The Couple in the Photograph

by Valerie Keogh

  ‘I still can’t believe Roy’s dead,’ Abbie said taking a seat opposite. ‘I mean, who would want to murder him. He was so sweet. I can’t imagine someone hating him enough to do such a thing.’

  Sweet. Keri swallowed. Hearing that Roy had been murdered was bad enough, hearing the truth about his past was going to be traumatic. She reached for her wine and took a mouthful. ‘There’s something I need to tell you…’

  When her voice faltered, Abbie reached a hand across the counter and held hers. ‘Oh Mum, it’s all been so awful for you.’

  Keri took comfort and strength from the warmth of her daughter’s touch. She cleared her throat. ‘As I said, we had a visit from the police this morn–’

  ‘They have a suspect?’ Daniel interrupted and banged his fist on the table. ‘Good, I hope they lock the bastard up and throw the key away!’

  ‘No, that wasn’t it.’ Keri looked at Nathan, wishing he would say something but he sat nursing his beer, leaving it to her. ‘I’m afraid they had some distressing news for us.’ She took another mouthful of wine. She’d have liked to have drained it, asked for a refill, and drank that too, but she didn’t. One of them hitting the booze was enough. ‘It appears that Roy Sheppard wasn’t Roy’s real name.’

  Abbie laughed in disbelief. ‘What? But you’ve known him forever!’

  ‘That’s what I said.’ Keri drained her glass then and didn’t refuse a refill when Daniel held the bottle towards her.

  ‘So, if he wasn’t Roy Sheppard,’ he said, ‘who was he?’

  Keri frowned. ‘I don’t know his real name, they never said–’

  ‘But you know why he changed it.’

  She looked at her handsome son. He was so like Nathan at that age, nothing of her in his face. Such a good man, honest, conscientious. But hadn’t she thought the same of Roy? Did you ever really know anyone? With that, she looked over to her husband. Didn’t she think she knew him so well, believed there were no secrets between them. Now she didn’t know anything.

  ‘Mum?’

  ‘Sorry, Daniel, this is so hard.’ She took a sip of her wine to moisten her suddenly dry mouth. ‘There’s no easy way to say it, but it seems that Roy had been in prison before we knew him.’ She held a hand up when she saw the question poised on her son’s lips. ‘He served time for the sexual assault of a twelve-year-old.’

  Daniel reared back as if she’d struck him. Abbie gasped. She pushed her stool back and got to her feet with her eyes fixed on Keri in horror. ‘They’re saying Roy was a paedophile? I don’t believe it!’

  Abbie was so obviously shocked, her words so emphatic that Keri relaxed a little. Surely she wouldn’t have been had Roy ever… Keri didn’t finish the thought.

  ‘Unfortunately, it’s true. The detective inspector who was here said that Roy, or whatever his name was, had vanished months after leaving prison. The detective also suggested that as Roy hadn’t been in trouble since, he may have been a one-time offender–’

  ‘Like that makes it any better! A paedophile! All the times I sat on his lap when I was a child, was he getting off on that?’ Abbie’s face twisted as she tried not to cry. ‘It’s all so disgusting.’

  Daniel got to his feet and went to the fridge for a beer. He grabbed the bottle opener and levered the lid off. ‘I understand now why you two are downing the booze.’ He put the bottle to his lips and glugged a mouthful. ‘Is that why Roy was killed?’

  ‘Seems likely,’ Nathan said, speaking for the first time.

  Keri told them about Tracy. ‘It’s possible she was linked to his murder in some way.’

  ‘Possible?’ Abbie pressed her lips together as she struggled with tears. ‘She appears out of nowhere, gives you a made-up name and fake reference and the next day Roy or whoever that pervert was, is killed and she vanishes. It doesn’t take a bloody detective to see there’s a link there.’

  ‘If there is, they’ll find it.’

  ‘Ha.’ Daniel waved his beer bottle to emphasise his point. ‘Seems like it’s easier to disappear in this country than I’d have guessed. If they didn’t find Roy after he absconded, what makes you think they’ll find her?’

  Keri held her hands up. ‘I’m not the guilty party here. I’m as shocked by all of this as you are. More.’ Despite what she now knew about Roy, it was the last eighteen years of friendship she was remembering, that and seeing his bloody mess of a body. ‘I need to know, did he ever…’ Her voice faded, the words weren’t there for the questions she wanted to ask, for what she needed to know. ‘Did he ever… you know…’

  Abbie’s eyes grew round. ‘Yuk, no, never! I’d have told you if he had.’ Her expression lightened a little. ‘And you’d have killed him.’

  Keri turned to Daniel who shook his head. ‘No, there was never anything iffy. I always kinda thought of him as being the granddad we never had. He was always sneaking me a few quid, even in the later years when I kept telling him I had a good allowance and didn’t need it.’ He jerked his head towards his sister. ‘I agree with Ab, if he’d touched us that way, you’d have killed him.’

  The doorbell ringing into the silence that followed startled them all. Keri smiled shakily and stood. ‘It’ll be the takeaway.’

  It was, and over the next few minutes the mundane actions of setting out plates and cutlery, taking the lids from the various containers and putting out serving spoons – all done in silence – helped to restore the normal family dynamics. Abbie put an arm around Keri’s shoulder, Daniel topped up her glass before going to the fridge and taking out another beer for Nathan.

  Alcohol wasn’t the solution, but it certainly blurred the scratchy edges of reality.

  Over dinner, by subconscious decision, conversation consisted of chat about Abbie and Daniel’s university courses. They attended the same university, Abbie reading business and economics, Daniel reading social media studies. Normally they had plenty to say, but that night they struggled, and conversation slowed to the odd comment before fading into silence.

  Finally, Abbie put her cutlery carefully down on her plate, lining them up neatly, fiddling with getting the end of each handle level with the edge. ‘What about the funeral?’

  Keri had told the police they’d pay for everything but that had been before she’d learned about Roy’s terrible secret. But eighteen years was a long time. ‘Do you remember the Christmas when you were six, Abbie, and you wanted that stupid doll whose name I’ve forgotten.’

  ‘Matilda. Yes, I remember.’

  ‘Online shopping wasn’t so big in those days and it was sold out in the local shops so I was going to get you something else, but when Roy heard how much you wanted it, he said to leave it to him. He went to every toy shop for miles around until he found that damn doll.’ Keri played with the stem of her glass. ‘We’ll have a funeral for the man we knew, the man who wanted to make a six-year-old’s Christmas a happy one, and for the times he was good to us, his loyalty and hard work over all these years.’

  Daniel frowned. ‘If it gets out, and it’s sure to, there will be plenty to criticise you for that position.’

  ‘I have no doubt.’ She ran a hand over her face, brushing away the tears that always seemed to be waiting in the wings. ‘If the police find anything that shows he has crossed the line while he’s been with us, then that’s a different situation. But if not, my position will remain unchanged. I’m certainly not condoning his behaviour, but Roy, the man I knew, deserves a decent funeral attended by those who loved him.’ She looked around, slightly embarrassed by her speech. But in the faces of her children all she saw was loving support. Nathan’s face though, remained shadowed with concerns she didn’t understand.

  She couldn’t deal with them now.

  24

  Abbie and Daniel vanished to their rooms shortly after dinner leaving Keri and Nathan to linger silently over the last of the wine.

  It would have been the perfect time to have asked him what was troubling him but there were too many stressful fing
ers squeezing her brain already. Whatever was bothering him would have to wait. One of the stressful fingers that was poking her was resentment that he was leaving everything to her. Perhaps it was time that changed.

  ‘Nathan.’ She waited until he looked up from the bottle of beer he was holding to meet her eyes. ‘Tomorrow, will you contact one of those companies DI Elliot told us about? You know, the clean-up specialists.’

  He looked at her blankly for a moment, then shrugged. ‘Okay.’

  ‘You won’t forget. We don’t want to go into the office on Tuesday and see…’ Her voice faded.

  ‘I said I’ll do it, didn’t I?’

  But there was no conviction in his voice and Keri knew she’d end up making the call herself. She finished the wine in her glass and got to her feet. Barely touched cartons of Chinese food were strewn across the table. Abbie and Daniel hadn’t even removed their plates. It wasn’t their fault. How many times had they offered to help and she, wearing her superwoman cloak, insisted she could manage. Lately though, it was becoming less a cloak, more chainmail. It was time things changed, but that was a discussion for somewhere in the future, not now.

  She cleared the table, debated saving the takeaway food, then shook her head and threw it into the bin. Nathan would normally have helped but that night he seemed glued to his seat, his hand stuck to a bottle she was convinced was empty.

  It took only minutes to tidy up. She shut the dishwasher with a bang and looked back to where he sat. ‘I’m exhausted, I’m going to have a bath and head to bed.’

  ‘Right. I’ll be up in a bit.’

  Her heart twisted to see him looking so woebegone, so defeated, and it twisted further when she realised the one person she would have talked to about him was dead. Roy had always been able to see the overall picture in business and personal relationships. He’d have put her worries to rest with well-chosen succinct words. She missed the man she’d known.

  Upstairs, she heard the murmur of voices from Abbie’s room and the low thump of music from Daniel’s. They were strong and resilient, they’d get through this in their own way.

  Keri ran a bath and added a generous amount of her favourite oil before switching out the light and easing into the hot water. She rested her head back. A soft glow slid under the door from the hallway to make a dim, warm, womb-like cocoon. At last, she could allow the tears to come. Their release relaxed her a little and gave her space for thinking.

  But for a change, everything seemed to be beyond her control. Roy. Nathan. That blasted Barry.

  Barry. If Roy was murdered because of his past, didn’t it put her ex-lover in the clear? She wanted to believe so, wanted no risk of her own secret escaping.

  Usually, she stayed until the water cooled around her, but not that night.

  Restless, she climbed out only minutes later, wrapping a bath towel around her foam-flecked body.

  She preferred to sleep naked but once again she needed the comfort of pyjamas and pulled a fresh, light cotton pair from a drawer. When she was in bed with her head nestled into the pillow, she could hear murmurs of conversation from Abbie and Daniel’s rooms. Comforting sounds. It was good for them to be talking to their friends.

  Tears came again then. Friends, the two she’d choose to talk to… one dead, Nathan lost in worry that he seemed unable to share. She couldn’t bring Roy back but she could get to the bottom of whatever was ailing Nathan.

  Tomorrow.

  That one word seemed to work like a magic spell and Keri, who had expected to shuffle restlessly all night, drifted off to sleep.

  25

  Nathan’s side of the bed was empty when Keri woke early the next morning, the unrumpled sheets indicating he’d not come to bed even for a short while. She lay for a moment listening to the sound of voices drifting up from downstairs. Daniel, she guessed. He was always an early riser unlike Abbie who would sleep till mid-morning if she could.

  Keri dressed and headed down, pleased to hear laughter.

  Daniel and Nathan were sitting around the breakfast bar but they weren’t alone. Two of Daniel’s friends lifted smiling faces to her when she opened the door.

  ‘Ben and Jason came over to offer their condolences,’ Daniel said. ‘I invited them to stay for breakfast. That’s okay, isn’t it?’

  ‘Of course, there’s plenty.’ Keri greeted the two friends and opened the fridge to take out eggs, bacon, and sausages. She’d lied, there wasn’t enough for six but she wasn’t feeling hungry anyway, and from the look of Nathan’s pale face, she thought he mightn’t want too much either.

  In fact, Nathan shook his head when she put a plate in front of him. ‘I’ve had something already,’ he said. ‘I was awake early.’ He tilted his head towards the sofa. ‘Fell asleep there and woke up with a crick in my neck.’

  Daniel looked from Nathan to Keri and back again. ‘You slept on the sofa, all night?’

  Nathan laughed. ‘Don’t sound so surprised, how many times have we found you asleep there in the morning after a few beers.’

  ‘I know but–’

  ‘But what? You think it’s the prerogative of the young?’ Nathan got to his feet and left the room leaving an uneasy silence behind him.

  Ben and Jason shuffled on their stools and looked uncomfortable. ‘Maybe we should go,’ Jason said.

  ‘Nonsense.’ Keri patted him on the arm. ‘I’ll have breakfast ready in a jiffy.’ She turned to Daniel. ‘Make a pot of coffee, I could do with a mug.’ She kept up a stream of light conversation, asking questions about university, their individual courses, their social lives. By the time she put a dish of bacon, sausages and fried eggs on the counter and told them to help themselves, the tension caused by Nathan’s snapped comment had eased completely.

  Abbie arrived as the boys were scraping their plates. ‘I hope you left me some,’ she said, planting a kiss on Keri’s cheek.

  ‘I have some in the oven for you. Sit, and I’ll get it.’

  Abbie greeted her brother and his friends, accepting the mug of coffee Daniel slid her way with a grateful smile. ‘I needed this.’ She took a mouthful and put it down, twisting in her seat to look at Keri. ‘Where’s Dad gone?’

  Keri jerked her hand, hitting it off the rack as she reached for the plate. ‘Blast,’ she said, putting the plate down and hurrying to the sink to turn on the cold tap and hold her hand under the stream of water.

  ‘You okay?’ Abbie came to stand beside her looking down in concern.

  ‘I’ll live.’ Keri looked at her. ‘Dad’s gone out?’

  ‘I saw him going out the door as I came down the stairs. I called him but he mustn’t have heard me. Seemed to be in a bit of a hurry.’

  Keri turned the tap off and grabbed a towel. ‘Oh, he’s probably gone for the newspaper.’ It was a possibility of course. Nathan might be worried about the reports on Roy’s murder. It was a definite possibility. Her eyes flicked to the clock over the kitchen door. Ten thirty. The closest shop was a ten-minute walk. She sat and tried to join in the conversation between her children and their friends as the minutes passed. Thirty minutes ticked by. Thirty-five.

  Keri put on a good act. She didn’t think anyone present realised she was worried. She should have spoken to Nathan the day before… should have learned from Roy’s death that sometimes tomorrow didn’t come.

  26

  ‘He’s probably met someone he knows and gone to the pub for a pint,’ Keri said an hour later when Daniel and Abbie looked concerned at their father’s continued absence. She waved a dismissive hand as if this were something that happened regularly. Truth was, it had never happened before. Nathan would never go anywhere without telling her.

  ‘Wouldn’t he have rung you?’ Abbie said.

  ‘He will eventually when he realises the time.’ Keri forced a laugh. ‘You know what your father’s like.’

  ‘I thought I did, now I’m not so sure.’

  Keri heard the note of criticism and jumped to Nathan’s defence. ‘He’s
taking Roy’s death and the news about his past hard. We all cope with things in different ways, this is his.’

  ‘Still–’

  ‘Leave it, Abs, I understand your father.’ Keri pulled her daughter into a quick hug. ‘Honestly, it’ll all be fine.’ It would because when Nathan returned she was going to make him sit down and tell her what was going on.

  ‘We were thinking of maybe going out to the pub,’ Daniel said. ‘Will you come with us?’

  ‘Thank you, that’s sweet of you, but I’d rather stay here and catch up with some reading. When your dad gets back I might drag him out for a while.’

  ‘I’ll stay and keep you company,’ Abbie said, throwing an arm around her mother’s shoulder.

  ‘Not necessary, honestly.’ Keri pushed her away. ‘Please, I’d be happier if you all went out together.’

  With only a little more encouragement, Abbie agreed and twenty minutes later each of them, including Ben and Jason, gave her a hug and left. When she heard the front door slam, Keri picked up her mobile and rang Nathan’s number. It went directly to voicemail. She hated leaving messages so hung up without doing so. She didn’t need to anyway, he’d see the missed call from her and get the message.

  She slumped down on the sofa and rested her head back. Nathan would return eventually. She wouldn’t put it off any longer and would insist he told her what was going on. The truth couldn’t be worse than what they’d heard about Roy. Could it?

  If it was another woman?

  Another woman who was as meaningless as Barry had been to her, Keri could cope with. But if it was more serious. If Nathan had fallen in love with someone else and wanted to leave. A sob broke from her, a sad, forlorn sound of distress. Life without Nathan was unthinkable.

  She brushed the tears away and sat up. There had been tough times in Metcalfe Conservation through the years, but they’d battled through. Giving up wasn’t in her DNA. Twenty-five years she and Nathan had been married, that was worth fighting for.