Her One Mistake(33)

“She was worried about you. It’s what mothers do.”

“It was more than that. She’d take my temperature every night just in case I was coming down with a fever. She was always the first mum at the school gate, and even when I went to middle school, she walked me to the bus stop because it was supposedly on her way to the shops. No one needs to go to the shops at eight thirty every morning.”

“Why did you let her, then, Harriet?”

“Because I knew what it would do to her if I didn’t. Like I said, I was all she had.”

“That’s a lot to put on a child.”

“Maybe. Anyway, it meant I spent a lot more time in my bedroom than most kids and that’s where I created my stories. These little alternative lives, like the house by the sea. Sometimes I used to dream I lived there with my whole imaginary family. Mum, Dad, and all my brothers and sisters. Crazy, isn’t it?”

“Not at all. I had an imaginary sister. I’m one of four and the rest are boys. I was so desperate for a sister, I made one up!”

“I was one of five in my head. We all used to sit around this big wooden table at Christmas and laugh and make fun of each other. It was chaotic, but I always had someone to talk to if things got bad. It was totally different from reality. Some of the kids at school used to say I was mad. I sometimes forgot I was in public when I was talking to my family.” Harriet smiled sheepishly.

“You shouldn’t underestimate imagination.”

“I didn’t want Alice to be an only child,” Harriet said, immediately wishing she could take it back. What did she expect Angela to say to that? Harriet turned back to the dishes and started scrubbing the pan again. She’d said far too much. Why had she even mentioned her imaginary family? “What are you all thinking has happened to Alice?” she asked.

“I think the statement this morning will help us gather more intel and put together what happened,” Angela said carefully. “It’s going to make people think about who they saw at the fair, and hopefully bring them forward.”

“So you don’t know anything yet, then?” Harriet asked. “Captain Hayes said you had some things you were looking into. Things he couldn’t divulge.”

“We don’t have anything concrete,” Angela told her. “I’m sorry.”

Harriet nodded and dropped the scouring pad and pan back into the sink. A patch of milk was clinging determinedly to the bottom of the pan, but she could no longer be bothered.

“Harriet, I have to check in at the station in a bit, but I’ll come back again after lunch. I’ll be around as much as possible, but if there’s anything else you need at all, you must let me know. That’s what I’m here for.” Angela laid the cloth on the counter, her gaze resting on Harriet expectantly.

Harriet nodded. “Thank you.” Angela had no idea how much she could talk about.

“We’re doing everything we can to get Alice back soon,” she said. “I promise you.”

“Angela?” Harriet looked up at the woman’s face. “What that journalist said about Charlotte, you know, on Facebook when Alice disappeared. Is it true?”

“I believe so, but you shouldn’t read too much into it. She may have been on it for mere seconds. Try not to think about that.”

Harriet turned and stared out the window. “I don’t know what else to think about,” she said quietly.

? ? ?

WHEN ANGELA RETURNED to the Hodders’ house later that afternoon, she had Captain Hayes in tow. They had news, they told Harriet and Brian. There had been a sighting at the fair. One of the mothers had seen an older man who’d looked suspicious, but she had apparently left the fair before she knew a little girl had disappeared. The grapevine hadn’t reached her until she’d watched the news that morning.

“What do you mean acting suspiciously?” Brian demanded, moving in between Harriet and the detective as if sheltering his wife from bad news.

“The woman says she didn’t recognize this man and that he was on his own, wandering about at the start of the fair.” Hayes raised his eyebrows in a way that made Harriet think he didn’t hold out much hope for the sighting. “She seemed to think there was something not quite right about the way he was circling the field. We have a sketch we’d like you both to look at.” Hayes held out a piece of paper that Brian took before Harriet got a chance to look at it.

Brian glanced at it briefly then handed it back to the detective, shaking his head. “I don’t recognize him,” he said.

“How about you, Harriet?”

Her hands trembled as she reached out for the paper. She didn’t want to look at it for fear of what she’d see. What if she recognized the face Brian had so resolutely rebuffed?

“Look at it, Harriet,” Brian said, and though he tried to sound calm, she could sense his impatience that she wasn’t looking fast enough.

Eventually she dropped her eyes to the page. She shook her head.

“Nothing at all?” the detective asked, though he sounded like this was the answer he’d been expecting, and the whole “sighting” was a complete waste of his time.

Brian took it from Harriet and glanced at it again. “Maybe? There’s something oddly familiar about him, I suppose. How much older are you suggesting?”