McCarthy is examining Simon’s every breath, movement and word.
He seems to be telling the truth, but this was too much of a coincidence. He was clearly obsessed with Kate, had taken weird photos of her over the course of ten months, stolen jewelry from her bedroom and then ‘just happened’ to be at the same club as her the night she went missing?
McCarthy is sceptical, to say the least.
‘Simon, I feel like you’re keeping something from us. Tell me, did you always cover your face inside the club?’
Simon looks at him directly and nods.
‘Yeah. Pretty much. I always covered my face, apart from once or twice when I first went there, a couple of years ago. I wore masks or whatever and liked being anonymous. Lots of people do that in there.’
McCarthy remains calm and holds eye contact with Simon, nodding encouragingly for him to continue.
‘And what exactly did you do inside of this club, Simon? Remember, if you don’t tell us, someone else will. We’ve just started interviewing people that recognise you from there and are confident we will have a clear picture of every move you ever made inside that place, soon. Do you understand?’
Simon feels extremely dizzy. He had no idea what would actually happen when he told the police what he was doing at Haven that night, but he hoped they would believe he was innocent and knew nothing about Kate’s disappearance.
Now they were looking at him like he was a terrible person and a liar. He would have to elaborate.
He tells them he has secretly been involved in London’s S&M scene, on and off, for about two years and he went to a few of the club nights now and then, always wearing a mask of some kind.
He wore latex, usually womens clothes and he felt like he could never tell Lydia.
He tells them he thought it was just something he needed to get out of his system. His family were extremely conservative and they wouldn’t understand either.
At the thought of his parents and younger brother, Simon starts to cry and McCarthy wonders if he’s crying because he’s so ashamed of his lifestyle or because he’s guilty of something much worse than wearing latex and womens clothing.
McCarthy asks him to explain why he took photographs of Kate.
‘It wasn’t for a photography project, was it?
Simon hesitates before he answers and his eyes dart around the room as he searches for words to explain it all.
‘Look, this is hard to explain. I admire Kate. She is kind of who I want. I mean, who I want to be, you know? She’s confident and beautiful and has this edgy side. I admire her and I suppose it could be seen as an obsession, but I would NEVER hurt her. Why would I? I want to find her as much as anyone.’
McCarthy nods in understanding and keeping a gentle tone, he urges Simon to tell him more.
‘And why did you take the necklace from her room?’
Simon thinks for a few seconds before answering. Then, staring vacantly ahead, he tells them, almost in a whisper, that he wanted something to help him feel close to Kate.
He didn’t plan on taking the necklace, but when he saw it there, in her room, he felt like she would want him to have it.
The questioning continues for almost an hour. McCarthy wants to know if Simon has been withholding information about anyone else that might know Kate from the scene and what he remembers from the night he saw her at the club.
Simon tells them that he arrived at Haven at around midnight and watched a few of the performances in the main room, before checking out the ‘PlayRoom’.
There, he chatted to a few people that he vaguely recognised and planned on spending some time in there later on in the night.
He was about to get a drink when he saw Kate and he got such a fright that he just got his stuff from the cloakroom and left.
He tells them that he had no idea if she was there with anyone and all he knows is that he saw her coming up the stairs, as he was coming down.
Kate hadn’t recognised Simon with his face covered. She was wearing a small mask too, but he knew it was her. He was sure of it.
McCarthy asks why he didn’t take his phone with him. Surely, he would need it to get a taxi home, if nothing else? Simon says he didn’t always take his phone when he went to nights like that and as they were strictly forbidden at Haven, it was easier and safer to just leave it switched off at home.
The CCTV footage shows that Simon left before 1AM, and he tells them that he has a credit card bill to prove he paid for a taxi home at that time.
McCarthy takes a moment to decide what to ask him next.
So far, the story, however bizarre it might sound, is adding up.
‘What did you think when you saw Kate?’
‘Well, I got a real fright, because I never expected to see anyone I knew in there, especially one of the twins, but I suppose it made sense, because a lot of these fashion people hang out there, and quite a few models. It didn’t necessarily mean they were into the fetish scene, as such. I guess it was just a kind of cool thing to do.’
McCarthy suggests a break and offers Simon a coffee while he takes a call in the other room.
He needs to think of another way to get him to open up. There has to be something Simon isn’t telling them.
37
Yukio has sent another message on FetWorld asking if Lydia wants to go to Haven tomorrow night. She has a spare ticket.
This Friday will be the first club night they’ve held since Kate went missing, three weeks before and it’s completely sold out.
In fact, ticket sales went through the roof as soon as the media started linking Haven to Kate Stone.
The excitement, shock and mystery around the case had prompted regulars to pay a visit and certainly encouraged some newcomers to check it out, too.
In a twisted way, the story was the greatest advertisement Tony Briggs could have asked for and he’s made sure that some of his best acts are booked to perform, to make the night extra special.
Lydia didn’t even know it was happening and it had never occurred to her that she should go to Haven to try to get some information about her sister.
But, now that Yukio had made the suggestion, how could she say no?
It was the perfect opportunity to find out what people knew about Kate and she had the advantage of looking exactly like her. If someone recognises Lydia, that means they recognise her twin and might know something about where she is.
Lydia can’t help but feel both excited and nervous about seeing what the fetish scene is all about and also ‘being Kate’ for the night.
She responds quickly to Yukio with her phone number and says that she definitely wants to join on Friday.
Then, she goes straight to Kate’s room to pick out something to wear, knowing there’s no way she’ll have anything suitable in her own wardrobe.
After a bit of rummaging, Lydia finds a leather skirt and black corset she thinks look good together and she hopes it’s the right kind of thing for Haven.
A cheerful text arrives from Yukio with an address in Bermondsey, telling her to come around at 8pm for drinks and ‘to meet the gang’ before they go out.
Lydia’s stomach flips.
This will be the wildest thing she’s ever done.
38
McCarthy meets with Jared Cooper to get an update on the online search for Kate.
Although Jared says he’s still no closer to finding her, he tells McCarthy all about Dave and the other men from the Hackney warehouse.
A few days after he had met Dave at the warehouse, Jared had made contact again and asked him about the girl from the online advert. Dave responded by offering him another two girls, sent some naked photographs of them via email, and although they had similar features to Kate, they definitely weren’t her.
Jared seems disappointed and tells McCarthy that they are now pursuing other avenues to find Kate.
But, McCarthy has another idea. He knows that Ha
ven is opening its doors tomorrow night for the first time since Kate went missing. He thinks Jared should go to see if he can find anyone who might know her.
‘There’s just one thing, mate. You have to eh... dress up, if you know what I mean.’
McCarthy can’t help but smile when he sees Jared’s face turn bright red at the mention of dressing up.
‘You got something ‘alternative’ to wear, so you fit in at the club?
Jared’s fumbles with his bag and gathers his things together to leave, telling McCarthy, in a quiet voice, that he’s got a pair of leather trousers that will do just fine.
‘I’ll let you know how it goes, and if the team uncover anything else in the meantime, I’ll be in touch, Detective McCarthy.’
McCarthy waits until Jared is halfway down the hall before he allows himself to laugh.
Just thinking about that guy at a fetish night is enough to make McCarthy giggle, never mind the leather trousers he mentioned.
39
The next day goes by in a blur and all Lydia can think about is Yukio, the people she’s going to meet later and what the night ahead at Haven might have in store.
Lydia hasn’t told anyone about where she’s going in case they try to stop her and that means lying to her parents.
She decides to tell them she’s going to meet some friends from school she hasn’t seen for a while for pizza and a few drinks.
Barbara and Brian both agree that getting out for the night is just what she needs and her dad even offers to give her a lift into town.
Lydia refuses, hugs her parents goodbye and before they can say a word, she’s out the door with a bag full of Kate’s clothes and make-up.
Lydia has always been the well-behaved daughter. The one who never lies or parties, the one who always does her homework on time and keeps her room tidy.
But, breaking the rules like this actually feels surprisingly good to her and she doesn’t think about anything else except making the most of this opportunity to get a taste of Kate’s secret life and gather as much information as possible.
The taxi journey seems to take forever and when they finally pull up at Yukio’s address in Bermondsey, Lydia is exhausted. The adrenaline she felt when she left the house has disappeared and now she just feels the familiar rise of anxiety in her chest.
Nevertheless, a few minutes later she’s standing in front of a towering row of houses about to ring the doorbell.
When there’s no answer after the fifth ring, Lydia starts to panic and wonders if Yukio is playing with her or trying to get revenge for the way Lydia had treated her the night by the river.
But, eventually she hears loud footsteps approaching the door from inside and it swings open to reveal a tall pierced and tattooed girl with milky white skin, bright blue eyes and a blonde mohawk.
The girl smiles at Lydia, shakes her hand and says her name is Naomi, then explains that Yukio is doing some cam work in her bedroom but will be finished soon.
Lydia manages a casual ‘Okay. Cool!’ but she’s furiously trying to figure out what ‘cam work’ is.
She’s heard the term before and knows it has something to do with webcams.
She decides that as Yukio is a performer, she must have to do some web promotion.
Lydia follows Naomi up the dark narrow staircase into the flat and when they get to the landing, she notices how huge the place is inside.
Naomi tells her that it’s spread over four floors and leads her towards a room at the front, where she says everyone’s hanging out.
As they approach the door, Lydia can hear music and lots of chatter coming from inside and her heart starts to race.
This is not the kind of house party she’s used to and suddenly, she feels about twelve-years-old.
Inside, Lydia is introduced to five other people: Ian, Eustace, Dee, Cara and Emma.
Ian and Eustace are a beautiful bronzed gay couple, all over each other in the corner and dressed head to toe in leather.
Eustace is wearing what looks like a military officer’s hat and he doesn’t stop smiling or touching his partner, even when he says hi to Lydia.
Lydia waves to a scantily clad Cara and Emma who wave back but are deep in conversation about some kind of portfolio they’re looking through.
She says hi to Dee and sits on a stool near her.
Dee shakes her head and tells Lydia to come and sit on the sofa, instead.
‘That stool is so uncomfortable! I don’t know why Yukio still keeps it.’
Dee has a loud voice, huge teeth and seems really warm and approachable. Lydia notices that out of everyone in the room, she’s more physically similar to Lydia as well, with almost identical long dark hair, parted in the middle and even the same dark eyes.
Dee’s outfit for the evening seems slightly more demure than the others, consisting of black latex trousers and a black latex halter-neck top with two red hearts across the chest.
‘You’re the one with the missing sister, aren’t you?’ she asks, quietly.
Lydia nods.
‘You poor little lamb. That’s awful. How are you coping?’
Naomi reappears all of a sudden and hands Lydia a beer, sits on the uncomfortable stool next to them and joins in with the conversation.
Lydia, aware that these two strangers really seem to care about what she’s going through, is suddenly quite emotional while telling them about Kate.
Dee puts her hand lightly on Lydia’s arm when she sees that she’s looking sad and Lydia starts to tell them both about what’s been going on, the nightmares, the uncertainty about everything, how her own boyfriend was obsessed with Kate and actually a suspect now. Although she’s not supposed to talk about it.
Dee and Naomi are enthralled. Lydia shows them a photo of Simon on her phone to see if they recognise him, but they shake their heads. They’ve never seen him before.
With Lydia’s permission, Naomi passes the phone around the room to see if any of the others recognise him, but no-one seems to.
Dee notices that Lydia is looking a bit teary and anxious and decides to change the subject.
‘So, Lydia, you’re eighteen? That’s insane. I’m thirty-four and I honestly can’t imagine having the guts to come to a house full of strangers like this at your age. You seem so calm and collected! You’re just cool Lydia.’
Dee raises her glass to cheers Lydia’s beer bottle, and does the same to Naomi’s.
‘Cheers to Lydia, everyone!’
Lydia is starting to think that these guys aren’t as weird or intimidating as she thought they’d be and realises she feels more comfortable with them than she has with anyone in a very long time.
Suddenly, Yukio appears, looking incredible in a pink latex nurse’s outfit and gigantic red fetish heels.
She squeals when she sees Lydia and rushes over to give her a big hug.
‘I really hope we can get some information about Kate tonight and maybe it’ll be good for you to get away from everything, have a few drinks, meet some new people, you know?’
Lydia nods in agreement. She’s already feeling super-relaxed.
After an hour or so of chatting with her new friends and telling them all about her sister, Lydia goes to the bathroom downstairs to put some make-up on and start getting ready for the club.
She applies thick black eye-liner to her lower lids and a dark brown shadow all over the top of her eyelids.
Then, feeling more courageous, she decides to add a flick of black at the outer corners of her eyes.
She’s always wanted to try this look.
When she’s satisfied with the result, Lydia admires herself in the mirror, barely recognizing the girl staring back at her.
She runs her fingers through her long, thick hair and decides to back-brush it a little. She feels like she needs to make things a little sexier tonight, to go with the outfit she’s about to put on.
She does her best to give he
r hair more volume, using a small comb to back-brush from the roots and when it’s full and messy, she uses hairspray to fix it that way.
She smiles at herself in the mirror and it’s like looking right into her sister’s eyes.
The alcohol and excitement at meeting new people lets Lydia’s mind drift somewhere that she’s been too scared to go up to now, to the part of her that wonders if her sister is still alive.
When they were little girls, Lydia used to feel so connected to Kate. They would play games to test if they were telepathically connected, convinced they could continue to communicate even when physically separated.
But, that was a long time ago and it’s been years since the two of them were that close.
They had grown apart. And now that Kate was gone, Lydia longs for that connection to be reignited somehow and to channel Kate’s energy tonight.
She wonders what Kate would think if she could see her getting drunk with this cool older crowd from London’s fetish scene and about to wear something sexy to go clubbing in?
Lydia gives herself a smile in the mirror, zips up her makeup bag and decides to go back upstairs before the others come looking for her. She can change her clothes later on, before they leave.
She opens the bathroom door to find Yukio waiting on the landing outside with a huge grin on her face, holding up a bundle of ropes.
Lydia looks at the ropes questioningly and Yukio explains that it’s actually a dress she had made especially for a performance at the Halloween Ball last year.
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