Page 89 of On the Edge

Jimmy raised an eyebrow.

‘Really, I am.’

There were footsteps in the hall and Richie entered.

‘You look better,’ she said, pulling out a chair.‘You’ve got colour back in your face.’

‘Thanks,’ Nel said, realising she might have underestimated just how rattled she’d been the day before.

‘Let’s get started,’ Richie said, hitting record.

Once she’d run through the formalities, Jimmy took Sophie’s letter from a file and pushed it across the table.

‘Nel, can you please tell us who wrote this?’

‘Sophie Warner.’

‘When did you receive it?’

‘Yesterday morning.She left it with Viv at reception at the clinic.’

‘Did Sophie tell you she was planning to leave Carrinya?’

‘No.In fact she told me the opposite.She said she couldn’t.’

‘Why was that?’

‘She said Ryan would find her, that he wouldn’t stop until he tracked her down.She was terrified of what he’d do if he found her.’

‘Did she talk to you about her marriage?’

‘Yes, she said Ryan was violent with her and that it was getting worse.She was worried he’d start on the kids, particularly the oldest, Charlie.’

‘But she gave you no indication she was planning to leave?’Richie asked, leaning in.

‘None.’

‘Do you have any idea where she might’ve gone?’

Nel trawled back through their conversations, trying to remember what Sophie had said about her family.‘Her mum’s in Adelaide.I think she said her dad went somewhere up north, Cairns or Port Douglas maybe.I’m pretty sure she doesn’t want to be found though.It’s not a crime to disappear, is it?’

‘No,’ Richie said, ‘but we need to question her about Maddie Marshall’s death.’

‘Did she tell you what happened that night?’Jimmy asked.

‘All she said was that Ryan told her he went there to tell Maddie to terminate the pregnancy and then he left.’

‘Ryan said she was there with him.’

Nel frowned.‘But she didn’t start seeing Ryan until after Maddie died.’

‘Not according to Ryan.’

Nel’s thoughts skidded back through her imagined version of the events of that night, when Ryan confronted Maddie at the lookout.She’d pictured the scene so many times it was like watching a film.Was Sophie there too?She recalibrated the mental image, inserting her by Ryan’s side.‘So you’ve questioned him?What else did he say?’

‘We can’t go into the details.’Jimmy gave her an apologetic smile.‘But without evidence of the ring belonging to Maddie, we don’t have enough to charge him.Did you manage to find a photo?’

‘No.’She and Cath had searched every album and a couple of shoeboxes stuffed full of loose photos, but they’d found nothing.Nel closed her eyes.