The Sister(194)

‘His head was smashed in from behind. How did you know that? Have you been doing your homework without telling me?’

Miller didn’t answer.

She stared at him suspiciously. ‘Well, how else could you have known, unless you read my mind?’ Carla’s mouth gaped as her thoughts illuminated with possibilities. ‘You’re scaring me a little bit here, tell me.’

‘I got the information from an eyewitness,’ he said.

‘Miller, you have got to be kidding me. An eye witness from forty years ago?’ She sat back with her arms folded across her chest and raised an inquisitive eyebrow. ‘Who is it?’

‘It’s actually two people, and one of them is me, although I only saw part of it at the time.’

‘Miller,’ she shook her head in disbelief. ‘What is this bullshit?’

‘Carla, if you knew how hard this was to convey.’ He pinched the bridge of his nose. ‘Bear with me; I’m going to give it a try. It’s a little bit like coming out of suspended animation, or at least, what I think that would be like. Little by little, I seem to be remembering things. At the moment, I can’t explain it any better than that.’

‘Miller, you said you were one of two people and you didn’t see it all. I’m assuming that means that the other person did. Do you realise that with this, on top of everything else? The judge would throw away the key.’

‘Carla, there’s one or two problems here. The police have to catch him first, and the other person — witnessed it from two hundred miles away.’

She slapped her hand down hard, making the cutlery bounce on the table top. ‘I’m not in the mood for this, Miller!’ A few heads turned in their direction. When she saw how weary he suddenly looked, she couldn’t help but feel sorry for him. ‘I freaked out there.’ She placed her hand on his arm. ‘I apologise. Who’s the witness?’

‘When you’ve finished, we’ll get into that.’ The focus of his eyes shifted. He looked confused.

‘Are you sure you’re all right? You look exhausted.’

He squeezed her hand and smiled reassurance. ‘Did you find out any anymore?’

She seemed to have caught some of his weariness, but she smiled and cleared her throat. ‘I was trying to get a bit more background,’ she took a sip of tea. ‘I called the brother in Australia again. He told me at first he simply refused to believe it was Thomas. He wouldn’t have believed it unless dental records proved otherwise. When I asked him how he could be so sure it wasn’t his brother, he told me. 'Simple, although by then he was just a pile of bones, he always wore this leather belt, see. I brought it for his eighteenth birthday, before he left for Europe, and they never found it. Even if the leather had perished, when they went over the site with a fine tooth comb, with metal detectors, or whatever they use, they'd have at least found the buckle.' He sent me a photograph he’d taken before the trip. Thomas posing in a new bush hat and Tee shirt, with the belt worn around a new pair of Levis. You’ll never guess what?’

‘Carla, I’m too tired for guessing games,’ he said with a thin smile.

‘Oh, Miller, I’m sorry. I had the photo enhanced. It looks like he was wearing the same belt Midnight had on in the video he sent to the News of The World. If it is the same man and it is the same belt.’

Coming alive with enthusiasm, he said, ‘You know something, Carla? I think you’re on the verge of a big story here, well done.’

She looked pleased and fluffed herself up with pride. ‘Speaking of stories, you’ve been keeping something back from me. The witness and that business just now, I want to know what’s going on. And you never did tell me what you were doing in Scotland.’

He rubbed his chin with his thumb and forefinger. ‘Okay, I could have told you more,’ he said, looking tired again. ‘The thing is I don’t confide in people really, not like I should. I just got into the habit of not doing it.’ He took a deep breath. ‘When I was seven years old, I saw him – the killer, and he had the Chinese girl slung over his shoulder. He chased me.’ He raised a hand and waved to the waiter. ‘I don’t know about you, but I need a coffee.’

She shook her head, anxious to hear the rest.

‘It took the accident with the boys to unlock the door to the earlier memories, if it hadn’t been for that, I'd never have visited Dr Ryan, and if I hadn’t visited him…’ Miller struggled to find the right words.

‘Yes,’ she said, patiently.

‘When I said I didn’t understand the rest of it…’ Miller searched for the right words. ‘It was like automatic writing, or something like that.’ A look of consternation crossed her face. ‘Well, how else do I put it?’ Miller said. ‘I’m just opening up and letting whatever it is come through. All I know for sure – is something started happening before I contacted Ryan, and since I went to Scotland a few weeks ago, it’s turned into something else.’

‘You’re talking about the day after you left me?’

‘That’s right.’

‘What happened?’

‘Can I trust you, Carla?’

‘Of course you can,’ she said with sincerity.

His coffee arrived. He left it black, stirring in a single sugar, while she rummaged in her bag for something. She pulled out a Kleenex and a compact mirror.