Close to Home (DI Adam Fawley #1)(40)

‘She must have got that from one of his dirty mags,’ says Sharon.

My first thought is to wonder, if that’s true, what else she must have seen. I have a horrible image of a clever, intent little girl, carefully scrutinizing each sordid page, looking for what her daddy likes.

‘When’s your husband’s birthday?’ My throat feels dry.

A pause this time. ‘April the second.’

‘Didn’t you see it then – when she gave it to him?’

Her eyes narrow. ‘No, of course I didn’t. What do you take me for? It was their little secret. Don’t you get it?’

‘Oh, I get it, Mrs Mason.’ I push back my chair. ‘Thank you for bringing this to our attention. Could I ask you to remain here for a little while, in case we have other questions? DS Quinn will get you some tea.’

‘I don’t want your tea. I told you before. I don’t like it.’

‘Cold drink?’ says Quinn. ‘Diet Coke?’

She throws him a venomous look. ‘I’ll have fizzy water.’





* * *



—



Outside, in the corridor, I lean heavily against the wall.

‘You OK, boss?’

‘I knew that bloke was a wanker, but Christ almighty.’

‘Look on the bright side: it might get us our warrant – access to his computer. Even if it’s not enough for an arrest.’

But I’m not so sanguine. ‘I suspect we’ll need more than the card for that. But there’s no harm asking. Let’s hope we get a magistrate with an eight-year-old daughter.’

‘OK, I’m on it.’

He’s about to go when I call him back. ‘Tell me, if Mason had gone straight home from Witney, rather than “driving around” as he claims, how long do you think it would have taken him to get there?’

Quinn considers. ‘That time of day – half an hour, forty minutes tops.’

‘So it’s possible he got home at exactly the moment Sharon Mason was out.’

Quinn frowns. ‘I guess so. Doesn’t leave much time, though. To kill the girl, get rid of the body and be gone before his wife gets back.’

‘But what if that’s not what happened? What if Sharon came back and found them together – found him actually doing something to Daisy? There’s a huge row, and somewhere, in the middle of it, Daisy gets killed. Accident or rage, the result’s the same.’

‘So either one of them could have actually killed her?’

‘If that’s really the scenario, then yes.’

‘But it’s Barry who got rid of the body?’

I nod. ‘I’m guessing so. Can’t see Sharon doing it, can you? Not in those bloody shoes of hers, anyway.’

‘So all this happened between 5.30 when Mason got home and – what? – six-ish?’

‘Half six at the latest, since they were expecting people by then. The question is how far he could have driven and still got back in time for that. Somewhere he could have buried the body or hidden it well enough that no one’s found it yet. But remember, he’s a builder – he has his own sites, and he’d know about others – jobs he’d bid for. Empty building plots with big holes in the ground just waiting to be filled.’

Quinn’s still processing all this. ‘But if what you say is right, why didn’t they just claim the girl had been abducted on her way home from school? Why go through all that pantomime with the party?’

‘Because they couldn’t be sure someone hadn’t seen Daisy on the estate that afternoon. We know now that didn’t happen. But neither of the Masons knew that – she could have talked to a neighbour, stopped to pet a dog – ’

‘But it was a complete fluke no one realized she was missing hours earlier – right at the start of the party. The whole thing was the most colossal risk.’

‘Murder always is,’ I say drily. ‘Especially when it isn’t planned. And what other choice did they have?’

‘But in that case, why did she shop him now? It would have been much harder to break them if they’d stuck to the same story. Even Sharon Mason must have realized that.’

‘I think we have Amy Cathcart to thank for that. She was the last straw. Think about it from Sharon’s point of view – she’s been telling lie after lie to cover up for Barry and now she finds out he’s been cheating on her for months. Right now, revenge is all that matters. I don’t think she realizes how much danger she’s put herself in.’

‘So do we arrest her?’

‘No, we can’t, not yet. All we have is guesswork. Let’s give her some rope – make her think she’s succeeded in throwing all the blame on Barry. I’m betting she’ll make more mistakes.’

‘I’ll get on to the search team – see if there’s anywhere we could have missed that’s within an hour’s range of the house. Though with a car, and that much time, we’re talking a pretty big area.’

‘I know. But that’s where we are. And when you’ve done that, get everyone in the incident room in an hour.’

‘Where will you be?’

‘Talking to Leo. If anyone knows what happened that day, he does.’