He was clearly anxious to get back to his viewing. Emilia smiled before continuing.
“I want a file.”
“Excuse me?”
“You do work at the probation service, Mr. Fielding?”
“Yes, and as such you should know that there is no possible way I could ever give a journalist any information. It is all confidential.”
He said the word “journalist” with real distaste, as if he were somehow operating on a superior plane. Emilia loved these moments.
“Even if she was going to save your life?”
“I beg your pardon?”
“Your professional life, I mean.”
Now Fielding was quiet. Could he tell what was coming?
“Got a few friends in uniform. They told me an interesting story about a middle-aged guy getting caught on the Common engaging in lewd acts in the back of a Ford Focus.”
She let her eye drift to the Ford Focus parked in Fielding’s drive.
“Story goes he’d picked up the girl at a bar... but she was only fifteen. Whoops! Apparently the guy begged and pleaded and eventually the officers let him off, each with a hundred pounds in their pocket. Still, they kept a record of the license plate and a description of the dirty bastard. I’ve got their police notepad right here.”
She pretended to rummage in her bag. Now Fielding stepped outside the house, pulling the door shut behind him.
“That’s blackmail,” he said indignantly.
“Yes, it is, isn’t it?” Emilia replied, smiling. “Now, are you going to give me what I want or shall I start writing my story?”
It was a rhetorical question. Emilia could tell from the look on his face that he was going to do exactly what she wanted.
75
“Hello, Alfie, my name is Helen and I’m a police officer.”
The boy looked up from his drawing.
“Is it okay if I sit down with you?”
The boy nodded, so Helen crouched down next to him.
“What are you drawing?”
“Dinosaur pirates.”
“Cool. Is that theT. rex?”
Alfie nodded, then said matter-of-factly:
“He’s the biggest.”
“I can see that. He looks scary.”
Alfie shrugged as if it was no big deal. Helen found herself smiling. The six-year-old was a cute kid who had handled the strange events of the day remarkably well. He seemed more confused than upset. Which was more than could be said for his mother. She hadn’t been told the worst yet—and she wouldn’t be until they had a body—but she was already a wreck. Family Liaison were doing their best, but she was very vocally distressed, which was starting to affect Alfie. Helen knew she needed his undivided attention.
“Can I show you something special?”
