Page 30

CHAPTER 30

MATTHEW – D AY T HREE

‘Good of you to meet me, Mel. We’re going mad.’ Matthew finishes his coffee. He arrived at the café first, the only one near enough to the police station to give them some privacy. But Mel has turned down coffee. Keeps checking her watch and phone.

‘I’m sorry but I’m really stretched. I’ll come out to the house later this evening – see you both together – but I’ve only got minutes.’

‘Understood. So where are we?’

Matthew leans in and tries to read her face. Melanie has been in regular touch but mostly by phone and sometimes through the family liaison officer, which he’s found frustrating. Unlike her.

‘OK, so I’m sorry I’ve been a bit distant but I needed to be careful – professional – while I ruled out Carol.’

‘And you have ruled her out?’

‘Yes. We’ve spoken to her friend in France and also had confirmation of their museum visits on CCTV. They tally with the time Amelie disappeared. I’m sorry I had to wait for that. But you know how it is.’

‘Sure. So we’re OK – you and me?’

‘Of course we’re OK.’ She rests her hand on his arm. ‘I’m just sorry I don’t have anything concrete for you yet.’

He fights his response. The panic. The images in his head that stop him sleeping. He turns momentarily to the window. Dark outside. Can’t bear the thought of another night, a third night, without Amelie. For a second, he thinks of the statistics. How few survive an abduction for this long ...

‘So – what’s the update?’

‘Adam Meadows is lying to us. Says he and Dawn are divorced. His lawyer says they’re not. We’re chasing her bank details. Last known car. The usual. Nothing’s come up yet but we’re throwing everything at it, Matt. I’ve got some good people working late tonight. I’ve also spoken to her sister in New Zealand. No contact in years. They weren’t close. But she confirmed Dawn and Adam fell apart and talked about a split after losing the boy. She has no idea where she might be. I have the team chasing every possible avenue to find her.’

‘So no travel. Nothing from passport or tax office.’

‘Not so far. She’s still on the company accounts. A director of the building firm. Receiving dividends into a personal bank account. We’re trying to trace her through that.’

‘Anything else?’

‘A boy, a teenager, has just come forward about the body in the trolley. Between us, it looks like a nasty prank gone wrong. He felt bad about it, returned to the canal several times to see if the body had surfaced. On one visit, he saw Amelie outside the shop. At the back of Freda’s Fashions near the canal. She was wearing a green dress, not her pink hoodie. Must be the dress she had her eye on. She was talking to someone but the witness couldn’t see who. And the CCTV was out of action, as you know.’

Matthew feels a terrible wave of dread pass through him. He imagines it. Dawn Meadows talking to Amelie. He holds Mel’s gaze.

‘You think it was Dawn she was talking to?’

‘I don’t know. The witness ran off. Only watched for a few seconds and it was a bad angle. As I say, he couldn’t see who it was. But it confirms that’s where Amelie disappeared. From the rear of the shop. So I have the team going over all the camera footage near the canal again. As you know, there are two car parks within close walking distance. We’ve been through all the CCTV but I’m getting them to check it all again with the updated information that she was in a green dress. Not in her pink hoodie and jeans.’

‘Good. That’s good. This could make a difference.’ He pauses, frowning. ‘So she was in green. Right. Not pink.’

‘Yes. And if we get anything – anything at all, I’ll ring you, Matt.’ This time Mel pauses. She takes a long, slow breath. ‘How is Sally holding up?’

‘Bad. She’s not sleeping. Obviously. But it’s good she at least has Carol with her now. We’ve been liaising with the home looking after Sally’s mum. They had to call us because her mother saw something on the news. It was a mistake. They were supposed to keep her away from the television. It’s been horrible. Sally’s not well enough to visit her mother but they spoke on the phone. All very distressing. And the worse thing? With the illness, the dementia – her mum overnight has forgotten already apparently. Has started asking for Sally again. And it’s so very hard for Sally, all that. Not knowing what to do for the best.’

‘I can’t begin to imagine.’

‘So what can I do, Mel? Is there something I can do? Help with?’

‘It’s probably best you’re with Sally. With all this stuff breaking on the guy in the shopping trolley, it’s manic. They’re just kids. Eighteen. We’ve got them in custody, all lawyered up, so I need to get back and oversee the interviews. Almost certain we’ll charge them tonight and do a press update before the late news. It’s crazy busy.’

‘OK. I get that. And I said I’d go back later to be with Sally, but can’t I help go through that CCTV again? If anyone can spot Amelie, even a glimpse, it’s me. And with this new update on what she was really wearing ...’

A pause.

‘Please, Mel. If you have people working late, I can work alongside them. Speed things up.’

‘Officially – I can’t have you on the team. Not properly. And certainly not asking questions. You know that.’ She leans in as if checking he fully understand this. Her difficult position.

‘I get that. I promise I won’t meddle.’

‘OK. If you want to help the officer going through the car park footage again, I can arrange that in a side room. Say it’s our best shot to try to spot Amelie. But you will be there as the parent, not an investigator. OK?’ She checks her watch as he nods. ‘Good. I need to get back now but if you follow – say in half an hour, I’ll put that in place for you. Ask for me at the front desk.’

‘Thank you. I just need to be doing something. Anything to get things moving .’ And then he clocks a change in Mel’s expression, the light in her eyes suddenly different. ‘Sorry. I do know you’re doing everything you can, Mel.’ He means it but struggles to get his tone right.

Melanie just nods very fast. And so he fears that – yes – he got the tone wrong, making things worse between them and realising in this moment as their eyes stay locked that she’s hurting badly too. Dark circles. Skin dull.

The world – his world, this petrifying new world in which Amelie is still gone – weighing so very heavily on her shoulders too.