lay in her bed listening to the sound of her mother’s voice in the next room. She was reading Ellie a story and Abby knew if she went in there, her mother would be lying in Ellie’s bed with her, one arm holding the book, the other around her sister. Abby also knew that when her mother had finished she’d come into her room to say goodnight, but she wouldn’t read to her, not even if Abby asked her to. Her mum always said she could read by herself now and it was Ellie who was having to miss school and needed the help. Except Abby knew that Susanna had always read to Ellie, even when she hadn’t been ill. That was back when Abby was only small, but then her mother’s excuse was that Abby would learn quicker if she read herself. Tears pricked as the resentment erupted in her stomach. Ellie always gets what she wants, always has Mum’s attention.
In that moment Abby had never felt more alone. She put her book down because the tears were making it impossible to see the pages. Angrily, she wiped them away and yearned to be grown-up. It scared her how long away it was – years and years – so she pushed that to the back of her mind and instead thought about how, once she was an adult, she would be able to look after herself and not need anyone. Not even her mother.
TWENTY-SEVEN
Matteo answered his front door to find Lieutenant Colonel Baroni and Captain Santini standing there in the morning sunshine.
‘Have you found them?’ he immediately asked.
‘Yes and no,’ said Baroni. ‘Can we come in?’
Matteo led them into his kitchen and offered a drink, which they declined. He wanted them to get on with what they had to say. He was about to call in Susanna, who was sitting in the cool of the living room, alternating between reading her magazine and dozing off, but they said they wanted to speak to him first.
‘Has Abby called you?’ asked Baroni.
‘No.’
‘You are sure?’
‘Of course I’m sure.’
‘You understand that you need to tell us if Abby calls you, either on your mobile or here at the house?’
She is really pushing her luck, thought Matteo. He was tired. He had eventually got to work the previous night and had to explain to his superior officer that he suspected his wife had taken his gun. The other part of the story, the part he hadn’t admitted to Baroni and Susanna, was that although he’d locked it away, as per the ‘custody of weapons’ procedure, he’d made a fatal error of judgement.
He’d left the gun loaded.
His boss’s face had fallen. He’d had no choice but to hit Matteo with what he’d been dreading. I’m suspending you from duty with immediate effect.
It had been a long night and Matteo desperately needed sleep, but Lieutenant Baroni was looking fresh and determined. He wondered if she knew about his mistake with the gun.
‘So you’ve been suspended?’ she said, with what he thought was a strong note of disapproval.
He refused to rise to the bait. So she knew. Had to, really, seeing as she was in charge of this investigation.
‘Where are Abby’s letters?’ he asked, pouring himself a coffee. Stupid, really, if he wanted to go to sleep soon, but he felt as if he needed to sharpen his mind for whatever might be coming next.
‘We’ll return them to you as soon as we can,’ she said, and Matteo felt himself get irritated by the stock phrases. He knew he was being fobbed off, damn it. Worse, she knew he knew. He met her cool eyes. She was treating him like a member of the public.
Santini, who had been silent until now, spoke. ‘He hasn’t answered the question.’
Matteo stiffened. He looked at Santini, saw an expression in his eyes that he didn’t like. This was a man who enjoyed his position of authority, who likely abused it. Matteo tried to remember what the question was but was too tired, and anyway, this Santini was winding him up.
‘You understand,’ said Santini, in a patronizing tone, ‘that you need to tell us if Abby calls you.’
Who is this total idiot? thought Matteo. He was about to retort when Susanna came into the room.
‘I thought I heard voices,’ she said urgently. ‘What’s going on? Have you found them?’
‘Signora Spencer, we have some news of your daughters,’ said Lieutenant Colonel Baroni. ‘We know they stayed in a pensione in Barga last night.