Where the Memories Lie

 

As soon as he left for work I called DI Spencer and asked if they had any more leads with the investigation.

 

‘Unfortunately not.’ He sounded tired, too. ‘Because it happened such a long time ago, we don’t have many witnesses who actually remember anything. The enquiries we’ve made have led to no new sightings of Katie on the day she apparently disappeared.

 

I checked with the employees who were working on the barn con-version at the time. There was one labourer helping Tom on site who remembered that when he finished work on Saturday afternoon, the foundations for the garage had been dug out and the sub-base, insulation and rebar were completed, but the concrete lorry wasn’t booked to pour the garage floor for another week or so. He was surprised when he came back to work on the Monday and Tom 249

 

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suddenly wanted a rush job on the flooring and a lorry was already on site laying the concrete for it.’

 

Again, I pictured Tom stuffing Katie’s lifeless body into that hole. Her head flopping back as he dropped her down into the cold dirt and covered her up with earth and concrete. My stomach twisted violently.

 

‘At this stage we’ve found no evidence to suggest that someone other than Tom was responsible for her death and for burying her in the garage. Unless we find anything to contradict that theory, the case will be closed. We can’t prosecute someone who’s now deceased.’

 

‘Um . . . I just wondered . . . when you found her . . . was there anything with her?’

 

‘What do you mean?’

 

‘Well, did you find what she was wearing? Or was she . . .’

 

‘We didn’t find the rucksack Chris said she was carrying. Perhaps Tom threw it away or burned her belongings. We may never know.

 

There are a lot of things we may never know.’

 

I remembered Ethan saying the very same thing. Is that because he’d hidden the truth so well?

 

‘There were fragments of clothing that hadn’t decomposed yet, plus buttons from her shirt consistent with the one Chris saw her in.’

 

‘What about jewellery?’

 

‘We found some plastic hooped earrings.’

 

‘Right. What about the necklace Chris said she was wearing?’

 

‘No. We didn’t recover that. It could’ve got lost in some kind of struggle.’

 

I stared at the necklace in front of me on the island, tracing the curve of the sun. ‘Yes. Maybe.’

 

Maybe not.

 

‘Or perhaps Tom disposed of it with the rucksack,’ he said.

 

250

 

Where the Memories Lie ‘I suppose so. OK, well, thanks for your help.’

 

‘You’re welcome. I’ll be in touch if we find out anything else, although to be honest, I don’t think there’s anything more to find. It will probably be just a courtesy call in a few weeks to let you know we’re closing the case.’

 

I hung up and glanced at the clock. Would Chris have left for work yet? I phoned his mobile.

 

‘Hi. How are you?’ I asked.

 

‘Pretty shit. How are you?’ His voice was hoarse and he sounded exhausted, as if he’d been up all night.

 

‘Double shit.’

 

‘I can’t believe this about Charlotte. It’s all gone mad. Our family is cursed. She’ll survive, though, right? If it’s leukaemia? I mean, people go into remission, don’t they?’

 

‘The chances of remission are pretty good. We have to be strong for them all and stay hopeful about the future.’

 

‘Hopeful. Yeah.’ And the way he said it let me know he was anything but hopeful.

 

‘Are you at work?’

 

‘Just leaving the house. Why?’

 

‘Can you pop into the barn for a minute? I’ve got something I want to show you.’