as the perpetrator, even though he isn’t the one who killed her. The actual killer is still at large.’
‘Yeah, I thought of that too. I still don’t like it. Next?’
‘Theory number two,’ she said, ‘a third party killed Andie, and Sal had no involvement or awareness at all. His suicide days later wasn’t motivated by a murderer’s guilt, but maybe a multitude of factors, including the stress of his girlfriend’s disappearance. The evidence found on him – the blood and the phone – have an entirely innocent explanation and are unrelated to her murder.’
Ravi nodded thoughtfully. ‘I still don’t think Sal would do that, but OK. Theory three?’
‘Theory three.’ Pip swallowed, her throat feeling dry and sticky. ‘Andie is murdered by a third party on the Friday. The killer knows that Sal, as Andie’s boyfriend, would make for the perfect suspect. Especially as Sal seems to have no alibi for over two hours that night. The killer murders Sal and makes it look like a suicide. They plant the blood and the phone on his body to make him look guilty. It works just as they planned it.’
Ravi stopped walking for a moment. ‘You think it’s possible that Sal was actually murdered?’
She knew, looking into his sharpened eyes, that this was the answer he’d been looking for.
‘I think it’s a theoretical possibility,’ Pip nodded. ‘Theory four is the most far-fetched of the lot.’ She took a large breath and did it in one. ‘No one killed Andie Bell, because she isn’t dead. She faked her disappearance and then lured Sal out into the woods, murdered him and dressed it up as a suicide. She planted her own phone and blood on him so that everyone believed she was dead. Why would she do this? Maybe she needed to disappear for some reason. Maybe she feared for life and needed to make it look like she was already dead. Maybe she had an accomplice.’
They were quiet again, while Pip caught her breath and Ravi ticked over her answers, his upper lip puffed out in concentration.
They had come to the end of their circuit round the woods; the bright sun-stroked road was visible through the trees ahead. She called Barney over and put him on the lead. They crossed the road and wandered over to Pip’s front door.
There was an awkward moment of silence and Pip wasn’t sure whether she should invite him inside or not. He seemed to be waiting for something.
‘So,’ Ravi said, scratching his head with one hand, the dog’s with the other, ‘the reason I came over is . . . I want to make a deal with you.’
‘A deal?’
‘Yeah, I want in on this,’ he said, a small tremor in his voice. ‘I never had a chance, but you actually might. You’re an outsider to the case, you have this school project excuse to open doors. People might actually talk to you. You might be my chance to find out what really happened. I’ve waited so long for a chance.’
Her face felt full and hot again, the shaking edge in his voice making something tug inside her chest. He was really trusting her to help; she’d never have thought this would happen at the start of the project. Partners with Ravi Singh.
‘I can agree to that,’ she smiled, holding out her hand.
‘Deal,’ he said, taking her hand in his warm, clammy one, although he forgot to shake it. ‘OK, I’ve got something for you.’ He reached into his back pocket and pulled out an old iPhone cradled in his palm.
‘Um, I’ve actually already got one, thanks,’ Pip said.
‘It’s Sal’s phone.’
Eight
‘What do you mean?’ Pip stared at him, open-mouthed.
Ravi answered by holding up the phone and shaking it gently.
‘That’s Sal’s?’ Pip said. ‘How do you have it?’
‘The police released it to us a few months after they closed Andie’s investigation.’
A cautious electricity sparked up the back of Pip’s neck. ‘Can I . . .’ she said, ‘can I look at it?’
‘Of course,’ he laughed, ‘that’s why I brought it round, you plonker.’
Unchecked, the excitement charged through her, nimble and dizzying.
‘Holy pepperoni,’ she said, flustered and hurrying to unlock the door. ‘Let’s go and look at it at my workstation.’
She and Barney bolted over the threshold, but a third set of feet didn’t follow. She spun back round.
‘What’s funny?’ she said. ‘Come on.’
‘Sorry, you’re just very entertaining when you’re extra serious.’
‘Quick,’ she said, beckoning him through the hallway and to the stairs. ‘Don’t drop it.’
‘I’m not going to drop