‘Then maybe telling the team was all part of the game.’
Judith turned and walked away. There was no point in standing there, trying to convince him. Either she was right, or she was wrong. They’d soon find out. Downstairs, the front door was wide open. She hurried across the road, and caught up with Lucy Phillips as she crossed the road to the neighbour’s house. They found Nathan Anderson with his neighbour in the kitchen. Lucy showed Nathan the photo.
‘Do you know this woman?’
‘Yes,’ Nathan said. ‘That’s Maggie. She worked for us, up until about six weeks ago.’
‘Was it planned, her finishing up?’ Judith asked. ‘Was she supposed to leave you?’
‘No. Not at all. She was supposed to stay with us for another six months, until her visa ran out. But she left without notice. We went to Byron one weekend. When we came back, Maggie was gone. Cleared out all her stuff. She sent Elsa an email saying she’d met an old boyfriend and they were going to travel together.’
‘And you haven’t heard from her since?’ Lucy asked.
He shook his head. Judith swore under her breath.
‘You didn’t follow up?’ Rocky asked. ‘You didn’t call her?’
‘The email she sent... It was... We thought it was rude. We were pissed off. So we didn’t call her. Look, what does this mean?’ Nathan asked. He looked exhausted, and more than a little freaked-out.
‘Your au pair, Celine, may not be who she appears to be,’ Judith said. ‘She’s packed up and left the house, but if she contacts you at any stage, let us know. If you see her, stay away from her.’
Nathan looked at her like he didn’t quite understand what she was saying. ‘But what about Cameron?’ he said.
‘Cameron?’ Judith had forgotten all about him.
‘I left him with her this morning, when I took Lola to the hospital to see Doris. I left Cameron with Celine. She was supposed to take him to school. Where is he now? Is he okay?’
* * *
When Judith got to the station there was press outside; two journalists holding mics and looking hopefully at anyone approaching, and a few loitering cameramen. Judith ignored them and went inside. A uniformed officer was standing just inside the door, his arms crossed, keeping a close eye on the situation. Judith didn’t recognise him.
Inside the building, Judith quickly discovered the reason for the media outside. The Luke Fraser arrest had finally hit the papers. It seemed that there’d been no mention of her involvement. Judith was glad of that, but she gave the matter no more thought. It seemed so unimportant in the circumstances. By the time she got to the squad room, the team was already gathering. Rocky had ordered forensics to go over Ruth Hall’s apartment with a fine-tooth comb. He’d also sent two officers to camp outside the building, and two more to the Anderson house, in case she came back.
‘Celine brought the boy to school this morning,’ Rocky said.
Judith looked at him in hope and surprise, but he shook his head.
‘She picked him up again at eleven fifty-five. Told the school he had an appointment.’
Judith looked at her watch. It was coming up on four p.m. Ruth had a head start of four hours.
‘I don’t like that,’ she said. ‘Why did she drop him to school at all? Why not leave first thing this morning?’
‘Maybe she was planning to leave him behind and then she changed her mind.’
‘Maybe.’ Judith wasn’t convinced. Everything else about Ruth’s plan seemed to have been carefully orchestrated in advance. ‘Or maybe she was always going to take him, and she needed a few hours this morning to do something else.’
‘Like what?’
‘I don’t know. I just... have a bad feeling.’
‘You’re the one who always tells me that feelings aren’t facts, Jude. You don’t know what she was thinking.’
Judith shook her head. She didn’t know, she couldn’t know for sure, but she was sure all the same. Ruth Hall had planned all of this out meticulously, and taking Cameron was her endgame. She’d targeted everyone she felt had betrayed her sister. She’d murdered Robert Walker and Elsa Anderson. Sending Jack Miller to prison clearly wasn’t punishment enough.
‘She’s going to kill Cameron,’ Judith said. ‘She knows that’s the worst possible thing she can do to Jack Miller, and she’s going to do it.’
Rocky’s jaw tightened. ‘I don’t want to hear that out of you or anyone else on this team. Our job is to find that boy and bring him home safely, not to stand around and act like there’s nothing we can do. Get to work, Jude. Get to work now.’
