Page 78 of Worse Than Murder

‘Did you ask him to stay?’

‘Of course. The stables were still in their infancy. I needed all the help I could get. With Jack… well, with him going like that, I really needed Travis.’

‘Yet he still decided to leave?’

Iain shrugs. ‘He didn’t owe us anything. He wasn’t family, and he was only young. It was only supposed to be a temporary job for a few months. He’d already stayed longer than planned.’

‘Did you have any contact with him after he’d gone?’

‘No. This was in the days before mobile phones and social media. We thanked him for everything he’d done, didn’t we?’ He looks to Lynne.

‘Yes. I cooked him a goodbye meal,’ she smiles, though her face shows she’s on the edge of tears. ‘We were trying to be normal, but it was horrible.’

‘Why was it horrible?’

‘There should have been seven of us around that table,’ Iain says. ‘There were only three. None of us wanted to address what we were all thinking, but it was difficult to ignore.’

‘Three? Where was Alison?’ I ask.

‘She was staying with my sister and brother-in-law for a while,’ Lynne says.

I nod my understanding. ‘Did you ever hear from Travis again?’

‘No,’ Lynne answers.

‘Not until his father got in touch around Christmas,’ Iain adds. ‘He said he was missing, that he hadn’t returned home. The police came up here from Liverpool for us to give a statement. We told them what we’ve just told you. He left, planning to go back home, and that’s where we thought he’d gone. He gave no indication that he was going elsewhere.’

‘He was only young, wasn’t he?’

‘Twenty-six,’ Lynne quickly answers.

‘Did he and Jack get on?’

‘Yes. We all did,’ Iain says. ‘We worked closely together every single day. Travis lived in this house with me and Dad.’

‘Did either of you ever suspect that he might have been involved in Celia and Jennifer’s disappearance?’

‘I told you what happened,’ Lynne says, her voice quiet.

‘I know you did. I’m just wondering, with Travis going missing not long after Jack, if they both might have…’ I struggle with how to say this tactfully. ‘Was it possible they were both involved in the twins’ disappearance?’

Lynne’s mouth falls open. ‘What? No,’ she says, the tears falling down her face. ‘No. Not my girls. Please. Don’t tell me they were both… no. Not that.’

‘I really think you should leave,’ Iain says, jumping to his wife’s aid and putting his arms firmly around her shoulders. ‘You’re upsetting Lynne.’

‘I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset anyone. It’s just… there are far too many loose ends here and, with Travis’s car being at the bottom of the lake yet it not being reported stolen or missing, I find it odd that nobody has ever looked into this.’

‘We were all busy… distracted,’ Iain says. ‘With the girls missing, we didn’t know what day it was. We were all frantically searching everywhere to try and find them. Then… Jack told me… shit,’ he says. ‘I can’t go through all this again.’ He stands up and goes over to the kitchen sink, looking out of the window. ‘My brother. He was my brother. I looked up to him. I wanted… why? How?’

I watch the both of them in silence as they fall apart, still struggling to understand the horror, thirty years later.

‘The police investigation thirty years ago: looking back, do you think it was a thorough investigation? Do you think everything was done to find Celia and Jennifer?’

Lynne looks up at her. ‘I… I don’t know. I assume everything was done correctly.’

Iain turns back from the window. He wipes his eyes. ‘The police turned this county upside down trying to find them. Inspector Bell worked round the clock.’

‘What are you saying?’ Lynne asks me.