‘Doesn’t surprise me,’ says Everett drily. ‘The sort of kids you get at that school – that’s definitely the sort of smart-arse thing they’d come out with.’
‘The point is,’ I say, raising my voice, ‘Leo says Daisy ran away when the bullies caught up with them, and that’s why she got back before he did. Sharon Mason claims to know nothing about any of this, incidentally. According to this latest version of events, Leo went straight to his room when he got back and shut the door, so in theory he may not have heard anyone come into the house. He says he was annoyed with Daisy because she ran off and left him on his own, and he kept out of her way at the party for the same reason, which is why he didn’t realize the girl in the daisy outfit wasn’t her. I’m not sure I buy that, but he wouldn’t budge on it, however much I pushed him. What does ring true is that Daisy and Leo had some sort of row on the way home.’
‘Could it actually have been him?’ says Baxter. ‘If they had a row on the way home, could he have attacked her? Kids that age can be pretty volatile – she might have fallen over, hit her head – ’
‘In theory, yes, but if he did, where’s the body? There’s no way a child of ten could hide a body so well we haven’t found it. Even if he had plenty of time, which he didn’t.’
‘OK,’ says Baxter, though I can tell he’s not completely convinced. ‘But even if we discount him as a suspect, how much of this new story of his can we really believe? Some kids that age don’t even know the difference between truth and lies.’
Boys that age, I think. Boys Jake’s age.
‘I don’t think he’s lying.’ It’s Gislingham, loudly, into the silence. ‘Not about the bullying, anyway. Leo’s form teacher, Melanie Harris, says she thinks it’s been going on most of this term – his clothes were torn a couple of times and he had grazes on his hands, but they could never catch the kids responsible and Leo kept insisting he had just fallen over or something. Without an official complaint there wasn’t much they could do. But he’s definitely been acting up.’
Quinn considers. ‘Didn’t Sharon say he’d been moody?’
But Gislingham is shaking his head. They’ve been doing this low-level needling for weeks – ever since Quinn got bumped up to DS. ‘I think this is more than just moody. He’s had temper tantrums, been disruptive in class. A couple of weeks ago he went for another kid’s eye with a pencil – the head teacher suspected it was one of the boys who’ve been bullying him. Leo didn’t do the kid any actual damage, which is probably the only reason he got away with it. They got Sharon Mason into the school about it but she refused to take any of it seriously. Kept saying “boys will be boys”, apparently, and “children are so mollycoddled these days” and stuff like that.’
The more I hear about Sharon Mason, the less I understand her. For someone so superficial, she’s curiously opaque. There’s something going on here, but I sure as hell don’t know what it is. ‘Did you look at the CCTV for the period after Leo and Daisy left, to see if anyone was following them?’
‘I checked frame by frame for the half hour after, but there wasn’t anything obvious. A few boys did leave heading in the same direction, but that doesn’t prove anything. Kids aren’t stupid these days. They know where the cameras are. Especially if they’re up to no good.’
‘All the same, can you follow up on the bullying angle, Chris? See if we can come up with some names. The teachers must have an idea who it might be.’
‘Right, boss.’
‘Who’s next – Quinn?’
Quinn gets up and comes to the front. ‘Barry Mason claims he was late home that day because of an emergency at one of his sites. One in Watlington. Well, I’ve checked, and he only has one job there, and work’s been halted for three weeks. The owner told me she paid Mason ten grand a month ago and hasn’t seen him since. Keeps saying he’s coming and never turns up. She knows of at least three other people in the same position. Builders, eh? What a wanker.’
‘Don’t get me started,’ I mutter blackly. ‘So, if Mason wasn’t in Watlington where he was supposed to be, where the hell was he? Quinn, can you see what you can find?’
‘Won’t be easy without access to his credit cards and phone records. But I can see if number-plate recognition has picked him up anywhere.’
‘OK, everyone, one last thing. As of now, we have no grounds to arrest either of the Masons, so the family will be going home. In the full glare of the watching media. It’s going to get pretty tough for them the next few days, but whatever the press and the Twitter trolls throw their way, we can’t afford to be blinkered. There could still be other explanations for Daisy’s disappearance that don’t involve the family at all. As the lawyer the Masons will no doubt soon be hiring will be the first to tell me.’
Gislingham makes a face. ‘What I wouldn’t give to be a fly on the wall in that house tonight. Or a bug in the blender.’
I see Anna Phillips smile at that. ‘Bug as in insect, or bug as in device?’
Gislingham grins. He has a good grin. ‘Either would do.’
‘So,’ I say, bringing it to a close. ‘Has anyone got anything else? No? In that case meet again first thing tomorrow. Thanks, everyone.’
As I make my way back to the door, Everett swings alongside me. I could tell she had something else on her mind, but she obviously didn’t want to raise it in public. She does that a lot; I wish she’d have the courage to back her own instincts, because she’s rarely far wrong. And it would do Quinn good to be challenged once in a while. By someone other than Gislingham.
‘What is it, Ev?’
‘In Daisy’s classroom they had a board up with drawings the children did of their fairy tales.’
I wait. Ev’s not a time-waster. There’ll be a point to this.
‘Before we realized Daisy’s story was missing, I had a look at the picture she did of it.’ She gets out her phone and opens up a photo. ‘See?’
It’s not that easy to make out, but I think there’s a little girl at the bottom of the picture wearing a tiara and a pink tutu, and towering over her a much taller female figure with a broomstick and an outsize handbag. There’s a rather strange creature with foliage growing around its head like ivy, holding a bundle under one arm, and on the right a young male figure with yellow hair is fending off a monster with a huge snout and a curled tail. ‘So you think – ’
‘That the little girl is Daisy? Definitely. All little girls want to be princesses. Or ballerinas.’
I smile. ‘Or both, it would seem, judging from this.’
‘And Daisy’s father was always calling her his princess.’
My turn to make a face. ‘Pass the sick bag.’
‘I know, boss, but if you’re eight – ’
I shake my head. ‘I’m not disagreeing. Just nauseated.’
But Ev’s not finished. ‘What really struck me is the woman behind the little girl. See the shoes? Those strap things at the front? And talk about killer heels.’
And now I see what she means. ‘They’re just like the ones Sharon Mason was wearing this morning. Is still wearing, for all we know.’
Ev nods, then points to the monster. ‘Nanxi Chen told me Daisy had a new name for her dad. She’d started calling him the He Pig.’
I glance at her quickly and she nods. ‘I know, and I’m trying very hard not to jump to the obvious conclusion. Trouble is, these days we see child abuse everywhere. It may not be that at all – it could just be she’d had a row with her father and she was letting off steam. Something completely innocent. Like not getting the latest Cabbage Patch doll.’
I smile. No prizes for guessing Everett has no kids. ‘I don’t think they’re quite the thing any more, Officer.’
She grins. ‘Showing my age. But you get what I mean. We all know how kids overreact sometimes. Everything seems enormous when you’re that age.’
She flushes a little then, but I don’t let it register. ‘When did this start – the pig name?’