Close to Home (DI Adam Fawley #1)(60)

‘Sorry – it’s from a song. It’s been in my head all day.’

The lawyer obviously thinks he’s scored some sort of point. ‘I’m not sure where all this is going, Inspector.’

‘We’re getting to that. So, Jimmy, you managed to work out which school Daisy went to.’

‘Piece of piss. Just sat outside a couple of schools at home-time until I saw her.’

‘Then you went back there later and spoke to her. It must have been a real shock for her – finding out she had a half-brother.’

‘Nah. She already knew.’

Now he really does have me wrong-footed. ‘Are you absolutely sure? Her parents didn’t want her to know about you. How did she find out?’

‘Don’t ask me. All I know is that she knew my name and everything. I think she thought it was cool to meet me. I think she liked having a secret from her mum.’

‘She didn’t get on with her mum? Do you know why?’

He shakes his head.

‘So what happened, Jimmy? You meet up, and she’s clearly happy to see you. She tells her mates she’s got a new friend and you see each other a couple more times, and suddenly she’s telling her friends she doesn’t want to talk about it any more. She’s angry and she won’t say why. What the hell happened?’

He shrugs.

I force myself to have some patience. It’s never been my strong suit.

But it pays off this time. Eventually.

‘She wanted to go to the circus on Wolvercote Common,’ he says at last, ‘so I got Azeem to take us. That’s why we were in the car. But it was crap. Kids’ stuff.’

I know the circus he means. We went, once. It was magical. One of the best days. I remember Alex lifting Jake so he could stroke the nose of a white pony they’d got up like a unicorn with a twisted golden horn. He talked about nothing but unicorns for days afterwards. I bought him a book about them. It’s still there, in his room.

Quinn’s voice dispels the memory. ‘Wasn’t the funfair there that weekend as well?’

Jamie nods. ‘But her mum won’t let her go to things like that. She’d never even seen candyfloss before. She didn’t know you were supposed to eat it.’

I have a sudden sad image of the two of them just being kids. Having a tiny afternoon of the ordinary childhood they might have had.

‘Sounds like a nice day,’ I say. ‘So what happened?’

He flushes. ‘Azeem said she’d get over it.’

‘Get over what, precisely? What exactly did you do to her, Jimmy?’

*

9 May 2016, 7.29 p.m.





71 days before the disappearance


The Grays Family Circus, Wolvercote Common

The big white tent has an arena of sand in the middle, and flags and bunting hung round the edge. Daisy is sitting on the front row of one of the banks of seats. She is alone, but the benches either side of her are so crowded with parents and kids that no one notices. The air is noisy with expectation, and soon the gypsy band strikes up and the master of ceremonies appears. A big round man, half clown, half hobgoblin, with a painted face and a serial flatulence problem that has the children squealing with laughter every time he appears. As the story gradually unfolds, fairies swing from a feathered trapeze, jugglers throw showers of fire and strange creatures in glittery bodysuits dance on the backs of spotted horses. Doves fly out of enchanted caskets, a mouse the size of a man salsas on a golden ball and a tame goose wanders in and out, seemingly unperturbed by all the hullabaloo. There is music, there are masks and there is magic, and Daisy is entranced, her little mouth open in an enormous wondering O.

When the show has finished and the cheering is over, Daisy makes her way outside, where Jamie Northam is waiting. Smoking. One or two of the passing parents glance circumspectly at him as they go by.

‘Jesus,’ he says, chucking away his fag. ‘It went on a bit, didn’t it? Azeem has to get back.’

He turns to go and Daisy runs to catch up, then skips along beside him.

‘It was amazing. There was this little girl who was stolen as a baby and imprisoned by a witch in a magic garden. But the animals helped her escape and she went on a huge journey over the mountains to a beautiful castle on a hill and it turned out she was a princess after all. And she lived happily ever after with her real mummy.’

‘Sounds like bullshit to me.’

Daisy frowns. ‘No it’s not. Don’t say that!’

‘It’s just a stupid fairy tale. That’s not how things are.’

‘They are! Sometimes they are!’

He stops and turns to her. ‘Look, kid. People don’t get stolen as babies and find out they’re bleeding royalty. That’s just kids’ stuff. Fairy tales. I know your parents are crap, but you’re stuck with them. Sorry – that’s just how it is.’

She’s close to tears now. ‘They’re not my parents,’ she says. ‘Whatever you say. I know.’

Jamie lights another fag. ‘What are you on about?’

She’s sullen now. ‘I heard them. My dad was saying how they almost didn’t get me and how it had been really difficult but my mum had done it. See – she stole me. When I was a baby. It’s a secret. I’m not supposed to know.’