Wall of Silence

by Tracy Buchanan

  People were now blocking the paintings he’d commissioned, though, the hall so full there were no more spare seats left for what was clearly going to be a well-attended meeting and search. Melissa felt her cheeks flush, her breath come in small spurts.

  Be calm, she told herself. It’ll all be okay. These people are here to help.

  She peered behind her, nodding at people who shot her sympathetic smiles. Lines of chairs had been laid out and there was even a podium on the stage, which Andrea was fussing over. It almost felt to Melissa like she was at a wedding . . . or a funeral. And as Melissa took in Andrea’s expensive floral dress, she wondered if Andrea thought so too.

  Melissa thought again of Grace’s outburst. She was with Rosemary and the twins now. Melissa had dropped her off then returned to be with Patrick all afternoon before coming here. She didn’t want the kids at the meeting, and Rosemary had agreed to stay behind to be with them. Grace had been almost clingy with Melissa when she’d returned from the hospital briefly to get changed, clutching on to her hand. It had clearly traumatised her, being interrogated like that by her mother. Melissa would need to rely on the twins for the truth.

  But first, this bloody meeting.

  ‘Looks like it’s going to be a big turnout,’ Bill said, looking over his shoulder as more people started filing into the room. Melissa followed his gaze, finding herself feeling conflicted. On one hand, it felt good to be in the warm embrace of this community. They were like a family, always had been, and she liked knowing they all had her back. But on the other, the truth was, these people were there to catch the person who had hurt Patrick . . . and that person could be one of her children. Not to mention those mysterious posters and the very real possibility that someone in this room was behind them.

  She clutched her bag close to her, aware of the posters still lying at the bottom. She really must get rid of them soon.

  ‘Are they from the local newspaper?’ Bill said as a woman walked in with a man carrying a large camera.

  Melissa looked at them in shock. ‘Oh Christ. Why are the media here?’

  ‘An upstanding member of the community has been stabbed,’ Bill said. ‘This is a big local news story.’

  Melissa watched as the journalist went to the front of the stage, shaking hands with Andrea. Then Andrea gestured towards Melissa, and they both walked over to her.

  ‘Great,’ Melissa muttered under her breath.

  ‘Melissa,’ Andrea said when she got to her, ‘this is my old friend Karin. She writes the crime-watch segment of the local newspaper.’

  Melissa shook the woman’s hand.

  ‘I said you’d be willing to say a few words,’ Andrea said. ‘Drum up some attention.’

  Melissa couldn’t think of anything worse.

  ‘Actually, no,’ she said. ‘The police have told me not to talk to the media until they decide to do something more official.’ Sure, it was a white lie, but it was the only thing she could think of saying that the journalist couldn’t push back on.

  ‘But surely any attention is good attention in a case like this?’ Andrea asked.

  ‘I said no, Andrea,’ Melissa said, flicking a quick smile to the journalist so she didn’t come across as a complete dragon.

  Andrea’s face dropped and she narrowed her eyes at Melissa.

  ‘It’s fine,’ the journalist said. ‘Covering the meeting and search will be enough.’ She gave Melissa her business card. ‘Just call if you change your mind.’ Then they both walked away, Andrea turning to regard Melissa with a sombre expression.

  Tommy arrived on the podium, the room going quiet. He looked like his son, Peter, barrel-chested, with inquisitive blue eyes. Sometimes it seemed to Melissa that he still thought he was a police officer, the way he acted.

  Tommy took a moment to contemplate the people in the room. People were standing at the edges now, including Daphne, her slim arms folded. She gave Melissa a curt nod when she saw her, unusually subdued.

  ‘Thank you for being here tonight in what I appreciate are worrying times for everyone,’ Tommy began in his gravelly voice. His eyes rested on Melissa and Bill as everyone shot them sympathetic smiles. ‘The objective tonight is to find any evidence that might help the police track down the scum who did this to our friend Patrick.’

  The scum who did this. Like one of her kids? Melissa thought, wrapping her arms around herself.

  ‘As much as I admire the police,’ Tommy continued, ‘and I used to be a detective myself, after all,’ he added, puffing his chest out in pride, ‘the past twenty-four hours were crucial in the investigation and yet, from what I gather from my sources in the force, no progress has been made.’

  That was good, wasn’t it? Melissa thought. With it looking likely that one of the kids had stabbed their own father – the very idea made Melissa shudder as it crossed through her mind – she didn’t want there to be progress if it led to them. She needed time to figure things out.

  A hush fell over the room then as the two detectives in charge of Patrick’s case walked in – and they did not seem happy.

  Tommy looked slightly flustered for a moment but then gathered himself. ‘Speaking of the police,’ he said, gesturing towards the detectives. People turned to look at them, murmuring.

  Detective Crawford marched up the centre of the room as the stern-looking detective stayed at the back, scrutinising everyone with narrowed eyes. Melissa shuffled about in her chair as the detective’s eyes alighted on her, wishing desperately that she hadn’t come.

  ‘Sources?’ Detective Crawford asked Tommy. ‘What sources are these?’

  ‘A man never divulges the identity of his sources,’ Tommy said with a nervous laugh.

  The detective turned to the room. ‘Well, this is quite the gathering. We were walking by and were rather intrigued to see such a busy crowd in here. Now I know why . . . you’re conducting a search?’

  Tommy nodded. ‘That’s right, Detective,’ he said in a loud voice, smiling at the crowds. ‘We thought you could do with the help.’

  Detective Crawford gave him a tight smile. ‘May I?’ he asked, gesturing to the microphone Tommy was holding.

  Tommy hesitated a moment then reluctantly handed it over.

  The detective turned to the room. ‘For those of you who don’t know, I’m Detective Crawford and I’m in charge of the investigation into the attack on Patrick Byatt. I want to start by reassuring you all we are doing everything we can to track down the perpetrator who injured him.’

  There was some discontented chatter in the room.

  ‘I also want to remind you all that this is an ongoing investigation,’ the detective continued, looking into the crowd seriously. ‘We have to be very mindful of not risking the investigation, or tampering with evidence, something an unofficial search like this could well do.’

  Melissa could see how annoyed he was and, even worse, his eyes were on her now, a slight crease in his brow. She wished she could run up to him, tell him she hadn’t agreed to this bloody search either!

  ‘Found the knife yet?’ someone shouted.

  Melissa’s stomach dropped. The knife the kids had hidden.

  ‘Not yet,’ Detective Crawford said with a pleasant smile. ‘But regarding where we are with the investigation—’

  ‘Nowhere!’ Graham Cane shouted.

  ‘Pipe down, Graham!’ Rebecca Feine, the landlady of the Neck of the Woods pub, shouted out. ‘It’s only been twenty-four hours, give them a chance.’

  ‘This lady is quite right,’ Detective Crawford said. ‘We’re at the very early stages.’

  ‘Then tell us what those early stages are,’ Belinda Bell said. ‘This is our community, we deserve to know. Did someone break into the house, for example?’

  ‘There was no sign of a break-in,’ the detective replied.

  ‘So someone just walked in?’ Peter Mileham asked.

  ‘More than likely,’ Detective Crawford replied. ‘This seems like the kind of place where peopl
e are happy to leave their doors unlocked, am I right?’

  Everyone nodded. Forest Grovians were proud of that fact.

  ‘Not any more,’ said a woman a few seats down from Melissa, crossing her arms and shaking her head in disgust. Melissa recognised her as being Charlie Cane, Graham Cane’s daughter and the mum of one of the girls in the twins’ year. Melissa had never quite warmed to her. She was one of those people who put photos of themselves on social media in revealing gym wear, pretending it was purely to ‘inspire’ people to lose weight when really it was a vanity exercise in getting social media likes, considering she’d had absolutely no weight to lose in the first place.

  ‘What about all the immigrants who’ve moved to Ashbridge? Have you questioned them?’ Charlie asked now.

  ‘Oh Jesus,’ Daphne said, sighing. ‘Please don’t turn this into a live version of the Daily Mail’s comments.’

  Some people in the room laughed.

  ‘Charlie’s got a point, though!’ Belinda Bell said. ‘I bet crime’s gone up since the factory opened.’

  ‘The surrounding towns and villages are, naturally, being explored, and residents questioned,’ the detective said. ‘However, we need to consider the possibility that Patrick knew the person who attacked him,’ he added, looking around the room.

  Melissa kept her eyes down, her fists clenching and unclenching as she tried to keep her breath even.

  ‘Unlikely,’ Bill said, shaking his head. ‘Nobody Patrick knew would do this to him.’

  ‘How can you be so sure, Bill?’ Rebecca said. ‘The world isn’t as black and white as you’d all like it to be.’

  ‘Bill’s right,’ Andrea said. ‘Nobody would hurt Patrick. He’s well loved here.’

  ‘Yeah, well loved by you, Andrea,’ Melissa heard someone behind her whisper.

  Melissa turned and shot the person a look. It made her feel uncomfortable, the way people talked so openly about Andrea’s crush on Patrick.

  ‘Let’s hear what the detective has to say,’ Tommy said. ‘So, Detective, are you saying Patrick was specifically targeted? That this wasn’t just a break-in gone wrong?’

  ‘As I said, we’re following a number of leads,’ Detective Crawford replied, raising his voice to be heard above the whispers of discontent.

  ‘What leads?’ Bill asked.

  ‘I can’t go into that now.’

  ‘It’s probably a teenager, mind all warped with that Nightfort game,’ said Pauline Sharpe, a woman Melissa had been at school with. ‘There’s been an increase in graffiti at the local park.’

  Melissa noticed Kitty Fletcher nodding enthusiastically.

  ‘Fortnite,’ Daphne said under her breath with an eye roll.

  ‘Yes,’ Belinda said. ‘Look what happened with Jacob Simms!’

  Melissa’s stomach turned at the mention of her client, Jacob.

  Andrew Blake, a man in his forties with a pockmarked face dressed in army fatigues, crossed his arms. ‘Well, if it is someone here in the village, they’ll live to regret it. No one gets away with stuff like this in our village, old or young.’

  Melissa looked at him in shock as others murmured in agreement.

  ‘I will not put up with any vigilante action,’ Detective Crawford shouted above the noise. The room went quiet. ‘It will be severely punished. Am I understood?’

  People mumbled, rolling their eyes.

  ‘What about the argument that was reported between Ryan Day and Patrick?’ Andrew asked.

  There were gasps from the crowds, people turning to look at Daphne, Ryan’s ex.

  Melissa searched her mind for any memory of an argument between Patrick and Ryan. Yes, things had always been strained between them since that fight they had as kids, and more recently they’d been at odds over cutting down the oak tree. But it had never spilled out into anything more than a few tense words . . . from what she knew, anyway.

  ‘Yes, weird he’s not here,’ Graham Cane said.

  ‘It’s all part of our investigation,’ Detective Crawford said.

  ‘Can we leave Ryan alone, please?’ Daphne said. ‘Just because he doesn’t follow the Forest Grove conventions doesn’t make him a suspect.’

  ‘An overheard argument does, though,’ Andrew said.

  ‘Overheard by the man who’s hated Ryan ever since Ryan caught him climbing the old oak when he was drunk,’ Daphne said, shooting Andrew a look.

  ‘You saying I’m lying?’ Andrew asked her.

  ‘Yes!’ Daphne shouted back.

  ‘Andrew may be many things,’ Graham said, ‘but he is not a liar.’

  ‘Oh, please!’ Rebecca Feine said, laughing.

  ‘That’s enough!’ Detective Crawford shouted out. ‘This is exactly why we wouldn’t have agreed to an event like this.’

  ‘We have every right to be concerned about what happened to Patrick Byatt,’ Belinda Bell said. ‘We have every right to meet as a community to discuss it.’

  ‘Hell yeah, freedom of speech!’ someone shouted out.

  ‘Exactly,’ Andrew said. ‘Some little scumbag has got into one of our houses and stabbed one of our people. We will not stand for this.’

  People started talking again, nodding their heads in agreement.

  ‘Bring back the death penalty!’ someone shouted out. ‘Hang the little fucker.’

  ‘Oh, for God’s sake!’ Daphne said, shaking her head. ‘This is a farce.’

  Melissa put her hands over her ears. Death penalty. Hanging. They all wanted blood, and it terrified her because it could be one of her children’s blood they wanted, even if they didn’t know it. No wonder Grace had seemed so scared earlier.

  ‘Shut up!’ Daphne suddenly shouted out. She pointed to the back of the hall. Melissa followed her gaze and let out a gasp. The twins were standing there with Rosemary, their eyes wide with fear, clearly having heard what everyone was saying.

  Everyone in the room went quiet and Melissa jumped up, running to them.

  ‘What are you doing here?’ she asked.

  Lilly shot her mother a fearful look. ‘Grace is missing!’

  Chapter Seventeen

  Friday 19th April, 2019

  4.49 p.m.

  ‘What do you mean, Grace is missing?’ Melissa asked.

  ‘We thought she was still in the room,’ Rosemary said, wringing her hands. ‘But when I went up to check on her, she was gone.’

  ‘We searched the whole house,’ Lewis said, brown eyes filling with tears. ‘The garden and the forest next to it too. Nothing.’

  Melissa tried not to panic as she thought of what Grace had said earlier about being scared. A horrible thought occurred to her. What if Grace had been lying that morning when she said no one else had hurt their dad? What if someone else was involved and now they’d taken her?

  Detective Powell strolled over to them from nearby. ‘Grace is missing?’ she asked.

  They all nodded.

  ‘Does she disappear like this often?’ Detective Powell asked.

  Melissa took a few deep breaths to calm herself. ‘Grace does sometimes take herself off on little walks,’ she admitted. ‘She gets easily distracted, might see a fox and run off, that sort of thing. I’m sure she’s fine.’

  But as she looked out into the early-evening gloom of the forest, she wasn’t so sure.

  Tommy Mileham joined them. ‘Everything okay here?’

  ‘Little Grace has gone missing,’ Rosemary explained.

  ‘Oh Lord!’ said Andrea, who was listening from nearby. ‘Grace has gone missing!’ she shouted out.

  People gasped and Melissa closed her eyes, pinching her nose. This was the last thing they needed.

  ‘I’m sure it’ll be fine,’ she said in a shaky voice. ‘She’s done this before.’

  ‘Done this before?’ Belinda Bell said. ‘On her own in the forest in the dark?’

  ‘But she’s only little!’ Andrea said.

  ‘It won’t be properly dark for ages yet. And she’s ten, for God�
�s sake, she’ll be fine,’ Daphne said. ‘Ryan and I used to let Maddy wander the forest when she was that age.’

  Some of the mums raised their eyebrows at Daphne.

  ‘Bit irresponsible,’ Belinda said, crossing her arms as Kitty Fletcher nodded. ‘There can be some very dense parts of the woods. Adults easily get lost, let alone children.’

  Thanks for making me feel even worse, Melissa wanted to say.

  ‘What if the person who hurt Patrick is still out there?’ Andrea asked, eyes wide with concern. ‘We can’t have a little girl wandering about on her own in the forest.’

  ‘Come on, everyone, let’s find little Grace!’ Tommy Mileham shouted.

  Everyone started heading into the forest, even the two detectives. Suddenly the search for the knife had turned into a search for the victim’s daughter.

  ‘We should get ahead of them,’ Melissa said to the twins. ‘It’ll terrify Grace, seeing all those people marching up to her. Rosemary, Bill,’ she said, ‘can you go back home and wait for her in case she goes back there?’ They both nodded and walked in the direction of their house.

  ‘Grace will hate all this fuss,’ Lilly said as they ran into the forest, her trembling voice betraying her fear.

  ‘I know,’ Lewis said with a shaky laugh. ‘She’ll probably be poking some dead animal with a stick somewhere.’

  ‘How was Grace before she went?’ Melissa asked, watching as torches flickered on in the distance, people shouting out Grace’s name.