Schoolgirl Missing

by Sue Fortin

  ‘No. I would have said something.’

  ‘Did you go alone yesterday?’

  ‘No. Cheryl, Kit’s mum, and my friend Lucie came.’

  ‘You all went in the same car?’

  ‘No. Lucie came with me, but Cheryl met us there.’

  Edward wrote something down. ‘Have you left your coat anywhere in the last four days since Poppy’s been missing?’

  ‘No. I’ve either been wearing it, or it’s been at home.’

  ‘Now, you met Jake on the canal path. Could he have put the key in your pocket? Did he get close enough? Perhaps when you were in the car? Which pocket did the police find the key?’

  ‘Err, my right pocket.’

  ‘Hmm, so probably not when you were in the car. Are you left or right handed, by the way?’

  ‘Right.’

  ‘So, if you were putting something in your pocket, it would be more than likely you’d put it in your right pocket.’

  ‘But I didn’t!’

  ‘I’m just thinking how the police would,’ reassured Edward. ‘Back to Jake. Could he have put it in your pocket when you were by the river or walking back to the car?’

  Neve thought back. ‘Maybe when we were walking back to the car, but I honestly don’t remember feeling him slip anything in my pocket. And why would he?’

  ‘A motive is always helpful,’ said Edward. ‘Is there any reason why Jake would want to set you up? Why he would have any involvement in Poppy’s kidnapping? Think, Neve, this is extremely important. Had you and Jake fallen out about anything?’

  Neve looked down at her hands as she rubbed the edge of the desk with her thumbs. She knew this moment would come sooner or later and that she couldn’t put off the inevitable. More tears dropped from her eyes, splodging onto her jeans.

  Without looking up, for she couldn’t face looking Edward in the eye, she spoke. ‘It’s a bit awkward, but Jake and I, we’ve become very close lately. We’re not having an affair, but he has said things, sort of offered, if you like, a way out of my marriage.’ Too embarrassed and ashamed to look at Edward, Neve continued studying the edge of the table.

  ‘And what was your response to that suggestion?’

  ‘I said no. I didn’t want to have an affair and I didn’t want to leave Kit.’

  ‘How did Jake take the rejection? Was he angry? Upset?’

  This time Neve did meet his eye. ‘He was very dignified and gentlemanly about it.’

  ‘So, he accepted this and didn’t try to change your mind?’

  ‘Yes, as I said, he accepted my decision,’ said Neve. ‘He is a very kind and compassionate man. I probably leant on him a bit too much when things between me and Kit were going wrong.’

  ‘Neve, please, you don’t have to explain to me,’ said Edward, this time there was a gentleness to his voice. ‘I’m not here to judge you or to speculate on your marriage. I’m here to get you released and off the charge as quickly as possible.’

  Neve gave Edward a small smile. ‘Thank you.’

  ‘Save all that for Kit. He’ll be the one who needs to know. Me, I just need to know the bare facts. What I’m trying to establish is if anyone else had a motive for kidnapping Poppy and trying to blame you.’

  ‘Oh, Jake wouldn’t do that, I’m sure,’ said Neve, massaging her temples. ‘I mean, why would he?’

  ‘Strictly speaking that’s up to the police to decide but before that, we’d have to suggest to them that Jake planted the key in your pocket. Technically, I’m here to prove your innocence, not someone else’s guilt but if it helps your case, then I’ll run with it,’ said Edward patiently. ‘Do you understand what I’m saying?’

  Neve nodded slowly as Edward’s words sank in. ‘Yes. I do,’ she said.

  ‘Right, now moving on,’ said Edward. ‘Is there anyone else, anyone at all, who you’ve crossed swords with recently?’

  ‘Linda Hewitt. Her son was bullying Poppy one day and I confronted him about it. His mother took exception. She had a go at me in the street when I was handing out missing posters of Poppy.’ She watched as Edward made a note in his book.

  ‘Sounds a charming family,’ commented Edward. ‘Apart from Linda Hewitt, is there anyone you’re concerned about? Kit mentioned to me about a man he found talking to Poppy. He’s told the police about him, I believe. Do you know anything yourself?’

  Neve gulped a lump down from her throat. ‘Erm … yes. I made some enquiries, you know, asked around and it turns out he works at The Forum.’

  ‘Do you have a name?’

  ‘Lee Farnham.’

  Edward noted the name in his book underneath Linda’s name. ‘OK, I’ll speak to the police and see what’s happening there. Now, is there anything else you can think of that I should know?’

  Neve looked down at her hands, as if the answer lay there. Should she tell Edward about her connection with Lee? Would the police dig that far back into her past and make the connection themselves? ‘I …’ she began but hesitated. Yes or no?

  ‘Neve,’ said Edward, leaning forwards and speaking softly. ‘Whatever you say to me, you can say in total confidence. I won’t repeat anything to anyone, unless it’s to save your skin. And, even then, it will only be to the police. Kit may be my friend, but client confidentiality comes first. Of course, I can’t speak for the police, but anything you tell me, I will treat with the utmost respect.’

  Chapter 24

  After much wrangling and a long interview with Pearson, it was finally agreed that Neve would be released without charge, but she was still under caution. As they left the station, a few journalists who had got wind of Neve’s visit were waiting outside. Neve gulped at the prospect of having to face them.

  ‘Don’t be tempted to reply to any questions. Keep your head down and leave them to me. My car is just over there,’ said Edward, before hustling Neve outside, a protective arm across her shoulders. ‘No comment. No comment,’ said Edward, as he navigated Neve safely to his car, before speeding away.

  ‘Thank you,’ said Neve, putting her head back and closing her eyes for a moment.

  A short time later they swung into Neve’s driveway. Her car was parked in its usual spot and she assumed Kit had been up to collect it at some point, possibly with Sean or his mother. Willow had been taken out of the car at the time of her arrest and reunited with Kit, according to Edward. Neve was relieved to see the press hadn’t taken up position outside the house.

  ‘They were here earlier when Kit came home,’ said Edward, looking across at Neve, as if reading her mind.

  ‘Funny how the tables turn,’ said Neve. ‘One day they’re your best friend, your ally, the next, they’re your enemy and spies. Speaking of spies …’

  Neve looked across the road where Mrs Dalton was in her front garden. She appeared to be sweeping the drive, but Neve guessed she was really waiting to see what was going on. Neve turned away. She didn’t have the time or patience for Mrs Dalton right now.

  ‘Do you want me to come in with you and speak to Kit?’ asked Edward.

  ‘No, it’s OK. I’ve texted him already,’ said Neve.

  ‘Looks like he’s expecting you,’ said Edward, nodding in the direction of the front door.

  Neve followed his gaze and saw Kit standing on the doorstep, looking casual with his hands resting loosely in the front pocket of his jeans and wearing a white T-shirt. He looked so young. The weight of Poppy’s disappearance lifted from every line and contour of his face and body. The relief was evident and yet it was his eyes which told the true story. They spoke volumes. He was seriously pissed off with her.

  ‘Thank you,’ she said to Edward, getting out of the car. She watched the solicitor drive away, taking a few moments to calm her nerves. She had got through several hours of interrogation by Pearson, who finally seemed to believe her, now she had to repeat the process with her husband. She wondered how much Pearson had told him.

  She turned and walked towards Kit, coming to a halt a few paces from hi
m. ‘Hi.’ Such a casual greeting seemed so insufficient.

  ‘I don’t want you in the house,’ said Kit.

  Neve was taken aback. She hadn’t been expecting to be barred from her own home. ‘We need to talk,’ she said, gently. ‘I need to explain.’

  ‘There’s not much to explain,’ said Kit. He reached behind him and closed the front door. ‘You shagged your art therapy tutor. You decided to take him with you to rescue MY daughter. You had the key to the padlock. It all seems pretty self-explanatory to me.’

  ‘I didn’t shag my art tutor, as you so politely put it,’ said Neve, prickling at his tone.

  ‘You were going to. You wanted to. It’s as good as.’

  ‘No! No, it’s not. Please, Kit, let’s talk about this.’

  ‘So, you’re denying everything DCI Pearson told me? He’s just made all that up, has he?’

  ‘Do you really think for one moment I had something to do with Poppy’s disappearance? How could I? Why would I?’ Neve kept her voice level, she didn’t want to match the sarcasm in Kit’s. ‘Someone put that key in my pocket. I’ve been through this with Edward and I know he’s spoken to you and I’ve been through it with Pearson. I’ve been released. Doesn’t that tell you something?’

  ‘It tells me that they don’t have the evidence.’

  Neve took a step closer, her hand reaching out to touch Kit’s forearm. ‘Please, let’s go inside and talk.’ She glanced back over her shoulder at Mrs Dalton who was now leaning on her broom handle gawping over, making no attempt at a covert surveillance. Neve turned her back on the woman and looked pleadingly at Kit. ‘It’s still my home,’ she said softly. ‘You and Poppy are still my family.’

  ‘I’ll be the judge of that last statement,’ said Kit. ‘Look, Poppy’s sleeping and my mum is in there. It’s probably not the best place to talk. I’ll grab my keys and we’ll go for a ride in the car.’

  The atmosphere in the car was suffocating. The tension sucked up the oxygen and at one point, Neve thought she was going to have to ask Kit to stop the car so that she could be sick. Instead, she let the window down and drank in the fresh air, not dissimilar to the way Willow liked to poke her nose out. Neve’s journey, however, wasn’t for a pleasant walk along the river path. Hers was more like a journey to the gallows.

  Kit drove out of the village and up to the top of the Trundle, pulling up in the car park which overlooked the West Sussex coastal plain, taking in the city of Chichester and the English Channel beyond. It was one of their favourite spots and Neve took this as a good sign. ‘We should have brought Willow with us,’ she said.

  ‘This isn’t a jolly,’ retorted Kit, causing Neve to instantly regret her light-hearted remark.

  ‘Sorry,’ she said.

  Kit got out of the car and zipping up his jacket, waited for Neve to follow suit. She pulled her collar up on her coat and looking down at her boots, saw they were still muddy from her walk along the river path that morning. Was it really the same day? It seemed a lifetime ago. Now it was nearing five o’clock. She felt exhausted, as if she’d just gone ten rounds in the boxing ring with no gloves, gum shield or head guard.

  But that was nothing to what she had to face now. A new opponent and a different fight.

  ‘Right, first of all, what’s this about that bloke who was hanging around Poppy last week? Pearson said you knew who he was?’

  Neve noted the wording. Knew who he was, technically, was different to being accused of knowing Lee. ‘I found out who he was,’ she admitted. ‘He works at The Forum, he’s a support worker.’

  ‘And you never thought to share that information with me?’

  ‘I didn’t want you to do anything, like confront him.’

  ‘So, why, when I told Pearson about him, didn’t you mention it then?’

  ‘I was going to tell him but later. I thought you’d be mad at me. I didn’t—’

  ‘Too right I’d be mad at you!’ Kit almost shouted. ‘Poppy goes missing and all you can think about is yourself.’

  ‘I’m sorry. I was upset. I wasn’t making rational decisions.’

  ‘You can say that again,’ snapped Kit. ‘And what about Jake? What the fuck is going on there? I got the distinct impression from Pearson that you are more than just friends. I’m really hoping you’re going to tell me what a complete load of bullshit that is.’

  Kit walked over to the edge of the car park, stopping in front of the wire fencing. The valley below was bathed in a stripe of sunlight that had escaped from the cloud-filled sky.

  Neve positioned herself next to him, relieved that he’d dropped the subject of Lee, but it was definitely a case of out of the frying pan and into the fire. ‘Please listen to what I’m going to say, listen to it all,’ she said. She took his silence as agreement. ‘I haven’t had an affair with Jake. I promise you.’ She took a deep breath. ‘We have become good friends, though. What started off as a tutor/student relationship, quickly turned to friendship. I felt happy with him. Safe.’ She noticed Kit bristle at her comment, his shoulders tensed, and his breathing deepened. ‘Not as in safe from you, but safe from the crisis of our marriage.’

  ‘I’d never hurt you, Neve,’ he said, maintaining his stare into the distance.

  ‘I know that,’ replied Neve. ‘I don’t mean the physical fear, I mean the mental fear. That we were going so desperately wrong and that we seemed to be at a stalemate. I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know how to make you change your mind about a baby.’

  ‘And you thought having an affair would do the trick? Jesus, Neve! What fucking planet are you on?’

  ‘I didn’t have an affair!’ Neve fought hard to keep her frustration under control. She grabbed at his arm, preventing him from turning away from her. ‘I was safe at art therapy from everything that hurt me, everything that frightened me, everything that I couldn’t control. I could express my fears in a safe place, through a safe medium. No one, not even Jake, would know what any of those pieces of art meant. No one would be able to interpret them. It was a release. It was doing its job.’ She paused, letting the words sink in, feeling a sense of realisation. She had never been able to put what she felt into words before. She had never taken the time to internalise her thoughts and emotions. She had never been asked and had never had to, but now explaining to Kit, was almost a light bulb moment.

  ‘As things became worse between us, I gravitated more and more to art therapy and Jake. It wasn’t a conscious decision. It just kind of happened.’

  ‘You can spare me the details,’ said Kit, with the bitterness of sour apples.

  ‘I didn’t mean it to develop into anything. I was at a particularly low point, but I somehow got caught up in it. It was like an escapism. I could pretend everything was all right in my world. A place where I didn’t have responsibilities. I didn’t have to be hiding from shit because there was no shit there.’

  ‘In other words, hedonism. A fantasy world. Honestly, Neve, aren’t you a bit old for all that crap?’ Kit shrugged off her hand. ‘I know things have been crap. Don’t you think they’ve been like that for me too? But I didn’t run off and fuck the first female that showed me a bit of affection.’

  Neve blanched at his words. He made it sound so crude and despite everything, there had been nothing crude about her and Jake. ‘It wasn’t like that,’ she said. ‘I promise you, Kit, I didn’t sleep with Jake.’

  ‘Then what was it like? Do you want to shag him? Did you want to?’

  ‘No, I don’t. I was in love with the escapism. With the romantic notion that I could have a happy ever after. That I could have a world without all the responsibilities,’ she paused. ‘A world where I could have what I wanted.’

  As soon as the words came out, she regretted them. They were far too honest for this conversation.

  ‘What you wanted. Eh? A baby? You thought Jake could give you a baby because I wouldn’t? Is that what this was all about?’ He grabbed the top of her arms and for a second Neve thought he wa
s going to shake an answer from her.

  ‘No. Yes. I mean, I don’t know. Maybe part of me thought that. In some far-fetched corner of my mind, maybe I thought that.’

  He released his hold on her, his hands dropping to his side. He took a step back and looked at her, his head slowly shaking from side to side. ‘I don’t know you at all, do I? I have absolutely no idea who I’m married to.’

  ‘You do, Kit,’ said Neve, rushing forward. ‘You do. What happened with Jake, or rather what didn’t happen, was a knee-jerk reaction. It was a stupid, stupid notion. I would never do that to you. It’s because I love you that I didn’t.’

  His eyes shone with tears. Neve couldn’t remember the last time she had seen him cry prior to Poppy going missing.

  ‘I don’t know you,’ he repeated. ‘I know nothing about your past. What happened to make you estranged from your family. I knew something had happened and I always thought that one day you would tell me, but you never did. Even after we married, you kept that part of your life secret from me.’ He took another step backwards. ‘That’s what you do best, Neve. You keep secrets.’

  Neve wanted to deny it. To tell him he was wrong, but the words stuck in her throat. He was right, of course, she could keep a secret like no one she knew.

  ‘I’m sorry but it’s too painful,’ she said.

  ‘But I’m your husband. I’m here, or at least was here, to stop you from hurting but you’ve never trusted me enough to let me try.’ A single tear trickled down his face.

  Neve could feel her own tears rising. ‘I didn’t want to contaminate you. Us.’ She looked out over the hills, blinking hard. If she didn’t keep control of her emotions, she would crumble right there on the spot. ‘What we had was so beautiful and so precious. I couldn’t believe that you loved me like you did. That despite what you had gone through, you still wanted to love again. I was honoured when you asked me to marry you. I truly was.’ She gulped, maintaining her composure. ‘I didn’t want anything to spoil that. I didn’t want my problems tainting us.’

  ‘Christ, I can almost believe you,’ said Kit, giving a small laugh. ‘I want to believe you, but I just can’t. You’ve deceived me. Not to mention Poppy. Where was she in your thoughts when all this was going on? Never mind what you were doing to me, what did you think you were doing to Poppy?’