at all?
CR: No.
LK: Not at all? You gave a virtual stranger your baby and just left it at that?
CR: Look, I just wanted to move on, OK? The kid was with its father, he was safe, I just wanted to forget about the whole thing.
LK: We’ve accessed UK Records Office data for all baby boys registered under the surname ‘Baker’ on the day your child was born, and for the six-week period after that date. None of them is your child.
CR: [silence]
LK: We’ve also reviewed all baby boys listed as born at Birmingham and Solihull General Hospital for the same period under any surname. Again, none is your child.
CR: Look, if Tim’s fucked up, then you should be talking to him, not me.
HL: We’d very much like to. He’s proving rather difficult to find.
CR: I don’t see what you expect me to do about that.
LK: If something happened to the baby, if there was some sort of accident, now’s the time to tell us.
CR: [silence]
*Duration of silence confirmed as 51 seconds*
LK: Is there something you want to tell us?
CR: No.
LK: Did you do something to the baby?
CR: No!
LK: Did you kill the baby?
CR: Of course I didn’t! I would never ever harm my baby.
HL: We can’t find the child, we can’t find the father –
CR: Look, can we turn off the tape?
LK: No, I’m afraid that’s not possible.
CR: [becoming distressed]
You’re going to tell my parents, aren’t you?
HL: We have to conduct a thorough investigation –
CR: [wailing]
And it’s all going to come out and everyone will know – you’re going to destroy my life -
JM: I think we should take a break now, Inspector.
LK: Interview suspended at 12.17.
* * *
They’d barely got through the door before he started; Margaret hasn’t even had a chance to take off her coat. She fumbles wearily for a chair. The kitchen is cold; there’s condensation on the windows.
‘They said he was Camilla’s baby – our grandson.’ She’s not looking at him and he takes a step closer. ‘Did you know? Did you know?’
She says nothing.
‘Peggy – I want an answer.’
She starts to pull off her gloves. ‘Of course I didn’t know. How could I know?’
He starts to pace the kitchen. ‘I went along with what you said – I’ve stuck to the story –’
‘It isn’t a story – it’s the truth – he broke in and threatened you – threatened us –’
He turns to her, exasperated. ‘For heaven’s sake, you know that’s not what happened – he was angry, yes, but he wasn’t trying to rob us, he wasn’t asking for money. I’ve been thinking about it – I think he was trying to tell me something –’
‘He was shouting – I heard him –’
He stops, looks at her, his face suddenly white. ‘He called me Grandad. I thought it was just an insult, but –’
‘You’re talking nonsense and you know it.’
But he doesn’t seem to be listening. ‘You know what this means, don’t you? If he really was Camilla’s baby – that baby – it means she’s been telling the truth, this whole time. Just like she always claimed. She wasn’t lying –’
Margaret makes a contemptuous noise and turns away. ‘Perhaps not about that –’
He takes a step towards her. ‘But “that” was the most important thing, wasn’t it? All those other lies wouldn’t have mattered two hoots otherwise. No one would even have known –’
She glances up at him. ‘So where’s he been all these years, then? If she’s been “telling the truth” all this time, where was he?’
He looks exasperated. ‘I don’t know that, any more than you do. And as for all that nonsense about “Tim Baker”, I never believed a word of it and neither did you. But when she said she didn’t harm that child – we should have believed her. And when I think of the way we’ve treated her –’
Margaret turns away again, and he moves closer.
‘Peggy?’
No response. She’s fiddling with her gloves.
‘Are you absolutely sure,’ he says softly, ‘that you didn’t know?’
She flings him a furious look. ‘He turns up here out of the blue – in the middle of the night – how on earth could I have known who he was?’
‘And what about afterwards?’ He swallows. ‘After he – when I went up to change and you were down here on your own, what about then?’
She looks away again. ‘I don’t know what you mean.’
‘You know perfectly well what I mean – you found something, didn’t you, in that backpack thing? That’s why you suddenly decided we had to get rid of it – that’s why you were panicking – when I came back down –’
‘Now you really are being ridiculous.’
He stands his ground. ‘What was it, Peggy? A passport? Something that gave away who he was?’
She gets up, goes over to the sink and starts filling the kettle. ‘I didn’t know who he was, not till those horrible police people told me, and I didn’t know what was in the backpack because I never looked. Happy now? I just thought we were best getting rid, that’s all.’ She throws him a fierce look. ‘Why won’t you believe me?’
Her hands are shaking so much the water is going everywhere. She drops the kettle in the sink with a clang and leans heavily against the counter. Her breath is coming in raw shallow gasps and a moment later she feels her husband’s hands on her shoulders.