It felt to Anna as though she had been punched in the stomach.
She exchanged a look with Sweeny, whose mouth hung open as though waiting to trap a fly. Neither of them could believe what Rigby had just told them about DI Benning. It was ridiculous, obscene, too far-fetched to be taken seriously.
Surely.
‘Why are you looking at me like that?’ he said to Anna. ‘I’m telling you the truth. Ask Pete if you don’t believe me.’
‘Who’s Pete?’ Anna said.
He gestured towards the café owner. ‘That’s him. Joe is a regular in here. I know because when he sees me sitting across the road, he always makes a point of crossing over and giving me some change. He’s a generous bloke.’
Anna sat still for a few moments as the blood beat in her ears. Then a thought occurred to her and she took out her phone while Sweeny got up to go and speak to the café owner.
Anna tapped ‘Jacob Rossi press conference’ into the Google search engine, having remembered seeing Benning stage a presser the morning after the boy went missing.
She found it in seconds and held her phone up for Rigby to see.
‘Is this the man you’re talking about?’ she said.
He nodded without hesitation. ‘That’s him. That’s Joe. He’s always been pleasant to me – treated me like a proper human being, unlike most people.’
Anna’s mind spun wildly as she tried to make sense of what she’d been told. But it didn’t make sense. How could it? Benning was the detective who led the investigation into Jacob’s disappearance. Anna recalled him being visibly shaken when he walked into the cellar and saw that the lad was dead. He was then desperate to stay with the case when MIT took it over. Anna just couldn’t imagine that he had written the note that was sent to Jacob’s dad. She was reminded now of those hateful words.
I’m sick of seeing you boast about your perfect life on social media, Rossi. You’ve had it too good for too long and that’s not fair. You act as though you’re special and more deserving than the rest of us. So I’ve taken your son because I want to see you suffer. And I’m sure you will when you’re sitting at home wondering what I’m doing to him. Pleasant dreams, Mr big shot TV man—
Her mind screamed and her heart raced. And questions came crashing down on her.
Did it all start when Isaac Rossi abandoned Joe and his mother all those years ago?
Did Joe find it impossible to forgive his father?
How much damage did it do to him psychologically when his father married and Mark became Isaac’s stepson?
And did he become insanely jealous when Mark’s career took off, thanks in part to his stepfather’s TV production company?
Was that why he hated Mark so much and wanted to see him suffer?
Anna was still deep in thought when Sweeny returned to the table with the café owner in tow.
‘Mr Fowler has just confirmed what we’ve been told,’ she said. ‘He’s met Joe Benning many times.’
‘That’s true,’ the man said. ‘He usually pops in once a week. It used to be a lot more often before he was transferred from Peckham police station to Bromley. I’ve always felt sorry for the poor bugger.’
‘Why is that?’ Anna asked.
‘Well he’s had a tough life. He’s talked to me about it a few times. His daughter was killed by a reckless driver aged just six. Then his wife left him and since then he’s not had much of a life outside his work. To top it all, a few months ago he was diagnosed with some kind of dementia.’
‘Benning told you about that?’
‘He came in here straight from the hospital because it was too early for the pubs, and he was really upset. I asked him what was wrong and he broke down, which I didn’t expect. The place was empty so I sat with him and we talked about it.’
‘See I told you both that I didn’t make it up,’ Rigby said as he continued to stuff his face, oblivious to the huge bomb he’d just dropped.
Anna thanked them both and signalled for Sweeny to follow her outside.
‘Were you aware that Benning has dementia, guv?’ Sweeny asked when they were stood out on the pavement.
‘I was, but I was sworn to secrecy,’ Anna said. ‘It’s early onset so he was carrying on working. But he was aware that this case was likely to be his last and I thought that was why he was so passionate about sticking with it.’
‘Well he did a good job of hiding his condition from the rest of us. I would never have guessed, but then I suppose he hasn’t been around us long enough for it to have become obvious.’
Anna reached for her phone and called DI Walker.
‘Something’s happened and I need you to run some checks for me,’ she said when he answered. ‘But first is DI Benning there with you in the ops room?’
‘No he isn’t,’ Walker replied. ‘He rushed out of here just after you left saying he had to go somewhere. I thought it was odd because it looked like he was in a panic. I left it a few minutes and went looking for him but the front desk told me he’d driven off in his car. He still isn’t back.’
‘Then we need to move quickly,’ Anna said. ‘I want you and the others to drop everything else and find out as much as you can about the guy. Get his home address and come straight back to me with it. Then get a team together and head there yourself. Also, Benning has been telling us that he’s been liaising with the Australian embassy in respect of Joseph Walsh. Contact them and find out if it’s true.’
‘This all sounds pretty weird, guv,’ Walker said. ‘What in hell’s name is going on?’
‘It’s more than weird, Max. Two people have just told us that Hilary Metcalfe’s real married name was Benning, and not Walsh. And that DI Benning is her son and therefore Mark Rossi’s estranged stepbrother. And one of them – George Rigby, the homeless guy – says Benning paid for him to stay in some cheap hotel for a fortnight to keep him away from The Falconer’s Arms.’
‘Jesus Christ. Where are you now?’
‘Not far from the pub. We’ve been told that Benning lives close by in Devlin Street. Sweeny and I will go there now, but I want you to confirm that is where he lives and get me the house number.’
‘Have you phoned him?’
‘I’ll do that next. But ask the techies to trace his mobile signal because I don’t expect him to answer.’
‘Do you think he’s doing a runner?’
‘That’s highly likely. When I told the team that the homeless guy had turned up, and that I was coming to see him, he must have realised that the game was up.’
‘But this is crazy, guv. One of our own detectives is now our chief suspect. Do you really believe he could be the one who abducted Jacob and shut him in the cellar?’
‘All I can say is that I don’t think these guys are lying. And Benning was really keen to work with us after the body was found. That could be because he wanted to be on hand to muddy the waters and try to steer us in all kinds of directions and away from himself. Just think about it. Benning was the one who found Jacob’s phone and wallet when he and Prescott went to Slater’s house. So who’s to say he didn’t put them in that drawer as soon as he arrived? He might have been carrying them around with him while waiting for just such an opportunity. Or they could have been hidden in his car.’
‘That didn’t occur to me.’
‘Or to any of us.’
‘Well you need to be careful, guv. It could be he’s heading home.’
‘I’m aware of that. So get some back-up down here as quickly as you can.’
Anna hung up and called Benning’s number. She wasn’t at all surprised when it failed to go through.