The Lost Child (Detective Lottie Parker #3)(5)

‘What time did you go home?’ Lottie asked, glancing at Boyd to make sure he was taking notes.

‘Mum told me to be home by nine, but I think it was maybe after ten thirty by the time I got back. She’s usually okay if I’m late as long as she knows where I am. I couldn’t find my key. It’s never a problem, because Mum is always at home at night…’ Emma’s voice trailed off and she looked up at Lottie. ‘Where is she?’

‘That’s what we’re trying to determine,’ Boyd said.

‘Why aren’t you out looking for her, instead of sitting here asking me stupid questions?’ Emma hung her head. ‘Sorry.’

‘I know you’re upset, Emma.’ Lottie reached out to touch the girl’s hand.

Emma grasped it. ‘Please find my mum.’

Squeezing her hand, Lottie said, ‘It’s upsetting, I know, but can you tell me what you did when you reached your house?’

Emma pulled her hand away, sniffed and rubbed her nose. ‘I rang the doorbell. No one answered. I went round the back. Looked through the glass in the top half of the door. I saw… I saw…’

‘You’re doing fine,’ Boyd said.

‘No, I’m not! What would you know about it? It was horrible. Seeing a woman like that – on the kitchen floor. And now you tell me it was my granny. Who did that to her? Who killed her? And where is my mum?’

Where indeed? Lottie thought.

‘So you didn’t go inside at all?’ Boyd said.

‘Are you deaf or something? I had no key. I couldn’t get in.’ Emma glared, eyes flashing. ‘I saw the… body on the floor. I didn’t see anyone else around. It was raining and dark. I ran back to Natasha’s. Then I rang 999.’

‘Why didn’t you phone from outside your own house?’ Boyd asked.

‘Didn’t stop to think. I was scared. I just ran.’ The tissue disintegrated into confetti and fluttered to the flowery carpet.

‘When you were at the back of your house, are you sure you didn’t see anything? Nothing on the ground?’ Lottie asked.

‘It was dark. I didn’t see anything.’

‘I know you had no key, but did you try the back door? Check if it was locked?’

‘N… no. I didn’t stop to think. I assumed it was locked but I didn’t try it. Oh God, maybe Granny was alive and I could’ve saved her.’ Emma curled up, arms around her chest, heaving back sobs.

‘There was nothing you could have done, Emma,’ Lottie said, reaching out to the girl. ‘You did exactly the right thing, leaving the premises.’ Now I’ve frightened her even more, she thought. Wild eyes stared back at her. If the fragility of the girl’s mind mirrored her body, she was ready to collapse.

‘Could he have been waiting for me?’

‘No, pet. He was gone. But we need to take your fingerprints and DNA. Just to rule you out of the investigation.’

Emma’s eyes widened to balls of fear. ‘Why would you need my DNA? I didn’t do anything.’

‘It’s procedure,’ Lottie said, then relented. ‘For now, though, I think you need to rest.’

‘How can I rest when all I see is… is…’

Leaning over, Bernie Kelly squeezed the girl’s elbow. ‘Try not to fret too much.’

‘I know this isn’t easy, Emma,’ Lottie said, ‘so thank you for speaking to us. You’ve been a great help. This is my card with my number. Call me if you remember anything else.’

‘Just find my mum.’ The teenager convulsed into sobs.

At the door, Lottie turned. ‘Your dad, when did you last see him?’

Emma looked up, confusion skittering across her face. ‘My dad? Surely you don’t think he did this?’

‘Not at all. We have to follow up with everyone. Where might we find him?’

Shaking her head, Emma shrugged. ‘I’ve no idea where he is.’

Lottie exchanged a look with Boyd. She dearly wanted to interrogate Emma further, but another girl had appeared in the doorway. Lottie assumed the tall, gangly teenager with red hair tied up in a ponytail was Natasha.

Bernie Kelly ushered the two detectives to the front door. ‘I think Emma needs some rest, don’t you, Inspector?’

‘Yes, of course. But if she remembers anything at all, contact me straight away.’ Lottie handed over another card. ‘Like I said, there’ll be a family liaison officer allocated to stay with her,’ she added.

‘No need for that. I’ll look after her. I do most of the time anyway.’

‘What do you mean?’ Lottie pulled up her hood against the rain hammering down.

‘Poor Emma. When she’s not at school or working part-time in the hotel, she’s here with Natasha. I don’t think Marian has been well since… you know…’

‘I don’t know.’

‘Since that business with Arthur.’

‘You mean the barring order?’ Lottie wondered where this conversation was going.

‘Yes, and the other stuff.’

‘Mrs Kelly, can we go back in to talk?’

‘I really ought to watch the girls. I’ve said too much already.’ Bernie Kelly turned to go back inside.