Where the Memories Lie

 

 

‘Maybe she didn’t want to explain anything. She didn’t even tell you at the time how bad Rose and Jack were and you were supposed to be her best friend. She didn’t tell you she was leaving.

 

And she didn’t tell you she tried to sleep with me!’ He had a defiant glint in his eye. ‘You didn’t really know her at all. All you’ve got is speculation and pieces of a puzzle that don’t fit anywhere. We’re just going round in bloody circles here!’ he spat out, trying to keep 224

 

Where the Memories Lie his voice down and failing miserably. ‘There’s no point in going over and over this until the police tell us the results of the DNA test. And even then I don’t know what that proves. No one saw anything, and the only people who remember much are you and Chris. Maybe we’ll never know what really happened. The police investigation is going nowhere. They’re not going to find out exactly what happened. Not after all this time. I don’t know why they’re even bothering. But just remember that if it wasn’t for you, none of this would’ve happened! Dad’s dead because of your actions.

 

I just hope you’re satisfied now.’ He lay down and turned away from me onto his side so hard the bed bounced up and down under his weight. He stayed in that position, ignoring me, for the rest of the night.

 

I stared into the darkness, tears silently falling down my cheeks, wondering again if I should’ve done things differently.

 

But then wondering just what I could’ve done instead. Whether I could’ve lived with myself if I hadn’t shared Tom’s terrible secret.

 

I waited for sleep to claim me, for some sort of reprieve from the blame I shouldered, but all I got were more tormented images of Katie in my dreams.

 

The next morning when I was heading to work, I bumped into DI Spencer outside Chris’s house again.

 

‘Morning,’ he said.

 

‘Morning. Is everything OK?’ I glanced at Chris’s front door.

 

It was shut and the curtains were still closed. His pick-up was on the drive.

 

‘We were just giving Chris an update. It appears there’s no DNA match between the foetus and either Tom or Chris,’ DI Spencer said.

 

225

 

Sibel Hodge

 

I didn’t know whether that was a good thing or a bad thing.

 

‘What does that mean, then – that you can rule out the baby as a motive for murder?’

 

‘We’re not sure at this stage.’

 

‘And we won’t know who the father was until we have a suspect we can compare a DNA sample with,’ DS Khan said.

 

I felt terrible for not believing him when he said he hadn’t slept with her. How could I have suspected he had anything to do with Katie’s death? And if the baby wasn’t his, surely there could be no reason for him to have killed her.

 

But then I thought about jealousy, and how that could be a motive, too. What if Chris knew Katie was pregnant by someone else and he’d become insane with jealousy? Had he lashed out and killed her by accident? Had he enlisted Tom’s help to cover it up?

 

I’d hoped the results would prove something but all they’d done was give me yet more unanswered questions.

 

‘How did Chris take it?’ I asked.

 

‘He was . . . subdued,’ DI Spencer said.

 

‘Where do things go from here, then?’ I stared into space, chewing the inside of my cheek, deep in thought.

 

‘We’re still making enquiries. We’ll be in touch.’ DS Khan did her signature frown.

 

After they’d gone I walked past the shop and saw a couple of parents whose kids went to Anna’s school. They nudged one another and stared at me, whispering like five-year-olds. I could just imagine what they were saying. Did she know? Daughter-in-law of a murderer!

 

Someone must’ve known there was a body in there.