Close to Home (DI Adam Fawley #1)(58)
23 July 2016, 3.09 p.m.
In attendance, DI A. Fawley, Acting DS G. Quinn, Miss E. Carwood (solicitor)
AF: I’d like to ask you some questions about your son, Jamie Northam. When did you last see him?
BM: He was waiting outside one day when I left the office. Sitting on the wall.
AF: Do you know how he found you?
BM: He said it took him about five minutes to find the firm on the internet. I didn’t realize they were living so near here. I haven’t seen Moira in years.
AF: And was that the only time you’ve seen him recently?
BM: No. I didn’t have time to talk to him that night so I said I’d see him in a coffee shop on the Banbury Road a couple of days later. The Starbucks. I had Leo in the car so I only had ten minutes. To be honest, I was hoping he wouldn’t turn up – I was hoping he’d have forgotten the whole thing.
AF: But he didn’t.
BM: No.
AF: So what did he want?
BM: He said he’d like to see me – a couple of times a month or something. I gathered he was having a pretty shitty time at home. Moira’s always been a cold bitch, and that stepfather of his is clearly a self-important tosser.
AF: So he was hoping for some support from you, as his biological father? Someone to give him the affection he wasn’t getting at home?
BM: You’re twisting it – it wasn’t like that –
AF: So what was it like?
BM: What he wanted – it would have been a nightmare. Sharon’s never even let me tell the kids about Jamie, never mind let me see him. I’d have had to make up all sorts of lies about where I was going –
GQ: I dunno, you seem pretty good at that to me.
BM: - and when she did find out she’d have blown her bloody top. It was just all too sodding difficult.
AF: So what did you say? When you blew your son off?
EC: There’s no need to take that tone, Inspector.
AF: Well, Mr Mason?
BM: I told him we were having some family trouble. That I’d think about it again when things had quietened down.
AF: What sort of trouble?
BM: What difference does it make?
AF: What sort of trouble, Mr Mason?
BM: Well, if you must know, I told him Daisy was having problems at school.
AF: What kind of problems?
BM: You know, that she was falling behind with her work – that the school was really competitive and we were having to help her because she was struggling to keep up.
AF: Was that true?
BM: No, of course it wasn’t true. Daisy’s way smarter than any of those stuck-up kids in her class.
AF: So it was a lie. Instead of taking responsibility for your own decisions, like a man, you put all the blame on your eight-year—old daughter.
BM: For fuck’s sake, it was just a white lie –
AF: I think you’ll find kids aren’t very good at telling the difference, Mr Mason. A lie’s just a lie, in their book.
BM: Whatever. Like I said, what difference does it make?
AF: Did you stop to think for a moment what damage it might do? That Jamie might resent your daughter after what you told him? That he’d see her as the reason why he couldn’t have a relationship with you – that it was all her fault? He already had a criminal record. He’s an angry and unstable young man, and now he has a grievance. Did you think for a moment what might happen, if they met?
BM: They weren’t going to meet –
AF: I know that’s what you assumed, but it’s not what happened, is it? He tracked her down, just like he tracked you down. And this is the result.
[shows still from CCTV]
That’s your daughter, Mr Mason. In the back of a car owned by the brother of a known paedophile.
BM: [looking at picture]
Jesus Christ - are you telling me Jamie did something to her – that he’s the one who took her?
AF: I have no idea, Mr Mason. Because, right now, none of us knows where she is. Do we?
* * *
—
Out in the corridor, Quinn turns to me. ‘You know, despite everything, I’m more and more convinced he didn’t do it. The porn, yes; the abuse, perhaps. But not the rest of it – not killing her. I saw his face just now, when you told him about her being in Azeem’s car. I don’t think anyone could fake that.’
‘So like 67 per cent of the shits on Twitter, you think she did it.’
‘If it has to be one of those two, then yes. But right now, my money’s on Jamie Northam. For what it’s worth.’
*
BBC Midlands Today
Saturday 23 July 2016 | Last updated at 15:59
Daisy Mason: Police question teenager
The BBC has learned that an unnamed teenage boy is helping police with their inquiries in connection with the disappearance of eight-year-old Daisy Mason. Despite an extensive search involving hundreds of members of the public, Daisy has not been seen since last Tuesday.
After it was announced that her parents, Barry and Sharon Mason, were being questioned by Thames Valley CID, there has been a widespread hate campaign on social media. The family home was subject to a devastating arson attack in the early hours of this morning, which sources say was connected with this campaign. The family are now believed to be in hiding.
Anyone with any information about Daisy should contact Thames Valley CID incident room on 01865 0966552.