a stab of disappointment. His theory, his hope of bringing the investigation to a close, was based on Simon having discovered what had happened to Rosa.
Janet continued: ‘The only person from the Woodyard we’ve seen recently is Lucy Braddick. You know, Rosa’s friend.’ She looked at him again, her eyes so tired that they looked bruised. ‘Did you say she was missing?’
He nodded. ‘That’s why I’m here, bothering you. We need to find her.’
‘It was a couple of weeks ago. The two of them text from time to time, scraps of nonsense. Then Maurice phoned and said Lucy was missing Rosa. Could he bring her round after the Woodyard? They came to tea. It was lovely to catch up and the girls got on as well as they always had. They disappeared upstairs and we didn’t see them until it was time for me to go to work.’
Matthew thought for a moment. ‘Could Lucy have taken the skirt with her? Because I think Rosa must have told her what happened. Perhaps just after the abuse took place. Perhaps Lucy saw that Rosa was upset.’ And if Lucy had confided in Walden, he might have asked her to help him find evidence. This could have been his great campaign, the secret that they shared.
‘I don’t know! The skirt was in a plastic bag in my wardrobe.’ Janet was thinking. ‘I haven’t checked if it’s there. Not recently.’ A pause. ‘The girls were in my room, though, that day. I heard their footsteps through the ceiling and I shouted up to them not to be cheeky monkeys. I thought they were trying on my clothes. Rosa likes to do that. To dress up in my things, my high-heeled shoes. She comes down with her face plastered with make-up.’ She looked at Matthew. ‘Shall I phone my husband and ask him to check?’
‘If it’s not too difficult for him.’
‘He’ll be upstairs now anyway, getting ready for bed.’
Matthew sat quite still and tried not to listen to the conversation, tried not to allow emotion to cloud his judgement. He only looked at the woman when she clicked off her mobile.
‘The skirt’s gone,’ she said. ‘He’s looked everywhere.’
‘Did Lucy have a bag with her when she came to visit?’
‘Yes,’ Janet said. ‘A shoulder bag. Maurice said she should leave it with him when she went upstairs, but she took it with her.’
And she hid the skirt in it and carried it to the Woodyard to give to Walden. And even when Chrissie went missing and Walden died, she kept her promise. She kept her secret.
‘Thank you,’ Matthew said. ‘Thank you.’
She put her mug on her plate and looked at her watch. ‘I should go,’ she said. ‘My break was over five minutes ago.’
‘Who was it, Janet? Who abused your daughter?’
There was a moment. He thought she still might refuse to tell him. ‘It was the clergyman.’ She stood up. ‘The young curate. Of all the people you’d think you should trust, it would be a man of God.’
Chapter Thirty-Seven
MATTHEW WAS SURPRISED, WHEN HE RETURNED to the police station, to find that only forty minutes had passed. It still felt as if time was stretching, allowing him the chance to recover Lucy. Giving him hope that he’d find her well and alive.
Ross was in the police station, waiting for him. ‘We’ve only got Preece so far. Jen’s with him. She hasn’t started on him yet, she was holding him in the interview room until you got back. No sign of Salter or Marston or their vehicles. We haven’t been out to Marston’s place yet, though.’
‘Leave that for now.’ Matthew didn’t want Marston scared off until he’d worked out the details of the case in his own mind; he certainly didn’t want to send a patrol car out, siren blaring. ‘Let’s see what Preece has to say for himself. He might know where Lucy is. Even if he wasn’t involved in the abduction, he was a part of the original conspiracy.’ He described his conversation with Janet Holsworthy.
‘Why would they do that? Cover up the sexual assault on a vulnerable woman?’ Ross looked sick.
‘Because their reputations are dependent on the success of the Woodyard. Because they’re powerful, entitled men and they could. And then the cover-up became more toxic than the original assault. They were all involved and they all had a lot to lose, but Preece is Caroline’s father and Caroline is Craven’s girlfriend. Perhaps he was protecting her reputation too.’
‘Should we get Craven in?’
‘Yes. Let’s