31

A day at work was the last thing I wanted. All I could think of was what Chris and I would learn from Gina Marinello.

Chris arranged to pick me up from school on Monday afternoon and we’d drive to her house in Johnstone.

‘Gina’s in her mid-forties, lives in the house she grew up in. Her parents died when she was in her early twenties and she inherited the family home,’ Chris informed me as we parked in front of an upmarket white semi-detached house. It had a portico and a broad, curving drive, the windows were wide and tall, and the paintwork looked pristine.

‘She inherited this in her twenties? Wow.’

I looked at a pair of massive conifer trees that sat either side of the entrance to the drive. ‘Did you get a chance to look into Gina?’

‘From what I could glean online, she’s had one long-term boyfriend. Met him at university. But he died in a car crash a week before they were due to get married.’

‘Poor woman.’ I looked from the house to Chris. ‘Don’t you feel a wee bit creeped out about how easy it is to find out all this stuff about someone?’

‘It’s the information age, bro,’ he said, looking pretty pleased with himself. And I could see that if he had been reluctant at the start he was fully engaged in this search now. ‘She’s the only grandchild. The old man brought her into the business after she’d completed an MA in business and economics.’ Chris released his seatbelt, and put one hand on the door handle. ‘Lesson over. Let’s go.’

At the door, I turned to gaze at a gold-coloured Lexus sports car resting in the drive.

‘Business must be good,’ I said.

Chris held a hand up to the heavy wooden door, but before he could knock, it opened and Gina stood there in a tan cashmere coat.

‘Oh,’ she said. ‘Mr Docherty and…’

‘Mr Docherty,’ Chris added, reaching across to shake her hand. ‘I’m his younger brother, Chris,’ he added with a smile.

‘Sorry, guys, I was just on my way out. Is there anything I can help you with?’ She looked at Chris and then settled her eyes on me. Warmed by her scrutiny, I smiled at her.

‘We just had some follow-up questions from the other day…’ I said.

‘I really have to go, gents. Sorry,’ she said with a hint of impatience.

But I didn’t want her to leave – and not only because I wanted to find out about her old boyfriend. ‘Robert Green,’ I said. ‘You were with him the day he went missing.’

Her mouth fell open and she stared at me.

‘We tracked down a couple of lads who vanished at the same time as my brother. Robert Green was one of them.’

She held a hand to her mouth, her eyes wide. ‘Oh my God. Poor Robert. I haven’t thought about him for years.’

‘Mind if we come in for a quick chat about him?’ Chris said.

She began to unwind her scarf from her neck. ‘Sure,’ she said and took a step back into the hall. For a moment it looked as if she was uncertain where she was. ‘Come in. We’ll go into the front room.’ Her heels clipped on the dark parquet flooring as she walked towards a door on the left.

Inside, she directed us to sit on a large, white leather sofa as she sat on a matching armchair to the right of us. A massive fireplace took pride of place in the middle of the far wall, a lion’s head carved in to the wood at either side.

‘Sorry about this,’ said Chris. ‘We won’t take up much of your time.’

She nodded in acknowledgement, and then looked over to me, studying my face. ‘Sorry if I said this when we last met,’ she said, ‘but I have this weird feeling that we’ve met before.’

‘Not as far as I’m aware,’ I said.

‘You really do look familiar.’ She shook her head. ‘Sorry. I meet so many people in my work…’ She turned her attention back to Chris. ‘So, about Robert. How can I help you?’

‘At the time our brother disappeared there were a few other young boys who vanished. And each of their disappearances seem to tie in with a visit from the Marinello Funfair.’

‘You can’t be suggesting…’ She sat forwards, her face stern.

‘We’re not saying your grandfather’s business had anything to do with it. On the contrary’ – Chris held a hand up – ‘these kinds of places attract all kinds of people. And where kids congregate, sadly, so do predators.’

‘I haven’t thought about what happened to Robert for years.’ She crossed her arms. ‘I feel guilty about that.’

‘Don’t be so hard on yourself,’ I said, but realising this woman’s good regard was too high on my agenda, I coughed. ‘It was a long time ago. Besides, you’ve had other, more recent tragedies to contend with.’

Chris gave me a hard stare and a frown.

‘Have you been checking up on me?’ Gina asked as she narrowed her eyes.

‘Just a quick Google,’ I said, hoping I wasn’t digging myself in deeper.

‘Jesus, I hate the Internet. Everything’s up there forever,’ she replied and seemed to relax a little.

‘What can you tell us about Robert?’ Chris asked.

‘He was the first boy to ever kiss me,’ Gina replied looking wistful. She tucked her hair behind an ear. ‘A sweet boy who was in my class at school. He was a couple of inches smaller than me actually.’ She made a little grimace. ‘And always trying to make up for it, the daftie.’ She stared off into the middle distance. ‘He had beautiful blond hair … he was really pretty. He would have grown into a handsome man if…’ She paused. ‘Other than that I can’t remember much, to be honest.’ She scratched at her right cheek as if a memory had just become clearer. ‘Of course, Mum and Dad hated him, the old snobs. They thought he wasn’t good enough for me because his dad was unemployed and his mum was a cleaner.’ She pursed her lips and blew out some air. ‘We were inseparable that year. I remember standing out in that hall’ – she pointed and smiled – ‘shouting at Mum because she wouldn’t let me answer the door to him. I told her that he was the boy I was going to marry and now that I was sixteen she couldn’t stop me.’ She laughed. ‘I really was insufferable. And probably determined enough to do it … if he hadn’t disappeared.’

‘What do you think happened? Did you ever come up with any theories over the years?’ Chris asked.

She shook her head. ‘I had to get the bus back home from the Shows on my own that day. I was furious. To be fair, I could have gone to Gramps and got one of his guys to give me a lift, but I didn’t want Mum and Dad to get more proof that Robbie wasn’t to be trusted.’

‘What can you tell us about what the two of you did before he disappeared?’ I asked.

‘I loved the place, you know? When the Shows came to the area I couldn’t wait to show off to Robbie. Take him round everywhere, let him see that I knew lots of the cool people, and perhaps get him free rides on stuff.’ Chris and I stayed silent, allowing her space to relive those moments. ‘We got a free go on the dodgems and then Robbie won me a little teddy bear at a dart-throwing stand … think I’ve still got it in the loft somewhere … And then this boy fell in with us.’ She stopped speaking as if her recall had run into a brick wall. Then she looked over at me, staring. ‘That’s how I know you!’ She was on her feet. ‘On my God. After all these years. How dare you?’

‘Gina,’ said Chris, trying to interrupt her.

Her face was red, and as she shouted she stabbed the air in front of her with her index finger.

‘You utter creep. How could you come in here like this? You went and visited my grandfather, for God’s sake. I’m calling the police.’ She reached for her handbag and pulled out her phone.

‘Gina, think about it,’ said Chris raising his voice. ‘This was nearly thirty years ago. John was just a toddler.’ He fished in his pocket and pulled out the photo of me with Thomas and handed it to her.

‘This child is you?’ She looked over at me and sunk back down onto her chair. Her face flushed a little as if she’d realised how badly she’d misread the situation. ‘Jesus, I’m an idiot. This child is you.’

I nodded.

‘And he’s your missing brother?’

Again, a nod.

She studied the picture for a long moment. ‘Dear God. This is the boy. This is him. He said something about getting us drugs, and whispered something in Robbie’s ear. Then they both ran off.’

We sat in silence.

Then Gina asked out loud the question that was on all of our minds.

‘This can’t be a coincidence. What was your brother doing with Robbie just before he went missing?’