‘Thanks Leo.’ Ellie turned to the rest of the guests. ‘I had to go into work today, so I didn’t have as long as I’d wanted to prepare. I hope everything’s all right?’
Leo looked at her in disbelief, as everybody passed on the congratulations. How could she think it was anything other than okay? Ellie was a wonderful cook, and after the oriental sea bass, they had feasted on a tender fillet of beef in a soy honey glaze. In fact, half the table still hadn’t finished and were taking it slowly.
‘I seem to remember you saying that you’re a nurse, Ellie - is that right?’ Tom asked.
‘Yes. At the Royal, in the ICU. I only work three shifts a week, and not usually on a Saturday. But we’re a bit short-staffed with the holidays, and we got a serious head injury in during the night. We can’t leave them unattended.’
Pat put his knife and fork down and leaned towards Ellie across the table.
‘It wasn’t Abbie Campbell, was it by any chance Ellie?’ Pat asked quietly.
‘Abbie Campbell? Why, what’s happened to her, for God’s sake?’ Max said. His habitual smile had disappeared in an instant. The whole table fell silent as Max’s tone penetrated the buzz of conversation.
‘The Head had a call from the police in the middle of the night to say that a young girl had been rushed to hospital, but nobody had been reported missing, and they didn’t know who she was. They wanted him to go and see if he could identify her.’
‘The Head?’ Max raised his eyes to the glass ceiling. ‘I don’t think he’d recognise more than about five per cent of the kids. What did he do?’
‘He called Alannah at about four thirty this morning, apparently. She knows all the girls, of course.’
‘I’m amazed that she was sober enough to identify anybody,’ Ellie said in a slightly acid tone.
‘Oh, she wasn’t drinking last night. She was driving, wasn’t she Max?’ Pat asked. Without waiting for an answer, he continued. ‘Anyway, she identified Abbie. I was going to tell you, but I decided to wait until later so as not to spoil the evening.’
‘Christ. What happened to the poor kid?’ Max asked.
‘She was knocked over last night on the back road. A hit and run. Left for dead, I’m afraid.’
‘God almighty. What sort of a bastard would do that?’
Max looked stunned for a moment, then glanced around the table realising that his guests were a bit excluded from this conversation.
‘Sorry, everybody. But this is dreadful news. Abbie’s a pupil at our school. She’s only fourteen and she’s a nice kid, if a bit quiet. I don’t have much to do with her personally, being the boys’ PE teacher, but Pat’s a deputy head, and he knows her quite well. Do you know how she’s doing, Ellie?’
Nobody was eating, and everybody’s cutlery had been gently laid down as the shock that something like this could happen in their village permeated the room. Turning towards Ellie, Leo couldn’t help noticing her sister’s expression. She looked close to tears.
‘I’m afraid she’s in a critical condition. I’m sorry to say that it’s not looking very hopeful,’ Ellie said.
For once, even Fiona had the sense to be quiet. Tom Douglas broke the silence, looking around the room as he did so. Ever the policeman, Leo thought.
‘I heard about the accident, actually. A friend of mine is on the investigation team. Apparently she was found in the early hours of this morning. I don’t know much more than that, though.’ Leo had to wonder how honest Tom was being. She didn’t doubt for a moment that – one policeman to another - his friend would have shared some of the finer details, but Tom wasn’t about to reveal more than the basics.
‘The early hours? And she wasn’t reported missing?’ Max said. ‘That doesn’t sound right to me. She comes from a good family - there’s no way they wouldn’t know where she was. I can’t believe she would have snuck out in the dark on her own. She’s not that kind of kid at all.’
Nobody appeared to have any suggestions to explain this, and the table remained quiet. There was a stillness in the room which Leo found hard to place, as if more than one person was holding his or her breath. She was being fanciful.
Max broke the silence.
‘Did you see anything on your way home from the barbecue, Pat? I never worked out what time you left the