Page 46

CHAPTER 46

MELANIE – D AY F OUR

‘If I had anyone else free to take over this inquiry, you would be off this case this very minute. You understand me?’ The superintendent’s face is puce, a vein bulging in his neck as he speaks. ‘But I don’t have anyone else sadly. So I’m going to ask you straight one more time. Did you give Matthew Hill Dawn Meadows’ address?’

‘I didn’t, sir. I swear. I did not give Matthew Hill any information which would compromise the inquiry. I would never do that.’ Melanie had expected a dressing-down but it’s been worse than she feared. ‘But I will find out who did—’

‘Oh no, you won’t. There will be an independent inquiry into what’s happened here. An inquiry that will expect your full cooperation. Your phone. Your computer. Your WhatsApp messages, the lot. Yes?’

‘Yes, sir. Of course, sir.’ At least she’s not off the case. Not yet ...

‘Meantime, I have no choice but to let you press on with this Dawn Meadows interview. Get this sorted. You think she did this? Took the girl?’

‘I don’t know, sir. Personally, I don’t think so. But I’m going to find out. Today .’ Melanie is still thinking of the new anonymous letter. Whether it will help the interview with Dawn who is ready in the interview suite downstairs. Or make everything ten times worse with the superintendent down the line. You’re now telling me you concealed a threatening letter?

‘Well, if she’s innocent, we’re in an even deeper hole. You report back to me straight after the interview. I need to know if we’re any closer to finding this poor girl. And also if Dawn Meadows wants to press charges against Matthew Hill. What a stupendous mess, DI Sanders. Get out of my sight.’

‘Sir.’

Back in the incident room a few minutes later, Melanie has the super’s anger still ringing in her ears. The atmosphere unbearably tense across her team. Accusatory glances bouncing around the room like pass the parcel. The whole station rumbling with theories over who really tipped Matthew off. Whether it will now leak to the media.

She read them the riot act before she met the super. I’ll find out who it was, you mark my words.

But for now, Melanie has to park her fury over the leak. Press on. The truth is she knows she’s unlikely to get the name. Loyalty code and all that. It’s the arrow unfairly pointing at her that’s the real problem.

‘Still nothing from the search teams?’ She’s already phoned the officer on the ground in charge of the repeat searches of both Adam and Dawn’s properties. She’s ordered them to check for a lock-up and to go over once again every address that may be linked to Adam’s building business.

Several heads are shaken around the room but no one meets her gaze. They will all guess what’s gone on upstairs. ‘Any news, you interrupt me – even if I’m in the interview room. Update me straight away. Yes?’

‘Of course, boss.’

‘Right. I’m leading. Let’s do this.’

In the larger of the interview rooms available, Dawn Meadows, seated next to her tall and slim male lawyer, is not what Melanie expects. A very different woman from the picture in the newspapers and on the television all those years ago when her son Jacob’s death on the railway hit the headlines.

Back then Dawn’s hair was almost black. Shoulder length. She was overweight. Her voice as she delivered her curse and her threats – the clip that Melanie has watched over and over – was firm and bitter. Chilling.

This Dawn is another woman entirely. Shrunken. Skinny now to the point of looking not just frail but unwell. Her hair is short and grey. Eyes blank.

Melanie takes a breath to regroup. The lawyer is going to give her merry hell over Matthew storming into Dawn’s house but there is nothing yet to prove this woman isn’t capable of abducting Amelie and hiding her somewhere – or worse. The clock is ticking.

Mel opens with the standard courtesies, starting the tape and naming those in the room.

‘So. Dawn Meadows. You’ve been informed that there will be a full and separate inquiry into Matthew Hill visiting your home.’ Melanie keeps her tone neutral, keen to mask her fury over Matthew’s madness and press on. But the solicitor is looking smug alongside his client and leans forward.

‘Wait. We have some questions before we go forward as to how Matthew Hill was given my client’s address. You can imagine how distressing this has been for her.’ The solicitor clicks his pen, notebook on the table.

‘Understood,’ says Mel. ‘And your questions will be fully addressed as part of our inquiry. But right now we have a young girl missing and that is my priority here.’ Melanie meets the solicitor’s gaze, unblinking, and turns to Dawn. ‘You understand why you’re here. Amelie Hill is still missing. The daughter of a man you are on record as having personally threatened, threatened in the following terms: “I hope you do have a child and I hope that child dies so you will know what this pain truly feels like.” Now, Matthew Hill’s eight-year-old daughter has been taken from her family. I’m going to ask you straight, Dawn. Where is Amelie Hill?’

‘How would I know? I’ve got nothing to do with it.’

‘Did you take her?’

‘No.’

Mel pauses for a moment. ‘So why did your husband Adam lie to us? Why did he say you were divorced and had no contact? When it turns out you’re still very much married, albeit living separately. And we’ve since traced phone calls between your mobile and his this very week. Why lie if you have nothing to hide?’

‘He was just trying to protect me.’

‘And why would he need to do that? If you’ve done nothing wrong.’

Dawn glances at her solicitor and then back at Melanie. ‘You’re wasting your time. Sending Matthew Hill to my house to scare me. Sitting here, persecuting me when you should be out there, doing your job. Finding that girl.’

‘I did not send Matthew Hill to your house. I told you. That will be looked into. I agree with you that should not have happened. But that is entirely separate. So I’ll ask you again. Why did your husband lie about your relationship? Why are you using your maiden name in Somerset? I’m assuming that was to stop us finding you. Finding Amelie.’

‘Look.’ Dawn fiddles with her hair, tucking strands behind her ear. The cut is barely long enough and the hair immediately springs back to its original curl. ‘My husband was genuinely trying to protect me. He knew when this girl, Matthew Hill’s girl, went missing, you would put two and two together and make five. Come looking for me. He was trying to spare me the upset. That’s all.’

‘You made serious threats against Matthew Hill when you lost your son Jacob. You made threats against any future family he had. Which means Amelie. So I’m asking you again. Do you have any information on the disappearance of Amelie Hill? She’s an innocent child. You of all people should know that she needs to be safe—’

‘You really think I would take a child? Hurt a child? After what I’ve been through?’

‘You were the one who made the threats, Dawn—’

‘Oh, please. That was years ago.’

‘This wasn’t.’ Melanie takes the photograph of the most recent anonymous letter from her file and places it in front of Dawn. Her heart is racing. She has no idea how this will go. ‘For the tape I am showing the suspect a print of an anonymous letter, the words cut from magazines. The letter was sent to me recently – precisely six weeks ago – and it reads ... “Matthew Hill is a child killer. You take him back on your team and you will all be sorry.” Did you send me that letter, Dawn?’

Dawn says nothing but she looks shaken for the first time, glancing at her solicitor.

‘I understand you have a crafting room at your bungalow. That you like cutting things up. With scalpels. Making cards and montages. You should know that my forensic team is checking that craft room inch by inch as we speak. My guess is we’ll find the magazines and the matching glue to prove you made this letter. Sent this letter.’ This is a long shot. But Melanie’s best shot. There is a crafting room but no forensics yet to link to the letter.

Dawn colours then looks away to the wall and slowly back at Melanie. ‘OK, OK. So I went mad for a bit. Sent some stupid letters. So what? I didn’t mean any of it.’

Melanie feels a rush of relief. She can hardly believe it. So the letters were Dawn.

‘I have an alibi for when Amelie went missing. I tried to tell Matthew Hill when he turned up at my house but he was too busy, marching around, shouting like some madman. And I told the officer who arrested me too. I have an alibi—’

‘And you also have a husband who’s a proven liar. And who doesn’t have an alibi.’

‘You leave my husband out of this. He’s a good man. OK – so it was stupid of him to lie. He wasn’t thinking straight. He was just trying to protect me.’ Dawn takes a long, slow breath and tilts up her head. ‘All right then. I’ll tell you about the letters.’ Again she plays with her hair. ‘And the rest.’ Melanie holds her breath. ‘But I swear we don’t know anything about Amelie. Nothing. ’

‘I don’t call the threat in that letter nothing.’ Melanie pushes the letter closer to Dawn. ‘So did you send the other letters too? The earlier ones?’

‘So what if I did? The letters were just me letting off steam. Angry to see Matthew Hill in the papers again. Like some local hero when my Jacob is still gone. I didn’t mean what I put in those letters.’ Dawn sniffs and fishes a tissue from her pocket. ‘The truth? I didn’t even know what I was saying. In those letters, or after that inquest either. I was just so angry. And so sad. I needed someone to blame and I took it out on Matthew Hill. But it was hot air. That’s all. You’ve got this all wrong. I have no idea where Amelie is.’ Dawn looks again at her solicitor. ‘So what do I do? Do I tell her? All of it?’ He holds her gaze then nods slowly. ‘OK, then.’ Dawn takes a deep breath as she continues. ‘There’s a reason I’ve never been able to let it go. Why I really said that stuff about Matthew Hill at the inquest.’ Another pause. ‘But it’s not what you think.’