Sara knocked and entered, looking flustered. ‘I’m sorry to interrupt, but I’m not sure who I should talk to about organising Mrs Dunn’s travel arrangements? Also, she’s asked for something to eat as she got the early train from Liverpool, and the buffet on the train wasn’t open.’
‘Sorry, I’m not following? If she got here, we must have arranged a return ticket, so what’s the problem?’ Jack asked.
‘They arranged a single. It wasn’t down to me; it was Hendricks. Everyone keeps on directing me to someone else. Do I put her in a taxi?’
Jack shook his head in disbelief. ‘Has she had a meeting with her daughter?’
‘No, Amanda has refused to see her. She said, and I quote, “I wouldn’t see her if she was in spitting distance.” We tried, but she was adamant that she didn’t want to even speak to her, let alone see her. So now I have to send her back to Liverpool. The canteen isn’t open for another ten minutes and they won’t let me have so much as a sandwich.’
Jack picked up a paper plate. ‘Go and talk to the clerical staff that handle the kitty and organise a taxi to take her to the station and a return fare to Liverpool. In the meantime, if you don’t mind Glenda, I will take a selection of these goodies and give them to Mrs Dunn myself.’
‘Thank you, sarge, I’ll go and sort the transport,’ Sara said gratefully. ‘Mrs Dunn is downstairs in one of the lower ground floor interview rooms.’
‘I know, I saw her when I was coming up here.’
Sara hurried out as Jack piled a paper plate with sausage rolls, some chicken and ham sandwiches and a small container of what looked like curry. Glenda watched him, then handed him a spoon and fork and some paper napkins.
‘Well, that should keep her going, and she can take some back on the train. Typical isn’t it; they organise a single ticket!’
Jack headed back towards the interview room. He knocked and entered.
‘Mrs Dunn, I do apologise for you being left in here on your own. I understand the buffet on the train wasn’t open so I hope this will suffice. He placed the food selection down in front of her on the table and took the cutlery out of his pocket, along with the paper napkins.
‘She bloody refused to see me!’ she said in a strong Liverpool accent. ‘Can you believe it? After me coming all this way, but I suppose I expected it in some ways. I’ve not seen her for four or five years, and there’s been no contact or nothing. Believe you me, I’ve tried. I used to call the missing persons place every other day asking if they had found her.’
Mrs Dunn peered at the contents of the plastic container. ‘Is this a curry with noodles?’
‘I believe so, and there’s some fresh sandwiches with chicken and ham.’
He watched as she jabbed at the noodles with the plastic fork and took a mouthful. She chewed and swallowed, then nodded. ‘Very nice.’
‘Did your husband accompany you?’
‘No, he’s her stepfather... and to be honest, he’s had enough of her. I have been worried all this time... and like I said, I kept on calling the Social Services and the missing persons, but eventually I gave up. She’s done it before you know.’
Jack waited as she forked in two more mouthfuls of the spicy noodles, then wiped her mouth with the napkin.
‘Running away, you mean?’
‘Yes, when she was about ten. Disappeared for three weeks. We found her with one of her friends after searching the streets, as well as contacting the police. She made horrible accusations against my husband, all lies; she was a terrible liar. She was always skiving off school; the number of times I had the school calling me to say that she hadn’t turned up.’
‘These accusations against your husband, were they of a sexual nature?’
She nodded. ‘We had the Social Services round to question me and him, and we had two little ones as well. It was all lies, and they said they wanted her assessed by a therapist because they reckoned she was suffering from...’ She frowned chewing at her bottom lip. Jack waited whilst she bit into a sausage roll.
‘Suffering from what?’
‘Asperkers, that’s what it was.’
‘I think you mean Asperger’s? What did they suggest you should do about it?’
‘She was supposed to go to a therapist and have some extra tuition at school. But she never turned up and then the school would report her not being in class. It was just non-stop with her. She was nothing but trouble. I would always try to stick up for her, but you can only make excuses for someone for so long.’
‘She was only twelve years old though.’
‘I know how old she was,’ she said indignantly. ‘And before you say anything, you don’t have to remind me how long she’s been away from me. I’m her mother, and I got two younger kids to look after. I’m very protective about them, even more so when she was at home because of what happened to Sharon.’
‘Sharon?’
‘She was Amanda’s younger sister, by my first husband. We divorced after it happened; he couldn’t deal with it. Mind you, he couldn’t deal with much, and with him being in the Navy he was never around. He was at home when it happened, though, and from then on it was always difficult. He was a bad drinker.’
‘What happened?’
Mrs Dunn wiped her mouth with a paper napkin, then crumpled it in her hand.
‘Amanda was jealous of her, I know that. She was such a pretty little thing. When he was home, he would bring such lovely presents for them, and I suppose it was Sharon he showed more affection to. She was a little angel compared to Amanda.’
Jack waited, aware that she was finally showing some emotion. She used the crumpled napkin to wipe her mouth again then began to twist it in her hands as tears fell down her cheeks. He reached out to touch her arm, but she pulled away from him.
‘It’s hard for me to talk about it, even now. She was only four and half and Amanda was seven. My husband and I went out to the pub for a drink and Amanda was babysitting. We didn’t often leave them on their own, but like I said, he was in the Navy and not home that much. I didn’t usually leave them on their own because I’d caught her slapping Sharon a couple of times. She had a nasty, mean streak in her and she would take the presents he bought for Sharon and destroy them.’
Her eyes continued to brim over with tears, as she pulled at the paper napkins, tearing off small strips.
‘We got home at about ten, and Amanda was watching TV. When we went upstairs, we found Sharon with the cord from the window blind around her neck. She was still using a cot, you know with sides, and it looked as if she had tried to climb out, got caught up in the cord and choked to death.’
Jack was deeply shocked. Mrs Dunn’s tears ran down her cheeks and she wiped them away with the back of her hand. Her face was distorted with anguish and anger.
‘It was an accidental death, but one thing always bothered me, the sides of the cot was down, so she could have easily got out. Why did she reach up for the cord? Why?’
‘Did you think that Amanda was to blame?’
Mrs Dunn became more composed and reached down next to her chair for her handbag. She placed it on her knee and took out a compact and lipstick. Jack watched as she looked at herself in the compact mirror, took out a worn powder puff and dabbed it over her face. She then opened the lipstick and applied it thickly over her top and bottom lips before rubbing them together. Jack remained silent, and eventually she continued.
‘We got divorced and a few years later I re-married and we changed our names. Whatever I thought, I never told no one. After it happened things was never the same between me and Amanda. I never accused her — but it was like always between us — then I got pregnant again, and it put me on edge, especially after having the baby. I was always watching out for her doing something, and that’s when she started running away. It sometimes felt a relief not having her home, to be honest, because I could never forget what happened to Sharon. We redecorated her room, moved the cot away from the window, but every so often when I went to check on the little ones, I’d see it again. See my lovely little girl, like a broken doll, just hanging.’