Page 43

They’re quietening down now, like an audience waiting for the curtain to go up.
Showtime.
I stand up. ‘I know I’m the last person you were probably expecting to see –’
And then the door bangs at the back and everyone turns to look.
Quinn. Of course. He never did miss an opportunity to make an entrance.
‘Sorry,’ he says. ‘Had to take a call from the mayor.’
He’s had a lot to do in the hour or so since I last saw him, but as status-staking goes, a call from the mayor sounds a lot more impressive than grunt-tasks from me. I’m also prepared to bet it was Gis he landed with most of that. Quinn makes his way to the front, getting a muted wolf whistle from one of the old hands and a knowing look between Ev and Chloe Sargent. And it is, of course, peak Quinn.
I wait for calm to settle and have another go.
‘I didn’t know I was going to be here today, any more than you did. But something’s come up and Harrison thinks we’re the best team to handle it. It’s one of our old cases. There’s been a development.’
‘Which case?’ asks Ev.
I take a deep breath. This is where the cliché hits the road. ‘Daisy Mason.’
Ev frowns. ‘But that was, what? Seven years ago?’
‘Eight, in fact.’
I look round the room. ‘I know some of you weren’t here then, and DS Gislingham will be circulating the full file after this, but the basic facts are these. Daisy Mason was eight years old when she disappeared from her family home in July 2016. As you would expect with a missing child – and especially a missing child in North Oxford – it was an extremely high-profile case. We did an extensive investigation and uncovered enough evidence to prosecute the mother, Sharon Mason. She was convicted of murder and is still in prison.’
One of the new DCs raises a hand. ‘Am I right in thinking you never found the body?’
‘We had enough forensic evidence to make a strong inferential case, and the jury agreed with us. But you’re right, we didn’t.’
‘So what’s changed?’ says Ev. Dog with a bone, as usual. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve given thanks for that.
I look towards her. ‘Turns out there’s a good reason why we never found the body. She wasn’t dead.’
That takes a moment to register.
Ev is gaping at me now. ‘She’salive?’
‘Her DNA was found at a crime scene two days ago, so it would appear so, yes.’
‘But no one’s actuallyseenher?’ Baxter this time, ever the pragmatist.
‘No. But the investigation is still at a very early stage. You know what that’s like.’
‘You said “crime scene”.’ Ev again. ‘What exactly are we talking about?’
‘You may have seen news stories in the last day or so about the discovery of a shallow grave in Gloucestershire?’
Some blank faces, a couple of nods, including Chloe Sargent.
‘The victim was a woman in her twenties or thirties, buried face down, and her mouth forced open by a metal shelf bracket –’
‘Jesus,’ says Sargent.
Baxter is frowning. ‘But Daisy would still be a teenager –’
‘Right. But there was a hair caught in the tape used to tie the victim up. The hair is hers.’