Page 4

CHAPTER 4

MELANIE – D AY O NE

‘Hey there. How’s it going?’ Melanie on speakerphone tries to keep her tone neutral. The traffic’s busy. A car in the middle lane blasts its horn and she tweaks the volume button on the steering wheel.

‘Er, it’s going fine my end. Just tying up a few things. But you sound stressed and I can hear traffic, so now I’m worried.’ Her husband Tom lets out a sigh. ‘You don’t ring in the middle of a shift unless it’s bad news. Especially the last day before a holiday. So hit me with it. Why are you in the car? What’s happened?’

Melanie bites into her bottom lip. Her husband could write a book on the long-suffering woes of being married to a detective. He’s used to the crazy hours. The calls in the middle of the night. But this crisis crosses all the lines. They have a large Airbnb booked for the following morning for the rest of half-term. A trip with his brother and his family. New Forest. Change of scene. A much-needed mini break for all of them.

Technically this is an admin day. She’s supposed to be tying up loose ends in the office ahead of the holiday.

‘This is a very big ask, Tom – very big – so I’m just going to spit it out.’ Melanie feels cold suddenly despite her thick jumper and immediately contradicts herself. Can’t find the words. Thinks instead of their son George packing his toys last night.

‘OK. So this is agony here, Mel. How about you just give it to me straight. What’s happened?’

‘Right. So I’m on the road to Devon and if you insist, I will turn around. This isn’t a fait accompli.’ He says nothing so she plunges on. ‘A girl’s gone missing, Tom. Aged eight. It’s looking serious. A possible abduction. You know that the first forty-eight hours are absolutely critical. They’re short-staffed in Devon. My promotion and transfer to Cornwall is a part of that pickle. And the thing is – I want to give them those forty-eight hours. Give the case its best shot.’

‘Oh – no, no, no. Mel. You don’t even work in Devon anymore. I don’t understand. It’s awful that a girl’s missing. Dreadful. But you can’t take the whole world on your shoulders. This is not your problem. Not your case. I’m sorry but I’m putting my foot down. We’re going on holiday.’

‘It isn’t that simple.’

‘Yes, it is. You choose us. You turn around and you choose us. Me and George.’ He sounds both angry and determined and this is not like Tom.

Melanie feels her throat clamp, close to tears. She takes a couple more long, slow breaths. Doesn’t want to say it as if avoiding the name will make it untrue. She finds her head twitching slightly, like a tic, as she speaks. Fighting tears. ‘It’s Amelie, Tom. It’s Sally and Matthew’s Amelie.’

‘Oh, dear God – no. ’

The silence that follows is horrible. A terrible cavern in which unimaginable things happen. Pain and loss and unbearable fear. Melanie and Tom and Sally and Matthew are friends. Kitchen suppers and outings with the kids. She knows that Tom will be doing right now precisely what she’s been doing since Matthew rang. Imagining the horror of their George missing. Mirroring the fear and the dread that must be driving Sally and Matthew completely insane.

‘But how ? Amelie? I don’t understand.’

‘OK. So this is where I am, Tom. It’s been two hours since she was last seen in town, in Maidstead, with Sally. Not a whisper. Not a sighting. It’s completely out of character and we simply don’t know what’s happened. If it’s an accident or, more sinister, a random crime or something linked to Matthew’s work. As a PI or when he was in the force. All the departments are short-staffed everywhere. I’m the only one with the right experience who’s supposed to be on leave. I’m free. Devon’s stretched. So I’ve offered to step in as SIO as a favour.’

‘But you know Amelie. Surely that’s not allowed? Surely that’s a reason for you not to get involved?’

‘We’re not related. And I’ve said I’ll do this for time off in lieu, not overtime, as a favour to the force. It’s not like knowing a suspect. No strict conflict of interest, so they’re thinking about it. I have a meeting with the suits when I arrive. I sense they’ll bite my arm off, but I’ve said I need to speak to you first.’

Melanie pauses, noticing a lorry creeping closer to her left. She pulls out into the fast lane but misjudges it. A blast of a horn from a white van behind. She has to press hard on the accelerator, heart quickening.

‘What’s with the horn? You OK?’

‘Sure. I’m fine.’ She’s not. Mel realises she needs to try harder to concentrate on the road. The problem is she’s afraid to tell Tom all of it. She waits a few moments until it’s safe to return to the middle lane and pulls back her speed again.

‘There’s something else,’ she says at last. ‘I may have messed up.’ Dark thoughts are already tumbling through Melanie’s brain. Dive teams. A helicopter. Checking the list of local sex offenders. Digging up all of Matthew’s past cases. Who’s still inside? Who’s at liberty? But also this new and terrible question haunting her. Dawn Meadows ...

‘What do you mean – messed up?’ Tom’s voice sounds wary now.

‘You remember Dawn Meadows. That woman who wrongly blamed Matthew for her son’s death. When he left the force?’

‘Of course.’ They’d talked about it often enough. Years back and also more recently when Sally was worrying about Matthew rejoining the force. Dawn had made some nasty threats once. But it was nearly a decade ago.

‘And you remember the hate mail, the anonymous letters every time Matthew’s been in the papers?’ Matthew had been on some big cases as a PI. Several made the news.

‘You’re worrying me now. I thought you said the letters were all investigated. They were not from Dawn. And not taken seriously. Just green-ink warriors. All ancient history. Nothing for Sally and Matthew to worry about.’ It was true. Dawn had been visited twice years back and no evidence found. She was on file as angry but harmless. Matthew’s set to join Sally’s team in less than six weeks. The decision made. All the agonising over Dawn Meadows in theory behind them.

‘So the thing is’ – Melanie pauses, hardly able to say it in this new context – ‘another anonymous letter came in. Addressed to me. After Matthew was in the paper again about rejoining the force. To help me build my new team in Cornwall.’ Melanie’s throat is dry again. She has to cough.

There’s quite a long pause.

‘I got Forensics to check it. Nothing. No prints. No leads. So I just’ – Melanie can feel tears blurring her eyes – ‘I just put it on file with the others.’

‘Oh, right. Goodness.’ Tom’s tone has changed completely.

‘It’s worse, Tom.’ She has to wipe her eyes with the back of her palms. ‘I didn’t tell Matthew.’

‘Oh dear God. Why not ?’

‘I didn’t want to worry him unnecessarily. I really didn’t think it was a serious threat. I mean, we’d discounted the Meadows in the past. There were no useful forensics, so I didn’t want to rake all that up again ...’ She doesn’t add that she didn’t want to spook Matthew. Make him reconsider his decision to work with her, especially as Sally was never keen.

‘And now you think . . .’

‘Now I don’t know what to think—’ Mel breaks off. ‘Except we have a very different and dangerous new context, so I have to find Amelie. And I have to interview Dawn Meadows again.’

‘You don’t really think it’s her, do you? That she’s taken Amelie?’

‘For the record – no, I don’t. But I’m not going to sleep until I make absolutely sure. Check for certain that I haven’t made a wrong call ...’ Her voice trails away.

There is another long pause.

‘OK. So I understand now.’ Tom sounds really shaken.

‘So can I take the case?’

He doesn’t answer. Melanie checks her mirrors again, then the clock on the dashboard. ‘Do I keep driving or do I turn around?’

‘If it was George—’

‘Matthew would drop everything to help us, no question. You know he would.’

‘OK.’ Tom lets out a long sigh. ‘So you go and you find her.’ His voice breaks and he coughs. ‘I’ll take George tomorrow and you join us when you can. Yes?’

Melanie’s suddenly fighting tears again, which she feels angry about. Because this case needs her at her professional best. Top of her game. Not this. Not ... so ... scared.

‘Are you going to be all right, Mel?’

‘Honestly?’

‘Please. This is me.’

‘I don’t know, Tom. It feels very confusing. The new letter and then this happening.’ Another punch to her gut. Pure fear. Picturing again the helicopter and the search teams. Imagining the incident board with Amelie’s photograph right in the middle. ‘What if I can’t fix this? What if this is my fault? What if this is because I put pressure on him to help me build the new team—’

‘If you can’t find her, no one else can either. And this is not your fault.’

‘You think?’

‘I know. OK, so you should have told Matthew about the new letter. You know that. And you do need to tell him now . Put it right. But it’s unlikely to be Dawn Meadows as you say. And the new letter doesn’t make any of this your fault.’

‘I will tell him.’ She means it. But she deliberately doesn’t say when. She wants to find Dawn Meadows first and make sure it really is nothing to do with her.

‘So how are they holding up? Sally and Matthew?’

‘They’re not.’

‘Sorry. Stupid question.’

‘Sally’s refusing to leave the car park in town in case Amelie looks for her there. We need to get her home but it’s all very distressing.’ Another pause. ‘Matthew’s with her but they’re saying she may need sedation.’

‘Jeez. How awful for them. I can’t begin to imagine. Will you give them my love once they’re home?’

‘Of course. And you tell George I’ll speak to him very soon. Don’t tell him about Amelie yet, though you may need to keep him away from the news. We’ll have to decide very quickly whether to go to media appeal tomorrow. Put her picture out. I’ll let you know when that happens so we can prepare George.’

There is another long pause and finally Tom asks what she’s been dreading.

‘So this new letter that came in. What did it say?’

‘Usual rambling. Nasty. But no worse than before.’

This isn’t true. Fact is, and this is why she is silently crying again, Melanie remembers the anonymous letter exactly. The previous notes about Matthew – all with individual words cut out of different magazines – were addressed to the chief constable. And the media. This one was addressed to her.

Matthew Hill is a child killer. You take him back on your team and you will all be sorry.