Haven't They Grown(47)

Dom stands up. He walks over to the bathroom mirror and stares at himself. Eventually he says, ‘Flora had three children. One died. Then she had two more and called them the same names as the two children she already had.’

‘Except no one does that,’ I say.

‘But she has.’ Dom turns to face me. He looks confused. ‘If everything you’ve just said is true, that the younger two must be Flora’s, then that must be what happened.’

‘Must it? We’ve only seen pictures of teenage Thomas and Emily on the internet. The people in those pictures could be actors hired by Lewis.’

Dom snorts. ‘Beth. Come on, get a grip.’

‘What? You think that’s implausible? He pretended Flora was in Florida when she was in Cambridgeshire. He told me Georgina’s twelve. She’s not twelve – she’s dead.’

‘Is she? If Lewis can lie so easily, maybe Georgina’s alive. Maybe she’s Chimpy, and you heard Flora talking to her on Saturday.’

‘Maybe I did.’ I’ve been thinking this myself. ‘All the options we’ve considered, all the ones we can possibly think of, are worrying, aren’t they? Let’s say all five kids are alive, but Lewis and Flora are telling Georgina’s grandparents that she’s dead. Or Georgina’s two younger siblings have the same Christian names as her two older ones, and meanwhile their parents are telling weird lies and enlisting their friends to do the same. Does any of that sound to you like a family in which the kids definitely aren’t at risk from the adults? Because it sure as fuck doesn’t to me. I want to say all this to the police. I think there’s something sinister going on that needs looking into.’

‘Unless …’ I can tell from this half-hearted start that Dom knows the point he’s about to make is a weak one. ‘My friend Anthony at university had the same first name as all his brothers: John. They were all known by their middle names, but—’

‘Great. You can tell Huntingdon police that. I’ll tell them Flora’s two youngest kids are known by the names Thomas and Emily, which is what I heard her call them – the same names her first two were known by.’

‘Shouldn’t you also be contacting the police in Delray Beach, Florida, if you think the original Thomas and Emily might also be at risk?’

‘Huntingdon police can do that, assuming they agree with me.’

‘Christ, Beth.’ Dom covers his face with his hands. ‘Is that what you’re hoping will happen? It won’t. The police aren’t going to lift a finger, however weird it all is. The most they’ll do is send in social services.’

‘Fine. That’s good enough for me.’

Liar.

No matter what I tell Dom, nothing will be good enough for me unless and until I have the answers I need.

I say, ‘Flora’s dad said that she and Lewis probably don’t want anything to do with me now, just like they don’t want Flora’s parents in their lives any more. If that were true, if that’s all that’s happening here, why wouldn’t Lewis have said so on the phone? He was very direct when he cut off Flora’s parents. Why not say to me, “Sorry, Beth, we’ve moved on, you’re pretty much a stranger now, we don’t have to answer any of your questions, goodbye”? Why would it be any harder to say that to me than to Gerard and Rosemary?’

‘It wouldn’t. But a more diplomatic brush-off is always easier, and most friends would take the hint. Whereas parents need to be told more firmly. They don’t let their kids go so easily.’

‘Maybe. But Flora’s reaction in the car park was hardly diplomatic. There was no “Oh, Beth, how lovely to see you after all these years – must dash now but let’s catch up sometime.” Running away in terror is pretty undiplomatic.’

‘True,’ Dom concedes.

‘And Lewis telling us we must come to Florida, and Kevin Cater inviting us round to his house, answering our questions … Showing us that picture of two kids I’d never seen before, lying about Thomas and Emily’s names. He could have given us a polite version of, “I’m sorry, I’ve no idea what your wife is on about. Now please leave me alone.” Do you want to know what I think?’

Dom sighs heavily. ‘Beth, I do, but … this has to end. For us, our being part of it.’

‘I know. I know it does. I just …’ I close my eyes and inhale deeply. Come on, lavender. Work your magic. ‘This isn’t a criticism, but I don’t understand how you’re not as curious as I am. Don’t you want to understand it, whatever it is?’

‘Not at the expense of our lives, no. Also, to an extent I think I already do understand it. Not the finer details, maybe, but the more general explanation “Lewis Braid is a massive weirdo” works for me. And I really don’t believe anyone’s in danger, Beth. I think Lewis is bizarre enough to have invented some mad reason to call his youngest kids after his oldest kids.’

‘Why did Flora run away from me?’ I stand up, grab a towel and wrap it around me. I was planning to wash my hair, but the plan had a built-in loophole: that I knew I wouldn’t bother in the end. I hate washing my hair. It’s the annoying chore that looms in the shadows at the end of every nice long bath, potentially ruining it.

‘I don’t know why Flora ran away.’ Dom sighs.