“Did she ever stay here overnight?”
“Yeah, so what?”
“Just the two of you.”
For the first time, Shanelle hesitated. Sanderson was quick to press home the advantage.
“Who else was here?”
“Nobody...”
“Don’t make me arrest you, Shanelle.”
“It was just a guy.”
“What guy?”
“He came round once in a while. To smoke a bit. I think he was here once when Ruby stayed. He liked the look of her. I told him I’d cut his balls off if he even looked at her.”
“Name?”
More hesitation, then:
“Dwayne something. That’s all I got,” she added in response to Sanderson’s evident irritation.
“How often did he come round?”
“Once or twice a month.”
“Where can I find him?”
“Like I know or care.”
“Had a falling-out, have we?”
“I threw the little shit out.”
“Because?”
“Because he stole from me. I knew he was a freeloader. All hedid was sit on his arse smoking dope and watching porn, but then he half-inched two hundred notes from me. Said he didn’t, but I wasn’t born yesterday. So I kicked him out. Told everyone on the estate he was a pedo and I ain’t seen him since.”
She smiled at her own wit and invention.
“Have you had any contact since?”
“Not face-to-face.”
“Meaning?”
“A brick through the window and some dog shit through the door—is that ‘contact’? Next time he does it, I’ll have him.”
It wasn’t much to go on, but it was a start. She knew of cases where embittered exes had kidnapped and imprisoned children of former lovers. It seemed unlikely that a low-rent crook could be responsible for something like this—but Sanderson knew she had to pursue it.
The clock was ticking.
15
He didn’t like the look of this guy. Not one little bit.
