Читать книгу The Child’s Secret - Amanda Brooke, Amanda Brooke - Страница 12

‘It was through Anna that I got to know the family,’ Sam told Harper.

‘And Anna would be Jasmine’s teacher?’

Pursing his dried lips, the skin tore when Sam opened his mouth to speak. He was tiring of the cat-and-mouse game Harper was playing and said, ‘You already know she is.’

‘Yes, of course, Anna Jenkins. The girlfriend,’ Harper said and then began leafing through his notebook, although Sam suspected it was more for effect than to check any particular facts.

The silence that followed made Sam uncomfortable, as Harper no doubt intended. Sam was becoming impatient for a drink to quench his thirst and was ready to stand up to get it himself, when the uniformed policeman reappeared with his long-awaited glass of water. Jasper had been following him, but stopped at the doorway when he saw Harper standing over Sam. The puppy looked to his master for comfort then shivered nervously.

‘Go lie down, boy,’ Sam told him softly but firmly.

Jasper took a hesitant step forward as if he were going to ignore the command but then, dipping his head, he disappeared back into the kitchen. There was the brief sound of scratching as the puppy settled into his bed.

‘I couldn’t help notice that all your cupboards are bare, Mr McIntyre,’ the police officer said as he handed Sam the glass.

Harper looked up from his notes. ‘Really?’ he asked and shared a look with the other man before writing something down. When he looked up again, he said, ‘Right, Mr McIntyre, back to this morning. You left the house when?’

Sam had been expecting a whole new set of questions but relaxed a little. After taking a long drink, he said, ‘About ten o’clock, maybe ten thirty.’

‘Not before?’

‘I’ve already told you. No.’

‘And is there anyone who can corroborate your story?’

‘It’s not a story, and no, I can’t.’

‘Not your landlady?’

‘I haven’t seen Selina this morning. I heard her leave, maybe an hour before me.’

‘And do you know where she is now?’

Sam craned his neck to look out of the window. The parking space next to his Land Rover remained empty. ‘No,’ he said.

‘And no one else lives in the house?’

‘No.’

Harper was looking around the room again. ‘No offence, but it hardly looks like even you live here. Has Jasmine ever visited?’

‘No, never.’

‘You met her quite often in the park, though.’

‘A few times, yes.’

‘And the last time you saw her was …’ Harper said, pausing to consult his notes, ‘two weeks ago. Where was that?’

‘At the park,’ Sam said.

‘Where in the park?’

‘By the—’ Sam went to say Wishing Tree and only just stopped himself. ‘By the Allerton Oak.’

Harper tapped a pen against his notepad and then took a quick breath as if a thought had only just occurred to him. ‘Ah, yes, I’d almost forgotten about the Wishing Tree. Is there a reason why you haven’t yet mentioned that you knew about Jasmine’s wish to find a job for her dad, Mr McIntyre? Or why you felt compelled to fulfil it?’