The Whole Truth

‘Your drawings are really good, Tobin,’ says the officer, opening the colouring book on her lap and turning the pages. ‘I specially like the dragon.’

He blinks, shifts a little.

‘You must have seen pictures of dragons before, to be able to colour them so well.’

He shrugs and says something half mumbled about The Hobbit.

She turns the book round and shows him the page.

‘The other lady you spoke to – Erica – she said you’ve been doing this in the last few days, is that right?’

A slow nod.

‘The red is fantastic. Really scary. Why did you choose that colour?’

No response.

‘Have you seen one like it before somewhere?’

Another nod this time. But he’s still not looking at her.

‘When was that, Tobin?’ she asks softly.

‘Caleb has one. On his back.’

‘I see. Do you remember when you saw it?’

The boy puts his forehead against his knees. His hair falls forward and she has to edge closer to hear.

‘It was in the kitchen.’

‘The other night? When he was babysitting?’

He nods. ‘I came down to get a drink.’

‘I see. And what did you see – in the kitchen?’

There’s no answer. She reaches a tentative hand but he shakes her away.

In the room next door, they’re holding their breath. It’s 50/50 whether she decides she can’t push him any further, even though he’s on the brink –

When he does speak it’s barely more than a whisper, and they can see, even on the video screen, that he’s started to cry.

‘I don’t like Caleb any more. He hurt my mummy. I’m going to kill him. I’m going to kill him with a big sword like George and the dragon.’

* * *

‘So what’ve you got?’

Dave King is hovering behind Farrow, staring over his shoulder at the screen. He’s shifting from one foot to the other, fizzy with nervous energy.

Farrow glances back. ‘We’ve verified what time DI Fawley left the Headington gym from the cameras in their car park. It was 8.43. And he was definitely wearing a white T-shirt and dark shorts, just like the witness in Shrivenham Close saw.’

‘Yeah,’ says King, ‘but he’s admitting he went over there, so that’s no sodding use. His brief’ll crap all over that. What else?’

‘We’ve also checked out the route from the gym to Smith’s house, but it’s all residential – no ANPR, no CCTV, nothing.’

‘For fuck’s sake –’ begins King.

‘DC Jenkins also went up and drove it, and it took twelve minutes, which means the timings Fawley gave us tally. So that’s something.’

‘No it fucking isn’t,’ says King. ‘All that is is three steps forward, two steps back.’

‘I’m also checking on ANPR for the Clelands’ Honda –’

King straightens up. ‘I thought I told you to drop that shit.’

Farrow flushes. ‘But surely we still need to eliminate him –’

‘No,’ says King, his own colour rising now, ‘we don’t. There is no forensic evidence whatsoever linking that tosser to this crime, and there’s a whole truckload putting Fawley right in the middle of it.’ He stares at Farrow. ‘If you’re having problems coming to terms with that, I’d be happy to look into a transfer –’

‘No,’ says Farrow quickly. ‘No. No need for that, boss. I’m onside. Totally onside.’

* * *

‘And where were they – your mummy and Caleb – when he was hurting her?’

The little boy sits up. He sniffs and wipes his hand across his eyes. It’s hard to know what’s suddenly changed, but something has.

‘By the sink. Mummy was at the sink and Caleb was behind her, pushing her. She looked funny.’

‘Really? What sort of funny?’

He shrugs. ‘I dunno. Floppy. Like she was sleepy.’

‘And Caleb had his shirt completely off?’

He stares at her, then shakes his head.

‘So it had just slipped down? That’s how you saw the tattoo?’

He nods.

‘What about your mummy? Did she have her clothes on?’

He looks away. ‘Her dress was pulled up. Like when she goes to the toilet.’

‘Did your mummy see you, Tobin?’ asks the officer gently. ‘Did either she or Caleb know you were there?’

* * *

‘Jesus,’ says Quinn, staring at the screen. ‘As if this wasn’t complicated enough already.’

Ev looks dismayed. ‘I can’t see how an eight-year-old could come up with a story like that unless he’d really seen it.’

‘Yeah, OK,’ says Baxter, ‘so they had sex. But how do we know it wasn’t just consensual –’

‘Seriously?’ says Somer. ‘How clear does it have to be?’ She looks pale – so pale Ev is surprised she bothered coming in today at all.

Gis looks round at the rest of the team. ‘Somer’s right. Looks like a crime was committed that night. But the victim wasn’t Morgan. It was Fisher.’

* * *

‘They didn’t see me,’ says the little boy sulkily. ‘I ran away.’

‘Back up to your room?’

He nods.

‘And that’s on the top floor, isn’t it?’

Another nod.

The officer checks something in her file. ‘But Mummy’s room is somewhere else, I think. On the floor below?’

No response this time.

‘So you probably didn’t hear her go to bed, then?’

He looks away and mumbles something. She asks him gently to say it again and eventually he does.

‘I was under my bed.’

‘What were you doing there, Tobin?’

He looks down; his lip is trembling. ‘I was hiding.’

* * *