The Devil's Chair by Priscilla Masters Page B

find Daisy. The rest was no real mystery. In some ways he almost agreed with Abel Faulkener’s well-voiced opinion. It really was as though the child had been spirited away by fairies.
    He turned away from the scene. Not one person would swallow that explanation.
    Talith was none too pleased at having to turn the car around and drive back down the A49 to Church Stretton. He wasn’t at all keen on having to visit Mansfield and the shabby home again either but if the child’s slipper had been found at least it bore out the claim that Daisy Walsh really had been in the car on the fateful night and something had happened to her. Surely, he reasoned, they would soon find her? He gave Lara Tinsley a swift explanation as he did a U-turn on the A49.
    As they pulled back up outside the house Mansfield was just getting into his van. He looked surprised to see them again. Surprised and – again – there was that radiant hope that they were bringing Daisy back to him.
    They were going to have to disappoint him for the second time that day.
    Mansfield stood, frozen, on the pavement and waited for them to draw near. He was oblivious to an elderly woman pulling a Sholley behind her who muttered crossly at having to detour on to the road, the shopping echoing her disapproval as she dropped off the kerb. She continued chuntering until she was yards past while Mansfield stood rooted to the spot, unconscious of either her presence or her annoyance.
    He took a step forward, hands outstretched as though he would lift the invisible child from their arms. ‘You’ve found her?’
    Lara Tinsley put a hand on his arm as she shook her head.
    â€˜No,’ she said gently, then, ‘it’s best if we go inside, Neil. We won’t be long. I just have a simple question.’
    Mansfield’s hand was shaking as he tried to put the key in the lock. They could see numerous dents and scratches where he and/or Tracy had fumbled to insert the key before. As it finally slipped in he turned around, opened his mouth to speak and closed it again. Instinctively Talith knew that Neil Mansfield was not asking the question that hovered on his lips because he was afraid of the answer they would give:
We’ve found her body
. They both felt sympathy for him but were mindful of DI Randall’s instructions. Mansfield wasn’t quite in the clear yet. Who knows. The entire story might still have been fiction.
    They waited until they were inside and the front door closed behind them before Talith spoke. ‘I’m sorry, Neil,’ he said, ‘we haven’t found her.’ Then he asked casually, ‘You said that Tracy had put Daisy’s dressing gown on?’
    Mansfield nodded.
    â€˜Did she put the little girl’s slippers on too?’
    Mansfield’s eyes panicked and Talith realized he had jumped to the wrong conclusion. He pressed on quickly. ‘Did Tracy put Daisy’s slippers on?’
    Neil Mansfield seemed unable to answer. He frowned, looking bemused.
    â€˜Slippers? I can’t remember,’ he said. ‘You asked that before. Why are you asking again? What’s it got to do with …’
    His thought processes were too slow to work it out for himself.
    â€˜Try to remember,’ Lara prompted gently.
    Mansfield shook his head.
    â€˜
Think
,’ Talith prompted.
    So Mansfield made an effort. He squeezed his eyes tight shut and muttered the word
slippers.
For a moment nothing happened. Then his eyes popped open. ‘Yeah,’ he said. ‘I think she was.’
    â€˜What were they like?’
    Neil Mansfield gave a snort. ‘Fluffy pink things,’ he said, almost smiling.
    â€˜Any motif?’
    â€˜Some Disney thing, I think,’ he said. ‘A doll or something.’ And then it clicked. The colour drained from his face. He looked from one to the other, blinking quickly. ‘You’ve found them, haven’t you? Is she – was