Isaac Rossi’s story was a familiar one. He met and fell in love with a woman named Hilary Metcalfe. After a year they moved in together and eighteen months later she became pregnant.
They often talked about marrying, but never got around to it, partly because they believed like millions of other couples that they could maintain a deep and loving relationship without having to get hitched.
Hilary gave birth to Joseph and the family lived in a rented house in Eltham for the next thirteen years.
But then Isaac decided that what he had wasn’t enough. He started an affair with a woman he met through his job in television. Her name was Emily Kennedy, a widower with a son named Mark who was only a year younger than Joseph.
The affair continued for another six months before Isaac decided to leave Hilary and embark on a new life with Emily. But like many fathers who adopt another family, he decided to cut all ties with the old one.
‘I bear some responsibility for the fact that Isaac didn’t stay in touch with his son,’ Emily said to Anna. ‘Back then I was insecure and jealous, and I knew that Hilary was trying desperately to win him back, so I discouraged him from talking to her. She reacted by making it impossible for him to remain in contact with his son. She even moved up north for a couple of years.
‘It suited me because Isaac then focused all his attention on Mark and became a devoted stepdad. I won’t apologise for what I did because if I hadn’t done it our relationship wouldn’t have been so strong and we wouldn’t have spent so many glorious years together.’ She turned from Anna and looked at her son, who seemed shocked and confused. ‘You had already lost your father, Mark, and I wasn’t prepared to see it happen a second time. And before you or anyone else seeks to judge me, I’d like to make it clear that Isaac didn’t need much persuading since he had never had a close relationship with Joseph anyway. In fact he told me once that he wasn’t even sure he was the father because the boy looked so very different to him.’
Anna half expected Rossi to admonish his mother for what she did all those years ago. Instead he rushed across the room to embrace her and they both broke down.
It was an awkward, yet touching scene, and Anna let it play out as she tried to decide how to move things forward. Emily’s impromptu confession had added to the cluster of emotions that had consumed the family.
And it had thrown another suspect into the mix – Mark Rossi’s stepbrother, Joseph.
Anna needed to find out if he was still living in Camberwell, and if he harboured any kind of grudge against his father’s adopted family.
It all got too much for Emily and her sobs turned into a raging coughing fit.
Her daughter-in-law seized control of the situation and offered to take her upstairs so that she could lie down.
‘Can you bring my bag?’ Emily spluttered between coughs as her son helped her up from the chair. ‘I haven’t taken my blood pressure tablet yet.’
‘Are you sure you’re going to be all right here by yourself when we go to see Jacob?’ Rossi asked her.
‘Of course. I’ll be fine. There’s no need for you to worry.’
Anna felt sorry for Emily, but nevertheless she was glad the two women were leaving the room. It gave her the chance to raise with Rossi the subject of his alleged affairs, and to ask him about Roy Slater.
She gestured for Officer Moore to follow them out, and after the kitchen door was closed behind them, Rossi sat on the chair at the dining table vacated by his wife. His eyes were swollen from crying and there was a light sheen of sweat on his forehead. He leaned forward, took a long, quivering breath, and balled his hands into fists on the table.
‘How much of what your mother just said did you already know?’ Anna asked as she went and sat opposite him.
‘I was told at an early age that I had a stepbrother,’ he said. ‘But I was led to believe that his mum didn’t want him to have anything to do with Isaac. As a teenager I was curious, but because it was never talked about, I eventually lost interest.’
Anna then told Rossi that she wanted to talk about the conversation they’d had with Gavin Pope.
‘Well I still can’t believe that it was him who took Jacob in order to punish me for not bailing him out after he lost his job,’ Rossi said.
‘Well actually that’s not the only reason he has it in for you,’ Anna said.
‘Oh?’
Anna was still holding her notebook. She rested it on the table and opened it up.
‘We also spoke to Mr Pope’s wife, Laura,’ she said. ‘And she told us about the brief affair you had with her.’
A flash of anger crossed his features. ‘Why the fuck would she mention that? It was a long time ago and when it ended we promised each other we would keep it between ourselves.’
‘That’s what she tried to do,’ Anna said. ‘But her husband found out about the affair a year later when he stumbled on messages on her phone between the two of you that hadn’t been deleted. She persuaded him that it would serve no useful purpose to let you or anyone else know about it, so he kept quiet. But that didn’t mean he wasn’t going to give you grief.’
‘Shit. So that’s why he created such a fuss over the bankruptcy.’
‘So it would appear.’
‘And you think that because he wasn’t able to screw me for money, he might have decided to punish me by taking Jacob.’
‘It’s one possible scenario,’ Anna said. ‘But there’s another involving another former employee of Glory Entertainment named Roy Slater. I gather you had a fling with his wife as well.’
Rossi’s breath faltered and his eyebrows climbed up his forehead.
‘Jesus, I’d completely forgotten about that slime ball.’
‘So it’s true then,’ Anna said. ‘About the affair, I mean.’
‘I’m ashamed to say that it is, but all that stuff is behind me,’ Rossi said. ‘It was a stupid phase and Clare knows nothing about either of them. Clare was aware that Slater and his wife worked for Glory and she met them a couple of times. But she was never told why they both suddenly left and if she finds out now it will kill her.’
‘Well let’s hope it doesn’t come to that,’ Anna said. ‘But can you confirm that your father paid Slater to leave the company and keep quiet about it?’
He nodded. ‘It got messy after Ruth, his wife, decided to leave him because she didn’t love him any more. She knew I’d never leave Clare so she planned to start a new life in France where her parents were living. But Slater overheard her talking to me on the phone. The next day he confronted me as I left the Glory Entertainment offices with Isaac. He was ranting and raving but when he finally accepted that Ruth wasn’t running off with me, he calmed down. Isaac gave him a choice – he could make a fuss and get the sack with no pay-off. Or be paid ten thousand quid to accept that I wasn’t to blame for the marriage breakdown and go quietly. He went for option two.’
‘And was that the last you saw of him?’ Anna asked.
He shook his head. ‘No, it wasn’t. About five months ago he phoned me out of the blue and asked for more money. He said that the ten grand we’d given him hadn’t been enough to get him back on his feet. I knew all about his gambling addiction so I told him it was out of the question. I thought he’d threaten to go to the papers or get in touch with my wife, but instead he just hung up and I never heard from him again.’
‘We haven’t been able to talk to him yet, but do you think he would have it in him to do something like this?’
By now Rossi’s face was drenched in sweat and his eyes were glazed and haunted. His breath was coming in short gasps, and he looked to be on the verge of crying again.
‘I don’t really know much about him,’ he said. ‘But Ruth reckoned he could be a nasty piece of work when he was down on his luck. And that was much of the time because of the gambling.’
There was a box of tissues on the table. Anna reached across, pulled a couple out and handed them to Rossi.
‘You’ve been really helpful, Mr Rossi,’ she said. ‘Now you need to push Roy Slater, Gavin Pope and Joseph Metcalfe from your mind and let us worry about them. Focus on supporting your wife through what is going to be a tough ordeal for both of you.’
Rossi wiped his eyes with the tissues and nodded.
‘I’d better go and get ready then,’ he said.
After he had stepped out of the room, and the door was closed behind him, Anna asked Benning what he’d made of what they’d been told.
‘Well we’ve been given a lot to think about,’ the DI said. ‘If you like I’ll follow up the stepbrother angle. It shouldn’t be that hard to track him down, especially if he’s still living in Camberwell. We’ve got his name and we know his mother died in Guy’s Hospital.’
‘OK, but bear in mind that it might not be as easy as you think. Metcalfe was the mother’s maiden name. We don’t know what it changed to when she got married.’
‘Leave it with me, ma’am. I’ll crack on with it as soon as we’re finished at the mortuary.’
‘And what about Roy Slater?’ Anna asked.
Benning shrugged. ‘Well he’s got to be a serious contender. If he’s desperate for money again, then one plausible scenario is that he was planning to demand a ransom for Jacob and never intended to actually hurt him.’
‘So why send the photo and note?’
Benning pursed his lips and thought about it. Then: ‘That’s a good question, ma’am. It could be that his aim was to ratchet up the fear factor before delivering the punchline. That picture of Jacob chained to the wall would surely have prompted his father to stump up any amount of cash to get him back.’
Anna was about to ask another question when the kitchen door opened and Officer Moore reappeared. She was clutching her phone in one hand and looked a little flustered.
‘I’ve just taken a call from Detective Inspector Walker at MIT headquarters,’ she said. ‘He’s been trying to ring you, guv.’
‘My phone’s on silent,’ Anna replied.
‘Well he wants you to contact him right away. He says it’s urgent.’
‘And did he tell you what it’s about?’
Moore hesitated before answering. ‘He did, guv. It’s your partner, Tom Bannerman. Something has happened to him.’