He turns on me suddenly. ‘How come you didn’t find this man before? Back in 2015, I mean, when she disappeared? Didn’t you question him then?’
‘We had no reason to, at the time. Everything pointed to your wife having disappeared at Wittenham. It wasn’t just that we found Toby there – there was no alien DNA or prints in the car.’
‘What about those people who said they saw her? Were they just making it up, getting off on it? I mean, there are people like that, aren’t there?’
I’m shaking my head. ‘No. I’m sure that didn’t happen in this case. I spoke to several of the witnesses myself.’
He’s still pacing, raking his hand through his hair, then he stops suddenly and rounds on me. ‘But this bloke you’ve arrested now – it’s definitely him – he’s the bastard who took Hannah?’
‘Enquiries are still progressing. I wish there was more I could say, I really do, but I’m sure you understand. We do have to be sure, and right now, we’re not. That’s why we’re here. Did your wife ever mention someone called William Harper?’
‘That’s his name, is it – this bloke?’
‘Did she know anyone in Frampton Road?’
He takes a deep breath. ‘No, not as far as I know.’
‘Could she have met him through the BBC? Perhaps interviewed him – for a news story?’
Gardiner looks blank. ‘I can check her laptop, but the name isn’t ringing any bells.’
We went through that laptop ourselves two years ago. Every damn file, every bloody email. If there’d been a reference to Harper in there I think we’d have found it, and living so close we’d have followed it up. But all the same, it’s worth checking.
‘Look,’ says Gardiner, ‘the only reason I can think of why she’d have been in Frampton Road was if she’d had to park there. It gets really congested round here and sometimes that’s the nearest she could leave the car. Those houses have drives, so it’s usually a bit clearer.’
And suddenly, there it is. The answer. That fact I always thought we’d missed.
‘Do you remember whether she definitely parked there that day?’ I’m trying not to sound too eager about it, but I can see from Gislingham’s face that he’s clocked it too.
Gardiner hesitates. ‘No. But I know she definitely didn’t park outside here the night before. I had to go down and help her bring in some shopping when she got home. But I don’t know for certain where the car was.’
I make to get up, but he hasn’t finished.
‘So does this – this – pervert take women and children? Women who have kids with them?’ I see the girl looking at him anxiously. ‘Is that it? That’s his “thing”? Because the news said there was a child in that cellar as well. A little boy – just like my Toby.’
‘To be honest, Mr Gardiner, we don’t know. It’s possible the child was born down there. But the girl is still too distressed to talk to us, so we don’t yet know exactly what happened.’
He swallows, looks away.
‘Your son is alive,’ I say softly. ‘Alive and safe. That’s what matters now.’
When we get to the front door, Gislingham says he needs to use the bathroom and the girl goes to show him where it is. We stand there, Gardiner and me, not knowing what to say.
‘You were on that other case, weren’t you?’ he says eventually. ‘Last year. That little girl that went missing. Daisy something.’
‘Yes.’
‘That didn’t have a happy ending either, did it.’
It’s a statement, not a question, which is perhaps just as well.
‘Don’t you have a kid too? Am I remembering that right?’
This time I know I need to answer but Gislingham’s arrival saves me.
‘Right, boss,’ he says, hitching his trousers.
I turn to Gardiner. ‘We will, of course, keep you informed about the investigation. And please do let me know if you find any reference to Harper on Hannah’s laptop. And obviously as soon as there is any –’
‘I want to see her,’ he says abruptly. ‘If you find her, I want to see her.’
I didn’t want him to ask. I was praying he wouldn’t.
I shake my head. ‘That’s really not a good idea. It’s best –’
‘I want to see her,’ he says, his voice breaking. ‘She was my wife.’ He’s struggling to keep from weeping, right there, in front of me.
I take a step closer. ‘Really. Don’t do that. Remember her as she was. All those lovely photos. That’s what Hannah would have wanted.’
He stares at me, and I will him to understand. Don’t put an image in your head you can’t forget. I know. I’ve done it. And I can’t take it back.
He swallows, then nods. And I see the relief on the girl’s face.
*
Back in the car, Gislingham yanks out the seat belt and straps himself in. ‘What do you think – is he banging her or not?’
I start the engine. ‘You don’t even know she’s a live-in.’
And in any case, it is two years. The poor sod deserves some chance at moving on. I know how hard that can be. Separating yourself from the past without abandoning it. Without feeling guilty every time you smile.
But Gislingham’s shaking his head. ‘Well, I reckon if he’s not now he soon will be. She’s definitely up for it if you ask me. In fact, I wouldn’t kick her out of bed myself.’
I put the car in gear. ‘I thought you were supposed to be a happily married man.’
He grins at me. ‘But it doesn’t hurt to look, does it?’
*
When we get back to St Aldate’s, Baxter has dragged a clean whiteboard into the incident room and is carefully transcribing the original timeline from the case file.
6.50
Hannah leaves voicemail for childminder
7.20
Rob leaves on bike
7.30?
Hannah leaves
7.55
Text to Hannah from Jervis’s PA, putting i/v back to 9.30
7.57
Rob’s train leaves Oxford
8.35
Childminder’s flatmate leaves message saying she’s ill
8.45 – 9.15
Sightings of Hannah and buggy at Wittenham
8.46
Rob at Reading station (CCTV)
9.30
Witness sees empty buggy in Money Pit
10.30
Toby Gardiner found
When he’s finished he stands back and snaps the top back on the marker pen.
‘So,’ he says, turning to the rest of the team, ‘assuming she never got to Wittenham at all, where does that leave us?’
‘With one hell of a big question mark over all those sightings, for a start,’ says Quinn drily.
I’ve been thinking about that all the way back from Crescent Square; all those witnesses who came forward, just trying to help. And every last one of them mistaken.
‘There were a lot of people up there that day,’ says Baxter, scanning the statements. ‘Parents, kids, dogs. There could easily have been someone who looked a bit like Hannah from a distance. None of them saw her that close up and she wasn’t wearing anything very distinctive.’
‘So this woman they saw, whoever she was, why didn’t she come forward?’ asks Quinn. ‘It was all over the press and the internet for weeks – four or five appeals for witnesses. If you were there that day and looked a bit like her, wouldn’t you have got in touch with the police?’
Baxter doesn’t look convinced. ‘Could have been a tourist. A foreigner. Or someone who just didn’t want to get involved – didn’t want the hassle.’
‘Personally,’ I say, ‘I’m more interested in the dog that didn’t bark.’
I see Erica Somer smile at that, but the others are slower.
‘Oh,’ says Everett, after a moment. ‘You mean like in Sherlock Holmes?’