whatever he has to to get to the bottom of things. I don’t think it’ll come to taking the children away, but bear in mind that he doesn’t make idle threats. If you know anything, you should tell us.”
Mara sucked on her bottom lip. She looked close to tears. “I don’t know where Paul is,” she said finally. “You can’t really think he did it?”
“We’ve got some evidence that points that way. Have you ever seen him with a flick-knife?”
“No.”
Banks thought she was lying, but he knew it was no good pushing her. She might offer him a titbit of information in the hope that it would ease the pressure, but she wasn’t going to tell the full truth.
“He’s gone,” she said finally. “I know that. But I don’t know where.”
“How do you know he’s gone?”
Mara hesitated, and her voice sounded too casual to be telling the truth. Before starting, she tucked her long chestnut hair behind her ears. It made her face look thinner and more haggard. “He’s been upset these past few days, especially after your Superintendent Burgess came and bullied him. He thought you’d end up framing him because he’s been in jail and because he … he looks different. He didn’t want to bring trouble down on the rest of us, so he left.”
Banks turned over the next tarot card: “The Star.” A beautiful naked woman was pouring water from two vases into a pool on the ground. Behind her, trees and shrubs were blossoming, and in the sky one large, bright central star was surrounded by seven smaller ones. For some reason, the woman reminded him of Sandra, which was odd because there was no strong physical resemblance.
“How do you know why he went?” Banks asked. “Did he leave a note?”
“No, he just told me. He said last night he was thinking of leaving. He didn’t say when.”
“Or where?”
“No.”
“Did he say anything about PC Gill’s murder?”
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“No, nothing. He didn’t say he was running away because he was guilty, if that’s what you mean.”
“And you didn’t think to let us know he was running off, even though there’s a chance he might be a killer?”
“He’s no killer.” Mara spoke too quickly. “I’d no reason to think so, anyway. If he wanted to go he was quite free as far as we were concerned.”
“What did he take with him?”
“What do you mean?”
Banks glanced towards the window. “It’s brass-monkey weather out there; rains a lot, too. What was he wearing? Was he carrying a suitcase or a rucksack?”
Mara shook her head. “I don’t know. I didn’t see him go.”
“Did you see him this morning?”
“Yes.”
“What time?”
“About eleven or half-past. He always sleeps late.”
“What time did he leave? Approximately.”
“I don’t know. I was out at lunchtime. I left at twenty to one and got back at about two. He’d gone by then.”
“Was anyone else in the house during that time?”
“No. Seth was out in the van. He took Zoe with him because she had to deliver some charts. And Rick took the children into Eastvale.”
“And you don’t know what Boyd was wearing or what he took with him?”
“No. I told you, I didn’t see him go.”
“Come upstairs.”
“What?”
Banks headed towards the staircase. “Come upstairs with me. Now.”
Mara followed him up to Paul’s room. Banks opened the cupboard and the dresser drawers. “What’s missing?”
Mara put her hand to her forehead. Burgess and Richmond looked in at the doorway and carried on downstairs.
“I … I don’t know,” Mara said. “I don’t know what clothes he had.”
“Who does the washing around here?”
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“Well, I do. Mostly. Zoe does some, too.”
