Read Online Cry of the Children by J.M. Gregson - Free Book Online

took Lucy to the fairground on your own. Was she happy to go there without her mother?’
    â€˜Yes, I think so. It was Anthea’s suggestion. She thought it would be a step forward. Another stage in Lucy and me getting to know each other.’ The last bit sounded hollow in his ears as he recited it, but they were Anthea’s own phrases, and thus surely worth using here. He watched Hook writing; the man seemed concerned to write down his exact words, even though they were being recorded.
    Then Hook looked up at him and spoke for the first time. ‘Was this the first occasion you had been out alone with Lucy, Mr Boyd?’
    The words flew at him like an accusation from the calm, weather-beaten face. ‘Yes. Yes, I suppose it must have been.’
    Lambert said tersely, ‘Was it or wasn’t it, Mr Boyd? You must surely know that.’
    â€˜Yes. Yes, it was. I don’t like the tone of your questioning, that’s all.’
    â€˜I’m concerned with the disappearance of a helpless girl and what’s happened to her since. Your feelings are very much secondary to that.’
    â€˜All right, I’m sorry. I’m as anxious to see Lucy back as you are. More anxious, because I know her and you don’t.’
    â€˜So help us get to know her. Help us to understand the state of her mind when she was taken. Because at least two people in this room are pretty sure by now that she
was
taken. Do you think she was?’
    Matt tried to control the pulse he felt pounding in his temple. ‘Yes. I don’t think there can be any other explanation. But when it happens, you just can’t believe it’s happening to you.’
    â€˜I understand that. But we have to record all the facts. When a child disappears, there are very few facts at first. And we need to move fast, very fast, if we are to get Lucy back alive. Tell us what happened at the fairground last night, please. It seems that Lucy was lightly dressed, for a cool autumn evening.’
    Matt tried not to consider the implications of this. He had to safeguard his own position. He must give all his attention to that. ‘She was in her best light-blue dress. Little girls like to dress up when they’re going out for a treat, don’t they? Her mum made her put on her beanie, and she was wearing a fleece, but Lucy was almost dancing with excitement. She was impatient to be off to the fair.’
    â€˜And she was perfectly happy to go there alone with you?’
    â€˜Yes. I’ve already told you she was.’ He tried a flash of candour. ‘To be perfectly honest, I think she’d have been happy to go there with anyone, just to get to the rides. She’d been looking forward to it all day.’
    â€˜I see. It was still daylight when you reached the common, then?’
    â€˜Yes. But with all the lights on the rides and the stalls, it seemed darker and later than it was. Lucy clung tightly to my hand when we got there. It was the first time she’d ever been to a fair. We went to look at the smaller rides first, the ones she really wanted to go on. But they were still very busy, crowded with small children and their parents. Lucy couldn’t get into the things she wanted to ride in, like the blue bus on the ride at the edge of the fairground. I said it would be quieter later, when the smaller children went home to bed. I said it would be best if we went away and looked at the rest of the fair and came back later.’
    â€˜So where did you go?’
    â€˜I took her on a couple of the big rides. She was a bit nervous, as you’d imagine – she isn’t eight yet. I took her on the Caterpillar, which is the slowest of the big rides, and then we rode on a motorbike together on one of the others. Lucy liked clinging on to the handlebars and pretending it was a real bike. She’s a game kid, and she was safe enough with me behind her.’ He was suddenly aghast at his words. ‘But