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‘She’s filthy, Dom. She’s not in the best state to be viewed. It’ll be better once she’s been dealt with and we can wash her down. Better for the family, that is.’

Dominic agreed with her and said he would see her in the morning before hanging up the phone.

‘Sarge?’ Hayley turned to him.

‘What is it?’ They hadn’t been on this job long and he already hated it. Hated the viciousness of it. Hated how it was making him feel deep down inside — hated the tone he had used with Hayley. He inclined his head in acquiescence of his sharpness and indicated she should continue.

Her eyes were narrowed at him but she relaxed them. ‘We have a photograph on the missing person report for Julie Carver.’

He bolted upright. ‘Let me see it.’

She spun her computer monitor around so he could see. Pressed a key on her keyboard and listened as the printer whirred into life. ‘And it’s not her husband who reported her missing, it was her brother. She was married but she’s divorced.’

Dominic didn’t know why he leapt to the conclusion she had been married — maybe it was something about her age. He stared at the screen. The face looking back was the same as the one he had seen not a couple of hours earlier. The hair was longer, the skin was pinker, her eyes sparkled, she was looking away from the camera, behind it and to the side slightly, a gentle laugh lighting her up. Something was amusing her beyond the person who was taking this image. Her blue eyes expressed her joy with the world. Her brother had given the police a photograph of Julie that showed her living, not merely as a statistic, which was what missing people were in the end. They were either found and returned home to those who had grieved for them before they needed to, or they never reappeared and became one of the huge number of missing people in the UK. People who disappeared and were never seen again with no rhyme, reason or explanation.

‘This her?’ Hayley asked.

‘That’s her.’ Someone’s life was about to be destroyed. As much as Julie’s had been wiped out, her brother and any others who loved her were about to be decimated. ‘We need to make contact with her brother. Contact details on the file?’

‘Yes, I’m printing off the important things we need.’ She stalked to the printer at the edge of the room and pulled off the hot documents — a photograph and a couple of text sheets with Julie’s details and those of her brother, Jonathan.

Dominic sighed and looked at Hayley. ‘Come with me.’

She grabbed her coat from the back of her chair.

‘I suppose we’d better go and tell him we’ve found her.’

Chapter 14

Dominic

Dominic knocked on the door. It looked to be a nice two-up two-down in Mosborough. After a minute the door was opened by a young woman with her hair pulled back quite brutally into a ponytail on the back of her head. Her face was scrubbed clean of any make-up but she wore bright red nail varnish on her fingers which was chipped halfway down her nails. Light spilled out from the doorway onto the front step where Dominic and Hayley were standing.

Dominic waved his warrant card in front of her. ‘Is Jonathan Butler at home, please?’

A hand flew to the woman’s mouth and she stepped backwards, giving Dominic and Hayley room to enter. Dominic stepped through first. He laid a hand on the woman’s arm as he passed. He had no idea who she was, but she was about to be affected by the events of the next few minutes and he felt for her. She looked to already have an inkling of what was to come.

She closed the door behind them and ushered them through to a living room where an adult male and a teenage lad were sitting in front of the television. The adult male turned as they walked in. His brows furrowed to see strangers enter, then comprehension dawned on him. He switched the television off with a remote control and stood to face them.

Dominic lifted his warrant card again. ‘I’m DS Dominic Harrison and this is DC Hayley Loftus. Do you have a few minutes to talk to us?’

Jonathan turned to the teenage boy who was staring at the now blank television. ‘Ed, go to your room for a few minutes, would you? We’ll talk to you soon.’ The boy stood, looked at Dominic and Hayley and then skulked off towards the stairs and his room. Jonathan gestured at the sofas and the young woman strode over to his side. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and she enclosed his waist in one of hers.

Dominic and Hayley walked to the sofas and sat down. Without uttering a word Jonathan and the woman settled down opposite them, their hands clenched together.

‘Your son?’ asked Dominic, not knowing the Butler’s family set-up.

Jonathan Butler shook his head. ‘No, Ed is Julie’s son. He’s been staying with us since she went missing.’

A cold shudder ran through Dominic. He felt Hayley stiffen at the side of him. The boy was now motherless. It was something this couple would have to take in then convey to their nephew.

Dominic looked at the woman. ‘Mrs Butler, is it?’

‘Oh, yes, sorry, Helen.’ Her hand tightened around Jonathan’s.

The couple’s eyes were wide, the question clear for all to see. They were desperate for answers.

‘I’m sorry—’ said Dominic. It was as far as he could get before Jonathan jumped to his feet, refusal to hear the rest of the sentence blazing from every cell.

‘Get out! Get out of my house!’ he screamed