Page 42 of The Altar Girls

‘Mam, you have to get to Gran’s. Now.’

After buying a sandwich at the garage, Lottie ate it while driving over to her mother’s house.

She could do with taking the break, but she hadn’t time for the drama. The discovery of the second child’s body had skewed her thinking on Naomi’s case. Her heart was shattered for the little girls and their families, but she knew she must remain professional and focused. The fear was always present that there could be more victims, and she did not want that to happen.

‘Mother?’ She stuffed the sandwich wrapper in the bin when she entered the kitchen. The room was empty. So was the sitting room. She heard voices from the bedroom.

Rose was knee deep in clothes she’d taken from her wardrobe and piled on the floor. Katie was sitting on the bed, little Louis on her knee. She rolled her eyes heavenwards when she spied Lottie at the door.

‘What’s going on here?’ Lottie asked. Trying to soften the accusatory tone, she added, ‘A spring clean in December?’

‘Granny can’t find some blue jumper she says she wore yesterday.’

Lottie tried to think. ‘No, Mother, you had on the black one with the diamanté collar.’

Rose leaned back on her haunches and stared hard at her. ‘I thought it was the blue one, but doesn’t matter if I wore it or not, I need it now and I can’t find it.’

‘Why don’t we go to the kitchen and make tea? I’d say you could do with a cup after all that tidying.’ Bracing herself for an argument, she was surprised when her mother stood and carefully walked around the mess and out by her.

‘That sounds excellent. I’ll put on the kettle. Louis, you can help me with the cups.’

The little boy jumped off Katie’s knee and followed his great-grandmother out of the room.

Katie lay back on the bed dramatically. ‘I’m sorry for ringing you at work but I didn’t know how to deal with it. I thought she was going to pull the wardrobe down on top of herself.’

‘You just need to talk to her about something else. Distract her.’ Lottie picked up a bundle of skirts trailing off their hangers and shoved them into the wardrobe.

‘Distract her? Shouldn’t she be on meds of some sort to help her brain?’

‘She’s on a low dose at the moment. When she gets obsessive like this, the only solution is distraction.’

‘It’s so sad, Mam. There must be something else we can do. I can’t bear to see her like this.’

‘She has an appointment with the doctor next week. I’ll see what he says, but until then, we need to be here for her.’

‘That’s all fine, but I can’t stay any longer. I have to bring Louis to a party in Safari Sue’s.’ She glanced at her phone. ‘Like now. Can you stay?’

‘I have to work two murders. I can ask Sean to come over for a while.’

Katie laughed and got up to help Lottie stack the clothes back in the wardrobe. ‘I can’t see that happening. What about Granny’s friends? Surely one of them could dock in and out to check up on her while you’re working.’

With the last dress hung up, Lottie wondered about Rose’s friends. They had called round a lot initially, but as Rose’s conversation dipped into repetition, they appeared to have deserted her.

‘I honestly don’t know.’ She tried to close the door and got annoyed that it wouldn’t shut properly. She sighed and gave up. ‘Let’s see how the tea-making is progressing.’

Laughter filled the kitchen. Louis was sitting on the table, putting spoons on saucers, slapping them down loudly as Rose stood with her arms folded by the kettle.

‘Come on, Louis,’ Katie said. ‘You have to get ready for Safari Sue’s.’

The little boy gave her a high-five. She lifted him down and pulled on his jacket and hat.

‘Bye, Granny Rose,’ Louis yelled as Katie hustled him out the door after pecking the older woman on the cheek.

In the silence that followed, Lottie wondered what she could do to ensure her mother’s safety.

‘I don’t need a babysitter,’ Rose said as she rinsed the teapot with hot water. ‘I can look after myself.’

‘I know you can, but I worry about you,’ Lottie said, trying hard to be diplomatic.