‘We never knew. The people that heard it said they listened to see if it came again, but it was quiet after that. They convinced themselves that it was a fox or something. It was only when they all started talking to each other that they got a bit worried. Perhaps it was a scream. Somebody out there might be hurt. So some of the men went to the woods to see if they could find anything, but there was nothing that they could see.’
‘Did they call the police?’
Doreen Talbot had the grace to look shamefaced.
‘It was too late. There was nothing there, nobody was reported missing or anything, so least said, soonest mended we all thought.’
Tom had kept his thoughts to himself. A group of villagers out looking for evidence of a crime was not his idea of the perfect game plan.
‘When was this? Do you remember?’
‘Not properly. It has to be more than twelve years ago, because it happened before I went into hospital. But less than eighteen, because it was definitely after my Bert died.’
That had been it. The sum total of the gossip provided nothing that would help Tom with his enquiries, and the other shops yielded less. So it was back to his computer. He had double checked Leo’s research to make sure that the information provided by her stepmother was definitely a lie. And it was. There was no trace of his death certificate in the period she had stated. But thanks to Ernie Collier he now had other routes to research, and step by step the facts were revealed to him. He was able to use his status as an ex-copper to ask a few favours at local newspapers, and he spoke to the local force. Finally, he put all the pieces together. He knew all there was to know.
He was going to have to go and find Leo. And he wasn’t looking forward to it one little bit.
43
It was mid-afternoon by the time Ellie finished her shift, and it had been a hard few hours. After the panic of the intruder on the ward, everybody had finally calmed down but she couldn’t help remembering Abbie’s rigid body as she’d touched her. She was showing good signs of recovery, but Kath was tormented by the fact that Abbie had said the word ‘mother’ and Ellie could think of no way of reassuring her.
She had admitted to both Sam and Security that her pass was missing, and had been since her shift had started. Sam had been so good about it, saying it could happen to anybody. Security were less tolerant. And rightly so.
Ellie drove home as if she were driving on auto-pilot, and she noticed nothing of the journey - stopping automatically when she had to, but otherwise oblivious to her surroundings. She was surprised but strangely relieved to see there were no cars on the drive as she pulled in. She was determined to go to the police, whatever the consequences, and it would be far easier to do if she didn’t have to tell Max about it first. She had no idea where he’d gone, but she could hazard a guess. He’d be with her, but for now she didn’t want to think about it. And Leo could be anywhere. What a dreadful time for her to have come!
Ellie opened the front door and headed straight for the stairs. She wasn’t hungry and all she wanted was a bath and a bit of thinking time. She needed to prepare her story for the police. She tramped wearily up the stairs, feeling more like sixty-four than thirty-four. Throwing her bag onto a chair, she kicked off her shoes and lay back on the bed. She just needed a few minutes, then she would get ready and go and give her confession. She rested her head on the soft pillows, and her exhausted mind shut itself off, as if somebody had pulled down a blackout blind. She fell into a dreamless sleep.
She was shocked to find that it was after five when she finally woke up. Max would be picking the children up at six, although she knew he would stay and chat with the other parents for a while - but he would be home by six thirty at the latest. She needed to be out of here by then. She raced into the bathroom and had to forego the bath she had been anticipating, ducking under the shower for about two