A Great Deliverance - By Elizabeth George Page 0,105
let them know they're all right, but no one is forced to do it. If they choose to stay at Testament, they just have to obey the rules. No questions asked."
"But Gillian left home at sixteen. If she is this Nell Graham, she would have been twenty-three when she was on this panel in Harrogate. Does it make sense that she would have stayed with Testament House for all those years?"
"If she had no one else, it makes perfect sense. If she wanted a family, they were her best bet. At any rate, there's only one way we can know for sure - "
"Talk to her," he finished promptly. He got to his feet. "Get your things together. We'll leave in ten minutes." He rooted through the file and took out the photograph of Russell Mowrey and his family. "Give this to Webberly when you get to London," he said as he scribbled a message on the back.
"When I get to London?" Her heart sank. He was giving her the sack then. He'd as much as promised that after their encounter at the farm. It was, indeed, all she could expect.
Lynley looked up, all business. "You found her, Sergeant. You can bring her back to Keldale. I think Gillian's the only way we're going to get through to Roberta. Don't you agree?"
"I...What about..." She stopped herself, afraid to believe the meaning behind his words.
"You don't want to phone Webberly? Have someone else...? Go there yourself?"
"I've too many things to see to here. You can see to Gillian. If Nell Graham is Gillian.
Hurry up. We've got to get to York so you can catch the train."
"But...how should I? What approach should I use? Should I simply - "
He waved her off. "I trust your judgment, Sergeant. Just bring her back as quickly as you can."
She unclenched her hands, aware of the numbing relief sweeping over her. "Yes, sir," she heard her voice whisper.
He tapped his fingers against the steering wheel and regarded the house cresting its smooth slope of lawn. By driving like the devil, he had managed to get Havers on the three o'clock train for London and now he sat in front of the Mowrey home, trying to decide how best to approach the woman inside. Wasn't the truth, after all, better than the silence? Had he not at least learned that?
She met him at the door. The wary glance that she cast back over her shoulder told him he was far less welcome than when they had previously met. "My children are just home from school," she said in explanation and stepped outside, pulling the door shut behind her. She drew her cardigan firmly round her slender body. It was like the body of a child. "Have you...Is there word about Russell?"
He reminded himself that he couldn't have expected her to ask about her daughter. Tessa, of all people, had said goodbye to the past, had made a surgical cut and walked away cleanly.
"You need to involve the police, Mrs. Mowrey."
She paled. "He couldn't. He didn't."
"You must telephone the police."
"I can't. I can't," she whispered fiercely.
"He's not with his relatives in London, is he?" She shook her head briefly, once, and kept her face averted. "Have they heard from him at all?" Again, the same response. "Then isn't it best to find out where he is?" When she didn't reply, he took her arm and led her gently towards the drive. "Why did William keep all those keys?"
"What keys?"
"There was a box of them on the shelf in his wardrobe. But there are no keys anywhere in the rest of the house. Do you know why?"
She bent her head, put a hand to her brow. "Those. I'd forgotten," she murmured. "I...It was because of Gillian's tantrum."
"When was this?"
"She must have been seven. No, she was nearly eight. I remember because I was pregnant with Roberta. It was one of those situations that come up out of nowhere and are blown all out of proportion, the kind that families laugh about later when the children are grown. I remember William said at dinner, "Gilly, we'll read from the Bible tonight.' I was sitting there - daydreaming probably - and expected her to say, "Yes, Papa,' as she always did. But she decided that she wouldn't read the Bible that night, and William decided just as definitely that she would. She became absolutely hysterical about it, ran to her room and locked the door."