The Lost

Jonah started to say he didn’t know, but the words lodged in his throat. ‘No.’

‘At least we agree on that. I think this pretty much puts a bow on the question of whether McKinney was corrupt. Which leaves me, yet again, wondering how you fit into all this.’

‘I keep telling you, Dylan’s mother asked me to keep an eye on him because he’d been acting strangely. I didn’t know the money or bedsit even existed until I followed him there. And I was on my way back to the car to call you when I saw DS Bennet.’

‘Of course you were. And here’s me thinking you only told us because you got caught coming out.’

‘I know how it looks, but that was just bad timing.’

‘You seem to have a lot of that.’

There was nothing Jonah could say to that either. The DI waited to see if his sarcasm would provoke a response before going on.

‘What about the letter McKinney left for his wife? He told her if anything happened to him she should trust you. That you’d explain. How were you supposed to do that if you didn’t know anything?’

‘I’ve no idea.’ Jonah was painfully aware how unconvincing he sounded. ‘He must have planned to tell me when he saw me.’

Fletcher rocked his chair back, contemplating him.

‘For the sake of argument, let’s assume you really were as stupid as you claim and didn’t know about any of it,’ he said. ‘The bedsit, the money, oh my goodness, what a surprise. The thing I’m having difficulty with is why a police officer of sixteen years’ standing would decide the best course of action wasn’t to, I don’t know, maybe report evidence pertaining to a murder investigation rather than search the place himself? And I’m not talking about a quick shufti. You moved the bed to get to a concealed loft hatch! You were looking for something, so if it wasn’t the money, what was it?’

Jonah knew there was no point in denial. ‘I thought Gavin might have information about Theo.’

‘And why would you think that?’

‘You said yourself he must have had a reason for following Stokes and wanting me to meet him that night. The only thing I can think of is that he found out something about what happened ten years ago.’

‘I’ve already told you, there’s no—’

‘I know what you said, but this is my son we’re talking about. If there’s any chance Gavin knew something different, then of course I’m going to want to know about it!’

Fletcher said nothing for a while, studying him through lidded eyes.

‘OK, let’s talk about this mystery visitor you claim you heard outside,’ the DI said, abruptly changing the subject. ‘You told Bennet whoever it was ran off before you saw them. But you knew Owen Stokes had broken into McKinney’s house looking for something, and you’d just discovered a bagful of hidden cash. If you could find the bedsit, so could he. Are you telling me it never even crossed your mind it could have been him?’

All the arguments that had run through Jonah’s mind in the bedsit came back. He remembered standing by the door, separated from whoever was outside by a few inches of timber. He’d convinced himself it couldn’t have been Owen Stokes, but now he felt new doubts forming.

‘I didn’t see who it was. It could have been anyone,’ he said, trying to believe it himself. ‘I didn’t think you’d thank me for pressing the panic button because some tenant was poking around outside. Anyway, Stokes wouldn’t have run off like that. Not if he was after the money.’

‘That’s your reasoning, is it? There’s a possibility the man who killed your mate and put you in hospital, who you still aren’t convinced wasn’t somehow involved in your son’s disappearance, was right there and you didn’t bother to tell anyone?’

‘DS Bennet was outside watching the house,’ Jonah said, the doubts growing. ‘If it was Stokes, she’d have seen him leave.’

Bennet’s voice was as inflectionless as her expression. ‘There was a back door.’

Christ. Jonah could feel a panic sweat break out at the thought that he might have been wrong. ‘Are you saying it was him? Did somebody in one of the flats see him?’

‘We’re still interviewing the residents,’ Fletcher said. ‘Right now, I’m more interested in why you might have decided to keep something like that to yourself when you’re supposedly so keen on catching Owen Stokes.’

Because I didn’t trust myself. Because I thought I saw a dead woman at Slaughter Quay.

‘You can’t seriously think I’d have kept quiet if I’d thought it was him? Why the hell would I do that?’

‘Oh, I don’t know. Maybe the three quarters of a million pounds you’d just found in the loft had something to do with it.’

‘If that was all I was after, why did I leave it up there? I’d have taken it with me,’ Jonah shot back. ‘I don’t care about the money, I want to know what happened to my son! And if there had been anything about him in there, I didn’t trust you to tell me about it!’