Chapter Forty-Eight

At the circus campsite, Jane speaks with Morea, who confirms that Jasper “Patch” Black vanished right after the bank holiday performance. His caravan was emptied, and no one reported it, as Jasper was a solitary, strange adult who kept to himself.

Jane meets clowns Dave (Mikki) and Steve (Raimondo), who describe Jasper as a loner, childlike yet competent, rooted in the circus since youth, and evasive about a dysfunctional family in Hampstead. They have not seen him with any young woman or a white dog and doubt he could manage alone outside circus life.

Invited to search Jasper’s caravan, Jane finds it meticulously cleared. She collects promotional flyers and discovers a grotesque clown mask, possibly marked with dried stains. Beneath seating, she retrieves a torn letter corner addressed to Jasper Black, care of Stella Madden at 21 Dresden Close, dated last year, from a sender beginning “Dr. A. J. Tw…” with a partial “Dov” address.

Back with Dave and Steve, Jane copies Jasper’s phone number. They note he had called behavior and seemed to be running from something, implying a planned departure. The absence of personal effects reinforces intentional flight.

Jane maps Stella Madden’s address near Winchester and infers Stella appears respectable from public information. She resolves to pursue this lead tomorrow, viewing Stella and the doctor’s fragment as her next concrete trail to Jasper.