One Small Mistake(78)
I needed to tell Christopher about the black eye, the lie, the tampons and cherry cola bottles. As I neared my house, I was momentarily bewildered by the swarm of paparazzi outside, camera bags slung over shoulders. They looked inhuman, just bodies with Nikons for heads.
As I got out of the car, there was an obnoxious flash of cameras. Some reporters dropped to their knees in the grey puddles for better angles. They circled me, firing questions so fast I couldn’t understand them. It made me think of screeching seagulls aggressively jostling for scraps. The front door flew open and Ethan stepped out, shielding me from the press, and guiding me inside.
‘I’ve been calling you,’ he said, locking the door behind us.
‘What’s going on?’ I asked shakily, sure he was about to tell me they’d found your body.
Ethan took me softly by the shoulders. ‘Your mum called an hour ago. David Taylor’s car has been found … and Elodie’s blood-soaked pyjamas were inside.’
Chapter Thirty-Six
56 Days Missing
Adaline Archer
I met with Christopher on a chilly October morning. It wasn’t the kind of crisp autumn day we loved as children where we would crash through piles of leaves outside, it was the kind of grey autumn day where the sky was fat with the promise of rain, and we’d cosy up indoors with our Tamagotchis and Disney videos.
Today was the first time since summer it’d been cold enough to wear a coat over my jumper. Christopher was wearing a coat too, paired with jeans and boots and a tan scarf. Sat at a little table outside the café in the park, it wouldn’t be obvious to anyone that over coffee and cake, we were discussing kidnap and secrets.
I know your secret, Elodie. Christopher spoke to your agent, Lara, about the last time you met with her a few weeks before you went missing, and when he mentioned your book deal, Lara had no idea what he was talking about.
‘But what does this mean?’ I asked. ‘Does this have something to do with her disappearance?’
He shook his head and sipped his coffee. ‘David confessed to stalking and kidnapping Elodie. We gathered DNA samples from her house, and the blood on the pyjamas found in his car belongs to your sister. With physical evidence and a confession, there’s no reason to believe Elodie lying about her book deal has anything to do with David taking her.’
‘Then there’s no need to tell my parents she lied?’
‘No.’
‘Thank you. I don’t want to upset or confuse Mum and Dad.’
‘They don’t need to know. It’s not relevant to the case. Just to make sure the tabloids don’t get hold of it, Lara signed an NDA. If the public found out, it could prejudice a jury when it comes time to press charges against David.’
If I’d found out about your lie before you’d gone missing, I’d be angry, indignant, but now you’re gone, the lie pales in comparison to everything else. And I know what it’s like to so desperately want to please people – our parents, to have everyone think you have your life together – that you lie to them and even to yourself.
‘So,’ I said. ‘Where do you think David is keeping Elodie? You’ve searched his work, his home, any building around here connected to him, and you’ve found nothing. He’s sitting in a prison right now while she’s out there somewhere.’ I took a breath. ‘Without him, how do you know she has access to food or water?’
He rubbed a hand over his face. ‘We’re still searching.’
It was obvious that the police were searching for your body. No one but me and our parents held on to the hope we’d find you alive. ‘Jack has something to do with this.’
‘Ada …’ He was exasperated, but trying to tread carefully. I knew he wanted me to drop it, but you’re my sister and I promised I wouldn’t stop searching for you, so how could I ignore this instinct? ‘Just because David didn’t admit to doing something more serious to Elodie, it doesn’t mean he hasn’t. He says he was paid to take her and leave her in his car, but we don’t know that’s true. Besides, Jack was in London when Elodie disappeared.’
True. There are photographs and videos and train tickets to prove he was far away from Crosshaven, but I can’t shake this feeling, El, I just can’t, and I needed to make Christopher understand. ‘He lied about getting that black eye on a bike ride. The bike didn’t even have a front wheel—’
‘You shouldn’t have gone onto his property like that.’
‘And if he’s lying about that, he could be lying about anything.’ I paused, giving that statement the time it deserved to sink in. ‘He was buying cherry cola bottles and tampons in a supermarket almost fifty minutes outside town.’
‘I can’t arrest someone for buying fizzy drinks and women’s toiletries.’
‘He’s always been obsessed with her,’ I pressed. ‘Don’t you remember how he’d follow her around everywhere even when they were kids? The number of times you and I would be fumbling under the covers in my room and Elodie would come barrelling in, closely followed by her vicious, blond shadow?’ Then I felt myself flush because it was the first time I’d referenced our sexual history. Not that it mattered. Back then, we were lustful teenagers; it didn’t mean anything now. ‘Anyway,’ I said quickly. ‘I still think Jack has something to do with it.’