Page 60

Notices, and files the fact away.
***
Importance: High
Date:Thu 25/07/2024, 21.17
From:[email protected]
To:[email protected]
CC:[email protected],
[email protected]
Subject: Daisy Mason/Jamie Northam
Sir,
I’ve turned up something potentially interesting on the Sex Offenders register. A known associate of Jamie Northam called Azeem Rahija.
He was a family member of two of the most prominent members of the Cowley Road grooming gang. I’ve checked the Mason file and it looks like he was spotted with Jamie on CCTV outside Bishop Christopher’s on one of the occasions when Jamie picked up Daisy from school. He was the one driving.
So he didn’t just know her, he had a car, and as far as I can see from the file, he was never formally interviewed. He certainly didn’t supply an alibi.
AM
***
Empiremagazine, 25th July 2024
***
Adam Fawley
26 July 2024
09.00
Renshaw asked to see me first thing, but that’s fine by me as I have the perfect excuse to keep it short: I got a call fromHeathside before I even left the house; Sharon’s lawyers certainly aren’t letting the grass grow. But like she said – time isn’t on her side.
I’ve never been in his office before but longevity has its perks – it’s one of the few here with a view towards Christ Church Meadow, rather than the traffic and Tesco.
He gestures for me to take a seat. ‘I’ve been through the file in the light of this new information about Daisy and it seems to me that a great deal of thought and effort went into ensuring that everyone, including the police, would assume that Daisy was dead and Sharon had killed her. All that manufactured evidence – the cardigan, the gloves, the footage from the railway line. I doubt very much I’d have come to a different conclusion, had I been SIO. I just wanted you to know that, before the new investigation gets underway.’
‘Thank you, sir.’
‘I gather you’ve brought Bryan Gow in again, which is a good call. Do either of you have a theory about what really happened? Or how it’s connected to the body in the woods?’
‘Not yet, sir. It’s early days.’
He nods. ‘Well, I’m sure you’re all going the extra mile, and if there are low-hanging fruit you’ll be picking them off. Keep me in the loop, as before, and feel free to circle back and touch base at any time.’
I open my mouth to say something but he’s grinning now.
‘I’m sure you know the drill.’
I could have sworn there was a half-wink there. Either way, this guy isn’t the also-ran I thought he was. Looks like I’m just going to have to triage that curveball and pivot to a whole new paradigm.