---

Aiden was colouring in a picture of a house, lost in his own world, when Robyn turned up. Emma acknowledged Robyn and David but stayed seated on the edge of her chair, watching her son protectively.

‘Hi, Aiden,’ said Robyn.

The boy looked up for a second, gave a brief smile, then returned to the picture, his small hand clutching a red crayon and scooting it over the shape in front of him in untidy lines.

‘You remember me and Robyn, don’t you?’ said David, dropping down onto the floor beside Aiden. ‘We came yesterday.’

‘Yes.’

David gave Robyn a small nod to encourage her to speak.

‘Do you want to play a game?’ Robyn said.

Aiden looked quizzically at her.

‘It’s a memory game. Are you good at remembering things? I bet you are.’

Aiden held on to his crayon but stopped colouring.

‘Yesterday you told me you saw the Gruffalo. I’ve never seen him and I’d really like to know what he looks like. I’ve only seen pictures. He’s very big, isn’t he? Is he as big as a tree?’

Aiden gave a serious shake of the head.

‘But he’s big, isn’t he? Is he taller than me?’

Aiden looked at her and nodded.

‘That’s really big. Oh, and he’s got big claws. Did you see his claws?’

‘No. He was wearing shoes.’

‘I expect that was because it was raining and he didn’t want to get his feet dirty. Did he have big slippers like those?’ Robyn smiled warmly at the child.

He studied his red slippers for a moment. ‘No, these aren’t for outside. I have shoes for outside.’

‘Are they like my shoes?’ asked Robyn.

Aiden looked at her black, flat-heeled shoes and shook his head. ‘I have trainers. The Gruffalo has trainers too.’

Robyn leant forward and spoke in awe. ‘You saw the Gruffalo’s trainers?’

He nodded again and smiled. ‘But they weren’t the same colour as mine.’

‘What colour were they?’ asked Robyn. ‘Pink?’

Aiden gave a sudden giggle. ‘No. That’s silly. Not pink. Black. Big black ones.’

‘Of course. The Gruffalo wouldn’t wear pink shoes. How silly of me,’ said Robyn, slapping her forehead with the palm of her hand. ‘So, you saw his big black trainers, and was he wearing trousers, or did he have hairy legs and hairy brown knees?’

Aiden put his crayon down, shuffled forwards on the floor and giggled again. ‘He had dark trousers like Daddy wears when he goes running. They have elastic at the bottom.’

‘So, you saw his big, hairy ankles?’

‘No,’ he spluttered with a smile. ‘He had socks.’

‘Wow, what a good memory you have. Can you remember what colour socks he had?’

His brow furrowed a little. ‘I don’t know. I think they were stripy ones.’

‘Well done. I’d never have remembered that. So, when you saw the Gruffalo, he wasn’t hiding behind a tree, was he? I expect he’s too big to hide properly behind a tree, isn’t he? His big, hairy tummy will stick out.’

A smile and another shake of the head, then in a tiny voice he whispered, ‘He was in the bush.’

‘Did he speak to you?’

‘No.’ He shifted on his bottom uncomfortably and picked up his crayon again.

‘Aiden, was this before you saw the red car?’

Aiden hesitated and looked towards his mother, who spoke. ‘It’s okay, matey. Tell Robyn exactly what you saw. Can you do that? Tell her what happened after you lost Kyle. He ran on without you, didn’t he?’

His lips pouted as he considered the request. He spoke, deliberately and slowly. ‘I saw a big footprint by the path. It was the Gruffalo’s footprint. I wanted Kyle to see it and I called him, but he had gone away. I thought I heard the Gruffalo and I went to find him in the woods. I saw his feet under a bush, and then I got scared in case he jumped out at me, like Kyle does sometimes. I don’t like it when he does that. I said hello but he didn’t speak. I couldn’t see Kyle. Or Granny. And I got frightened of the Gruffalo because he didn’t say anything. I saw Mummy’s car and I ran to it. But it wasn’t Mummy’s car.’

David spoke words of encouragement. ‘You’re a very brave boy. I bet the Gruffalo thought you were brave too. Did he stay under the bush or did he run away?’

‘I think he ran away. He was scared of the man in the car. He disappeared back into his woods.’

Robyn observed David as he continued talking and engaging the boy. Now they knew for certain somebody else had been in the vicinity of Gregson’s car. It might have been the jogger the family had seen. If so, why had that person hidden in the undergrowth? She had to locate whoever it was. They were either a valuable witness or guilty of murdering Henry Gregson.

---

Robyn clattered up the corridor with determination. Matt was standing by his desk, paper cup of tea in his hand.

‘The butcher remembers Liam Carrington and his daughter Astra in his shop, but he has no idea what time that was. He’d been busy sorting out the freezer and lost track of time. One eyewitness spotted Carrington in the park, pushing his daughter on a swing, but again he wasn’t sure when, and said it could have been about twelve. Can’t find anyone else in Yoxall who saw him,’ Matt said. ‘His partner, Ella Fox, returned earlier than she expected, and claims Carrington was in the house at 2 p.m. If Jane Dean heard a shot at one forty-five, there’s no way Carrington could have committed the crime and returned from Cannock Chase by then.’

Robyn linked her hands behind her neck and groaned. ‘Not Carrington. Who could want Gregson dead? Lauren has an airtight alibi but she might have asked somebody else to shoot him – a boyfriend, or even hired somebody. We might also have to look more closely at Libby Gregson and her friend Tarik Akar. I can’t discount the possibility they were somehow in this together, although I’m thin on evidence at the moment. Anna, any more on either of them?’

‘Still working on it.’

‘Okay, David, try Gregson’s work colleagues and anyone he plays cricket with, and his neighbours. Until we find out who might have a motive, we’ll have to talk to everyone, no matter how unlikely a suspect they seem.’

Robyn struck through Liam Carrington’s name and sidled past the desks to her own. Lauren was still a potential suspect, although they had little reason to suspect her. There was no proof she was seeing another man. For now, Robyn was left with only two potential suspects – Libby and Tarik – and a weak motive for murdering a sibling – jealousy.

No sooner had she sat down than her phone rang. It was the front desk.

‘There’s a man to see you at reception, name of Carrington.’

Robyn was surprised. ‘Put him in interview room two and I’ll meet him there.’

She hastened from the office, hoping Liam Carrington had some new information for her. She opened the door to the interview room and was met by soft sobbing and a small, crumpled face. Tears hung from the little girl’s eyelashes as she studied Robyn.

‘Hello,’ said Robyn, crouching down to face the pretty child. ‘I’m Robyn. Who are you?’

The child turned away, bottom lip trembling, and scampered across the room to her father, burying her head in his lap. He attempted to lift her away without success.

‘This is Astra. Astra, say hello to the nice lady.’

Eventually, the child raised her head and managed a shy smile, but remained close to her father, clutching his fingers with her tiny hand. Liam Carrington had dark purple bags under his eyes and the look of a haunted man. ‘I’m sorry. She wouldn’t let me leave the house without her. Henry was supposed to be taking her out today and I had to explain he couldn’t, because, well, you know, and she’s been like this ever since – frightened to let me out of her sight. She’s taken it badly.’

On cue, and hearing his name, the little girl whispered, ‘Henry?’

Robyn’s heart sank at hearing the hope in the small voice. Carrington looked at her in despair.

‘Is Henry here?’ she said.

‘Sweetie, he isn’t. He had an accident.’ Robyn spoke as gently as she could.

The girl’s lip trembled uncontrollably. ‘No Henry,’ she stammered.

Her father drew her to him and planted a kiss on her head. He gazed across at Robyn, his hand resting on the child’s hair. ‘I came to see if you’d got anywhere in the investigation. I couldn’t sleep last night. I hoped maybe you could give me some news.’

Robyn stood again and let out a gentle sigh. ‘Not yet but I’ll let you know as soon as we make progress. We will find whoever did this.’

He nodded but his face remained unconvinced. ‘Thanks. I’d better get Astra home. Shall we go home and see Mummy?’

Astra blinked back more tears. ‘Henry? Bouncy balls?’

He shrugged at Robyn. ‘He takes her to the bouncy ball pit at Wolseley Bridge on Thursday afternoons. It’s a cage filled with soft balls and slides for the kiddies. She loves it.’ He looked down on his daughter. ‘Astra, shall Daddy take you to the bouncy balls?’

She hung her head and her little shoulders began to shake as she sobbed. ‘No Daddy. I want Henry.’

---

Robyn retraced her steps to the office and threw herself behind the desk. As she did so, she realised she was functioning more clearly. Davies had finally taken a back seat in her mind.