The Silent Ones: An absolutely gripping psychological thriller(12)
DI Neary didn’t wait for a response. ‘I know it’s problematic because you live in the village, so we approached a couple of local freelance therapists we thought might be able to help us, but they won’t touch the case with a bargepole. Public feeling is running high; they’ve both said it could wreck their reputations. That and the fact that it looks like an open-and-shut case.’
Dana could hear the tension in his voice. The frustration.
‘What’s your take on where you’re at right now in the investigation?’ Dana asked. ‘Straight up, no fluffing.’
‘Honestly? Time’s running out and we need to get to the truth. It looks a straightforward case, but there’s something that just doesn’t sit right with me about the whole thing, and I’d really appreciate your input.’ He paused a moment. ‘Thing is, we’ve got rather a big obstacle we need help getting over, Dana.’
‘Which is?’
‘Both girls are refusing to speak.’
‘What?’
‘I know it’s a big ask, but I don’t want innocent kids blamed for something they didn’t do because the super is piling on the pressure for us to move quickly.’
Dear God. Dana felt her resolve start to crumble. The parallels to her last case were too similar to ignore.
When it came to her trauma buttons, Neary certainly knew exactly which ones to press.
Seven
Juliet
The lawyer introduces herself as Seetal Bhatia. She is a plain-looking woman in her early thirties, with short black hair and no make-up. She’s dressed in a navy skirt suit with flat navy shoes and she has a friendly round face with large brown eyes that look permanently startled.
She explains to us some facts we already know about the case before moving on.
‘It looks as though they might have some pretty worrying evidence, from what I can gather at this early stage.’ She consults her handwritten notes.
‘What sort of evidence?’ Tom asks.
‘Early forensic observations, though nothing official yet.’ Seetal seemingly has no filter when it comes to stating the facts, yet I find her candour reassuring in the midst of everyone else’s vagueness. Perhaps now we’ll actually have a chance of finding out exactly what happened in that house. ‘According to the summary I’ve been given, they suspect the blood and other body matter that’s spattered on both girls’ clothing came from the victim.’
My stomach lurches. ‘Other body matter?’ The viciousness of the attack does not fit with my ten-year-old daughter who cries at Disney films and who begged me to arrange to adopt an African elephant as one of her Christmas presents last year.
In fact, the mere suggestion that she could carry out such a heinous crime would be laughable if it wasn’t so horribly real.
‘We’ll look at that in detail when we have the forensics back.’ Seetal moves swiftly on. ‘Do you know anything about this apparent vow of silence between the girls?’ She hesitates. ‘Have they ever done this sort of thing before?’
‘Never,’ I say emphatically. I look at Tom and he shakes his head.
‘Not to my knowledge,’ Chloe agrees.
‘You’ll get the chance to speak to the girls privately before their interviews,’ Seetal says. ‘I’ll introduce myself to them first, but in the short time you have, it’s vital you try and get them to open up to you, tell you the truth about what happened earlier today. They need to know they’re doing themselves a disservice by remaining silent. We can’t protect them unless we know exactly what we’re dealing with here.’
* * *
The juvenile interview room is relatively pleasant compared to the stark grubbiness of the others we’ve encountered so far.
The floor is covered in a wiry dark grey carpet. A couple of incongruous brightly coloured floral prints adorn the walls, and a limp potted yucca sits forlornly in the corner. The digital recorder and the official-looking notepad and pens on the teak-laminated table, though, are an indication that we’re not here for the fun of it.
As Seetal busies herself getting her paperwork in order, the tension in the room is palpable. I check my phone and see I have a text message from Beth. I click into it.
Everything OK?! Weird rumours ripping through the village like wildfire… and online, too! Is Maddy OK? B x
That damn village grapevine. It’s faster than the Internet for spreading gossip. I send a quick text back.
Problems. At police station with Tom, call you soon x
It’s not much of a reply, and I can’t say we’re OK, because we’re not. I have to stay focused on what’s happening here.
When I click on my Twitter icon, I see I have eighteen notifications. Eighteen! I only usually have one or two at the most. Against my better judgement, I load up the list of tweets the business has been mentioned in.
@Jezhallam76
Is it true your kids have bashed up an old lady @InsideOut_4Kids? #BessieWilford #Disgusting
* * *
@dartfanatic180
Does anyone know if it’s true about the daughters of the women who run @InsideOut_4Kids? #Annesley #BessieWilfordAttack
I turn the screen so Tom can read it over my shoulder, and hear his sharp intake of breath. Chloe is looking down at her own phone, and her face looks pale and shocked, so she’s probably reading similar things.