Anna was awake at the crack of dawn, having managed only a few hours’ sleep.
She switched on her bedroom TV to find out what had happened on the streets overnight.
And a lot had.
Riot police had beaten back the mobs on the Embankment before they were able to cause any damage to Scotland Yard, but eight officers were badly injured in the process.
No less than twenty premises along Bond Street and Brompton Road were invaded by rioters, among them the top designer stores of Burberry, Louis Vuitton and Tiffany & Co.
Meanwhile, at London Bridge a man was badly beaten when he tried to stop thugs entering his restaurant, and a woman was critically injured in hospital after she was hit on the head by a brick thrown by a rioter in Brixton.
All the news channels gave comprehensive coverage to the murder of firearms officer Barry Noble. There were photos of him and footage of his home where the crime took place.
The reports also mentioned the sickening social media posts from people who reacted by expressing ‘delight’ at the death and describing the killing as being ‘fully justified’.
So even before she got showered, Anna could feel the blood fizzing in her ears.
After she was dressed, she made two phone calls. The first was to Phillipa Moore, the family liaison officer who was still on duty at the Rossi home. Anna told her she would be dropping by this morning with some news on the investigation.
‘If possible I’d like Jacob’s grandmother, Emily, to be there,’ she said.
‘I can go and pick her up,’ Moore replied. ‘She doesn’t live far from here.’
Anna then phoned DI Benning on his mobile. He was still at home and agreed to meet her in Bromley.
‘By the way, I came across something interesting last night,’ she said, and then told him about the old photo of Hilary Metcalfe at The Falconer’s Arms pub.
‘Let me have the URL and I’ll see what I can dig up,’ he said. ‘But why are you bothering to pursue it, ma’am? The case is solved isn’t it?’
‘Too many questions remain unanswered,’ she said. ‘But I’ll talk it through with you when we meet up.’
Anna woke Chloe up with a cup of tea and some biscuits. Her daughter wasn’t ready to get out of bed so Anna told her to lie in for as long as she wanted.
‘I’ll speak to Peggy and Ron next door on the way out,’ she said. ‘You’ve met them so you know they’re a nice couple, and they’ll be in here like a shot at the first sign of trouble. Now are you sure you’ll be all right here by yourself?’
‘I’m sure, Mum. Now let me go back to sleep.’
*
There were warnings on the radio that the start of the working week would bring chaos and gridlock to London because of the damage caused by the riots.
Some of the roads were closed, but most remained open and traffic flowed along the main arteries in and out of the city.
It helped that after another night of anarchy the rioters had dispersed, no doubt to rest up and decide what areas to target later in the day.
It was evident, too, that a great many commuters had opted to stay at home, having seen the startling images on the television.
So for Anna the drive to Bromley wasn’t half as bad as she’d expected it to be. DI Benning was already there, parked up in his Audi in front of the Rossi house. He got out when she pulled into the kerb behind him.
Before going inside, Benning asked her about the old photo she had come across, which showed the staff at The Falconer’s Arms pub.
‘I messaged the link to you before I left,’ she said.
‘I know and I’ve seen it.’
‘So what do you think?’
‘Well it really wouldn’t surprise me if the woman identified in the photo as Hilary Metcalfe is also Isaac Rossi’s ex-partner. We’ve already established that the woman lived in Camberwell before she died so does it matter that she worked in that pub all those years ago? I thought we’d accepted that Roy Slater abducted Jacob.’
Anna shrugged, knowing that the rest of the team, along with DCS Nash, would probably ask the same question.
‘I just think it’s one hell of a coincidence,’ she said. ‘I also want to be sure that Hilary’s son – Joseph Walsh – is definitely in Australia. So you need to keep chasing that up with the embassy.’
‘I did put in another call last night but the bloke I’ve been dealing with had gone home.’
‘Then try again today. The sooner we can rule him out the better. You see, I’m still not a hundred per cent convinced that Slater was working alone. That’s why I also want us to have another go at Gavin Pope. He knew Slater and worked with him.’
‘But of course that wasn’t the only thing they had in common – both their wives had affairs with Jacob’s dad.’
‘Precisely. And he had no one to corroborate his alibi that he was at home by himself on Monday afternoon when Jacob disappeared.’
‘But we’ve gone down that road, guv. We interviewed the couple and their phone records were checked.’
‘I know that. But we’d be doing a lot more if we hadn’t come up with the incriminating evidence against Slater. So all I’m saying is that before we wind up the investigation we ought to satisfy ourselves that we’re not missing anything.’
Benning nodded. ‘That’s fair enough. I’ll get back onto the Australian embassy as soon as we’ve wrapped up here. And I’ll check to see if that old photo can lead us anywhere.’