Seeking the Dead

by Kate Ellis

The matter-of-fact way she said it surprised Joe. She looked at him as though she could read his mind. ‘I can’t stop thinking about Elizabeth. What made her …?’

  Joe glanced at Maddy. ‘We won’t know for sure until we get the full psychiatric report.’ He fell silent for a few moments, imagining the bitterness that must have gnawed away at Elizabeth for years like a hungry rat before she hit on the idea of avenging herself by proxy.

  ‘Well, I think she was an evil bitch,’ said Carmel with the certainty of youth, her voice trembling a little.

  Joe said nothing. He turned to Maddy. ‘How’s Peta Thewlis?’

  ‘I’ve not seen her,’ Maddy replied. ‘She’s not been into work since … And someone said she was moving away.’

  ‘Tim will probably go to a secure hospital,’ said Joe. ‘Perhaps she’ll want to be near him.’

  He half turned his head and thought he caught a fleeting glimpse of a pale shadow in the corner. Maybe the girl hadn’t gone away after all.

  Perhaps she never would.