Cold Revenge (Willis/Carter #6)(70)

‘What time did he check his fields?’ Carter asked.

‘At eleven the next morning.’

‘It couldn’t have been in the farrier’s field that Douglas woke up then. We’ll go and talk to him again.’

They pulled up at the crossroads opposite a large cottage with an extension and a new-looking conservatory and a well-kept garden to the front, with a low stone wall running next to the road. Smoke rose from the chimney.

‘This is where Heather Phillips lived at the time of her disappearance,’ Willis said.

‘What do you think of the parents’ file?’

‘I need to go and talk to them in person.’

‘I agree.’

‘Was this the kind of abuse that leads to killing a child? Or was it out-of-control, heavy-handed discipline?’

‘It was definitely abuse.’

‘Why didn’t Davidson look into it more? He just calls it stern, calls it physical discipline. Why didn’t he look into it more?’

‘Because he set his sights on Douglas and had tunnel vision. He didn’t want his team getting distracted by child abuse claims.’

‘No matter what happened, we know the father showed little emotion at Douglas’s trial. I can understand why they moved away,’ said Willis. ‘They would have been looking up this lane every day, for the rest of their lives, waiting for Heather to come walking down it and you’d never be allowed to forget. Maybe also wishing they’d treated her better. Let’s talk to the farrier.’

They drove up a narrow lane and parked up at the top of a driveway. There was no sign of life when they knocked at the door.

‘Saul,’ Carter shouted through the letterbox and got no reply.

Back in the car, Willis looked up the address for the Phillipses. ‘They live about forty minutes from here,’ said Willis. ‘We have time. They deserve to be kept up to date now, and they will be getting it from the press already.’





Chapter 35


There was only one photo of Heather on the wall above the fireplace. There was another photo of a man with two small boys dressed in Disney outfits.

‘Are these your grandchildren, Mrs Phillips?’ asked Willis.

‘Yes, my son Oliver’s children. That was a few years ago – they’re big boys now.’ Her voice was monotone.

‘Do they live close to here?’ asked Willis.

‘Yes.’

‘Do you see them often?’

‘No,’ John Phillips answered.

‘I expect they call you for babysitting, school concerts?’ said Carter. They had accepted Mrs Phillips’ offer of tea and were sitting in her kitchen. ‘I know I always rely on my mum to help with my little boy.’

‘No, we don’t get asked.’

‘Oh, what a shame.’

‘And this is Heather?’ Willis went across to the dresser.

‘Yes,’ Mrs Phillips answered without looking at the photo. ‘Taken just a few weeks before she disappeared.’

‘Have you found her, is that why you’re here?’ John asked curtly, coldly. The atmosphere was very strained.

‘We wanted to talk to you both about something that has happened recently, it’s connected to Heather’s case,’ said Carter. ‘Nicola Stone was murdered, as was Millie Stephens, who worked at the farm.’

‘We heard it on the news,’ said John. ‘I can’t say I was sorry. Why has no one ever been found guilty of Heather’s murder? Why don’t we have a body to bury?’

Mrs Phillips was getting upset, her head already shaking in small involuntary movements.

‘When will you find her? When?’ he asked.

‘We will never stop looking for the truth,’ said Carter. ‘I know that it’s upsetting to reopen these wounds but there is always hope when it comes back into the public eye.’

John Phillips’ face was ashen and deep-set vertical lines aged him more than his seventy-nine years. ‘Where has Nicola Stone been all this time, that’s what I want to know?’ he asked.

Willis answered, ‘After she served her sentence she was given a new identity and was living in north London when she was found and killed.’

‘Huh! It makes me sick – my tax going to keep that woman alive. Well, good luck to whoever did it. I feel nothing but hate towards that woman. She knew something about my daughter’s disappearance. She knew and she never said. None of them did. And why was that woman allowed to have a life of anonymity? How is all that allowed when my wife and I will forever be known as the missing girl’s parents and people will always whisper behind our backs. They still think one of us did it!’

‘I am so sorry for everything you’ve been through,’ said Carter, ‘but the state has a duty to protect people. I understand how you feel though.’

John Phillips let out a snort of incredulity as he dismissed Carter’s words with a grunt of disdain. ‘As if it isn’t bad enough, what happened to us, to lose our daughter and not even know what happened to her, and now she becomes somehow wrapped up in that evil woman’s death?’

Carter was nodding earnestly. ‘We have never stopped looking, and we won’t.’

‘I’ll be long dead by then, for Christ’s sake!’