Blood Money by Chris Collett Read Free Book Online Page A

was sick, and that her feeding chart was on the wall by her coat and bag.’ Leanne nodded towards the little row of pegs with name labels above, that ran along one wall of the room. ‘She went and got them, then picked up Jessica’s car seat, said thanks and went.’
    ‘And she gave you no reason to think that there was anything wrong at this time?’
    ‘Why would I? She just went straight over to the baby. I mean, what mother doesn’t know her own child? And I was pretty busy trying to stop Ellie from crying. To be honest I was glad we’d have one less to think about.’
    ‘What time was this?’
    ‘About half past two.’
    Christ, it had happened hours ago. The woman could be anywhere by now. They’d have to go national with the publicity right away. The press office would need to get busy with this one with maximum exposure.
    ‘And when did you first realise something was amiss?’
    Kam spoke up. ‘Not until Jessica’s real mummy came to collect her and we found that she wasn’t here. At first we couldn’t understand what had happened. It didn’t make sense.’
    Leanne’s face had creased into a frown as if it still was a mystery.
    ‘What was Jessica wearing?’ Mariner asked.
    ‘A yellow Babygro with a cardigan over the top,’ said Leanne, but even this detail wasn’t straightforward.
    ‘No, it was green,’ Kam chipped in.
    ‘It was yellow.’ Leanne stuck to her story. ‘I put it on after she was sick at lunchtime.’
    Kam didn’t look convinced. They’d have to go with an either or.
    ‘And a Babygro is one of those little suits like Ellie is wearing?’ Mariner interrupted.
    ‘Yes.’ Carrying the baby, Kam went in to the bathroom and returned moments later with a mint-coloured stretchy suit. ‘It was exactly like this. We keep a supply for the babies who run out of clothes.’
    ‘Except it was yellow,’ muttered Leanne under her breath.
    ‘Can we keep that?’ Mariner asked Samantha. ‘We can show a photograph when we do the appeal. It would have this same label in the back?’ A manufacturer’s label was sewn into the neck.
    ‘Yes, Mrs Barratt bulk buys them as we don’t always get them returned.’
    ‘It doesn’t look much for this weather. It’s cool outside.’
    ‘Jessica had a coat but her mum - the woman - just covered her with it. She said she didn’t want to wake the baby.’
    ‘She took her in the car seat?’
    ‘Yes, most of them do,’ Samantha said. ‘We don’t have many babies whose parents live close enough to walk. They bring them in the seat in the morning and it stays here with them.’
    ‘What colour was the seat?’
    ‘It was dark blue, with a sort of tartan pattern. Her mum - the woman - said that it was heavy and that she’d got to walk a long way.’
    ‘Do you think she would have parked round the corner, in the cul-de-sac, like we have?’ Mariner thought hopefully of the CCTV.
    ‘Either that, or she might have left her car up in the hospital car park,’ Samantha said. ‘They’re not really meant to, but some parents do that if there’s no space here.’
    So they’d need to get hold of any CCTV footage on the hospital site, as well as anything in the local streets. ‘Anything else?’
    ‘She said thanks for looking after Jessica so well,’ said Leanne. ‘It was a bit over the top really. She seemed sort of relieved. I thought maybe it was the first time she’d left her with anyone.’
    ‘Is it the case with all the crèche children that the staff might not have met the parents?’ Mariner asked Samantha.
    ‘Not all of them. Christie would know parents who leave their children for more than one day, and some parents come in later when all the girls are here.’
    ‘So if this woman had approached a different child, Ellie for example, you would have known that it wasn’t her child?’
    ‘No, we don’t know her parents either.’
    But at the time the woman had come into the room Jessica was the only available baby, so there was no way