by Susan Gee
I frown. ‘Who cares?’ I look around. ‘Why’s it so quiet?’
Mike exhales. ‘It’s just a local police station.’
‘I thought there’d be stuff up about the crimes.’
I glance around.
His eye twitches. ‘I think Lewis Collins is too rough and ready. They need someone understated.’
Beverley Samuels steps into the room.
‘Sorry to keep you,’ she says as she raises an eyebrow. ‘Hayley?’
‘I came with him.’
I start to get up, but Beverley Samuels raises her hand. ‘Hayley, you can wait here. Mr Lancaster, would you like to come this way?’
‘It’s just to confirm those dates,’ Mike says.
‘I don’t want to discuss it in the waiting room,’ she replies.
I like the way that she’s in control. He follows through the double doors without another word. If she weren’t police, I might like her.
36
DS Beverley Samuels
When Maxine Turner’s body was found in the same stretch of the river as Kirsten Green’s was, I focused on my breathing to seem calm; we’re lucky that the current didn’t take her further. A statement to the press was made yesterday and her photograph is all over the local news. Kirsten Green was not attractive enough for their front covers. The plain and ugly girls don’t sell newspapers, no matter how many tears their mothers have shed, but Maxine’s face is everywhere.
It was a setback when we found out that Mr Phillips, Maxine’s English teacher, was away in London on a three-day course at the time. He was out with a group of people and not back to his hotel until the early hours. Nick couldn’t hide his disappointment when Mr Phillips’ credit-card receipt from the hotel bar matched the story. As Mr Phillips stuttered his way through our questions it became clear that he wasn’t involved in her disappearance and we were back with nothing again. Somewhere out there is an older boyfriend though, and we’ll find him.
That morning, I get a call from Michael Lancaster asking if I’m available to speak to him. It comes in minutes before I’m about to contact him myself. The fear in Hayley Reynolds’s eyes at the river was real and I’m convinced that she’s afraid of him. She’d rather be at a freezing river than at home and it isn’t normal. I know something is going on with that family and I want to see his reaction when I ask him about Kirsten Green and Maxine Turner. It angers me that after her dad left, she’s had to live in fear. It’s not right.
*
Michael Lancaster arrives on time and I take him down the long corridor, past the various rooms, until we reach Interview Room 6. Hayley’s with him, but I leave her in the waiting room. It feels like he’s controlling her and I wonder if he’s brought her to back up his story.
‘Here we are,’ I say as I hold the door open for him.
He scratches the side of his neck and clears his throat. I motion to a plastic chair. ‘Have a seat.’
Nick comes into the room and sits in the corner.
‘This is DS Nick Oldham. He’ll be sitting in.’
Michael Lancaster coughs into his hands. I try to see the guilt on his face, but I don’t see anything. I’m reminded of Moira Timperley’s stepdad. He was cold too, to the point and factual. I believed him when he said there was nothing going on. He didn’t even flinch. I won’t be taken in again.
‘Thanks for coming in. You got the dates confirmed?’
‘Sorry it took me a while.’ He glances at Nick, and I hope it makes him uncomfortable enough to make a mistake. I take my time as I look through my notebook. The sound of the pages turning and his breathing fill the silent room. He fidgets. I glance down at the mottled skin on his hands and wonder if he touched those girls. I wonder if he’s forgotten something, left a piece of clothing in his car or been seen by someone who is yet to come forward.
I look him in the eye. ‘We were expecting you a while ago,’ I say.
His face is blank and unrevealing. I imagine it would be easy for him to gain their trust.
‘My mind’s been on other things, sorry.’
I want to tell him that whatever’s been on his mind is hardly important compared to the death of two girls, but I don’t. I take a moment to look at him and he drops his gaze to the table.
‘Well, you’re here now.’
‘I wasn’t working that day. It was my day off.’
He looks up and stares me straight in the eye and it feels as if he’s telling the truth this time. Nick sits in the corner without a word.
‘You seemed certain earlier,’ I say.
‘I got it wrong.’
I think back to the day at Hayley’s house and the way that her mother was so annoyed and dismissive. If he wasn’t certain that he’d been working, then she was.
‘Your partner seemed sure.’
Mike coughs again. ‘I was back home late, but I wasn’t working.’
He looks sideways and I know that he hasn’t forgotten what he did that day. He can remember exactly. I can see it in his face.
‘What were you doing, Mr Lancaster?’
‘I had a day off.’
He starts messing in his coat pocket and drops his keys on the floor.
‘Sorry,’ he says as he picks the keys up. He’s clumsy: the kind of man who would be dismissed and I wonder if Nick can see it too.
‘Where were you on September 20th?’
‘Well…’
He taps his foot against the leg of the chair in a steady beat. I’ve had enough people sitting in that chair to know that this kind of environment puts some of them on edge, but he hasn’t told me the truth since I met him. He starts rattling his keys on the desk and I exhale loudly. He puts his hands down.
‘At a friend’s house.’
‘Which friend?’
‘I was with my ex, OK?’
He looks over at Nick for support and gets nothing back.
‘And she’d confirm that?’
‘Yes, if she was here. She’s at a conference in Brussels. I don’t know when she’s back.’
I resist the urge to say, ‘How convenient.’
I narrow my eyes and imagine him with Maxine Turner. It makes me wonder if Kirsten Green was seeing an older man too. Kirsten’s dad left her years ago as well. It wouldn’t be surprising for her to go for a father figure and I wonder if Michael Lancaster has been seducing young girls. As he sits there across from me, with his small eyes and awkwardly long legs, I can picture it. I’m tempted to ask the question to see what he says, but something tells me that this isn’t the last time he’s going to be sitting here.
‘And her name?’
‘Silvia Gale. She lives on Manley Road in Chorlton. Look, can you make sure this doesn’t get back to Hayley’s mum? She wouldn’t understand.’
I smile at Nick. ‘I don’t imagine she would.’
Michael Lancaster looks angry and I’m pleased. I want to see him riled. Hayley’s mum is just the kind of vulnerable woman that a man like him would choose. I see her entering a cycle of abuse from one man to the next and it’s no wonder that Hayley didn’t want to spend any time at home. She’s a smart girl; she’d be on to him.
‘How long is she in Brussels for?’
‘She’s contracting so, I don’t know, could be a few months.’
‘Working for?’
‘I don’t know the name.’
‘Right.’
‘She’s married. It was stupid of us both.’
I wait for a minute before I ask him, ‘And 5th December? When Maxine Turner went missing. Were you working then?’
‘Yes. I think I saw her.’
‘Where?’
‘Near the gates on Green Pastures. In the afternoon. About half two ish? I finished early. As soon as I heard it on the news I knew I had to come in.’
I wonder if he came in because it was on the news or because Hayley Reynolds told him we’d talked.
‘You spoke to her?’
‘I drove past. It might have been
someone else.’
I see him pull up in his car to offer her a lift home. I wonder if she got in. He sickens me.
‘And who was there when you got home?’
‘No one. Maybe Hayley, I don’t remember. I don’t even know if it was her.’
‘But you think it was?’
‘I don’t know.’
I don’t believe him. He’s covering himself in case he was seen. I want to ask him about the argument he had with Hayley’s mum too, but not today. Last week, Mrs Green grabbed my hands and asked me to find who did this to her daughter and I will do. I’m convinced it wasn’t an accident now. Two girls from the same college in the same piece of river is no coincidence. I can make a difference here. My mother could never understand why I chose this job, but this is the reason.
‘Do you like teenage girls, Mr Lancaster?’
His mouth opens.
‘Sorry?’
He moves back on his seat. The words of Moira Timperley’s autopsy float through my head. Signs of blunt force trauma, a hit so hard it could have been from a car crash and defensive wounds to the arms that couldn’t save her. The images of Kirsten and Maxine follow. He might think he’s clever, but he won’t take any more girls. I won’t let him. He’s going to join Moira’s stepdad in prison.
‘You live with one. They’re not the easiest, are they? How are things with you two?’ I smile.
‘What’s she said? We had all this when I first moved in. I haven’t done anything.’
The colour has gone from his face and I wonder what it is that he thinks that she’s told me. I lean forwards and wait for him to continue.
‘Really?’
‘She makes things up,’ he continues. ‘Look, I’ve told you what you wanted to know.’
He crosses his arms and looks over at Nick.
‘Did you know Kirsten Green or Maxine Turner?’ I ask.
‘No! And I don’t like where this is going.’
‘You’re just assisting with our investigation.’
‘And I’ve told you everything I know. You need to find whoever did this,’ he says to Nick and not me.
He stands up and we face each other. I don’t tell him that Hayley’s friend told me he’d exposed himself to her. Her attendance and grades have dropped massively and it’s all been recorded. I don’t want him to know that yet though. Hayley told me he was a liar and now he’s saying she is. It’s all to cover himself.
We stand in silence for a minute and I want him to feel uncomfortable. I wonder if his ex-girlfriend does exist, but I’ve a feeling that he’s cleverer than that. The more that I meet with the man, the more that I see another side to him. As we walk out of the room, I glance at Nick before he goes back to the office; I can tell he doesn’t like him either.
Hayley Reynolds is still in the waiting room. I’m not sure if it’s her choice to be here, but she can’t sit still. It’s as though the pair of them have a shared lie. When we open the door Hayley stands up.
Michael Lancaster starts talking, before she can. ‘We need to get going. The ticket runs out in a minute.’
Hayley looks over at me.
‘You still have my number?’ I ask her.
‘Let’s get going,’ Mike says as he starts to walk towards the door.
As they leave he doesn’t hold the door open for her. He lets it drop in his haste to get out and I promise myself that Michael Lancaster isn’t going to dump any more young girls in that river. He walks on with Hayley Reynolds trailing two steps behind. Letting her go with him is one of the hardest things I’ve had to do.
37
Hayley Reynolds
I know that Beverley Samuels is watching as we walk down the corridor. I hardly look at the man on reception and stay back from Mike. Whatever happened in there has upset him.
‘Was that OK?’ I ask. ‘You look annoyed.’
‘Let’s go.’
‘What’s up? I didn’t even mention that night in my room.’
‘Quiet,’ he says, not being quiet at all, with a face that’s white with anger. I’ve not seen him like that before.
‘What?’
‘Just stop,’ he says as he practically runs towards the door. I turn around to see if she’s still looking and bite my bottom lip when I see that she is.
‘What’ve you been saying about me?’
‘If you want to hit me, just hit me.’
He drops his hand and sighs. ‘Why would I hit you?’
As he walks off I shout after him so that she can hear, ‘I’ve not said anything to anyone.’
Outside, the sun is bright and I put my hand up to my face as we walk down the steps of the station. He’s so fast that it’s hard to keep up with him. The cinema has a sign up for Santa Claus: The Movie that says: ‘Seeing Is Believing’ and I turn away from it. People see what they want to and they’ll believe anything. When we get further down the road to where the car’s parked, he stops.
‘I don’t know why you’re being like this.’
‘Like what?’
‘Like this! I was going to get an album for the photos. Then go to Lyme Park. Or Styal woods? Take some more. Then I find out you’ve been saying things about me again. Why? I thought we were OK.’
‘What photos? What are you on about?’
‘The ones we took by the river. I took them in yesterday.’ He rubs his eyes. ‘I’m doing my best here. I just don’t know why you don’t give me a chance.’
The blood drops from my face. ‘What did you do that for, you idiot?’
I want to tell him that he’s ruined everything. As soon as they see what’s on that film that will be the end. The camera was pointing right at the water and there’s a good chance that my reflection is on one of those photographs. I can picture it now. The image of me reflected on the river, standing over her limp body with the camera. I try to think of ways to fix it, but I can’t. I should have insisted days ago that he brought it back from work.
‘Don’t speak to me like that.’ He puts his hands out as though he’s going to grab me, but he doesn’t. ‘Get in,’ he orders as he opens the car door.
When we’re inside, he puts the key in the ignition, but doesn’t turn it on. He turns sideways to look at me.
‘What happened. That was, that was…’ he pauses ‘…wrong. I was drunk, but it’s no excuse. I know it was wrong, OK?’
‘I don’t want you looking at those pictures. I want to have them first. They’re mine.’
‘I can’t win with either of you. All I wanted was a good Christmas together.’ He rubs his eyes again before he turns on the ignition. ‘That’s all gone to shit,’ he says, and he’s right, because that’s what always happens. It’s the first sensible thing that he’s ever said and as we drive home I feel like opening the door and jumping out. When they see those photographs, they’ll come for me. He’s going to know that I killed Maxine as soon as he gets them back. I should never have used his camera. I’m not ready. It doesn’t make any difference now though. I can hardly breathe. This could be the last time that I’ll see this street. He’s no idea what he’s done.
I stare at his hands on the steering wheel as we drive home. As his aftershave wafts over I remember the feeling of my head on his chest and the freshly washed smell of his shirt as I curled up on him the night Dad left. The thought of it all makes my mouth go dry and I wish I didn’t mess everything up all the time, but it’s what I do. This isn’t what was meant to happen, but I should be used to it by now. I ruin everything and everyone who is ever nice to me. That night he made me feel safer than I’d felt in a long time, but thinking about it gives me a headache.
‘When are they ready?’
‘Next week,’ he says, with a glance in the mirror. ‘I don’t know what’s wrong with you. It’s all you’ve been going on about for days. I thought you’d be pleased.’
I wonder if that means I’ve got a whole week before they notice what’s on them or if they’ll see it before then. My palms are clammy and
it feels as though I’m not really here: as though this is someone else’s dream.
‘I hate you,’ I say through gritted teeth, but he pretends not to hear me as he turns up the radio and I pretend not to care.
*
Back at college on Monday, I see Leila for the first time in ages, sitting on the armchairs in reception with Stefan and Barbara. Leila is miming to a song with her yellow headphones in and she’s wearing the same tartan trousers as Barbara. She’s wearing too much make up and her hair is thick with mousse and spray. It doesn’t suit her. Now that Mike has taken the photographs in, there isn’t much time left. I walk straight over and sit in the middle of them. There’s no time to mess about any more.
Barbara groans. ‘Do you mind? There’s someone sitting there.’
‘Yeah, me.’
Leila takes off her headphones and glances at Stefan as though she’s angry with me. The tinny sound of ‘Love and Pride’ by King continues to play in her lap. She can go to all the gigs she wants to, but I know what she really likes.
I look at Stefan and he nods back at me as though we hardly know each other. They’re all fakes. It doesn’t matter now though. What we had is over. As the door to the entrance opens and the wind comes in like a whisper in my ear, I know that Kirsten wants them; she wants them all.
‘He’s with Leila,’ Barbara says. ‘Get over it.’
Leila doesn’t defend me, she just puts her hand up. ‘It’s fine.’
Barbara turns to Stefan. ‘Hayley’s delusional. She thinks she’s your girlfriend. That’s why she’s here.’
‘I never said that. I just said we used to see each other sometimes,’ I reply.
I wait for him to tell them the truth, but he doesn’t. Barbara shakes her head.
‘Told you.’ She laughs.
I don’t have long left now and I’m not going to waste it. I just need to tell Leila how I feel, but she won’t even look at me.
‘Awkward,’ mouths Barbara.
‘Can we have a chat outside?’ I ask as I stand up.
‘I’m staying here,’ Leila replies, with her head down, and Barbara grins.
‘The New Year’s Eve tickets are sold out, if that’s what you’re after,’ Barbara says.