Page 99 of The Guilty Girl

‘He was a good brother to you. Did he often go out at night?’

‘Suppose so.’

‘Every night?’

‘Only when Mam was working late. The weekends and that.’

‘Did he tell you where he used to go?’ Lottie was thinking that the chips and nuggets were a bribe to keep Sharon quiet about his escapades.

The girl shook her head slowly, tears now running silently down her cheeks.

‘Sharon, if you know, you have to tell me.’

‘I promised.’

‘You’re not breaking a promise, sweetheart. You’ll be helping me find the bad person who took Jake away from you.’

‘I’m no snitch.’ She gathered her brother’s jeans into a ball and caressed the hard denim. ‘Jake’s good. He’s not friends with bad people.’

‘Do you know any of the bad people?’

She shook her head vigorously. ‘They’ll come and kill me and Mam, like they killed Jake. I’m not a snitch,’ she repeated tearfully.

‘Sharon, no one will hurt you.’

‘Yes they will, so they will. They hurt Jake and he was their best asset.’

Strange vocabulary for a ten-year-old to use. ‘Is that what Jake told you?’

A series of silent nods.

Lottie knelt on the floor, trying to get the girl to look at her. ‘Sharon, you must tell me who these people are. If I know about them, I can protect you and your mother.’

‘I don’t know them. I don’t.’ Sharon shook her head so hard, her tears flew into Lottie’s face.

‘Have these bad people anything to do with the gang on bikes, maybe?’

Was that an imperceptible nod?

The door burst inwards and Liz stormed over to envelop her little girl in her arms. ‘What do you think you’re doing? Terrorising my child. It’s child abuse, you hear me, child abuse!’

Lottie stood. There was no point in arguing with the distressed mother, but she tried to placate her. ‘I’m sorry, Liz, but time is critical in murder investigations. I need to know everything Jake might have told you or Sharon about who he was meeting on the nights he was out.’

‘What do you mean? Out? He wasn’t out and he wasn’t meeting anyone. He was a fifteen-year-old kid.’

Not wanting to betray Sharon’s trust, she said, ‘Jake stole your car, Liz. We found it burned out on waste ground. I know he couldn’t have set it alight, so it’s likely he was involved with someone else, maybe a gang.’

‘Burned out? No.’ Liz held her daughter even tighter.

‘Your insurance should cover malicious damage,’ Lottie said, though the fact that her uninsured and underage son had stolen it might mean she’d get nothing.

‘It won’t … I couldn’t afford … Oh forget it. It’s just a heap of rust. I hardly used it. Can you leave us alone now?’

‘Martina will stay with you.’

‘We’re fine on our own. Just go.’

About to leave, Lottie noticed a nail head sticking up from the floorboards near the leg of the bed. There was a rough edge to the board and it was slightly raised. She decided to lift it without asking permission, because in Liz’s current mood it would surely be denied.