The Silent Ones: An absolutely gripping psychological thriller(53)

‘And you didn’t think to tell me?’

The two crimson patches on Mum’s cheeks intensify.

‘She started to cry when I asked her about it.’ She looks at Dad.

‘She begged us not to tell you,’ Dad says apologetically. ‘She said she was frightened you’d get really angry.’

Chloe folds her arms, a smug expression on her face. It’s all I can do not to wipe it off.

I glare accusingly at her. ‘You’ve seen me every day at work but never mentioned it.’

‘Not my place to.’ She shrugs. ‘Mum and Dad didn’t want to worry you because… well, you’ve found life hard enough to cope with lately, haven’t you?’

The three of them against me. That old familiar battle ploy.

But Maddy… my bright, joyful Maddy, involved in such a dishonest incident? Another one I didn’t know about.

My skin feels like it’s crawling with bugs. I scratch at the back of my neck, the inside of my elbows.

‘We just didn’t want to upset you, love,’ Dad says pleadingly. ‘What with you taking the antidepressants and all, and Chloe said how stressed you’ve been at work lately. We thought—’

‘Well you thought wrong. You can’t just go making decisions like that. She’s my daughter.’

I’m seething. I can’t look at them. Any of them.

My parents and sister, discussing my child and making decisions about what I should and shouldn’t know!

I stand up and then sit down again.

‘Tom will go crazy when I tell him. You can’t go keeping important stuff like this from us. You just can’t!’

Mum folds her arms. ‘He already knows. He was the one we went to to sort it all out.’

‘It was Tom who asked us not to mention it to you,’ Dad says gently.





Thirty-Eight





The village





It was after 7.30 p.m. when Dana got home. Used to letting herself into an empty house, it was a treat to walk in to the comforting smell of delicious food on the go.

Yesterday when Lizzie had offered to cook dinner, Dana had jumped at it and handed over her door key for the first time. Neither of them said anything, but it felt significant in their developing relationship.

Dana hoped Lizzie would invite her over to her own place soon. She’d already explained it was poky and not where she wanted to be, but still, Dana would appreciate the gesture.

‘Risotto,’ she said over Lizzie’s shoulder as she stood at the hob, stirring. ‘My favourite!’

Lizzie ordered her out of the kitchen and into the lounge. Minutes later, she came through carrying two large glasses of red wine.

‘Hey, why the long face?’ She handed Dana a glass and frowned. ‘Not thinking about work, I hope.’

‘Guilty as charged, I’m afraid.’ Dana took a sip of the velvety Merlot. ‘I’m just wondering how those girls and their families will cope this evening in the juvenile detention centre. I don’t think there’ll be much sleep happening; it’ll be a long, long night. But forget me – tell me about your day.’

‘My day has been boring and routine, and if you want to offload, I’m offering you the chance now. Once the food is on the table, it’s a strictly no-shop-talk zone.’

‘Get it out of the way, you mean?’ Dana grinned and took another sip of her wine, relaxing back into the soft cushions behind her. ‘It’s just this case; it’s getting to me when it should be fairly straightforward.’

‘Getting to you how exactly? Worrying about the girls, you mean?’

‘Hmm. There’s something not right about it all. It’s like there’s a piece of the jigsaw missing, but I’ve no evidence. It’s just a feeling.’

Lizzie laughed and made a spooky noise. She put her wine glass down on a coaster by her feet before speaking.

‘Could it be it’s because the case is so troubling? Two ten-year-olds carrying out such a horrible attack is enough to mess with anyone’s head. It might just be that you feel uncomfortable about it.’

Dana nodded thoughtfully. It felt so good to come home and let everything out instead of having it churning around in her head like an out-of-control washing machine.

‘I don’t need to tell you that sometimes pretty horrible stuff does happen in this world,’ Lizzie continued gently. ‘None of us want to believe it in this case: two young girls from what appear to be decent families. But could it be possible that in a moment of madness, they attacked that poor old lady and turned temporarily mute with the shock and denial? Thinking about the most famous child murderer cases, their awful deeds are hardly ever planned. Maybe your compassionate mind is just trying to make sense of it all.’

Dana nodded again but said nothing. She knew only too well that bad stuff happened. It still didn’t change the stubborn feeling in her gut.

‘What do the detectives think?’ Lizzie said.

‘Neary thinks there’s probably more to it, but he’s under pressure to follow the evidence and get a conviction. Tension is building in the village by the hour, and the investigation has come to the same conclusion: that the girls did it.’

Lizzie placed her hand on Dana’s and pressed down to reassure her.