Roz Watkins - Cut to the Bone

But nobody said anything. They were too far into greyhounds-in-starting-boxes mode.

‘Okay,’ I said. ‘Dismiss nothing at this stage. We’ll do a short press briefing later today – get the photos out and an initial appeal. And let’s find that abattoir waste before it’s turned into puppy food and porky twizzlers.’

Violet’s friend Izzy sat in one of our nicer interview rooms looking very young and overwhelmed. She had a standard-issue teenage look with long, straightened hair and highly defined eyebrows. I was hoping Jai would turn on his charm and get her talking, because if anyone knew what was going on with Violet, it was likely to be her best friend.

Izzy fiddled with her hair, stroking it like a pet. ‘Is Violet okay? She’s gone like totally off-grid.’

Jai activated big-brown-eyes mode. ‘When did you last hear from her?’

Izzy softened. Brown-eyes mode successfully received. ‘Yesterday afternoon. She said she’d come up with more info and she’d be in touch later. But she never called and she hasn’t posted anywhere. Something must have happened to her.’

This was kids nowadays. Anyone who was out of the social media loop for more than a few hours was assumed dead or at least in a coma.

‘Have you still got the message she sent you?’ Jai asked.

Izzy fished out her phone and tapped the screen. ‘Here.’

Five p.m. on Sunday: Think I might be on to something. Let you know later xx.

‘On to something about what?’ Jai said.

Izzy sniffed. ‘Probably about her real dad.’

‘Her real dad?’ Jai said.

‘Yeah, she was adopted.’

I glanced at Jai. He raised his eyebrows. We hadn’t known that.

Izzy carried on: ‘She doesn’t talk about it much. Her real mum’s dead, but Violet knew she originally came from Gritton. She doesn’t know who her dad was.’

‘Is that why she found a job in Gritton? So she could look for her biological father?’

‘Yes. But she didn’t want anyone to know. With her being … who she is and all that. She was really messed up about it. I told her it might be best to leave it be, but she wouldn’t. Do you think she found him and …’

We waited, but she didn’t say more. At least that answered the question of why Violet had come to a backwater village in the boonies. ‘Did she have any idea who her biological father was?’ Jai asked.

‘No. She knew her mother’s name – Rebecca Smith – but she died when Violet was a baby. So Violet was asking questions in the village, hoping to find out who her dad was. But, like, carefully, not telling anyone why she was asking. I wondered if somebody had told her. And if Violet was going to try and see him. Last night, I mean.’

‘If she found her biological father,’ I said, ‘do you think there’s a chance she might stay with him for a while and not tell anyone?’

‘She’d contact me. She’d know how worried I’d be. And she’d want to tell me she’d found him.’

I was holding on to the possibility that Violet had disappeared voluntarily, even as the likelihood slipped away with each passing minute. ‘You know you have to tell us if she’s been in touch, Izzy, don’t you?’ I said. ‘Even if she made you promise not to? We’re very concerned about her.’

Izzy shook her head, hair flying. ‘She hasn’t been in touch! I’m not lying. Honestly!’

I should have let smooth-operator Jai carry on asking the questions. I didn’t have the knack with this one.

I smiled at her, trying to get her to calm the hell down, and indicated to Jai to carry on. ‘How does Violet get on with her parents?’ he asked. ‘Her adoptive parents, I mean.’

There was a tiny wobble to her chin, but Izzy spoke confidently. ‘She’s fallen out with them – her dad especially. They never wanted her to go to Gritton. They said it was a horrible place, full of pig farms and abattoirs. That’s when Violet started doing the videos. To piss them off. Her mum’s vegetarian.’

‘She made the videos to annoy her parents?’

‘At first, yeah. We were messing around, having a barbecue. Violet had bought steak to irritate her mum, and I videoed her cooking it in a bikini. We uploaded it, for a laugh. And it went crazy. Thousands of views and all these people saying how hot she was. She didn’t realise it would get nasty, and part of her liked it. As for pissing her parents off – she hit the jackpot. Plus she’s making money now, you know, from adverts. And then some burger company paid her to eat their stuff and put photos on Instagram. But it’s not like she was ever a massive meat-eater. So she’s being a bit of a hypocrite. Before she was, like, the face of steak, she had a go at some lad at our school about eating factory-farmed meat. Said it was like rape.’

‘What did she say exactly?’ Jai asked.

‘This boy had said the usual thing about bacon, like, Oh but it tastes so good. Like the fact he enjoyed eating it meant it was okay, no matter how hideous a life the animal had had. And Violet said, And that’s enough reason? That it tastes good? Would you rape someone, if it felt good to you? It was harsh, but her reasoning kind of made sense in a Violet sort of way. It got a bit heated.’

That sounded more like the Violet who had the feminist books on her shelves. ‘So it’s a bit of a turnaround, then, doing what she does with the videos?’

‘Yeah, I suppose … But, like I said, she wanted to annoy her parents. She got a kick out of people going on about her and saying she’s hot. Violet’s … well, she’s complicated.’ Izzy’s face crumpled briefly before she regained control.

‘What’s it been like for you, Izzy?’ I asked. ‘With Violet suddenly becoming so well known?’

For a second she looked like she was about to cry. She shoved a strand of hair into her mouth, caught herself, and took it out again. ‘It’s okay, I suppose.’

It clearly wasn’t okay.

‘Is Violet in a relationship?’ Jai asked.

Izzy’s eyes widened. ‘No. No, she isn’t.’

‘Anything casual? Anyone she hooks up with?’

She blinked. ‘No. I’m pretty sure there’s no one.’

I made a note to follow that up. I didn’t trust Izzy’s answers.

‘Have you visited Violet in Gritton?’ I asked.

Izzy reddened. ‘Once. We went out for a drink with some people she knew.’

‘Oh? Who was there?’

‘The people from her work.’

‘How did Violet get along with her colleagues?’

Izzy swallowed. ‘Same as Violet always does. Being the centre of attention. That guy Daniel was mooning over her.’

That was interesting. Daniel had told us that Gary was the one doing the mooning.

‘What did Violet think of Daniel?’

‘Not much. I’m not sure she even noticed him. He’s like really old.’

‘Did Violet talk about anyone else she’d met?’ I asked.

Izzy shook her head.

‘Did she mention anyone she’d fallen out with?’

Another shake. ‘No. But … I think she’s in trouble. She’s …’

‘What, Izzy?’

Izzy swallowed. ‘She’s my friend, so … I like her despite this, but she does get on the wrong side of people. I mean, she deliberately winds people up, and the threats were getting worse and worse. I think she might have pushed it too far and those awful Animal Vigilantes in the meat suits have hurt her.’

Jai had gone to investigate Violet’s parentage while I mulled over progress so far. Violet’s parents were still on their way home from the other side of the planet. At least we could rule them out. The obvious candidates for hurting Violet were the Animal Vigilantes, but then again all her colleagues were a bit dodgy, and we’d want to take a close look at the biological father if we could find him. Plus I couldn’t let go of my hunch that there was a relationship in the background. Relationships were always interesting, especially ones that people wanted to hide.