Page 3

THEN

July 1983

Kimberly

The Carousel , Port of Barcelona, Spain

Two hours had raced by since the chilling realisation that Robert was not in their cabin. As soon as Jason had raised the alarm, everything happened at double speed. Captain Phillipe swiftly imposed an emergency lockdown on the Carousel , halting all pre-arranged shore visits to Barcelona. The crew began scouring every inch of the ship in a desperate search for the missing boy.

It felt as if they were actors in a play, being directed to move from one room to the next as the captain and his staff took charge. Kimberly, Jason, and Lily were eventually shepherded to one of the small bars, which had been cordoned off to become the search headquarters. Kind staff, who had become familiar faces during the voyage so far, placed tea and water on the table before them, along with boxes of tissues.

‘La Policía has arrived,’ Captain Phillipe announced, ushering in a plain-clothes officer. Slight, the man had jet-black hair, olive skin, and piercing green eyes. He was young, no more than thirty. He stubbed a cigarette into an ashtray on a nearby table, and then approached the Murphys.

Kimberly clasped Jason’s hand. It was clammy and damp, like her own, but they clutched to each other all the same. She watched the officer’s face, desperately trying to decipher his thoughts. But his expression remained inscrutable, offering no clue to the news he carried. A surge of bile threatened to rise in Kimberly’s throat, and she quickly covered her mouth as her anxiety mounted.

‘Are you going to be sick?’ Jason asked. Kimberly waved aside his concern and managed to control her heaving stomach. She felt the police officer’s eyes on them both, looking them up and down as he weighed them up.

‘Hello, Mr and Mrs Murphy. My name is Inspector Hugo Ortega. I’m with the Guardia Civil, in the Spanish police. And I’m here to help you find your son.’ He reached over to shake their hands in turn.

His English was almost perfect, his handshake firm. Kimberly could smell the faint odour of nicotine and cologne lingering in the air between them. But the banality of shaking hands and uttering pleasantries with the Spanish police while her little boy was missing from her arms made her body tremble and rage. Kimberly fought back another scream.

‘I am so sorry that you are dealing with this upset,’ Inspector Ortega continued.

‘Our son is missing. That’s hardly an upset!’ Jason spluttered, two dots of red appearing on his cheeks.

Inspector Ortega raised a hand in apology. ‘Of course. My English does not always translate well. I assure you that I am treating this with utmost urgency. Please, go through everything, from the last time you saw Robert to this morning when you realised he was missing from your cabin.’

He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a small notebook and pencil. He licked the tip of the lead, then looked at them both expectantly.

Jason cleared his throat and said, ‘After our evening meal, I went for a drink. It was after seven o’clock. My wife went back to our cabin with the children.’ His voice caught. ‘I kissed them all goodbye, the kids and Kimberly, outside the lift in the main atrium.’ Jason breathed in deeply and gathered himself to continue. ‘I got back to the cabin at midnight. Everyone was asleep when I arrived.’

Lily made a sound as she dreamed. They all glanced over to the double red buggy, one side now poignantly empty, the other with a sleeping Lily, who was thankfully unaware of the drama unfolding around her. Kimberly reached over and pulled the buggy closer to her, placing a hand protectively on the handlebar.

‘I can see how hard this is for you.’ Inspector Ortega said gently to Kimberly, his eyes still looking at Lily. ‘She’s a beautiful little girl.’ He cleared his throat, then continued. ‘You didn’t join your husband for a drink? Perhaps leave the children unattended?’

‘No!’ Kimberly exclaimed, shaking her head in shock at the suggestion. ‘I would never leave the children alone. As it happens, we had booked a spot in the children’s club . . .’ She paused to gather herself, then explained, ‘But we didn’t need to use that service. I had a headache brewing all day. So I insisted that Jason go for a drink without me. Lily fell asleep a little after eight o’clock, and then I read Robert his bedtime story. Goodnight Moon . It’s his favourite.’ Kimberly’s voice cracked, and she felt tears dampen her cheeks.

Jason handed her a tissue and tightened his grip on her spare hand.

‘I have a little girl who loves story-time too,’ Inspector Ortega replied gently. ‘Did you notice anything amiss as you put the children to bed? Anything out of the ordinary?’

Kimberly thought for a moment, then shook her head sadly. ‘No. Robert fell asleep in my arms, and I almost dozed off on his little sofa bed with him. But then Lily stirred, and I made my way to our double. Her cot is beside ours, on my side. That way, I can reach her, if she wakes at night.’

Kimberly lightly touched her daughter’s cheek. Thank goodness she was too young to understand that her big brother was missing. And then Robert’s face entered her mind, and she knew that, wherever he was, he must be crying and calling out for her, his mama. A sharp pain edged its way beneath her rib cage. She couldn’t bear it.

‘And what time did you go to sleep?’ Inspector Ortega asked Kimberly, and she knew that she had to find the strength to bear this.

‘It was almost nine. I remember looking at the bedside clock before I closed my eyes.’

‘And were you asleep when your husband returned to the cabin?’

Kimberly bit her lip, and tears filled her eyes. She had cried so much since she’d woken this morning that she should have no tears left. ‘I didn’t hear Jason return. I took a sleeping tablet. I get these headaches. My doctor prescribed them.’ Kimberly’s hands began to tremble, and she covered her face as she wept. ‘You think it’s my fault . . . if I’d been awake . . .’

Kimberly couldn’t finish the sentence. Jason pulled her into his arms, denying it was true, but her guilt made her push him away.

Then Kimberly looked around the room, listening acutely. It was the strangest thing, but she was sure she could hear Robert crying out for her.

‘Can you hear that? It sounds like Robert’s cries.’ She looked from Jason to Captain Phillipe, then to Inspector Ortega. They quietened and listened, then shook their heads, sympathy etched on each face.

‘Nobody is blaming you, Mrs Murphy,’ Inspector Ortega said softly. ‘We are simply trying to work out the chain of events to narrow down what happened.’ He turned to Jason. ‘When you returned to the cabin, was Robert in his bed?’

Jason’s jaw tightened, then he replied, ‘Yes.’

But his voice didn’t sound sure. Inspector Ortega’s eyes travelled to Jason’s hand, which was twitching on his knee.

‘I’m sure my husband tucked him in when he returned to the cabin. He sometimes drops his favourite toy – Peter Rabbit – we always put it in his arms, so if he wakes up he’s not distressed,’ Kimberly said. She looked at her husband, nodding encouragingly for him to confirm this. But his face coloured and he shook his head.

‘I went straight to bed. I’d had more to drink than I normally would and felt a bit worse for wear. I didn’t go over to either of the children’s beds. Not last night.’ His eyes pleaded with Kimberly to forgive him.

But she looked away, unable to offer him any solace. Her only thought was for her beloved little boy.

‘Robert might have been gone from the cabin before you returned, no?’ Inspector Ortega asked, looking from one to the other.

‘He can’t have been gone since then,’ Jason replied, paling at the thought. ‘That would be hours ago.’ His eyes widened and darted from the sleeping Lily to the bar entrance. ‘Why isn’t there any news on the search? Somebody must have seen something. Robert can’t have disappeared off the face of the earth!’

Captain Philippe stood up, saying, ‘I shall gather an update on the search.’ Then, with a slight bow, he walked away.

‘Would Robert leave the cabin on his own?’ Inspector Ortega asked.

Kimberly and Jason looked at each other and shook their heads simultaneously.

‘If he woke up, perhaps he decided to explore outside alone, no? Boys are adventurous,’ Inspector Ortega insisted, twisting his pencil round his fingers one by one.

‘He’s only two and a half years old,’ Kimberly whispered, wringing her hands in her lap until Jason reached over to still them beneath his own.

‘If he woke up, he’d go straight to our bed. He’s a mama’s boy. Most nights, he ends up in our bed anyhow,’ Jason insisted as Kimberly nodded in agreement.

Inspector Ortega raised an eyebrow, scribbling a note in his notebook. ‘And how did that make you feel, Mr Murphy? I’m sure it was irritating to have a small child jump into your bed, between you and your wife.’

Jason looked at him quickly, his face flushing at the veiled insinuation. ‘On the contrary. I love having cuddles with our children.’

Kimberly reached over and squeezed her husband’s hand. ‘Jason bought a king-size bed for our bedroom at home, so there is space for everyone when the children climb in with us.’

Inspector Ortega acknowledged this with a slight incline of his head, then looked down to his notebook.

‘I’ve been to see your cabin. And it struck me how heavy the door was. Could a two-year-old open the door to the cabin himself?’ He made a face as he shrugged.

‘No! Robert can’t even reach the handle!’ Kimberly said, her voice raising with every word.

‘I suppose he could if he used a chair,’ Jason mused.

Kimberly looked at him open-mouthed. ‘As if Robert would ever do that.’

‘You didn’t let me finish. I was about to say that it doesn’t make sense that he would, though,’ Jason said, his voice now thin and brittle.

Inspector Ortega gazed at Jason with a perplexed expression on his face, then jotted a few more notes onto his notepad. In a calm tone, he asked, ‘Did you remember to close the cabin door after returning, Jason?’

The question seemed routine, but to Kimberly it felt as if a bolt of lightning had struck her. A fresh wave of terror surged through her veins as she waited for Jason’s response.

‘Yes. I think so. I’m sure I did,’ Jason replied hesitantly, but his lack of confidence was palpable.

Then Captain Phillipe strode into the room and gestured to Inspector Ortega, who joined the captain for a hushed conversation.

Kimberly felt her heart pound against her chest as her stomach twisted into new knots. She strained her neck to get a better view of what was happening, and that’s when she saw it.

In Captain Phillipe’s hand was a soggy stuffed toy – it was Robert’s Peter Rabbit.