She goes into the kitchen to find him taking a juice from the fridge. He bangs the door shut and swerves past her, head down, not meeting her eye.
`Harry should be coming tomorrow,' she says quickly as he reaches the door, painfully conscious how desperate she sounds. `I asked him to pop in while we were away. He was going to fix that tap in the bathroom but, if you like, he can help you with your volcano project instead.'
Matty still has his back to her.
`You'd like that, wouldn't you?'
She stands there, willing him to turn round, willing him to say something.
Then Zachary comes racing in. He has a plastic sword in one hand and a black patch lopsided over one eye. `Nyah, nyah, nyah!' he screams, banging the sword against Sam's legs. `I'm the evil pirate, I'm the evil pirate!'
When she looks up, Matty is gone.
Sent:Fri 19/01/2018, 17.12Importance: High From:DCEricaSomer@ThamesValley.police.uk To:DIAdamFawley@ThamesValley.police.uk, CID@ThamesValley.police.uk Subject: Case no 556432/12 Felix House, 23 Southey Road
Baxter says to tell you there's still no activity on Harry's mobile, and the address Ev got from the bar came up empty as well `“ they haven't seen him for a couple of weeks. We're seeing if we can find any other way of tracking him down.
And I've spoken to Rotherham Fleming again and they're still refusing to divulge anything about the Esmonds without a court order. However, they did confirm that there's nothing in the wording to preclude illegitimate children from inheriting under the will. If Harry can prove he is definitely Michael's son he will be entitled to his share of the proceeds of the sale of the property and any insurance money. But that's only because clause five has been fulfilled. If the house had remained standing, as the child of the younger son he wouldn't have been entitled to anything.
`Fuck,' says Quinn, when I read out the email to him. We've just joined the M25 and the traffic is nose to tail. Friday evening; we should have known.
`That gives him a shit-load of motive, doesn't it? I mean, not just to burn the house down but to get rid of Michael and his kids at the same time. With them out of the way there's a hell of a lot more cash for him.'
The traffic edges forward and comes to a halt again.
`So he arranges to meet Esmond at the house that night, knocks him out cold, then sets the house on fire. I mean, let's face it, if anyone knew where that bloody petrol was it was him. He'd been mowing the sodding lawn all summer.'
Someone behind us is sounding their horn.
`And he probably knew Esmond was under pressure. Wouldn't have been hard to pick up on that if he was there all the time. He'd have known it was odds on everyone would assume Esmond set the fire himself `“ that everything had just got too much. I mean, even we did, didn't we?'
He glances across at me, wondering why I'm saying nothing. But I'm trying to think. Because yes, what Quinn is saying works in theory, but my copper's instinct isn't there `“ not yet anyway. You'd have to be one hell of a callous bastard to even consider doing something like that, far less carry it out, but then again we don't know he's not. We don't know the first thing about him.
I take a deep breath. `It was Esmond who called Harry that night, not the other way round.'
Quinn shrugs. So what?
`And your theory only works if Harry knew about the will. He needed to have known he'd only be in line for the cash if the house had to be demolished. Otherwise the arson makes no sense.'
`Yeah,' says Quinn, signalling and moving out into the fast lane. Which is moving barely faster than we are, but patience never has been one of his key personal competencies. `Well, if you ask me, he did know. Like I said, he's been in and out of that house for months; he might even have had a key. He could easily have got into that office and found that will, just like I did.'
I get out my phone.
`Who are you calling?'
`Philip Esmond. If Michael knew who Harry really was, his brother is the one person he might have told.'
`And Philip didn't think to tell us?'
`Well, you know what it's like,' I say grimly. `Families. Families and secrets.'
Telephone interview with Philip Esmond, 19 January 2018, 5.45 p.m.
On the call, DI A. Fawley
AF:Mr Esmond? Sorry to bother you again. Do you have a minute? PE:Sure. What is it? AF:I'm afraid there's no easy way to raise this, but did you know your brother got a girl pregnant when he was still at the Griffin School? PE:No I didn't. Of course I didn't `“ I'd have told you. AF:Isn't it possible you were in Australia at the time? PE:I'd still have known. My parents would have hit the bloody roof for a start `“ there's no way they could have kept that quiet. AF:You said you remembered a girlfriend of his called Jenny. PE:Yes, I told you that. AF:It seems it was Ginny, not Jenny. Her father was Italian. PE:If you say so. I don't remember her having any sort of accent. But like you said, I was in Australia most of that year. So it was her, was it `“ she was the one he got pregnant? AF:We believe she went through with the pregnancy, though your brother may have thought she'd had a termination. He had another child. One he knew nothing about. PE:Fuck. AF:We believe this child came to Oxford last summer and met your brother. What we don't know is whether they told Michael who they really were. We thought he might have talked to you about it. If that had happened. PE:Absolutely not. Like I said `“ this is all news to me. Mike didn't say a word. I mean, he was a bit stressed but shit, I had no idea `“ AF:Do you think he would have done? If he was faced with a situation like that `“ if someone had turned up claiming to be his child `“ would he have talked to you about it? PE:[sighs]
I honestly don't know. I'd like to think so, but like I've said before, we weren't that close. Not since we were kids.
AF:Thank you, Mr Esmond. I think that's all for now. I expect you'll be wanting to speak to your solicitor. PE:My solicitor? AF:This long-lost child. They will have a claim on the estate, under the terms of the will. Assuming they can prove who they are. PE:[pause]
Fuck. Of course. I didn't think.
AF:As I said, I won't take up any more of your time `“ PE:Hang on a minute. This child `“ doesn't that mean he `“ she `“ has a motive? You know `“ for burning down the house? Christ, even `“ AF:For murder? Yes, we will certainly be looking into that. PE:[quickly]
But that means Mike may not have killed them after all, right? Sam and the kids? It may have been this `“ this person `“ instead. He might have killed them `“ he might have killed Mike `“
AF:As I said, we need to examine this new information and decide whether we can eliminate this person from our enquiries. We haven't been able to speak to them as yet, so it's all guesswork at the moment. But please don't get your hopes up. I know why you'd want to exonerate your brother but we have a long way to go yet. PE:Yes, yes, I know. But it is possible, isn't it? That is what you're saying? AF:[pause]