Charlie was standing around looking a little lost and Jessica felt bad about bringing him in for something that had taken just a few moments. As with Vicky Barnes, she figured she could at least get as much information as possible from him to go with the missing persons file. Even if it turned out the first hand didn’t belong to the man’s brother, at least she would have done something.

Jessica invited him through to her office. With Louise seeming to be constantly out of the station, it seemed as good a place as any. Jessica wheeled the absent sergeant’s chair around to the other side of her desk, offering it to her guest, before moving a few stacks of paper from her table so they could see each other. ‘Do you want a cup of tea?’ she asked. ‘It’s only from the machine and tastes a bit like washing-up liquid but I’ll go get you one.’

‘Were you a salesperson before you took this job?’ Charlie replied, smiling.

Jessica grinned back. ‘Yeah but I only sold coffee.’

‘I think I’ll be all right, it’s too warm for a hot drink anyway.’

She fully agreed but could never hear anyone saying that without thinking of her mother claiming a hot drink was the best thing to rehydrate you on a warm day. It sounded suspiciously made up but she had never bothered to look into it to know for sure.

Jessica rarely took notes herself nowadays, which was something that came with seniority. She hunted through the drawers of her desk to find a notepad and a pen and, for the first time in a while, started to write.

‘I’ve read the report about your brother’s disappearance but I was hoping you could tell me a bit more about it. When exactly did he go missing?’

Charlie shrugged slightly. ‘I’m not sure. Obviously I’ve been living down south and he’s been up here. We’ve only been back talking regularly recently and even then not more than once or twice a week. It was only when I’d not been able to reach him for a couple of weeks that I got in touch with you.’

‘Why have you only recently been back in regular contact?’

Jessica thought she saw Charlie shiver a little but it was likely because of the air-conditioning unit buzzing away over his head and the fact he was dressed for a summer’s day.

The man sighed, looking at the floor. ‘We had a big falling out and didn’t speak for something like five years. He got in contact a few months ago and it was only after that we started talking again. Things were going well and it’s partly why I was moving back here.’

Jessica could see he was looking a little upset but trying not to show it. ‘What did you fall out about?’ She knew the answer was likely one of two things – a woman or money.

Charlie hesitated for a moment before replying. ‘Our mother died when we were young but our dad passed away five years back. He raised Ed and me on his own. I’m the oldest by eighteen months and I guess I thought what he left would be shared out between us. Back then I had been working around the country but Ed had been looking after Dad as he was getting ill. It turned out Dad left the house and pretty much everything else to him. Ed said he’d earned things by being a full-time carer while I had gone off to pursue a career. There was this big row not long after the funeral and that was it – I went to London while he stayed here.’

Jessica had heard similar stories many times before. There was nothing quite like a will to get families falling out.

‘Is it just you two?’

‘Yes, we don’t have any other family. I suppose it’s why the disappearance is so hard to take. We had just made things up after all this time and then he’s gone.’

Jessica could see he was looking a little emotional. ‘Is all of this why you were moving back?’

Charlie nodded. ‘Sort of. I was looking for a new job anyway. I work in publishing but wasn’t enjoying it any more. It was more going through the motions and getting paid each month. Ed was an artist and the one with real talent. He phoned my office out of the blue three or four months ago. I didn’t know how he got my number at first but he said he had looked me up on the Internet and found my name on the company’s website.’

‘Did you actually meet or just talk on the phone?’

‘We met once. He came down to see me and gave me a key for the house, saying I was welcome any time. Eventually, with that and the fact I was after a new job anyway, I decided to move back. Ed lived in our house – Dad’s house – ever since he passed away. He told me he wanted to sign half of it over to me and that I could come and live with him. I didn’t know if I wanted it to be a permanent thing. The place is massive out Alderley Edge way but I think I’ve got a taste for city centres after living in London.’

Jessica knew the type of houses he was talking about. The area was just across the Cheshire border on the south of the city with many properties belonging to famous footballers and other celebrities. Even the smaller houses were enormous and, given the money involved, she could see why one brother had been so aggrieved at being written out of the will.

‘What did your father do?’ she asked.

Charlie knew what she was getting at. ‘Oh, the house? We weren’t rich or anything, it’s complicated. Our mum died because of a medical mistake and our dad got a large payout; that’s why he had a house in that area. Apart from the gardens, I don’t think he ever really liked it. He was more hands-on and worked as a gas-fitter before that. With all that money he took up gardening and that was pretty much his only pleasure. I think the money just depressed him. Given the choice between that and Mum, he would have picked her every time.’

Jessica could see a picture of a very complicated family life emerging. She picked up the missing persons file that was still on her desk and read the address out. ‘Is that where you’re going to be living now?’

Charlie rubbed the stubble on his chin as he nodded. ‘I guess. It’s not as if I have anywhere else to go. I was only renting down south and the furniture was all theirs. I had a few bits to sell off but everything I arrived with this morning is all I have.’

Jessica felt an idea forming. ‘Did your brother ever sign the other half of the house over to you?’

‘No, he was going to do it when I moved back. I don’t know what’s going to happen now.’

Jessica had a reasonable inkling. It would probably take a while to go through the legal hoops considering Ed was missing, not confirmed dead, but the house would eventually become Charlie’s in its entirety. Given the earlier rivalry between them, she wondered if the wounds hadn’t entirely healed – people had killed for less in the past. If the test result on the first hand didn’t come back as a match, it might be worth looking into the circumstances regarding Ed’s disappearance and any possible connection to his brother. If Charlie’s swab did show the first hand belonged to his brother though, it could give them a lead, albeit one with many unanswered questions.

There had been a brief pause in the conversation and Charlie spoke next. ‘Can you tell me what you needed a sample for? Do you think he’s . . . ?’

He didn’t finish the sentence but Jessica didn’t jump in too quickly, watching him closely to see if there was any reaction she wouldn’t expect. Charlie looked a little upset. His eyes were slightly red and he had his arms crossed tightly. Jessica figured she was going to end up telling him one way or the other within the next few days, so informed him about the hand they had found. She left out the woman in black – if he wanted to check the news, he could find that out for himself.

‘So you think the hand could be Ed’s?’ Charlie asked.

‘We don’t know. Your sample will help us find out one way or the other.’

‘Why do you think it might be his?’

Jessica didn’t give the full details but said someone he previously went to college with had also been missing and it was a shot in the dark. Charlie nodded along.