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individuals closest to Ben, and he’d stumbled on this information about Nicola Forbes. I wanted every detail from him. I wanted to hear it from him directly; to be sure I hadn’t misinterpreted his email. 8.30 am: JOHN FINCH The last was John Finch. When he opened the door to his house he was in checked pyjama bottoms and a crumpled T-shirt, a pair of reading glasses pushed up onto his head. His knees buckled and I realised I should have called ahead. ‘I’m sorry, sir,’ I said. ‘There’s no news on Benedict’s whereabouts just yet, but if you wouldn’t mind, I would like to have a word with you about Nicola Forbes.’ He regained his composure impressively well. The man had nerves of steel. By the time his wife had reached the bottom of the stairs in the hallway behind him, wrapping a white dressing gown around herself, he had pulled the door open further and invited me in graciously.
RACHEL Nicky opened the door. It was mid-morning, and DI Clemo was standing on the doorstep with Zhang. ‘Is there news?’ Nicky asked. It was all any of us ever seemed to say to each other. It was starting to sound pathetic to me, as if we would be punished just a little bit more each time we asked it, as if there were a vengeful God somewhere up there, counting each display of misplaced optimism. There wasn’t any news. Clemo said that they were here to ‘have a chat’, though something in his tone of voice suggested otherwise. It made me feel wary, but Nicky seemed oblivious to it. ‘I could have used a little bit of notice,’ she said, ‘to get properly prepared for you, but I’m delighted you’ve made time to talk. We’re so very grateful. We’ve got so much to ask.’ She pulled some papers together, and tapped at her laptop, looking for a document. ‘Here it is,’ she said. ‘I’ve got a list here. It’s roughly broken into two categories: questions we have about the investigation, and suggested actions to help in the search for Ben. Do you have a preference for which we should start with? And how would you like your tea? Or would you prefer coffee?’ I was watching Clemo and Zhang. He was waiting for Nicky to finish. Zhang looked at her notebook, which she’d laid neatly on the table in front of her, then glanced sideways at Clemo. Whatever they were here to say, he was going to be the one to say it, and I was becoming certain that it wasn’t to discuss Nicky’s wish list. ‘Coffee, please,’ he said. Zhang wanted some too. As Nicky filled a cafetière with boiling water and set it down in front of us, Clemo watched her in a way that made frost settle on my skin. ‘From our point of view,’ she said, ‘this is so valuable. I’ve been doing some research, as you can see –’ she smiled at them – ‘and everywhere it says that there’s a much higher chance of success in finding the child if there’s a close relationship between law enforcement and the family. So – thank you. So much. Help yourselves to milk and sugar.’ She set down a sugar bowl and a small china jug. Steam rose from its contents. She’d warmed the milk. DI Clemo opened his notebook and had a quick look inside it. He closed it again. Nicky finally heard the silence. ‘I’m so sorry,’ she said. ‘I’m gabbling, aren’t I? Sorry.’ She pulled out a chair, sat down and looked attentively at Clemo and Zhang. Clemo cleared his throat before he spoke. ‘Do either of you know of a couple called Andrew and Naomi Bowness?’ I shook my head. ‘No.’ ‘Nicky?’ he asked my sister. Her face had emptied of colour, instantly. It was extraordinary. ‘Oh God no,’ she said, and the tendons on her neck appeared stretched and odd as she looked first at me and then back at Clemo, searching our faces for something. She stood up abruptly but didn’t seem to know what to do then. ‘This will be easier if you can sit down and talk it through with us,’ said Clemo. ‘No,’ said Nicky. ‘Don’t do this.’ Her hands were clasped together, the edges of her fingers white from the pressure of her grasp. ‘Please sit,’ Clemo insisted. She didn’t sit; she crumpled back into her chair, as if he’d sunk his fist into her stomach.
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Gilly Macmillan grew up in Swindon,
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Burnt Paper Sky Table of Contents A
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JIM BEFORE
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DAY 2 JIM
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JIM
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DAY 3 JIM
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DAY 5 JIM
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DAY 6 JIM
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DAY 7 JIM
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DAY 8 JIM
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DAY 9 JIM
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JIM
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JIM
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RACHEL
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RACHEL ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS BIBLIOGRAPH
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Author’s Note During the research
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PROLOGUE NOVEMBER 2013 - ONE YEAR A
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imaginary interview goes really wel
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But whether I’ve been awake or as
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BEFORE DAY 1 SUNDAY, 21 OCTOBER 201
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eally honest, I hadn’t noticed it
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‘OK,’ and he was off, careering
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as if the woodland was holding its
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appeared on the path. Our progress
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‘That’s good news,’ she said.
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FM: Do you think that expressing fe
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JC: It was a promotion is what it w
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suspect, is not going to be an easy
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RACHEL John couldn’t stand the wa
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It was the awkward twitch of Inspec
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‘Solid eight hours,’ I said. I
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RACHEL Inspector Miller said that b
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JIM Kenneth Steele House is where I
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had four pairs of officers in place
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at others. He was always watching m
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JIM I was quite pleased with how th
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his parents as well as his grandpar
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‘Expertise is on our side,’ she
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RACHEL My sister Nicky was waiting
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unstoppable. She told me that the w
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the streetlights and the geometric
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JIM Addendum to DI James Clemo’s
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FM: So you recommended Emma for the
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DAY 3 TUESDAY, 23 OCTOBER 2012 Be a
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RACHEL In the car on the way to Ken
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‘If you are the person who is wit
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‘This way,’ she said. She swept
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‘It’s a soft alibi.’ Fraser w
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trace of dignity or vulnerability,
Page 150 and 151: missing”, and that everybody is l
Page 152 and 153: looking woman too: nicely dressed,
Page 154 and 155: ‘Were there signs that the arm wa
Page 156 and 157: accident. But we’ll check it out
Page 158 and 159: To the insultingly practical: Don
Page 160 and 161: JIM Addendum to DI James Clemo’s
Page 162 and 163: FM: So apart from the negative pres
Page 164 and 165: they’re focused on the job? FM: Y
Page 166 and 167: DAY 4 WEDNESDAY, 24 OCTOBER 2012 Cr
Page 168 and 169: RACHEL I slept only fitfully after
Page 170 and 171: WEB PAGE - www.whereisbenedictfinch
Page 172 and 173: JIM I spoke to Emma before I left f
Page 174 and 175: say that he doesn’t play by the r
Page 176 and 177: ‘Bye,’ Fount said to him. ‘Wh
Page 178 and 179: thanked her for what she did for us
Page 180 and 181: I sat on the bed for a long time, u
Page 182 and 183: JIM Fraser and I had a pre-meet bef
Page 184 and 185: ‘He’s got an alibi, doesn’t h
Page 186 and 187: RACHEL Nicky phoned the police and
Page 188 and 189: door in the middle of the night. Yo
Page 190 and 191: an orange wash remained. It struck
Page 192 and 193: RACHEL When I got back inside Nicky
Page 194 and 195: JIM On the night of Wednesday, 24 O
Page 196 and 197: DAY 5 THURSDAY, 25 OCTOBER 2012 You
Page 198 and 199: RACHEL I slept the night in Ben’s
Page 202 and 203: ‘What about their son, Charlie Bo
Page 204 and 205: He took another sheet of paper from
Page 206 and 207: more imperfect than any version of
Page 208 and 209: JIM Addendum to DI James Clemo’s
Page 210 and 211: JC: She said she was knackered. She
Page 212 and 213: It led swiftly to the fourth state.
Page 214 and 215: Quick response appreciated, obvious
Page 216 and 217: WEB PAGE - www.whereisbenedictfinch
Page 218 and 219: I didn’t know what to say. I look
Page 220 and 221: RACHEL Zhang agreed to come and giv
Page 222 and 223: sensation. Then she spoke to him of
Page 224 and 225: abstract shapes floating within it,
Page 226 and 227: JIM I got one of the DCs to pick up
Page 228 and 229: RACHEL This time, I made no attempt
Page 230 and 231: dog, black and white like Skittle,
Page 232 and 233: FM: I’m not intending to. That’
Page 234 and 235: everything that had happened. But I
Page 236 and 237: JIM We worked closely with John Fin
Page 238 and 239: DAY 7 SATURDAY, 27 OCTOBER 2012 An
Page 240 and 241: RACHEL In the early hours of the mo
Page 242 and 243: school year, but I started to work
Page 244 and 245: tight. A hospital band was visible
Page 246 and 247: cancer himself. The whole family, w
Page 248 and 249: Another page. A different drawing:
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‘The blog.’ I was slow; I didn
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told him to fuck off. ‘Tell Frase
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‘Stop asking me to be patient. Ho
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JIM In the incident room the blinds
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swing. ‘So what are we thinking?
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‘She’s drunk?’ I asked when h
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JC: Fine. He coaxes his lips up int
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JIM It was Emma who I thought of al
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DAY 8 SUNDAY, 28 OCTOBER 2012 The P
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RACHEL When dawn came there was no
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JIM Nine o’clock Sunday morning,
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RACHEL The hospital receptionist se
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RACHEL My cab driver on the way hom
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tall bear of a man, with very dark
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‘To be honest, I assumed Nicky wo
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He actually put his hand over his h
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‘Cool,’ my avatar said. ‘New
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me wants you here to run the invest
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I behaved in an arrogant and disgus
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RACHEL I logged on to Furry Footbal
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‘I know it was him,’ I said. Th
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Her handbag was on the seat between
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so that my toes were already numb.
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‘It’s what Miss May said, about
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He sat back down. ‘Again,’ he s
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JIM Nicky Forbes was disturbed by m
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RACHEL It took me twenty-five minut
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here. And then I saw something else
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JIM Nicky Forbes’s expression was
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RACHEL They prised me up off the ca
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Operator: OK. They’re a few minut
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RECORD OF EVIDENCE: AVON AND SOMERS
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RACHEL Bristol Children’s Hospita
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‘Is the child all right?’ Mrs M
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RACHEL I approached my son’s beds
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EPILOGUE CHRISTMAS 2013 - ONE YEAR,
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RACHEL A few weeks ago, somebody as
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that he loved so much in return. Th
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JC: Yes. FM: Have you seen her sinc
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RACHEL We might never have closure,
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us that. He came to our house and w
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BIBLIOGRAPHY The following websites
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