‘Okay, thank you. That’s good.’
‘Yes, we couldn’t identify clearly from the CCTV footage who bought the paint from the garage. They were wearing a baseball cap and Mrs Stent is convinced it wasn’t you after all. She said she thought it might be your … er … Miss Munroe but under the circumstances it’s not in our interest to pursue the matter further.’
‘Pippa’s cool with everything,’ Luke says. ‘I spoke to her today. She’ll call by in a couple of days to see you.’
‘We need to take some information regarding the accident at the house but, as I understand it, that will be part of a new investigation, so my colleagues in CID will be discussing that with you at a later date.’
‘Is that it?’
‘Yes, we’ll be in touch soon but if, in the meantime, you could stay in the UK, that would be much appreciated by our colleagues in CID.’
‘Of course.’
‘Thank you. We’ll be off now, then.’ Evans and Doyle depart, leaving Luke and I alone.
‘I’m so glad to see you,’ I say. The relief that Luke is here envelops me.
‘I came as soon as Leonard phoned,’ says Luke. ‘He’s told me everything. I’m so sorry for not believing you about Alice, I mean Martha.’
‘How has Mum taken it?’ I ask. ‘I think Leonard was playing it down.’
‘I’ll be honest,’ says Luke. ‘Not great.’
‘I need to get home and see her. And the girls. Are they okay?’
‘They’re going to stay with Pippa for the night. I know you’re desperate to see them, but what with your mum being so upset, I don’t think it’s the best place for them right now.’
I can’t argue with that. ‘Okay. But I’m seeing them tomorrow, no matter what.’ I look down at our hands still entwined. ‘Luke, there’s something I need to ask you.’
I hear him sigh. ‘This sounds ominous.’
‘I believe you that you didn’t sleep with Martha and I’m sorry for accusing you of that.’
‘But? I can feel a but coming on.’
‘Tom showed me a photograph of you and Martha. You were on the seafront. Arms around each other. Kissing.’
Luke looks genuinely confused. ‘I promise you, Clare, I have never kissed Martha. Never. I don’t even know where Tom would get a photograph from.’
‘It’s okay. I believe you. I just needed to check.’
‘So what about the photo? I’d actually quite like to see it myself.’
‘It’s on Tom’s laptop. I think it’s probably photoshopped. I just needed to hear you say it.’
‘Photoshopped? Tom always liked messing around with computers and cameras, I wouldn’t be at all surprised. Why was he showing you that anyway?’
‘Just causing trouble. Forget about it. He can’t hurt us any more.’ I’m not sure if I’m trying to convince myself as much as I am Luke. I give Luke a kiss and luxuriate in his response. It seems such a long time since we’ve kissed like this.
‘Mmmm, I think we need to get you home, Mrs Tennison,’ says Tom. He grins at me.
God, I’ve missed him. I’m so glad he’s back.
Luke helps me dress in yet another set of clean clothes he brought me and after waiting for what seems an age to be discharged, we finally make our way out of the ward.
‘Before we go, I want to see Martha,’ I say.
‘I’m not so sure that’s a good idea,’ says Luke. ‘Why don’t you wait for the dust to settle for a few days?’
‘No. I need to see her. I want to know exactly where Alice is.’ I can’t bring myself to say Alice’s body, although inwardly I acknowledge that is what we are dealing with now. ‘We need to find her as soon as possible.’
Luke strokes my hair and looks into my eyes. ‘The police can find that out. You don’t have to.’
I place my hand over his and offer a small smile of gratitude for his thoughtfulness. ‘I know they can, but I need something to focus on, to keep me positive. I’m scared if I stop now, I’m going to cave in. I can’t rest until Alice is at rest.’
We take the lift up to the next floor and head round to the ward Martha has been moved onto, having come off the critical list last night. As we turn the corner onto the ward corridor, there is an obvious sense of urgency about the place. A nurse is dashing into a room on the left and as the door swings shut, I get a glimpse of several members of staff already in there. The sound of assured, yet urgent, voices hum from inside the room. Another nurse hurries out and grabs a trolley with what looks like a defibrillator on it.
I look at the whiteboard behind the desk which has a list of which patients are in which room. I scan the names. Kendrick, Alice – Room 3. I look now at the door numbers. My feet take me forwards, Luke holds my arm. The emergency is happening in Room 3.