Page 40 of The Stolen Child

‘Jason does not come off well.’ Kevin pointed to the first image, which zoomed in on Jason’s face. His jaw was clenched, his lips tight and thin. Kevin read a few lines from the article: ‘The tightened lips and clenched jaw is often an indicator of anger and annoyance.’

Kimberly felt a flash of fear run down her spine. Kevin pointed to a series of photographs that captured Jason placing his hand on Kimberly’s back and her shrugging it off. Kevin continued to read: ‘In these photo sequences, we see Kimberly is hunched forward, which is often an indicator of great anxiety. Although her face is half covered with large sunglasses, and a sunhat, when Jason places a hand on her back, she clearly winces. And her head drops downward. Which could be a sign of fear. When she shrugs her husband’s hand off, once again, Jason’s lips compress, and his jaw tightens. Another sign of anger.’

‘This is n-nonsense,’ Kimberly stuttered.

Further photographs were zoomed in at the most unflattering moments for Jason. She hardly recognised her husband in the stills shared.

Kevin continued to read from the newspaper, his voice clipped.

‘From a nonverbal perspective, there are questions about how the parents have acted. Kimberly seems extremely subdued. She covers her face, never showing her eyes, which indicates that she is wearing a mask. Why? Jason is in pain, but also appears frustrated, which you can see from his clenched jaw and the curl of his lips as they compress. He’s defensive. He could be innocent and feel attacked, which is why he’s defensive. But he could also be guilty and trying to cover it up.’

Once he’d finished reading, Kevin dropped the paper between them on the bed as if it were on fire.

‘I don’t understand,’ Kimberly began, feeling confused by the comments. ‘I’m not scared of Jason. He’s a gentle and kind man.’

Kevin nodded. ‘They want a villain. And they’ve decided that it’s my boy. But I won’t have it. You and I know that he has done nothing wrong here.’ His eyes flashed, and Kimberly felt his hostility move towards her.

‘You sound angry with me, Kevin. I’ve not done anything wrong here either.’

Kevin watched her closely and nodded slowly. ‘You need to think about when you will return to Dublin.’

Kimberly was surprised by the change in subject. ‘We can’t go yet. What if Robert is returned to us?’

Kevin scoffed. ‘Do you believe whoever has him will bring him back? There’s been no ransom . . . We have to accept the possibility that we may never find out where he is or what’s happened to him.’

‘Why would you say that?’ Kimberly said, her voice raising. ‘Inspector Ortega said Jason’s plea could bring the abductor forward.’

‘If they were going to do that, they would have by now,’ Kevin said sadly. ‘It’s time to go home. If we stay here, I’m worried that the Spanish police will try to stick this on Jason.’

Kimberly felt as if she’d been given an electric shock.

‘Do you think Jason had anything to do with Robert’s disappearance?’ Kevin pushed further.

‘No!’ Kimberly replied instantly.

Kevin visibly sagged beside her. ‘I needed to hear you say that out loud. Thank you.’ He reached over and clasped her hands between his own. ‘Will you talk to Jason? Persuade him that it’s time to go home. The business is beginning to suffer. A tenant has complained about a leak in his bathroom, and another has given his notice to leave. Mortgages still have to be paid. Life has to continue on.’

Kimberly felt the room shrink around her; the air became dense, and she took several rasping breaths.

‘Kimberly? Are you okay?’ Kevin asked, his forehead now furrowed and creased.

Kimberly shook her head. She needed to escape, to leave this hotel where she’d spent days doing nothing but waiting for the phone to ring.

‘Can you watch Lily? I need to go out, to think.’

Kimberly wasn’t even sure where she was going. She pulled her sunhat and sunglasses down low, and sneaked out of the hotel, careful not to let Jason see her. He was still deep in conversation with the journalist, waving his arms around as he made whatever point he was saying.

Kimberly walked along the narrow, cobbled Spanish streets. She passed a lady selling flowers from a basket, and an ice-cream cart, with kids gathered around, waving their money to buy a Cornetto. She kept going until she found herself at Portside, at the water’s edge, looking out to a cruise ship that sat in the harbour.

The Carousel had long gone, but another group of tourists had arrived on another liner. Carefree, cameras hanging round their necks, faces sun-kissed and sunburnt as they explored.

Kimberly closed her eyes and remembered their first port call in Villefrance. Robert was on Jason’s shoulders, Lily in her pram, and the four of them were happy, safe and carefree, unaware that they were days away from this nightmare.

She damned herself for ever agreeing to go on this trip. They should have stayed at home in Ireland. Safe. Hidden from danger.

‘I wondered where you were heading,’ a voice said, interrupting her thoughts.

Kimberly whipped round to find Inspector Ortega standing behind her, watching her quizzically.