She must see the doubt scrawled on my face because she quickly adds to her statement. ‘I know they weren’t close, but they did live together all those months, so Alison felt a part of Josie’s life, I suppose.’
I tell her that’s understandable, but from everything Alison’s said about Josie I wonder just how true this is. She disliked her intensely, so why would she care about never seeing Josie again? Alison claimed that Dominic is somehow connected to Josie’s disappearance, but now that doesn’t seem likely. So why is she doing all this?
No matter how much I think about it, or find out, I still don’t know who to trust.
‘She fell apart after it happened,’ Anthony says. ‘Didn’t even finish her degree and never tried to go back. It was the beginning of the trouble for her. She just seemed to have no direction. No purpose any more.’
‘I think she’s made Josie her purpose,’ adds Dominic. ‘It gives her something to do, especially now she’s having a break from work.’ He shakes his head. ‘I’ve tried to help her, Mia, I really have, but nothing works. And now she’s made up this stuff about me abusing her. Why would she do that?’
‘Because she’s sick and she needs help. Medication or something.’ Anthony answers before I can even think of how to respond to this question.
‘I’ll do whatever I can to help her,’ I say. ‘But I need a lot more information first. What was she like before she met Josie?’
‘She was always a clever child,’ Camilla says, ‘but she never found it easy to make friends. Socialising just wasn’t her strong point. But we weren’t worried about it because she was doing so well academically. We had no concerns about her future.’
‘Until she met Josie.’ Anthony reaches for his wife’s hand. ‘That was the start of it, I think. She just had so much hatred for that girl, though as far as we could see Josie hadn’t done anything other than be a totally different person from Alison.’
It’s a struggle to get this next question out. ‘I know this may be hard to hear, but do you think she may have been jealous of Josie?’
Camilla is quick to disagree. ‘No, I don’t think it was that, I really don’t. Alison’s a pretty girl, why would she be jealous of anyone?’
I have to set her straight. ‘Jealousy isn’t just about looks, Camilla. It can be about any aspect of someone. Anything in their life.’
‘But that girl had nothing. Her mother’s boyfriend almost beat her to death and her mum did nothing. Alison couldn’t have been loved more. So why would she be jealous of that girl?’
‘I don’t know.’ If I did know, then I’d understand exactly what Alison is playing at, but I’m still none the wiser.
I turn to Dominic. ‘Alison only just found me and it’s been five years since it happened. Why now?’
He shrugs. ‘Only she can answer that. I’ve tried to find out but I have no idea.’
The photo. It’s got to be linked to that.
For the next half hour I listen while Camilla and Anthony paint me a picture of their daughter, but at the end of it I still have no clue what she’s doing, or who to believe.
‘We’d better get going,’ Dominic says. ‘I’ve got a lot of things to prepare for my classes tomorrow.’
* * *
In the car, Dominic directs me back to Finchley. ‘So now do you believe me?’
‘I might, but there’s one thing I need to check first. When I drop you off, can I come in for a minute?’
Dominic frowns. ‘Okay – but why? I’m not hiding her there, if that’s what you’re thinking.’
‘If you want to help Alison, please just humour me.’
It’s so different being in Alison’s house this time. My perspective has shifted, even though I’m still not sure what I believe.
‘I’d offer you a drink,’ Dominic says, ‘but I’m sure you don’t want one. So are you going to tell me why you wanted to come here?’
I feel braver than I thought I would, being here, but that’s because I’ve got everything at stake. Freya. Will. And I’ll do whatever I can to protect them. ‘I need to see your computer, Dominic. I’m sorry, I know it’s intrusive, but, well, when I tell you why, I hope you’ll understand.’
He frowns and stares at me, probably shocked by my audacity.
‘But why would you need to see my computer? What’s it got to do with Alison? She has her own laptop, she never uses mine.’
I make a split-second decision, hoping I don’t regret it, and tell him everything Alison has told me, about the picture she found on his computer, and her suspicions that Dominic was involved in Josie’s death. I’ve got nothing to lose now; at least one of them is lying to me and this is the only way to find out who it is.
Dominic sits down and buries his head in his hands. ‘I can’t believe she’d say something like that. She can’t really think I had anything to do with Josie… Why would she tell you all this?’
‘She said the photo was on your computer, Dominic. And that it was probably downloaded from your phone. The video I saw actually showed her finding it.’
‘So that’s why you want to see it?’ He jumps up. ‘Come on. I’ll even let you switch it on just so you know I’m not getting rid of anything on there.’
Upstairs in his study he stays true to his word and I turn on his computer while he keeps his distance, hovering in the doorway. ‘I don’t have a password on it,’ he says. ‘Never thought there was any need – it’s only me and Alison living here. And I thought I could trust her.’ He sighs. ‘Anyway, you should probably take a seat – it might take you a while to check everywhere for that photo.’
I retrace the steps Alison filmed herself taking, and browse Dominic’s photos, but there is no sign of Josie. I even see the photos it was jammed between, and this convinces me even more the photo was planted. There’s no way Dominic could have known I would come here and ask to check his computer, and why would he delete it now after keeping it for all these years? It must have been Alison. She put it there and tried to make him look guilty – but why?
For the next half hour I thoroughly scan the rest of Dominic’s computer, just to make sure the photo isn’t anywhere else. There are plenty of lesson plans and other work documents, but nothing remotely personal.
‘I don’t use it for anything other than work,’ he explains, as if he knows exactly what I’m thinking. He’s sitting on the small sofa in the corner of the study, watching everything I do. ‘The truth is I’m not very good with technology. Alison always sorts out the computer stuff in the house. She’s quite the expert, actually.’
‘Well, the photo’s not here,’ I say. ‘Not anywhere I can find it at least.’
‘So now will you finally believe me?’
‘If I’m going to help you, and help Alison, I need to know everything you know about what happened that night with my husband and Josie.’
‘Well, that’s not much. Anyway, how’s this going to help Alison?’
‘You said yourself she’s fixated on what happened to Josie, so I believe that’s why she’s come to me. I think she’s crying out for help.’
‘So why accuse me of harming Josie? And all the abuse stuff?’
‘Because she needed me to listen to her, and that certainly got my attention.’
‘You’re a counsellor, though. You would have helped her anyway, even if she hadn’t said all that.’
I shake my head. ‘Actually, if the situation wasn’t so desperate I probably would have told her I was too close to this to be able to help her. I would have referred her to someone else.’
He considers my words for a moment. ‘I suppose that makes sense. Nothing else does, though.’
But it’s all starting to become clear to me now.
Alison knows exactly what happened to Josie.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Josie
* * *