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moment, even though his wife was standing only a few feet from his side. He’d terrified young PC Hartland into submission yesterday. Someone had to show him he could be beaten.
    ‘There’s not a mark on Kim, Inspector.’ Daniel Crossman’s voice had not yet lost the hectoring bark he must have worked for in his years as an army sergeant. ‘And there’s nothing wrong with her, except homesickness and you lot. All that poking and prying! It’s no wonder she’s frightened. The sooner she’s back here, the better.’
    No, it’s not, Caro thought, remembering the last time she’d seen Crossman’s stepdaughter. Six years old, bolt upright, and with so much maturity and suffering in her expression that Caro would have done anything to keep her safe.
    It was going to be hard, though. Other members of the Child Protection Unit were already wavering, and Pete Hartland had shown how easily they might give in. As Crossman had said, there was no physical evidence of assault or abuse anywhere on Kim’s small body, but that didn’t mean she was unharmed. To Caro, the child’s refusal to speak had been as eloquent as the flaring of her nostrils and the clenching of the small muscles around her eyes as she’d tried not to cry. Someone had
terrorized Kim Bowlby into silence, and the obvious candidate was this man.
    The flat smelled of bleach and silicone polish. Every surface was bare and clean. There were no books, no ornaments, no cushions, and nowhere to hide. The floor was covered with ice-grey vinyl so shiny it looked dangerous. The uncurtained windows looked out only on to a heavily shaded wall. There was no softness anywhere.
    ‘Not all wounds leave marks, Mr Crossman, you should know that.’ Caro spoke with the detached coolness that was the only thing she’d ever found that would hide her hatred of what men like this did to the people in their power. She put her empty teacup on a small white table.
    He marched forwards, hands by his sides, until his nose was only inches from hers. She didn’t flinch, but his fury clawed at her.
    ‘No one here has done anything to Kim.’ He jabbed his index finger sideways. Caro didn’t let her eyes move. ‘Ask her.’
    At last she looked away and tried to decode the expression in his wife’s lined face. There was fear there, certainly, and misery, and a dozen other things. The clearest was resentment. Between them, these two were tormenting Kim. There was no doubt about it. The only questions were exactly how they were doing it and what Caro would have to do to get the evidence she needed to prove it.
    ‘Why won’t you leave us alone?’ Mrs Crossman said, in a whining voice that set Caro’s teeth on edge. She looked at the woman’s hands, red and flaking from using too much cleaning fluid, and tried to feel sorry for her. ‘You’ve no right to come here like this, upsetting everyone.’
    ‘I have every right to find out why Kim has run away twice and why she’s been exhibiting so many of the signs of serious abuse. Her safety is my only concern.’
    A baby wailed in the next room. Mo Crossman was across
the shiny floor and out of the door before Caro had taken two breaths. She looked straight at Crossman and said with stony deliberation, ‘Apart from the baby’s, that is. We are watching you, Daniel. And we won’t stop until we find out what you’ve been doing.’
    He stared at her, not bothering to answer.
     
    Caro still hadn’t got him out of her mind when she staggered home with two heavy plastic bags of shopping at the end of the day. It was a relief to find Jess happily sharing a drink with a friend of theirs. Her partner had failed to get yet another possible part in a television series last week and had been very glum since. Tonight it looked as though Cynthia Flag had managed to cheer her up. Caro kissed them both, then invited Cynthia to stay for supper, adding, ‘You’ll like Trish. She has all the right ideas, even though she doesn’t do family