Woman Last Seen(79)

“No, not exactly, but it certainly casts a new light on the situation. Or perhaps more accurately the same light but simply with a higher wattage.”

“I have been wondering about the fact that the texts that were supposed to be from Kai to Daan dried up as soon as the bigamy came to light. This leads me to believe that Kai never sent the texts, just as Daan claimed.”

“Because how would she know the game was up and when to stop pretending she was with her sick mother?”

“Exactly. Why wouldn’t she continue to try to keep up the pretense? It bothers me that the texts stopped at the same time as both men were made aware of her bigamy.”

“So the question is, who had the phone? Was it the hot dad and was he buying time before her absence was revealed by texting the he-man? Or was it the he-man and he was creating an e-trail alibi by pretending to be in touch with her?”

Clements nods. “Stopping the texts was a mistake. Who made the mistake?”

Clements hadn’t liked the way Daan Janssen was able to turn his emotions off like a tap. One minute, he was all passionate concern, demanding they find his beloved wife; the next he was the epitome of icy indifference, as he shrugged off all association. Clements had almost understood the vacillation when she thought he was deeply in love and hurt, but if he is shagging around (and there is no reason to believe Fiona is the only woman he’s having extramarital sex with) then he is not such a clear-cut candidate for husband-of-the-year award. If he isn’t heartbroken, then his plunge from impassioned to indifferent simply seems unstable. Clements needs to unpick this, ponder it. However, she doesn’t have time right away because her phone buzzes again.

“Detective Constable Clements.”

“It’s Paula Cook here. I am Mark Fletcher’s sister-in-law. The sister of his late wife.”

“Hello.”

“My nephew had your card.”

Clements gave her card to both of the Fletcher boys but takes a guess, “Oli?”

“Yes. Look, I don’t know how this can possibly be relevant to you. But I thought I had to mention it.” Her voice is loud but quivering; a contradiction. Almost aggressive with assertion and yet the sort of aggression that comes from a sense of anxiety or apprehension.

“I’m listening.”

“You know my brother-in-law and I are close. He’s a good man. A great father.”

“Okay.” Clements is curious as to where this might be going. It sounds exactly like a sentence leading up to a “but.”

“And you need to know I’m not close or anything with Leigh, or Kai or whatever the hell her name is.”

“Right.”

“But that’s natural, since I’m Frances’s sister, I think. Leigh came along very soon after my sister’s death. I just don’t think I was ready for her.”

“Okay.”

“Oli and Seb are here at mine right now and they’ve been telling me all about you, and the investigation, the things you asked them. Oli mentioned that Mark had told you Frances died of cancer.”

“Yes. That’s right.”

“Well, she didn’t.”

“She isn’t dead?”

“She’s dead but she didn’t die of cancer. She fell down the stairs. She had cancer. She might have died of that eventually or she might have recovered.” Paula says the word with a hint of breathy hope. Then, more staunchly, she adds, “We will never know. She fell down the stairs and broke her neck.”

“But Mark Fletcher said it was cancer.”

“He always says that.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know. You’d have to ask him that. She was very weak. She was undergoing chemo treatment. Apparently, she had tried to get to the bathroom on her own and just wasn’t strong enough. Mark was downstairs making a cup of tea.”

Clements wonders whether her investigative powers are a little off—was it an error to have accepted the first wife’s cause of death at face value? She wonders: Does she need a holiday? A change of diet? Or was questioning the cause of the first wife’s death out of her remit? Should receiving this information now be seen as a win, rather than a few days’ old mistake? She doesn’t know. Sometimes it is hard to know and easy to doubt herself. She is determined to be thorough now, though.

“Who else was at home with them when this happened?”

“They were alone together. I was looking after the boys.”

“Why are you ringing me to tell me this?”

“I don’t know. I hate myself for doing so—I’m not trying to cause trouble for Mark. I really don’t think he is involved in Leigh’s disappearance, but I think you have to know the facts. Oli is messed up. Really not himself at all. So angry. I’m worried about him.”

Of course the boy is messed up—his bigamist stepmother is missing—but Clements asks, “In what way particularly do you think he’s messed up?”

“He told me he knew that his mother was having an affair.”

“He knew?”

“Yes, he’d spotted her with the other man about six months ago. The poor kid has lived with the weight of that secret for all this time. I was just wondering, if a child could discover her secret, maybe one of the husbands could have. Maybe she wasn’t being as clever and careful as she thought she was.” Clements can hear contempt and concern in Paula’s voice.