She points at the video still from three days before. ‘Look at how long the dress is here – definitely well above her knee. And then look at the other three pictures.’
And now I see. I see very clearly. The girl wearing the dress at the party must be at least two or three inches shorter than Daisy Mason. It’s not Daisy at all.
It’s another child.
*
15.18
Oxford’s News @OxfordNewsOnline
Canal Manor #abduction update – sources say police have found bloodstained garments. Anyone with info shd contact @ThamesValleyPolice #FindDaisy
15.22
Elspeth Morgan @ElspethMorgan959
That poor family. I can’t imagine what they’re going through #FindDaisy
15.45
BBC Midlands @BBCMidlandsBreaking
#MidlandsToday at six will have the latest on the disappearance of #DaisyMason. @ThamesValleyPolice earlier released a photo of her
15.46
William Kidd @ThatBillytheKidd
If you know where Daisy Mason is pls call the police #FindDaisy #DaisyMason
15.56
Anne Merrivale @Annie_Merrivale_
Am I the only one who thinks there’s something odd about this #DaisyMason thing? How can a child disappear from her own garden + nobody see?
15.05
Caroline Tollis @ForWhomtheTollis
@Annie_Merrivale_ I agree – I said to my OH the moment we heard – there’s more to that than meets the eye #DaisyMason
15.07
Danny Chadwick @ChadwickDanielPJ
What parents let their kid stay up 2 gone midnight? They obvs weren’t keeping proper tabs on her – only got themselves to blame #DaisyMason
16.09
Angus Cordery @AngusNCorderyEsq
@Annie_Merrivale_ @ForWhomtheTollis @ChadwickDanielPJ You mark my words – it’ll be one of the parents. Always is #DaisyMason
16.10
Anne Merrivale @Annie_Merrivale_
@AngusNCorderyEsq It is odd that neither of them have appeared in public yet @ForWhomtheTollis @ChadwickDanielPJ #DaisyMason
16.13
Elsie Barton @ElsieBarton_1933
@AngusNCorderyEsq @Annie_Merrivale_ @ForWhomtheTollis @ChadwickDanielPJ God I’d hate to have your suspicious minds #FindDaisy
16.26
Anne Merrivale @Annie_Merrivale_
@ElsieBarton_1933 You have to admit the whole thing sounds very odd #DaisyMason
16.29
Elsie Barton @ElsieBarton_1933
@Annie_Merrivale_ All I know is a little girl’s missing and we should focus on finding her not making accusations about her parents #FindDaisy
16.31
Angela Betterton @AngelaGBetterton
@AngusNCorderyEsq @ChadwickDanielPJ @Annie_ Merrivale_ @ForWhomtheTollis You don’t know what you’re talking about – you don’t even know the family #FindDaisy
16.33
Danny Chadwick @ChadwickDanielPJ
@AngelaGBetterton I know I’d keep a bloody sight better watch on my own kid. And what makes you such an expert anyway? #DaisyMason
16.35
Angela Betterton @AngelaGBetterton
@AngusNCorderyEsq I was at the party – both parents were there all night – there’s no way either of them was involved #FindDaisy
16.36
Caroline Tollis @ForWhomtheTollis
@AngelaGBetterton Is there any news on the bloodstained tights – have the police confirmed that? #DaisyMason
16.37
Anne Merrivale @Annie_Merrivale_
@ForWhomtheTollis There was nothing on the news. But it proves someone harmed her that night, doesn’t it? #DaisyMason
16.39
Caroline Tollis @ForWhomtheTollis
@Annie_Merrivale_ Poor baby, I think she’s already dead #DaisyMason
16.42
Anne Merrivale @Annie_Merrivale_
@ForWhomtheTollis I know. I think the only mystery now is who killed her #DaisyMason
*
When I push open the door to the incident room the air is dense with energy. Everyone turns to look at me as I go to the whiteboard and point a finger at one of the photos from the party.
‘As you’ve probably heard by now, it’s looking very unlikely that the girl in this picture is Daisy Mason.’
The noise level begins to rise and I raise my voice. ‘What you don’t yet know is that I have just had confirmation from the lab that the blood on the tights was not – repeat not – that of Daisy Mason. Which means it probably came from this girl in the picture. And if old Mrs Bampton did indeed see a man carrying a child, that too was almost certainly this other girl and not Daisy Mason.’
It hits me then, as it sometimes does. You can’t prepare for it, can’t prevent it – you never know what random association of words or ideas will do it – but suddenly your carefully closed-down brain is awash with unwanted memory. Me carrying Jake, his sleeping head nestled against my chest, smelling the shampoo in his hair and the summer garden on his skin – the warmth, the weight of him –
I’m suddenly horribly aware of the stillness in the room. They’re staring at me. Some of them, anyway. The ones I’ve known longest are looking anywhere but me.
‘Sorry – as I was saying, I don’t think we have two missing kids here – I suspect it’s just a simple case of mistaken identity. Looking at the rips on the tights, the blood was probably nothing more sinister than a grazed knee. But we still need to find that other girl and make sure she’s OK. And we need to establish how she got the flower outfit – it’s possible the two kids switched costumes, so she may be able to tell us what Daisy was really wearing that night. In the meantime, Everett – can you go back through all the photos from the party with Anna Phillips and see if you can find any other blonde girls that might be Daisy.’
Gareth Quinn gets to his feet – he has his tablet in his hand and he’s frantically scrolling down. ‘I think I might know who the girl is, boss. I’m sure one of the cars on the CCTV was a four-by-four belonging to a family on the close. Yep, here it is – David and Julia Connor. They have a daughter called Millie who’s in Daisy’s year at Kit’s, and they were on the party list but apparently left early because they were driving down to Gatwick to catch a flight really early this morning – we have the family on camera heading towards the ring road at 11.39 p.m. That’s why we haven’t been able to talk to them yet, and to be honest it wasn’t a high priority up to now. But I’ve left a message on David Connor’s mobile to call me.’
He goes up to the map and then turns to me, pointing, his eyes eager. ‘The Connor house is here – number fifty-four. They’d have had to walk right opposite Mrs Bampton’s on the way back from the Masons’. I think it was David Connor the old lady saw, carrying his daughter home.’
There’s an odd sensation in the room now – I’ve seen it before – the breakthrough that isn’t really a breakthrough because all it does is close off a possibility, rather than getting you any closer to the truth. A sense that pieces are slotting together, but you’re still no closer to seeing what picture they make. But there’s a piece here now that’s suddenly looking very dark.
It’s Gislingham who comes right out with it, Stating The Bleeding Obvious being his usual stock-in-trade. But hey, every team should have one. Especially in this job. ‘So is this what we’re really saying,’ he says. ‘That the Masons saw this other girl running about in that get-up all night and didn’t twig it wasn’t really their daughter?’
‘The headdress thing does cover most of her face,’ begins Everett. ‘I mean, we didn’t realize it wasn’t her and we’ve been staring at the pictures hard enough.’
‘But we’re not her parents,’ I say quietly. ‘Believe me, I’d know my own kid even in a ski mask and a plastic sack. You just do. You know how they move – the way they walk – ’
The way Jake moved, the way Jake walked. Time stutters. Just for a fraction, avoids the chasm, then moves on.
‘But also how they talk, surely,’ says Gislingham. ‘If the Masons had actually spoken to that girl they’d have known at once – ’