Close to Home by Peter Robinson

last?”
    â€œSaturday afternoon.”
    â€œDid he say or do anything unusual?”
    â€œNo.”
    â€œWhat did you do?”
    â€œWent shopping in town.”
    â€œWhat’d you buy?”
    â€œJust some records.”
    â€œWhat sort of a mood was Graham in?”
    â€œJust ordinary.”
    â€œWas anything bothering him?”
    â€œHe was just like normal.”
    â€œDid he ever talk about running away from home?”
    â€œNo.”
    â€œAny idea where he might go if he did run away? Did he talk about any particular places?”
    â€œNo. But he was from London. I mean, his parents brought him up from London last year.”
    â€œWe know that. We were just wondering if there was anywhere else he talked about.”
    â€œI don’t think so.”
    â€œWhat about secret hiding places?” The detective winked. “I know all lads have secret places.”
    â€œNo.” Banks was unwilling to tell them about the big tree in the park—holly, he thought it was—with prickly leaves and branches right down to the ground. If you made your way through them, you ended up hidden inside, between the thick leaves and the trunk, like being in a teepee. He knew Graham was missing and it was important, but he wasn’t going to give away the gang’s secrets. He would look in the tree himself later and make sure Graham wasn’t there.
    â€œDid Graham have any problems you were aware of? Was he upset about anything?”
    â€œNo.”
    â€œSchool?”
    â€œWe’re on holiday.”
    â€œI know that, but I mean in general. It was a new school for him, wasn’t it? He’d only been there one year. Did he have any problems with the other boys?”
    â€œNo, not really. He had a fight with Mick Slack, but he’s just a bully. He picks fights with all the new kids.”
    â€œThat’s all?”
    â€œYes.”
    â€œHave you seen any strange men hanging around the area lately?”
    â€œNo.” Banks probably blushed as he lied. He certainly felt his cheeks burning.
    â€œNobody?”
    â€œNo.”
    â€œDid Graham ever mention anyone bothering him?”
    â€œNo.”
    â€œAll right, then, son, that’s it for now. But if you can think of anything at all, you know where the police station is, don’t you?”
    â€œYes.”
    â€œAnd I’m sorry about your budgie, really I am.”
    â€œThank you.”
    They seemed all set to go then and got to their feet. Just before they left, they asked Roy and Banks’s parents a few general questions, and that was it. When they shut the door, everyone was quiet. There were still ten minutes of Coronation Street left, but nobody thought of switching on the television set again. Banks remembered turning to Joey’s empty cage and feeling the tears gather in his eyes.
    Â 
    Annie waited until Martin Armitage’s Beemer had got a respectable distance ahead, then let a local delivery van get between them before she started to follow. The roads were quiet at that time in the morning—they were quiet most of the time, if truth be told—so she couldn’t appear too conspicuous. At the village of Relton, he turned right and followed the B-Road that ran about halfway up the valley side.
    They passed through tiny Mortsett, which didn’t even have a pub or a general store, and Annie got stuck when the delivery van stopped to make a call at one of the cottages. The road wasn’t wide enough for her to pass.
    She got out and prepared to show her warrant card and ask the driver to get out of the way—there was a passing area about twenty yards farther along—when she noticed Armitage pull over and stop about half a mile beyond the village. She had a clear view of the open road, so she brought out the binoculars she kept in her glove compartment and watched him.
    Armitage got out of the car with his briefcase, looked around and started walking