The Family Remains(31)

‘I’m Philip Dunlop-Evers. Madelyn’s son.’

‘OK. That’s great. I wondered if I might be able to talk to you about Bridget? Or Birdie? Your – I assume – your sister?’

‘Yes. Er. Yes. Of course.’

‘Could I ask you – was Bridget ever a dancer?’

There is a small silence.

‘Yes. She was. She studied ballet until she was quite old. At least eighteen.’

I feel my stomach clench and unclench, a wave of drunken relief pass through me.

‘Would you, do you think, be able to come to us, here in London? To discuss some … things?’

‘Things?’

‘Yes. Things that might be related to your sister’s disappearance.’

‘This is … well … wow. After all this time, I mean. Yes. Of course. Of course, I can come. When would you like me?’

‘As soon as possible, please, Mr Dunlop-Evers.’

‘Please. Call me Philip.’

‘As soon as possible, Philip.’





28





Marco’s mum has been in a weird mood all weekend. Marco’s mum is always in a weird mood, but she’s been even weirder than usual. Uncle Henry has disappeared, and she won’t tell him why or where. Marco assumed he’d gone to Africa to find Phin, Libby’s dad, but apparently Phin’s not in Africa any more and Mum won’t tell him why. She’s been banging around the apartment since Friday, obsessively checking her phone every thirty seconds, snapping at him and Stella for minor infractions, forgetting to walk the dog and letting Uncle Henry’s flat get really messy. Every time Marco tries to ask her about it, she pretends she’s too busy.

On Sunday evening he notices Fitz staring longingly at the door of the apartment and he knocks on his mum’s bedroom door.

‘Mum?’ he says. ‘I think Fitz wants to go out.’

‘Oh,’ comes her reply. ‘Could you take him?’

‘I’m doing my homework.’

He hears her sigh. ‘OK. I’ll take him in a minute.’

‘He’s doing that circling thing though, Mum,’ he says, his eyes on the dog. ‘You know? When he’s about to take a dump.’

She sighs again and then she appears. ‘OK,’ she says. ‘OK.’

Marco gives a yell as he sees Fitz begin to lower himself into a squat. ‘No! Fitz! No!’ and the dog jumps back to standing. He watches his mum clip the lead to his harness. ‘Why do you keep forgetting to take him out?’ he asks.

‘I have a lot on my mind, Marco.’

‘About Henry?’

‘Yes. About Henry.’

‘Mum. Please. Just tell me what’s going on.’

‘I don’t know what’s going on.’

‘Yes. But you must know something? I mean, can’t you just call him?’

His mum stops for a second then and he sees her resolve crack a little.

‘He’s blocked me, Marco.’

‘Uncle Henry?’

‘Yes. Uncle Henry. He’s blocked me.’

That is massive, thinks Marco. That is a really big deal.

‘Well, why don’t we try calling him from my phone?’

A glimmer of understanding passes across her features. ‘Oh,’ she says simply. ‘Yes.’ Then she looks down at the dog and says, ‘Let’s try when I get back.’

Marco awaits her return eagerly, his phone in his hand, his uncle’s number primed and ready. He passes it to his mum when she returns, and she presses call. He can hear the foreign ring tone and exchanges a look with his mum. It rings out into a flat beep and she hangs up and sends his uncle a message instead. It says: FFS HENRY. What’s going on???

Then she goes on to WhatsApp and calls him from there. Again, it rings into nothingness. She sends him another message from the app: Henry. It’s Lucy. PLS CALL.

Almost immediately, Henry has blocked Marco too.

‘Have we done something wrong?’ Marco asks his mum, his voice cracking slightly. ‘I don’t understand.’

His mother smiles at him sadly and says, ‘No. We have not done anything wrong. But listen, Marco. Your uncle. He’s not …’

‘What?’

‘He’s complicated. Remember when we first got to London last year? Remember how I wasn’t quite sure who Uncle Henry was? Because he looked so much like Phin?’

Marco nods.

‘Well, the thing is, Uncle Henry used to be slightly obsessed with Phin. When they were younger. He used to follow him about and stare at him all the time and then …’

Marco nods again, but his mother shakes her head. ‘Nothing,’ she says. ‘Nothing.’

‘No! Tell me. What was it you were going to say? What does that have to do with Uncle Henry blocking us? You have to tell me!’

‘It’s … urgh. Marco, listen. I know you’re very fond of Henry. And it’s important to me that you have that bond with him. I don’t want to damage your relationship with him. And what I’m about to tell you, I promise, it in no way means that Henry doesn’t adore you and that Henry is not an amazing person. Because he is. In so many ways. But when we were children, when all the bad things were happening to us in the house in Chelsea, Henry sometimes wasn’t very nice to Phin. He once pushed him into the river when Phin wouldn’t kiss him, and Phin could have drowned. And then, the night we escaped, Henry tied Phin to a radiator and … well, he could have died again. The way he was about Phin, it was a bit twisted. And Phin found out from Clemency that Henry was coming to Botswana and left the same day. And now, well, I think maybe Henry’s found out where he is and is on his way to …’