Ipswich
13th August
DS Wildy
DS Alex Wildy takes a sip of coffee, the taste of it burning his mouth. His wife Joanne has started packing him his own flask of freshly ground beans from home but he’s usually drunk it by the time he gets to the station. He didn’t sleep well last night, kept up with thoughts of the Ipswich murder-kidnap case. He can’t believe they’ve already wasted almost three days trying to track down Callum Dillon. TV exec, local celebrity – and alleged boyfriend of Caroline Harvey. Buggered off to France for a jolly holiday, leaving a dead woman in his wake. He sighs: a woman found dead and a baby missing – it’s not the norm for little old Ipswich. Last year, the biggest case the town saw was a burglary in the Wickham Estate, and even then they only took a TV worth less than five hundred pounds. It was hardly worth prosecuting, but they did anyway. Couple of youths ended up with suspended sentences.
‘It’s good for you to have something to get your teeth into,’ Joanne had said when this case first came in on the night of the tenth, and Alex had nodded, not wanting to admit that he already felt a little bit overwhelmed. He can’t help it – he always feels so desperately sorry for the victims in cases like this. Whenever a baby is involved, or any child really, the whole thing becomes so much worse. He’s desperate for little Eve to be found alive.
Jenny Grant gave the police Callum’s name straight away, sobbing down the phone as she told them about coming back to find her babysitter, a 33-year-old local woman named Caroline Harvey, dead and her daughter Eve missing. Tracking him down was another matter. They’d gone to the Ipswich house he shares with his wife and daughter, only to find it locked up, curtains closed and door firmly shut. The neighbours hadn’t had a clue; Alex got the impression they weren’t used to socialising with the family too much, though their interest was more than piqued at the mention of Callum’s name. Eventually, a work colleague of Callum’s had mentioned France, and once they’d got onto border control, it hadn’t taken long to get the Rouen police on the line, send a couple of officers over to the villa in Saint Juillet this morning. Callum should be on a plane any minute now, making his way back to the UK, as the country crawls with police out looking for Eve. There’s a search party combing Ipswich and the surrounding area, the dogs are working with officers in Christchurch Park and beyond, over towards the coast with its heaths and woodland. Every time a phone rings they are all on high alert, waiting for news, but so far nothing has been found – no clothing, no signs of life. No sign of the victim’s mobile phone, either – they are working to the assumption that whoever killed her took it with them.
Alex wonders what will be going through the TV exec’s mind as he sits on the plane – hopefully with minimal leg room. At least they know where he is now. But during these crucial few days, anything could have happened. He grits his teeth. No point getting annoyed, not now. There’s a job to be done. A baby to be found.
His colleague, Dave Bolton, nudges him in the ribs, causing the caustic coffee to spill down the front of his shirt, freshly ironed by Joanne last night. Alex knows that his wife is keeping busy at the moment, trying to distract herself from the latest miscarriage. He’s not one of those men who wants his wife to do all the traditional chores – cooking, cleaning, ironing – but lately he’s had the uncomfortable sense that she wants to do it, wants to keep her mind away from babies. He’s told her to go back to work, if she wants, but she keeps insisting she’s not ready.
‘Come on then, she’s in Room 2,’ DS Bolton says, nodding down the corridor to where they’ve got the mother of the missing one-year-old. Thus far, any questioning of the baby’s parents has taken place in their own home by DS Bolton and the assigned DCI, Gillian McVey. They’d been anxious not to cause them undue stress, but as the hours have passed and missing Eve hasn’t been found, the DCI has made the decision to bring Rick and Jenny in for formal questioning, and DS Wildy has been roped in.
‘She’s in a bit of a state,’ Bolton adds, ‘understandably.’
‘I’d be worried if she wasn’t,’ says Alex, and Bolton nods.
‘Still,’ he says, ‘you never can tell at this stage. I’ve seen enough waterworks shows to last me a lifetime.’ He grins at Alex, and they walk towards the interview room. Alex can see through the glass panel in the door that there is a woman hunched at the table, her slim frame curving downwards as though broken somehow. Her hair is thin and lank-looking, and her hands are clasped together on the table, a silver ring with a huge rock on it clearly visible in the light. Someone has brought her a glass of water, but the polystyrene cup is damaged at the sides, as though she has been gripping it too tightly.
‘Jenny Grant?’ he says, pushing open the door, and the woman looks up, quick as a flash, her eyes meeting his. She has the desperate, hunted look of an animal, reminding Alex of a rabbit he once saw trapped in wire in the garden back at home.
‘I’m DS Wildy,’ he tells her, ‘I’m here to talk to you about the disappearance of your daughter.’
Interview with Jenny Grant, 13th August
Ipswich Police Station
Present: DS Wildy, DS Bolton, Jenny Grant
10.05 a.m.
DS Wildy: Mrs Grant, please state your name for the tape.
JG: Jenny Elizabeth Grant.
DS Wildy: Mrs Grant, please could you talk us through the events of the tenth of August, the night you went to collect your daughter Eve from the care of Caroline Harvey?
JG: [pause]
DS Wildy: It’s OK. Take your time.
JG: I’m sorry. This is difficult for me. [pause] Being here like this, in this room – it feels like I’m in trouble.
DS Wildy: You’re not, Mrs Grant. We are not accusing you of anything at this stage. We just need to get a clear picture of what happened that night.
JG: [takes a deep breath] I was coming home from the hospital, the Norfolk and Norwich hospital. Rick – my husband – Rick’s mother was in one of the wards, she’d been staying there for a few nights. She’d had a heart attack, like I told you before, and they’d kept her in for observation. She’s in her seventies, but she’s never had great health, and Rick worries about her a lot. All the time, actually.
DS Wildy: For the benefit of the tape, the woman in hospital is Margaret Grant, mother of Rick Grant.
JG: I had asked Caroline—
DS Wildy: For the benefit of the tape, Caroline Harvey, the deceased.
JG: [pause] Yes. I had asked Caroline to look after our daughter, Eve, for the night whilst we went to see Margaret in the hospital. I thought – I thought it would be OK because she’d looked after her on the night of the heart attack, about a week before. [pause]. I hadn’t thought of her as a baby person before that, but she’d come round for dinner, and it all happened so quickly, there was no one else to leave her with. [pause] I just wanted Eve to sleep. I didn’t want to have to wake her up and for her to start crying. [pause.] I was trying to do the right thing for my baby. [pause, sobbing]. She’s my first child, my only child. I love her so much.
DS Wildy: It’s OK, Mrs Grant, you’re doing really well. Take your time.
JG: I should have just taken her with us, I know I should. But I’ve known Caroline since university. For years.
DS Bolton: Mrs Grant, would you say you and Caroline Harvey had remained close since university?
JG: [pause] No. No, not really, not the whole way through. We’ve been closer recently, in the last few years. She – she’d told me about Callum. I thought of him straight away. He wasn’t very nice to her, I don’t think – something happened between them, something bad. They’d stopped seeing each other a few weeks ago, she said, but it was obvious he still had a hold on her. I’m worried she might have called him, that he came over and lost his temper. [presses a hand to her mouth]
DS Wildy: When you say something bad happened between them, what do you mean?
JG: I don’t know. I really don’t. I never found out, but I know there was something, a reason she stopped seeing him in the first place. She was angry with him.
DS Wildy: Why did you choose Caroline to look after your daughter?
JG: Like I said, there was no one else at the time, that first night, when Margaret was taken ill. And when we got home Eve was fine, she was sleeping, she was completely fine. I don’t understand how any of this happened.
DS Wildy: Let’s return to the night in question, then, August 10th. You took Eve over to Caroline’s flat this time, didn’t you? Where previously she’d been in your house.
JG: Yes. Yes. I would have preferred Caroline to come to ours because that’s where all Eve’s stuff is, you know, her cot, her things, but I’d already put Caro out on the night of the heart attack; I didn’t want to be selfish. I was so grateful that she was helping us. Rick was – Rick was very upset about his mother. [pause] It was stressful. I wanted to make things easier for us all.
DS Bolton: And what time did you take your daughter over to Caroline’s flat? For the benefit of the tape, this is location A, 43 Woodmill Road, Ipswich.
JG: It was about 6 p.m.
DS Wildy: And how did Caroline seem when you took Eve to her?
JG: She seemed fine. She was really happy to see us; I remember thinking she was so natural with Eve. [pause] I thought, she’ll make a great mother some day. Sorry – I just, I just need a moment. [long pause]. I can’t think straight, Detective, my mind is – it’s all over the place. All I can think about is Eve, I can’t really – I’m not really thinking about Caroline. I know that sounds awful but she’s my baby, my only girl. I need her back. [pause, crying].
DS Wildy: Take your time.
JG: [takes a deep breath] Sorry. I’m OK now. Caroline seemed fine. I’d brought Eve’s travel cot, we set it up in the bedroom when I arrived—
DS Bolton: In Caroline Harvey’s bedroom?
JG: Yes. It’s a tiny flat. There wasn’t anywhere else.
DS Wildy: Please continue, Mrs Grant. You set up the cot. Was Eve sleeping when you dropped her off?
JG: No, she was awake. She’s often awake until about seven, that’s when I normally put her down. That’s the right time, that’s what all the books say to do.
DS Wildy: We’re not disputing that, Mrs Grant. Please don’t worry. So, you left Eve with Caroline. What time did you leave the premises to go to the hospital?
JG: I stayed for about twenty minutes, I think, just running through everything with Caroline, you know, everything Eve might need. I left her some formula, we put it in the fridge. And a change of clothes – I’d been changing her clothes a couple of times in the night, recently, because it’s been so hot. She would get very hot in her cot; we’d started keeping the window open.
DS Bolton: Did you run through all of the details with Caroline on the night of the heart attack, a few nights before, the first time you left Eve in her care?
JG: [pause] No. No, I didn’t. There wasn’t any time. I did text her from the hospital. I told her where everything was then. But I was rushing out the door, the hospital had said Margaret might be about to die. Rick was distraught. He’s very close to his mother. [pause] He always has been.
DS Bolton: So you left Caroline Harvey’s flat at around twenty past six on the evening of August 10th. And you went to the Norfolk and Norwich hospital.
JG: Yes.
DS Wildy: And where was your husband during this time?
JG: He was already at the hospital with his mother. He’d barely left her bedside since the heart attack. Like I said, they’re really close.
DS Bolton: So would you say it had been difficult for you, for those past few days, looking after Eve alone whilst your husband was with his mother?
JG: No, I would not. I’m her mother. I didn’t find it difficult. Why are you even saying that, what are you suggesting?
DS Wildy: And what time did you leave the hospital to come back to collect your daughter from Caroline Harvey’s flat?
JG: It was just after ten. We’d stayed at the hospital until visiting hours stopped – Rick wanted to. Then we both drove back. I dropped Rick at home and then I went to get Eve.
DS Bolton: Why did you drop your husband off first?
JG: [pause] He was exhausted and upset. I knew he wanted to be at home. So I said I’d go get Eve. I was worried I’d end up talking to Caroline for a while, and that it would get late. I wanted Rick to be able to relax and go to bed. He’d had a really long day. We both had, I suppose.
DS Bolton: And can you tell us what happened when you arrived at Ms Harvey’s flat?
JG: [pause]
DS Wildy: We understand this is difficult to think about, Mrs Grant. But it’s important, for your daughter’s sake, that you are as detailed as possible in your recollection. Any small detail could be crucial to our investigation at this stage.
JG: I – I took the lift up to her flat. She’s on the fifth floor, at the end of a long corridor. As I walked down the corridor, I could see that her front door was open, just a bit, and I was confused. I worried that I must have left it open, when I left for the hospital, and that Caro hadn’t noticed. I reached the door and knocked on it quickly, then pushed it open and went inside. I didn’t think she’d mind, you know, I was calling out to her, hello, it’s me. I thought she’d be expecting me because I’d texted her when I left the hospital, just to say I was on my way back. I asked her if she needed anything from the shops. I wanted to say thank you to her, for looking after Eve twice in one week.
DS Wildy: Did she reply to your message saying that you were on your way?
JG: No. No, I told DS Bolton yesterday that she didn’t.
DS Bolton: What time was the message sent? Remind us, if you could.
JG: It was about ten past ten, I think. I said I was dropping Rick home and then I’d be straight over. I offered to get her a bottle of wine as a thank you. Asked if she needed any milk, that sort of thing. I felt guilty for being quite a long time, and I wanted to make it up to her, make sure she knew I was grateful. Eve isn’t always an easy baby.
DS Bolton: What do you mean by that?
JG: Nothing out of the ordinary – just that she’s a baby, Detective. She’s one and a half – she cries sometimes – well, she cries a lot, she can be tricky to put down to sleep. That sort of thing. I just – I just didn’t want Caroline to think I was taking advantage. I got the impression that she sometimes felt – I don’t know – different to Rick and I. I didn’t want her to think we were just using the fact that she was single and didn’t have any other ties, you know, getting her to babysit for nothing.
DS Bolton: So you didn’t pay Caroline for babysitting?
JG: I – no. I offered to, but she’s a friend. Was a friend. It would have been odd for me to give her money. Why does this even matter?
DS Wildy: What happened when you walked into Caroline’s flat, Mrs Grant? Can you tell us about that?
JG: At first I couldn’t see her. It was really quiet, and I felt myself begin to panic because the whole flat just had such a strange air about it, you know. I thought I could smell cleaning fluid, something chemical. [pause] Sorry, sorry. I’m OK.
DS Wildy: Take a deep breath, if you can.
JG: I went into the kitchen, to see where Caroline was, and she – she wasn’t in there. She was gone.
DS Wildy: What happened next?
JG: I ran into the bedroom – it’s a tiny flat, very small, but I had to check. I thought Caroline might have had to go out, an emergency or something, and that she’d taken Eve with her so as not to leave her alone. I wouldn’t have minded, you know, as long as she was safe, as long as she had her. But in the bedroom – I found – [pause] the cot with…with…
DS Wildy: Do you think you’re able to continue?
JG: [silence, sobbing]
DS Bolton: Interview paused at 10.45.