Free After the Fire by Jane Casey Page B

looking stubborn. ‘I’m sorry. I find it hard to trust the police. I’ve been let down too many times. It puts people in danger. That’s why I have a rule about not giving out personal information.’
    ‘Even in these circumstances?’ I asked.
    ‘I’m sorry.’
    ‘Don’t you think Melissa would want to know her son was being looked after? Isn’t that why she came to you instead of one of the refuges you mentioned?’ I spoke softly, hoping I could persuade her where Derwent’s temper had failed. ‘She wants what’s best for her boy, and the best thing is her. If she can’t look after him, who comes next? Not his father.’
    Harriet hugged herself, saying nothing.
    ‘If we can identify Thomas or Sam or whatever his name is by some other means – and we will – you know his father will be likely to get custody. Especially if there’s no record of domestic violence. Especially if Melissa is incapacitated or dead.’
    She dropped her head down on to her chest and shuddered.
    ‘If we have a grandmother or a sister or even a best friend – someone Melissa trusts – we can keep him out of foster care and postpone returning him to his father until the family courts have had a chance to consider the best place for him. So do you have contact details for someone suitable?’
    ‘Yes,’ she said quietly.
    ‘And can you give them to us so we can get in touch with them?’
    ‘Yes.’
    ‘Now we’re getting somewhere,’ Derwent said under his breath and I incinerated him with a glare. Far too risky to assume Harriet was on our side.
    A rattle of feet on the stairs announced the return of the man who’d let us in, this time knotting a tie. He was wearing a very well-cut suit and looked sleek rather than paunchy. He’d tamed his hair in the shower and his cufflinks gleamed gold as he whipped the silk tie through his fingers.
    ‘Everything all right?’
    ‘Fine, Matt.’ Harriet pulled herself together and gave him a smile. ‘I need to help the police with their inquiries but I don’t think I’m actually under arrest.’
    ‘It’s all voluntary,’ Derwent said.
    ‘Try and stop her from volunteering in a good cause.’ Matt Edmonds leaned over the back of the sofa and kissed the top of his wife’s head. ‘Don’t put yourself through too much, though.’ Without her seeing, he looked at Derwent, then me, and the expression in his eyes was cold. I wouldn’t want to cross him, I decided.
    ‘I’ll call you,’ Harriet said, oblivious.
    ‘Do that. I have meetings all morning but Kendall can interrupt me. I’ll be glad of a break.’ He strode out of the room, back up the stairs to the front door. When he slammed it shut the sound reverberated through the entire house.
    ‘I’m sure the neighbours loathe us,’ Harriet said tranquilly. ‘You could set a clock by him. Every day, just the same. The children used to hate it.’
    ‘I assume they’re not here at the moment,’ I said.
    ‘Moved out. One is at university.’ She smiled but her eyes were sad. ‘It all went so quickly.’
    ‘That’s what my mum says.’
    She stood up, tucking her dressing gown around her. ‘Do you want the contact details now?’
    ‘Yes, please.’
    ‘And we’ll need you to come with us if you don’t mind,’ Derwent said. ‘I still need to find Melissa as a matter of urgency. You’re the only person I’ve found who could identify her, even tentatively.’
    She nodded. ‘I understand. Can I get changed?’
    ‘Of course.’
    She started to walk towards the stairs, her head down.
    ‘Why do you do this?’ The question seemed to surprise Derwent as much as Harriet, who turned, nonplussed, to stare at him. ‘I mean, you have it all, don’t you? Money, nice house, successful kids. It can’t just be to pass the time.’
    ‘No, it’s not.’ She pulled back her dressing gown a little and we stared at the long, jagged silver scar that ran across her chest from the base of her throat. ‘My first husband was a very