The Retreat(57)

I needed to defend myself. If I sat there and tried to apologise, she would chuck me out, I was sure of it. I stood up.

‘Yes, Julia, I was doing it for you. For Lily. I wanted to check the police had done all they could. I saw how distraught you were and wanted to help you.’

‘The damsel in distress.’

‘Your gender has nothing to do with it.’

‘Huh. I bet.’

I shook my head. ‘It doesn’t, actually.’ But I didn’t sound very sure, even to myself. If it had been Julia who had drowned, would I have tried to help Michael in the same way? I wanted to believe that I would, but . . .

‘Maybe I shouldn’t have done it. Like I said, I was only going to tell you if I got anywhere. And I think I have. I’ve stirred something up, and I’m certain it’s related to Lily.’

She stared at me, chest rising and falling. ‘But you haven’t really got anywhere, have you? It’s like . . . a conspiracy theory. A crazy conspiracy theory. You might as well have told me aliens came down and took Lily off in a spaceship.’

‘I know how it sounds, Julia. But Glynn Collins . . . Don’t you think it’s a massive coincidence that within a couple of weeks of my private detective starting to ask questions, two members of that group are dead? And the detective herself is missing?’

‘On holiday. And the other two deaths – it’s not coincidence, it’s a chain. Cause and effect. The visit from Zara caused Malcolm stress and made him have a heart attack. Then what’s-her-name, Shirley, died after getting drunk at his funeral.’

‘But why was Malcolm stressed?’

‘I don’t know. Maybe he did know something about this girl who vanished in the eighties. Maybe Malcolm Jones was a paedophile. But that has nothing to do with Lily.’

I thought about it. I had been so focused on Glynn that it hadn’t crossed my mind that Malcolm might be guilty of anything more than not exposing Glynn’s crimes. Could Julia be right? Was Malcolm the bad guy here?

‘But what if Malcolm was still . . . operating two years ago?’

‘With a thirty-five-year gap between crimes?’

I stood up, paced the room. At least Julia was engaging with me now and not marching me up the stairs and telling me to pack my bags. ‘There could be others we don’t know about,’ I said. ‘Other missing children. Maybe it was Malcolm, or Glynn, or . . .’

The lights went out.

And above our heads, in the belly of the house, a woman screamed.





Chapter 29

LILY – 2014

Mum stuck her head around Lily’s bedroom door.

‘Megan’s coming over. She’ll be here in fifteen minutes so you should get dressed and brush your hair.’

‘What? Why?’ It was Saturday morning and Lily was on her bed, still in her PJs, playing a game on her iPad.

‘Megan’s mum has been called into work and her stepdad is away on a stag weekend. Jake is coming too.’

Lily made the groaning uhhh sound her mum hated so much.

‘Just get dressed, okay? And be nice to Jake. He’s a lovely boy.’

Fifteen minutes later, tyres crunched on the gravel outside. Lily looked out of her window. Megan and Jake were getting out of a taxi along with the taxi driver, who escorted them to the front door. The bell rang.

By the time Lily got downstairs, Megan and Jake were standing in the hall and Mum was talking to the taxi man. It sounded like he was a neighbour and old friend of Megan’s mum’s, and he wasn’t supposed to be working today but he’d run the kids over as a favour. He had nothing else to do. He winked at Lily over her mum’s shoulder.

‘Why don’t you come in for a cup of tea, er . . . ?’

‘Olly. Yeah, thanks, that would be great.’

‘Follow me. Lily, why don’t you take Megan and Jake down to the playroom? I’ll bring you down some drinks and snacks in a bit.’

‘Okay.’ Lily hesitated. ‘Where’s Dad?’

Mum’s eyes shifted around in that way they did when she wasn’t sure what to say. ‘He’s having a lie-in.’

‘Lucky bloke,’ said Olly.

‘Isn’t he just?’ She sounded angry, though she was trying to hide it behind the smile she always wore when they had visitors.

Mum and the taxi driver went off to the kitchen and Lily ran down the stairs to the playroom, Megan at her heels, Jake trailing behind.

Megan turned around. ‘Hurry up, slowcoach.’

‘Sorry, Meg.’

He almost bumped his head on the low ceiling halfway down the stairs. He was growing a moustache. Bumfluff, Megan called it.

She rolled her eyes, and Lily, not for the first time, felt sorry for him. Although she often wished she had a brother or sister, she’d hate to be bossed around in the way Megan bossed Jake.

Megan headed straight for the Wii U. ‘Want a game of Mario Kart? Bet I can beat you this time.’

Last time Megan had come here she’d moaned that Lily didn’t have that Bloody Mary game. Luckily, it wasn’t available for the Wii U, so Lily had a good excuse.

As Megan set up the game, Lily turned her head to see what Jake was doing. He was staring at the art supplies. Lily remembered that he was really good at drawing and asked him if he wanted some paper and pens.