Think of the Children (18 page)

The end of the ceremony was as awkward as the initial greeting. Before everyone headed off for the wake, Kayla approached Jessica, Reynolds and Cole to thank them again for being there. Mike and
Jenny were standing awkwardly, close to one of the cars that were carrying family members. He eyeballed the officers as if daring one of them to speak to him.

Sensing the unease, Kayla spoke quietly to Jessica in the churchyard. ‘Don’t worry about him,’ she said. ‘He’s angry with everyone at the moment, me
especially.’

‘It’s okay,’ Jessica said.

‘Are you any closer to … ?’ Kayla didn’t finish the question but she didn’t have to.

Jessica shook her head without committing herself to anything specific. ‘We’re trying.’

‘I saw on the news that someone else had gone missing. Have you … ?’

‘Not yet.’

From the look on the woman’s face, it seemed as if Kayla was closely following Lloyd Corless’s disappearance. Jessica guessed she believed that finding Lloyd’s abductor would
be the key to Isaac’s murder. She tried to offer a reassuring smile but false sincerity was something Jessica had never been good at. Kayla nodded and gripped Jessica’s hand as she
shook it. Her palms were still feeling raw from the fall a few days previously but she tried not to wince. Kayla’s long black hair was clean and neatly tied back and she looked better than
when Jessica had last seen her, although there were still heavy dark bags under her eyes, despite the concealer she had used.

‘Can you do something for me?’ Kayla asked.

‘What?’

‘Call if anything happens. If you find him or whatever, the other boy, can you let me know?’

‘I’ll try.’

Jessica didn’t want to promise because if they did find Lloyd, whether he was alive or dead, there would be a lot of people who would need to be spoken to. Kayla seemed to accept what
Jessica was saying.

‘Okay, thank you. Are you coming to the hall?’

Jessica glanced across towards Mike, who was still staring at them. ‘I’m not sure that’s really for the best.’

Kayla looked behind her. ‘You’re probably right.’ She stared directly into Jessica’s eyes before turning and the look said more than her words could: ‘I need to go,
but please find whoever did this’.

As she walked away, Jessica looked to her colleagues. ‘Are you off back to the station?’ she asked. Jack nodded but didn’t speak. Jessica had known him for years and he was
looking older than ever, the stress of the past few days and lack of progress weighing on him heavily.

‘We’ve got more meetings later this afternoon,’ Reynolds said. ‘Are you coming?’

‘I think I’m going to visit Rachel Corless again and maybe Adrian too if you don’t mind.’

The truth was Jessica wasn’t enjoying the atmosphere at Longsight. To outward appearances, nothing had changed but everyone was feeling the pressure to make a breakthrough.

‘Are you on to something?’ Reynolds asked.

Jessica shook her head. ‘I’m just going to check in.’

She hadn’t told any of her colleagues but she had been text-messaging Esther each evening to swap accounts of what their respective departments had found out that day. There was very
little but Jessica felt she probably knew as much as anyone given the tension between CID and the kidnap team. To the media they were presenting a united front but behind closed doors, they were
blaming each other for not being able to find Lloyd. It was typical internal politics.

Jessica made her way back to where she had parked. The weather had been getting colder, the rain replaced by morning frosts and flimsy flurries of snow. None of it settled but each day seemed to
be chillier than the one before.

As she sat in the driver’s seat, Jessica took out her phone and called Esther. After making sure she was at Rachel’s and not too busy, Jessica drove to the house. The giant Christmas
tree and inflatable Santa across the road were still present and had been joined a few doors down by a huge snowman that looked as if it was made of polystyrene. Jessica shook her head and allowed
herself a small grin, wondering how Esther had taken to the new oversized piece of tat.

She rang the doorbell and Esther answered. Before going inside, Jessica nodded across the road towards the snowman. ‘I know,’ Esther said with a wicked grin, stepping out of the
house and pulling the door closed without locking it in place. Her hair was tied into a ponytail, and the suit had been replaced by a pair of jeans and woollen jumper. Because she was staying with
Rachel as a permanent support figure, it made sense for her to dress more informally. ‘Still cold out then?’ Esther added, walking along the path with Jessica next to her.

‘Bloody freezing. I was up in Sunderland the other day and it’s worse up there.’

‘I heard you fell over …’ Esther turned, grinning.

‘Who told you that?’ Jessica was stunned the other woman knew.

‘Oh, I have spies everywhere.’

‘If we could channel all the energy that’s spent gossiping about me into actual police work, we’d have wrapped this all up weeks ago.’

‘Are you all right?’ Esther asked.

‘Fine. How’s Rachel?’

Esther let out a small sigh. ‘She’s just … difficult to read. I think she’s coming to the realisation Adrian isn’t involved after all. She’s been really calm
because I think she was convinced Lloyd would be back any day and his dad would be in trouble. She was a bit upset last night and I think it’s dawning on her that it’s not going to
happen like that.’

‘Does she know anyone else who might be involved?’

The two women stopped at the end of the pathway. ‘No, it’s difficult to get much of anything out of her. Having her friend around helps but she can’t be here all the time. She
spends all day cleaning then watching TV in the evening. Then she keeps talking about getting the place ready for Christmas, as if everything’s normal.’

‘What about the other son?’

‘Marcus? He spends a lot of time in his room. I had a bit of a chat with him the other day but you’ve got to be careful talking to minors. I think he’s coming to terms with it
better than his mother. How’s it going at your end?’

Jessica was perfectly happy to tell Esther the truth, knowing it wouldn’t go any further. ‘Shite. We’ve got nothing and, worse still, the papers know it. Everyone’s
assuming they’re getting ready to lay into us. The chief super was around yesterday but it’s not as if he can do much. He’s putting loads more officers out onto the streets to
make it look like we know what we’re doing.’

‘Sounds about right. Shall we go in? It’s bloody freezing out here. I’ve got this jumper on but it’s boiling in there. The heating’s permanently on full. I’d
hate to be paying those gas bills.’

‘I was going to but it sounds like you’ve got enough going on. I think I’m going to nip up and see Adrian again. He might have some ideas now he knows we’re not looking
into him.’

‘Have you formally ruled him out?’

Jessica blew into her hands to warm them. ‘More or less. You know what it’s like, you do as much digging as you can and, if you can’t find anything, you just assume
they’ve hidden it well. The official line is “not a suspect”, the unofficial one is “keep looking”. The even more unofficial one is that we don’t have the
officers to “keep looking” because they’re all out on the streets.’

Esther turned. ‘All right, let me know how you go.’

Jessica drove steadily up the motorway, not wanting to push her car too hard, and arriving just before sunset.

Adrian opened the door and invited her in. ‘No one’s been telling me anything,’ he said and Jessica knew he had good reason to complain. While Esther had been sent to stay with
Rachel, Lloyd’s father had been left almost entirely out of the loop. The man offered her tea and Jessica waited in the kitchen with him while he made it. ‘Can you tell me what’s
going on?’ he asked.

‘We’re still looking for your son, Mr Corless,’ Jessica said.

‘Just call me Adrian. Are you having any luck?’

Telling the man the truth would be fairly unprofessional, so Jessica fudged the issue as best she could. ‘We are following a few leads.’

‘That sounds like classic police-speak. “Proceeding in a westerly direction” and all that crap. Have you at least moved on from trying to go after me?’

‘You’re not on our list of suspects.’

‘That’s one thing at least.’

Adrian poured boiling water from the kettle into two mugs and took two teabags from an open box on the counter top, dropping them in. ‘I’ve been out driving each day,’ he said.
‘I know it’s a waste of time but you just hope you’ll spot something. Sometimes you see some kid with the same coat and your heart jumps until you get a bit closer and realise
it’s someone else. The worst thing is, I can’t talk to anyone. Rach doesn’t answer my calls and then you lot go to her, not me. He’s my son too, y’know.’

There was a clear frustration but Jessica thought she would probably be far angrier than he was if the roles were reversed. She certainly wouldn’t be making cups of tea.

‘I know we asked you the other day but is there anyone you can think of who might want to harm Lloyd?’ Jessica asked as sincerely as she could.

‘I’ve been trying to think,’ Adrian said, making eye contact. ‘I’ve not just been sitting around and wondering – I’ve made lists. I thought about
everyone over the years who I’ve fallen out with and so on. The thing is, apart from Rach and her family, I’ve not really pissed people off. I’ve worked when I’ve had a job
and tried to find something when I’ve not. I don’t owe anyone any money, I’m not in any gangs or anything and I hardly ever go out on the piss. Until I split with Rach, everything
was simple.’

‘Why did you break up?’

Adrian opened a small fridge and took out a pint of milk, pouring some into each mug before putting it away and offering one to Jessica. ‘It was a build-up of things. Rach was happy when
there was money coming in but when I lost my job, she couldn’t accept it. When I couldn’t get another one full-time and was relying on scraps from the job centre, she was furious. She
thought I couldn’t find a job because I didn’t want one.’

He stopped to take a sip of his tea before waving Jessica towards the living room. He sat on one of the chairs at the dining table, Jessica taking another.

‘Is that why you broke up with her?’ Jessica asked.

‘Sort of. I knew she was really materialistic when we were together. She always liked spending money on things but it was fine because we had the money to spend. Our wedding was
ridiculous. It got to the point where I didn’t even want to know how much she was spending because I wouldn’t sleep. Every time I brought it up, she’d go on about it being
“her” big day. Never “ours”, always “hers”. I thought that once we got through that, it would change. Then Marcus and Lloyd came along and it was sort of better.
She liked spending money on them. After I lost my job, she acted as if I’d failed her and the boys. She was used to a comfortable lifestyle and claiming benefits wasn’t something she
wanted to do. Then it was all her mum in her ear about how I was never good enough and all that. But we stayed together for the boys until I couldn’t take it any longer. They were at an age
where they were just about old enough to understand and I told her it was over. She’d been giving me all that abuse over the years but I still ended up being the bad guy because I was the one
who split with her.’

Adrian tailed off, picking up his mug from the table. Jessica didn’t think he was looking for sympathy but she felt sorry for him nonetheless. From everything he said, he certainly had
been harshly treated. It was as if he sensed her thoughts. ‘It’s fine,’ he added. ‘I’m used to it all now. I don’t want to bore you with my moaning, I’d
rather you were out there looking.’

As he spoke Jessica heard the front door opening and a woman’s voice calling out, ‘Ade?’

‘Shit, that’s my mum,’ Adrian said. ‘You should probably leave.’ Jessica didn’t have time to ask him why before a woman burst into the living room with two
bags of shopping. She was short and overweight, with shoulder-length greying hair, and wearing a dress that looked more like a curtain than an item of clothing.

‘Are you coming to help me or not?’ she demanded before noticing Jessica. ‘Who are you?’

‘This is DS Daniel, she’s—’ Before Adrian could finish speaking, his mother cut him off.

‘And you let
her
in
here
?’ She turned from Adrian and looked at Jessica, her eyes dark and wide with anger. She didn’t look that much older than her son and
Jessica guessed she was a teenager when she’d had him. ‘Why aren’t you out there looking for my grandson instead of harassing my son? Why would he kidnap his own child? It’s
that bitch wife of his you should be going after.’

Jessica stood, knowing it was time to go. The woman wasn’t ready to stop as she continued shouting. ‘Yes, go on, get out. And don’t come back until you’ve got my grandson
with you.’

As she left the house, Jessica could hear Adrian trying to calm his mother. She wasn’t under an obligation to leave but seeing as the man wasn’t under suspicion and she had only
dropped around to reassure herself, Jessica knew there was no point in causing a scene. She walked along the pathway, passing a car which had the doors open and shopping bags on the seat, thinking
it seemed about right that Adrian’s mother did his shopping for him.

With everything that had happened over the past few days, Jessica was at a loss of what to do next. She unlocked her car and sat in the driver’s seat fiddling with her phone, scrolling up
and down the list of contacts, sometimes focusing on one and trying to remember the last time she had spoken to the person. As the list of names fizzed across the screen, one in particular settled
in the centre.

She stared at it, her heart beating quicker as she remembered what he meant to her. She didn’t know if it was fate or something she had done subconsciously but Jessica didn’t think
twice before pressing the call button next to Adam Compton’s name.

Of all the things Jessica regretted in her life, the way she had treated Adam Compton was top of the list. They had gone out for a while and got on really well. She was his
first proper girlfriend and he was one of the few people she could spend significant amounts of time with without wanting to cause them great harm.