Promises to Keep Read Online Free Page A

HOLMES
    Christine HENRY
    Witness:
    PSE Joanna LARTER
    Interview commences at 11:22
    William HOLMES (WH): Let’s talk about the events of Friday 27 August 2010. You were scheduled to work that day, weren’t you?
    Joanna LARTER (JL): Yes.
    WH: But you called in sick?
    JL: Yes. [INDISTINCT]
    WH: I understand this is very upsetting for you. Take your time.
    JL: You don’t understand, you don’t get it at all. I should have been there when he was brought in. If I’d been there, he might not have done it. He would have had someone to talk to, someone he recognised. As it was, he was all alone, again.
    WH: When you were at home on the evening of 27 August, you received a phone call from Sergeant Phil Doherty from his personal mobile phone. Can you tell us how that conversation went?
    JL: He rang me to tell me Mohammed had been brought in. I asked how he was, he said he wasn’t happy. They booked him in via Language Line and when he realised he was being kept in, he got upset. He’d been crying and wouldn’t talk to anyone. Phil wanted to ask me if I had any ideas while they were deciding whether they were going to detain him. I told him I was going to come in.
    WH: But you didn’t do that?
    JL: No, I stayed at home.
    WH: Why was that?
    JL: Phil told me not to. He said they could manage, that Mohammed would be fine. He said they’d just checked him and he was settling down. I could tell they were busy. He was very quick on the phone. I felt guilty for being off sick.
    WH: Did he call you back after that?
    JL: No. I didn’t hear anything else until the next morning. Mohammed’s death was on the news, that’s how I found out.

JO
    As well as spending most of the night searching for the boy themselves, Sam had called in and reported what had happened. A patrol turned up and performed a search of the area, referring the matter on to social services. Jo heard this particular phone conversation since it took place in the living room.
    ‘His name is Hassan Reza,’ Jo had said. ‘R-E-Z-A.’
    ‘Actually,’ Sam added, ‘We’re not sure of that identification. Best go on the description.’
    But he had already repeated the name to the social services officer.
    ‘Oh, you know him, do you?’ the officer said, eyeing Jo as he did so. He was a middle-aged man carrying more than a few extra pounds under his utility belt and Jo took an instant dislike to him. She felt judged. But then, she’s getting used to that.
    Sam finally left for work at a quarter to nine.
    Now Jo is in the kitchen with a cup of coffee in front of her, thinking things through. Dixie, who hadn’t wanted to leave her side, has been shut out in the garden to give her a chance to concentrate. This morning she managed to avoid Sam completely, took Dixie out for a walk while Sam got ready for work. Although nothing was said, Jo is sure that Sam is going to put in a full report today. She has to do this, of course, because the patrols knew all about it last night and if Sam denies it, she will be putting her career at risk. Better to get in first. Before too long they will all know how Jo enticed Hassan out of the woods and in to her – and Sam’s – home. She’s hoping they will not let this distract them from the most important task, which is finding the boy.
    The only thing she can hold on to right now is the fact that Hassan knows where she is, and that he might come back. Last night the patrols paid a visit to the makeshift camp in the woods, but nobody matching Hassan’s description was found. They arrested two adult males, apparently. Jo knows nothing else.
    It could all have been so different last night, if Sam had only listened, if she had only tried to understand. Instead, she’s missed the point completely. The system that’s designed to help is actually making things worse. If you want to make a difference to a child’s life, you have to do it yourself. You can’t rely on anyone else. You just can’t.
    Jo has spent most of the night in