Chapter Twenty-Four

Ipswich

17th August

DS Wildy

Rick and Jenny Grant live in quite a nice house near the Ipswich docks; rows of flowers are planted outside in window boxes, withering in the August heat. It’s doubtful that anyone is remembering to water them. Inside, it is newly decorated, the walls fresh with relatively recent paint, a shiny Smeg fridge, a classy-looking island in the middle of the kitchen on which stand endless mugs of half-drunk tea. There are photos of Eve everywhere, with one notably missing from its frame – the one that is currently plastered all over the newspapers, given to DS Bolton at the start of the investigation.

It’s too warm inside the house, but nobody opens a window. The family liaison officer pours them all a glass of water. Her face is tight and tired-looking. On the sofa in the living room sits a little pink teddy bear belonging to Eve, and as DS Wildy makes his way into the room, Jenny picks it up and clutches it to her chest.

‘Sorry to intrude yet again,’ Alex says to her. They have already apologised for upsetting her the other day, but Rick’s wall-punching incident has rather evened out the playing field, and all Jenny does now is nod.

‘Rick’s out,’ she says, ‘he’s joined one of the search parties. It’s better for him, I think. He needs to feel like he’s doing something.’ She gives a weird, nervous laugh. ‘Think he’s realised that sitting on the sofa all day wasn’t doing him any good, after all.’

‘Good,’ Alex says, ‘that’s great, Mrs Grant.’ He takes a sip of his water, attempts a smile. He wants to talk to her about the things Rick said at the station, his utter conviction that Caroline Harvey is somehow to blame for all this despite the fact that she’s lying in the morgue.

‘Mrs Grant,’ he begins, deciding to jump straight in, ‘when you left your daughter with Ms Harvey, were you aware that she had previously had an abortion for a child of her own?’

Jenny stares at him, her eyes widening a little. He can see genuine surprise on her face. The fact came up in Caroline’s medical records, but they hadn’t thought it relevant until now. It still might not be, but it opens up a conversation.

‘What? No. That’s not true.’

‘It is true, Mrs Grant, the information is clearly stated on Ms Harvey’s medical records.’

‘When did she have an abortion?’

‘A few months before the night of her death. April. It hasn’t seemed relevant before, but your husband indicated some – concerns about Caroline to me, about her state of mind. About her desire for a child.’

‘God, I had no idea… she didn’t tell me,’ Jenny says. She clutches the pink teddy tightly, her fingers curling into its lurid fur.

‘Do you know who the father might have been, Mrs Grant?’

‘Well, Callum, I presume. But I’m surprised she – I didn’t think she’d do that. I thought she was desperate for kids of her own.’ Jenny pauses. ‘Maybe it just wasn’t the right time.’

‘Do you think there is any chance that your baby was not safe in the care of Ms Harvey, Jenny? That her desire for a child of her own meant she might have wanted to take or harm yours?’

‘Not safe? What do you mean? Obviously she wasn’t safe, she’s missing!’ She is glaring at him now, and he feels sweat forming on the back of his neck, takes a sip of water. The room is stiflingly hot.

‘What I mean, Mrs Grant, is do you think there is any possibility, however remote, that Caroline Harvey could have harmed Eve herself?’

For a second, she stares at him. ‘Caroline harm Eve?’

‘Yes.’

‘Well, I don’t think so… I don’t know. I don’t know. I don’t know quite what Rick said to you.’ She is worrying at the teddy, pulling a thread from its stomach, winding it tightly around one finger. Tears are beginning to fill her eyes, catching the light in the stream of sunshine that is filtering through the half-closed blinds. ‘I never thought this would happen, did I?’ Jenny mutters, almost to herself, then looks back up at DS Wildy, raises her voice a bit. ‘I can’t imagine what’s happened to Eve, Detective, but Caroline doesn’t have her, does she, because she’s dead.’

Alex clears his throat. He wishes she’d put down the pink bear, it’s distracting.

‘Mrs Grant, do you think there is any chance that your friend Caroline was jealous of the fact that you had a child? That there was any part of her that wanted your child for her own?’

FEARS GROW IN SEARCH FOR MISSING BABY EVE

Suffolk Police are continuing to search for the whereabouts of missing one-year-old Eve Grant, who was last seen in Ipswich on the evening of 10th August, in the care of a family friend, Ms Caroline Harvey. Ms Harvey was killed on the night of the disappearance.

‘We are continuing to appeal to any and all members of the public who may have seen something on the night of the tenth,’ a spokesperson from Suffolk Police said. ‘Eve Grant was not yet walking by herself, therefore we need to rule out the possibility that she made her own way out of the flat. We are particularly interested in the hours of 6 to 9 p.m., in anyone who may have been seen in the vicinity of Woodmill Road, perhaps carrying something in their arms, an object or bundle, or putting such an object into a car. It is crucial that everyone casts their memories back to that night and if you did see anything unusual or suspicious, please call 0845 54 54 54 as soon as possible.’

On Monday night, baby Eve’s parents, Jenny and Rick Grant, made an emotional appeal on BBC One, calling for whoever had taken their daughter to ‘please, bring her home’.

Earlier this week a search of the Ipswich marina turned up nothing, and police continue to search the outskirts of Ipswich for a sighting of little Eve. Around two hundred people helped in a search of streets, farmland and woodland through the night and into this morning. Ports and airport staff have also been informed.

The investigation into the death of Ms Harvey continues, with one man in his forties being held in custody.