Outside on the street, Ridpath stood around as Emily fumbled for one of her cigarettes.
‘What happened here, Em? Did Jane Ryder simply fall through the cracks in the system?’
She shook her head. ‘I don’t think so. There seems to be more going on. Didn’t her parents tell you she was adopted?’
He thought back to the first interview. ‘The father kept calling her his daughter. No hint of any adoption. The mother seems to be on some powerful drugs for her cancer, the father did most of the talking.’
‘It is strange they didn’t mention it.’ She lit the cigarette, nervously taking a long drag.
‘When did your parents tell you?’
‘I always knew, so they didn’t have to tell me. Perhaps the same was true of your Jane Ryder.’
‘But your parents told other people you were adopted.’
Emily shook her head. ‘To them, I was their daughter and that was everything. I mean, it wasn’t a secret, but we certainly didn’t talk about it, and I never mentioned it at school.’
‘Colin Dowell, the copper who did the interview back in 2009, didn’t know she was adopted either. I don’t think they told him.’
‘But Ms Hawkins, the missing person’s manager, did?’
‘She was in touch with the social worker. Perhaps it’s how she found out?’
‘Why was the social worker so keen to put a sixteen-year-old girl who disappeared into a low-risk category? Did she know something we don’t?’
‘Perhaps she knew about the boyfriend?’
‘But if Jane Ryder simply ran off with a boyfriend because everything wasn’t as hunky dory at home as you were told, why didn’t she get in touch later? A letter. A phone call. Or just a Christmas card, letting her adoptive parents know she was OK. Wouldn’t she have at least communicated in some way? I would have done, in her position.’ Emily Parkinson stopped talking.
‘What are you thinking?’ asked Ridpath.
‘Not if she hated them. Not if she hated them so much she never wanted to see them again. Not if…’
‘Go on.’
‘She wanted to punish them so much, and the harshest punishment was silence…’
Ridpath’s phone rang. He checked the screen; it was Chrissy. He put her on speakerphone so Emily could hear.
‘Hi there, what have you got for me?’
‘I’ve found the files on Jane Ryder. There were duplicates in the MFH, with a lot more follow-up and interviews than in the documents we have.’
‘Great, Chrissy, can you scan them in and send to me?’
‘Will do.’
Ridpath thought for a moment. ‘Do you have them now?’
‘I’m at MFH, they’re in front of me.’
‘Are the DNA samples taken by Colin Dowell still there?’
‘There’s an evidence bag. Let me check it. Yep, it’s a toothbrush.’
‘Great, Chrissy. Can you send it to Hannah at the lab and ask her to compare a sample with DNA from the female hand?’
‘But I thought we were unable to obtain DNA?’
‘Perhaps not enough for identification, but enough to compare with an existing sample.’
‘OK, I see what you’re doing. Does the sample from the toothbrush match DNA from the hand? You know it probably won’t stand up in court, Ridpath.’
‘But it would stand up in an inquest for a presumption of death. At least it might give us an ID.’
‘Sending it as soon as we finish this phone call.’
‘Can you also take a quick look and give me the name of the social worker involved? There should be a minuted meeting with the missing person’s manager, Doreen Hawkins.’
‘Just a sec.’
Ridpath heard the turning of pages as Chrissy mumbled a few words to herself. ‘Here it is. The social worker was a… Patricia Patterson.’
‘What?’
‘It says here Patricia Patterson. Doreen Hawkins had a telephone call with her on June 20, 2009.’
There was silence for a second before Emily spoke. ‘Hang on, wasn’t that the name of one of the social workers not charged by CPS after Operation Pharaoh?’
‘Chrissy, we need the files submitted to CPS as soon as possible. Obviously the investigating officers thought there was enough evidence to charge Patricia Patterson, but CPS disagreed. Why?’
‘Probably insufficient evidence to gain a conviction in their opinion, Ridpath.’
‘We need to know, Chrissy.’
‘Next job, Ridpath.’
He switched off the phone.
‘What is it?’ asked Emily.
‘Something’s not right with this case. There seem to be lies, more lies and even more untruths. But I know one thing is true…’
‘What?’
‘Daisy House Children’s Home seems to be at the heart of everything.’