The Other People: A Novel(83)

At some point, Maddock believed, Fran had been contacted by the Other People to repay her Favor. It seemed likely that this Favor was to go to Gabe’s house, get Jenny to let her in and ensure that the front gates were left open to give access to the killer. That was important, he realized now, because for Gabe to be implicated in the murder of his family, there must be no signs of a break-in.

But Fran had never intended to go through with the plan, not fully. Maddock told him that, in the days prior to Jenny’s murder, Fran had given notice on her rental property, booked two train tickets and a holiday cottage in Devon. She had then excused Emily from school for the rest of the week, on the pretext of visiting her sick grandmother. She had also bought two cheap pay-as-you-go mobiles.

On the day of the murder Fran made an anonymous call to the police before reaching Gabe’s house, reporting a break-in at his address. She must have hoped that the police would arrive in time to prevent whatever was about to happen. Then, she would disappear with her daughter, somewhere the Other People wouldn’t find them.

But the call wasn’t given priority; the police arrived too late. Fran went on the run with Izzy in the killer’s car.

The police still didn’t know who the man in the trunk was. But from what Izzy had told them, it seemed as though the Other People must have found them at some point. Fran had killed the man and dumped the body and the car in the lake.

Gabe still didn’t understand why Fran took her daughter to his house that day. Perhaps she simply had no one else to look after her. He didn’t know how Emily ended up dead or why Fran didn’t go to the police straight after the murders. How could she have just abandoned her daughter’s body? That piece of the puzzle was missing. But he knew, at some point, there had been two little girls in his house. Then a killer came. Only one little girl had survived. Izzy. And he had seen her that night. On the motorway. In the car in front of him.

The police had Miriam’s confession, recorded on his phone. Harry had given a statement, too, but would not face prosecution. It was not deemed in the public interest. Gabe had to agree. However, that didn’t mean he had to let Harry and Evelyn see their granddaughter. Not yet.

DNA tests had confirmed that Emily was Fran’s daughter. Her ashes had been re-buried in a plot beside her mother. Together, at last.

Katie had asked him to come to Fran’s funeral. He had refused at first, and then changed his mind. She had tried to save Jenny and Izzy, he reminded himself. And she had kept Izzy safe. He should thank her for that.

Katie’s mother wasn’t there, but her younger sister was. She sobbed noisily into a stream of tissues. Katie wept, more quietly, beside him. He had stood there awkwardly, unsure what he should do. Then, perhaps a moment before it was too late, he had slipped an arm around her shoulders. He felt her tense and then lean against him. And it was all right.

The police were still trying to trace the Other People, but it was a pretty hopeless task. The website had been removed, although it was undoubtedly still active, under a new URL, somewhere on the Dark Web. Just invisible to them.

Louise’s ex-boyfriend, Steve, had been arrested but had so far refused to comment. Two charges of attempted murder were obviously still preferable to whatever else the Other People might have in store for him. Maddock had told Gabe that he was also under investigation for witness intimidation and falsifying evidence in several other cases.

It looked unlikely they would ever find the person responsible for Fran’s murder. Whoever it was had been professional. So professional that the police believed he hadn’t intended Fran to die right away. He had wanted her to suffer.



* * *



—

“SO,” THE SAMARITAN said. “You’ve given up the traveling life.”

“I suppose I have.”

“That’s good. That shitheap van of yours was an embarrassment. You want to take that straight to the junkyard. Crush it.”

Gabe smiled, but couldn’t hold it.

“There’s still a few loose ends.”

“That’s life. It’s not neat, like in the movies.”

“Yeah. But there’s one thing I keep coming back to. One thing that keeps niggling.”

“Yeah?”

“Who knew Fran was going to be at the lake that day, at that particular time?”

“Maybe someone was watching her?”

“That’s what the police think. They found some remnants of masking tape and broken branches in a tree. They think that someone may have set up some surveillance.”

“So you have your answer.”

“Except we were the only ones who knew that the car and the body were there in the first place.”

“I see your point.”

“It got me thinking about something Katie said, about the teenager who killed her father. Jayden. Apparently, he was put into care at an early age. His mum had died, and his dad was a career criminal.”

“Usual cliché,” the Samaritan said. “Absent father. Kid doesn’t have the guidance. Falls in with a bad crowd. History repeats. Sometimes the dad doesn’t even know he has a kid till he’s grown. When he does, the kid looks up to his dad. Hard to put your kid on the right track when you’ve spent so long following the wrong one. But maybe you try. Maybe you do your best to steer him in the right direction. Then he makes one mistake…”