Page 88 of On the Edge

Nel yawned.‘Sorry.’

‘I’ll let you go.You should get some rest—’

‘Jimmy, sorry, one more thing … do Faye and Geoff know you found the ring?’

‘Yeah, I just spoke to Geoff.’

‘What did he say?’

‘He can’t believe it.Must be a shock, after all this time.’

Nel tried to imagine what they would be feeling.Relief, hopefully.But maybe just more pain.

Nel was beyond tired, but she couldn’t sleep.She’d stayed longer than she intended at the hospital, translating medical jargon for Lauren and Steve.It was after eleven when she got home.When she went to bed, her mind tormented her, relentlessly replaying the scene at the lighthouse.Ryan’s snarling face.The crack of his fist hitting Poppy’s cheek.

She thought of what Jimmy said, that they needed a photo to prove the ring belonged to Maddie.An image flashed in her mind, a photo of Maddie and her, their cheeks pressed against each other, Maddie’s red hair fanning over her shoulder, her arm draped around Nel.In her mind’s eye, she could see the ring on Maddie’s finger.She sat up.Where had she seen it?Was it when she was choosing photos for the funeral booklet?

She padded down the hall to the linen cupboard and pulled out the albums.She turned on the lamp and sat down in her dad’s armchair.

She didn’t feel optimistic.Her first iPhone was a gift from her parents when she was accepted into medicine.Until then she’d had a crappy Nokia.She’d had a digital camera during high school, but who knows where those photos would be.Probably on the hard drive of some long abandoned laptop.It was futile, but she had to check.She opened the first album.

‘Nel?’Cath stood in the dark by the door, rubbing her eyes.

‘Sorry,’ Nel murmured.‘I didn’t mean to wake you.’

She sat down.‘What are you doing?’

‘I couldn’t sleep.’

Cath gestured to the album in Nel’s lap.‘What are you looking for?’

‘Oh … just …’ Nel hesitated, debating whether to tell her mum the truth.She thought of that day when she’d found her mum reading her diary.At least once, Cath had questioned her innocence.

‘I’m looking for a photo of Maddie,’ she said eventually.

‘What photo?’

‘I don’t know.Just one that shows her wearing the ring Ryan Warner gave her.’

Cath studied her, deep in thought.Nel looked back to the album and flipped the page, scanning the faces in the images.No Maddie.She turned the page again.She could feel her mother’s gaze.

She looked up.‘What?’

Cath reached for an album from the pile.‘Remind me what the ring looked like.’

Chapter 57

‘Here we are again,’ Nel said with a wry smile as she sat down opposite Jimmy in the interview room the following morning.

‘Sorry to get you back in, probably the last thing you feel like doing.Richie’ll just be a minute.How’s Poppy?’

‘Much better today, thank god.The swelling’s subsiding.They’re planning to take her off the ventilator this afternoon.’

She’d spoken to Lauren earlier for an update.‘The doctor was worried when she couldn’t name the Prime Minister,’ Lauren said, ‘so I told him to ask her to name Taylor Swift’s albums instead.She reeled them all off, no worries.’

Jimmy sighed, relieved.‘That’s good news.We’ll need to interview her about what happened at the lighthouse.’His voice softened.‘It was pretty intense, what you went through.’

Nel shrugged.‘I’m fine.’