Let the Dead Speak (Maeve Kerrigan #7)

Which he would have received in four days, given the usual shift pattern: two earlys, two lates, two nights, four off. I couldn’t keep the edge out of my voice. ‘They are still looking for her. And Chloe. Didn’t it occur to you that Bethany might be able to help us find Chloe?’

‘She doesn’t know anything.’

‘She knows more than I do about why Chloe disappeared in the first place. She knows where she last saw Chloe, and when. She might know where Chloe intended to go.’

‘We need to speak to her,’ Derwent said, cutting across me. ‘Right now.’

‘She’s not well enough.’ Norris started to close the door again. ‘She can’t.’

‘I’m going to have to insist,’ I said.

‘And I’m going to have to insist on you leaving us alone.’ Norris’s face had gone red.

‘Ollie.’ Eleanor appeared behind him and put a hand on his shoulder. ‘It’s all right.’

‘Let me handle this.’

‘Of course.’ She bowed her head. ‘I didn’t mean— but if they need to speak to her.’

‘She’s in no condition to speak to anyone. I don’t think she can.’ Norris’s shoulders sagged. ‘She hasn’t said anything at all since she came back.’

‘I could sit with her,’ Eleanor murmured. ‘She wouldn’t be on her own.’

‘Please,’ I said, despising myself for begging. ‘For Chloe’s sake. Bethany wouldn’t want her to be in danger.’

Norris looked at me, unseeing, for a long moment. Then he nodded.

‘I’ll go and tell her you’re here.’ Eleanor stopped, one foot on the bottom step of the stairs. ‘She’s in bed so I think we would prefer a female officer to speak to her.’

‘Of course,’ Derwent said. He sounded polite but the muscle flickering in his jaw told a different story. ‘I’ll wait while DS Kerrigan speaks to her.’

‘I think that’s best.’ Eleanor carried on upstairs. Norris moved back to allow us inside the house, his face stony.

‘If you upset her—’

‘That’s the last thing I want to do.’

He snorted. ‘I’m sure.’

‘Sounds as if she’s already upset,’ Derwent commented. ‘Given that she was crying.’

‘She’s exhausted. We’re all exhausted.’ Norris shook his head. ‘This whole thing has been a nightmare. What happened to Kate – of course we had to let Chloe stay with us. But if I’d known how hard it would be – and Bethany going missing … I mean, she has to be our priority. I’m sure you can understand that.’

‘I understand,’ I said shortly. I understand that you’re trying to protect your daughter and you don’t give a shit about Kate’s daughter. So much for Christian charity.

‘Can we take the clothes she was wearing?’ I asked.

Norris’s eyes flickered. ‘I think Eleanor’s washed them. In fact, I know she has.’

It was a blow but I dredged up a smile. ‘Never mind. It’s surprising what survives a trip through the washing machine.’

‘I’ll get evidence bags from the car and let everyone know Bethany’s been located.’ Derwent headed out of the door and I could tell Norris was itching to shut it behind him.

‘Detective? You can come up,’ Eleanor called.

I went past Oliver Norris fast enough to feel a breeze, just in case he changed his mind. Eleanor was standing in the doorway of her daughter’s bedroom.

‘Don’t take too long. She needs to rest.’

Bethany was curled up in bed, a small shape under the covers. I edged around the bed until I could see her face, her eyes tight shut, her expression pure misery. The curtains were drawn in the room and I could barely see her. I tweaked one back a few inches and she winced.

‘Sorry, Bethany. Only it’s a bit dark in here.’

She looked thin, her face flushed and feverish. Without glasses, her eyes looked vulnerable, defenceless. Her lips were chapped but a full glass of water stood on the bedside table.

‘Has she been checked over by a doctor?’ I asked, crouching so I could feel her forehead. It was hot and she flinched away from my touch.

Eleanor shook her head. ‘She was fine. She didn’t need a doctor. She needed rest.’

‘Bethany, I need to ask you if you know where Chloe is.’

Her whole body shuddered and she screwed her eyes tight shut.

‘Where did you last see her?’

No answer.

‘She could be in trouble, Bethany. In danger, even. We need to find her urgently.’

‘And what are you doing about it?’ Eleanor’s voice was too loud in the gloom. ‘Apart from bothering my daughter, I mean.’

‘There’ve been appeals on social media and the local news. She’s going to be featured on national news bulletins today.’ I checked my watch. ‘It’ll be on the one o’clock news.’

‘But it’s two days since she disappeared.’

‘Vulnerable people go missing all the time.’ I stood up. ‘We were balancing Chloe’s need for privacy with her safety. Especially given her current situation. There’s going to be a lot of media interest in her disappearance. That’s why we really need to know why she left and where she was planning to go.’

‘If Bethany doesn’t know she can’t tell you.’

‘I appreciate that. Anything she knows might help.’ I crouched again. ‘Bethany, where did you go? Where were you hiding?’

No answer.

‘Were you together?’

She gave the tiniest of nods.

‘All the time?’

Another nod.

‘So when did you leave her? Or did she leave you? Did someone help you to hide? Did you argue?’

Tears were sliding out from under her eyelids.

‘Bethany, please.’

‘That’s enough,’ Eleanor said, leaning over her daughter as if she needed to shield her from me.

‘But I need to—’

‘No. I’m sorry. You need to leave right now.’

‘Bethany, you know you can talk to me. You’re not in trouble and neither is Chloe. We need to make sure Chloe is somewhere safe.’

Bethany buried her face under the covers and gave a low wail that made the hairs stand up on my arms.

‘Go now. Please. Go,’ Eleanor said.

‘I’ll come back soon, Bethany,’ I said. And hopefully I can speak to you without your mother intervening. I didn’t know if she’d been afraid to talk in front of Eleanor but I had to assume it was part of the problem.

The hall downstairs seemed full of people but there were only three; it was just that they were all large men. Oliver Norris, Derwent, Morgan Norris. The latter looked up as I came down the stairs and grinned.

‘Well, if it isn’t Juliet Bravo.’

‘That was her call sign, not her name,’ I said.

‘The thing I like about you is your passion for accuracy.’ Morgan gave the word passion full value, lingering over it, and I felt a chill ghost over my skin. I don’t know how I looked, but it made Derwent move between me and Morgan, crowding him. Morgan held his ground until the last possible minute, then fell back. ‘All right. It’s all right.’

‘I apologise for my brother,’ Oliver said from behind me.

‘There’s no need.’ I wanted to get out of the house: it was stifling, the air fraught with tension. ‘If Bethany wants to talk to me, I’ll make myself available. Any time.’

‘Even in the middle of the night?’ Morgan asked, then raised his hands as Derwent twisted to glower at him. ‘God, can’t a man ask a simple question?’

‘Not if it’s you.’

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