there was even a podium on the stage, which Andrea was fussing over. It almost felt to Melissa like she was at a wedding . . . or a funeral. And as Melissa took in Andrea’s expensive floral dress, she wondered if Andrea thought so too.
Melissa thought again of Grace’s outburst. She was with Rosemary and the twins now. Melissa had dropped her off then returned to be with Patrick all afternoon before coming here. She didn’t want the kids at the meeting, and Rosemary had agreed to stay behind to be with them. Grace had been almost clingy with Melissa when she’d returned from the hospital briefly to get changed, clutching on to her hand. It had clearly traumatised her, being interrogated like that by her mother. Melissa would need to rely on the twins for the truth.
But first, this bloody meeting.
‘Looks like it’s going to be a big turnout,’ Bill said, looking over his shoulder as more people started filing into the room. Melissa followed his gaze, finding herself feeling conflicted. On one hand, it felt good to be in the warm embrace of this community. They were like a family, always had been, and she liked knowing they all had her back. But on the other, the truth was, these people were there to catch the person who had hurt Patrick . . . and that person could be one of her children. Not to mention those mysterious posters and the very real possibility that someone in this room was behind them.
She clutched her bag close to her, aware of the posters still lying at the bottom. She really must get rid of them soon.
‘Are they from the local newspaper?’ Bill said as a woman walked in with a man carrying a large camera.
Melissa looked at them in shock. ‘Oh Christ. Why are the media here?’
‘An upstanding member of the community has been stabbed,’ Bill said. ‘This is a big local news story.’
Melissa watched as the journalist went to the front of the stage, shaking hands with Andrea. Then Andrea gestured towards Melissa, and they both walked over to her.
‘Great,’ Melissa muttered under her breath.
‘Melissa,’ Andrea said when she got to her, ‘this is my old friend Karin. She writes the crime-watch segment of the local newspaper.’
Melissa shook the woman’s hand.
‘I said you’d be willing to say a few words,’ Andrea said. ‘Drum up some attention.’
Melissa couldn’t think of anything worse.
‘Actually, no,’ she said. ‘The police have told me not to talk to the media until they decide to do something more official.’ Sure, it was a white lie, but it was the only thing she could think of saying that the journalist couldn’t push back on.
‘But surely any attention is good attention in a case like this?’ Andrea asked.
‘I said no, Andrea,’ Melissa said, flicking a quick smile to the journalist so she didn’t come across as a complete dragon.
Andrea’s face dropped and she narrowed her eyes at Melissa.
‘It’s fine,’ the journalist said. ‘Covering the meeting and search will be enough.’ She gave Melissa her business card. ‘Just call if you change your mind.’ Then they both walked away, Andrea turning to regard Melissa with a sombre expression.
Tommy arrived on the podium, the room going quiet. He looked like his son, Peter, barrel-chested, with inquisitive blue eyes. Sometimes it seemed to Melissa that he still thought he was a police officer, the way he acted.
Tommy took a moment to contemplate the people in the room. People were standing at the edges now, including Daphne, her slim arms folded. She gave Melissa a curt nod when she saw her, unusually subdued.
‘Thank you for being here tonight in what I appreciate are worrying times for everyone,’ Tommy began in his gravelly voice. His eyes rested on Melissa and Bill as everyone shot them sympathetic smiles. ‘The objective tonight is to find any evidence that might help the police track down the scum who did this to our friend Patrick.’
The scum who did this. Like one of her kids? Melissa thought, wrapping her arms around herself.
‘As much as I admire the police,’ Tommy continued, ‘and I used to be a detective myself, after all,’ he added, puffing his chest out in pride, ‘the past twenty-four hours were crucial in the investigation and yet, from what I gather from my sources in the force, no progress has been made.’
That was good, wasn’t it? Melissa thought. With it looking likely that one of the kids had stabbed their own father –