‘And you’ve no idea what caused him to do that?’
She shook her head.
‘Who would know? Kirstie?’
‘She might. Kirstie knows all the gossip.’
‘And where would I find her? Not in the library, obviously?’
Chloe laughed at the notion. ‘She’ll be at home watching TV, pretending to revise.’
Beth wondered whether Chloe had a low opinion of Kirstie or if they were simply competitors in the quest to be Alice Teale’s BFF.
‘You said Daniel called this girl names, in the pub? What did he call her?’ asked Beth, and when Chloe looked a bit embarrassed the detective added, ‘I probably hear worse every day in the canteen.’
‘Well, he said she was a total C-word and he used the F-word a lot and he called her a bitch and a bastard, which is actually worse than it sounds, because she is – technically, I mean. She hasn’t got a dad, and he would know that, so it was cruel.’
‘Did he call her anything else?’
‘A liar.’
‘And what did he reckon she was lying about?’
‘No idea, sorry.’ Chloe said that quickly. Whether she knew or not, it seemed she wasn’t going to let on. Beth noticed she was absent-mindedly tugging a strand on her bag, straightening it out, letting it go then straightening it again, as if the action soothed her.
‘You haven’t mentioned the girl’s name, the one he threw the drink at.’
‘Oh, sorry. It was Sophie Mayhew.’
‘And what did this Sophie Mayhew say or do when this awful thing happened to her in front of everyone?’
‘I wasn’t there.’
‘No, you weren’t,’ said Beth, ‘but the whole town must have been talking about it.’
‘One of the bar staff threw Daniel out, then she went to the toilets to get cleaned up and went home.’
‘Without saying anything to her friends? No explanation for what had happened to her, no harsh words about Daniel? Didn’t she say anything to anyone?’
‘She just said he was a fucking psycho.’
15
Tony didn’t look like the kind of lad who would respond to an arm around the shoulder. Instead, Black waited till he had calmed down and asked, ‘You miss her?’, and the boy nodded forcefully. ‘When was the last time you saw Alice?’
‘Couple of weeks back.’ He sniffed. ‘I was with my mother. She was with him.’
‘Him being her boyfriend, Chris?’
‘Yeah.’
‘Was anything said?’
‘She just blanked me.’ It was obvious how devastated he had been by that. ‘I thought he was going to say something, but he just took her hand and steered her away. I felt about that tall.’ And he showed Black a tiny gap between his thumb and forefinger.
‘Your mother understand?’
He snorted. ‘She just keeps telling me to forget her and get another girlfriend, like it’s that simple.’
‘But you can’t forget Alice?’
‘No. That’s why I got upset. I want you to find her, too. Even if I never see her again, I want to know she’s safe, that she’s … alive.’ He said the last word as if it was inconceivable Alice might not be.
Black thought it unlikely that this sensitive young man had murdered his ex-girlfriend but immediately told himself to ignore that inner voice. He had been wrong before now and first impressions could be misleading. Black knew how abruptly a teenage boy’s feelings could switch from love and adoration to resentment and even hatred, particularly when he had been rejected.
‘I have to ask where you were on the night Alice disappeared. She was last seen around nine o’clock in the evening.’
‘I was here.’
‘On your own?’
‘Yeah.’
‘You were sitting in the garage on a Friday night? You didn’t feel like venturing out to the pub?’
‘I don’t go out.’ He quickly added the word: ‘Much.’
‘In case you see her?’
‘Or anyone else.’
‘They all side with the other fella?’ asked Black, and Tony nodded.
‘You were the bad man who went off with his best friend’s girl, is that it?’ The boy didn’t dispute this. ‘But they’d broken up. She was fair game, wasn’t she?’
By way of explanation, Tony said, ‘We used to hang out all the time, Alice, Chris and me. I always thought she was really cool.’
‘But he beat you to it?’
‘Kind of. I ended up in the friend zone, but they were always arguing then making up and everything was really intense between them. It went on like that for ages. They weren’t right for each other.’ He seemed very sure about that. ‘One night they had a blazing row about nothing, really, and he asked me what he should do.’
‘And you said dump her?’
‘I said perhaps they weren’t good together. Maybe they should see how they felt if they were apart for a bit. He liked the sound of that.’
‘So he finished with her. Were you planning to ask her out at that point?’
‘No, I swear I wasn’t.’
‘But you had hopes …’ Black began.
‘That maybe one day …’ Tony shrugged as he completed that thought.
‘What happened?’
‘As soon as he broke up with her she came around to see me. She was upset. I thought she was going to have a go at me for saying they weren’t good together, but I don’t think he’d told her, not by then. I put my arm round her and just listened at first. We talked for ages and I told her I thought he was stupid not to appreciate her because she was amazing, and we kissed.’
‘That’s how it began?’ Tony nodded. ‘How long before Chris found out?’
‘In a town this size? Guess.’
‘Not long.’
‘First time we went to the pub together, his cousin spotted us, then it was all out in the open.’
‘Did he go crazy?’
‘I tried to explain I didn’t break them up to get together with her, but he wasn’t listening. He took a swing at me. He didn’t believe me. No one did. I was the bad guy and he was the heartbroken one, even though he had dumped her. It didn’t matter. Everyone was on his side.’
‘But you had Alice,’ said Black, ‘so it was worth it?’
‘It was.’ He brightened for a moment.
‘What happened?’
‘I don’t know. I really don’t. I thought it was great, but she called it off.’
‘Was it sudden?’
‘I didn’t see it coming,’ Tony admitted.
‘Did she give you a reason?’
‘Just that it was all too intense and she couldn’t handle it. She didn’t want to be with anyone.’ He snorted. ‘A month later, she was back with him, like nothing had ever happened between us.’
‘He took her back, and the friends did, too, I suppose?’
‘I was the villain, wasn’t I? I turned her head. He must have told her all about our little chat before he broke up with her, because she doesn’t speak to me now.’
‘How long were you seeing her?’
‘A month.’
‘But it feels longer.’
‘Yeah.’
‘What do you think has happened to her, Tony?’
‘I don’t know. It’s all I can think about. Maybe she ran away.’
‘From what? From Chris?’
‘From him, from her old man, from all the pressure.’
‘What pressure?’
‘It was just something she said to me that night after Chris ditched her. She said she couldn’t bear all the pressure she was under to be something she wasn’t.’
‘What did she think she had to be?’
‘Perfect.’
The Journal of Alice Teale
I really hoped he would understand. That it would be a short, sharp break, a quick cutting of ties, hard but sudden, not a long-winded, drawn-out process like it became.
But Tony didn’t get it at all, and totally wouldn’t a
ccept that we were done. There were tears, too, and what I can only describe as begging. Shit, I should have just ended it over the phone. Why would anyone want to stay with someone who didn’t want them? I’ll never understand that.
He kept asking me why, even though I’d already explained it. In the end, I had to leave. I didn’t want to be there when his mam came home and found him in that state.
‘Was it something I did?’ he asked me for the umpteenth time as I was leaving.
I told him again that I just needed some space, because I couldn’t breathe.
I told him it was my choice and I needed to do this, and he asked me if he didn’t get a say in it.
‘No,’ I told him. ‘You don’t.’
That’s when he called me a fucking bitch.
Those were his last words before I walked out of the door.
16
Chloe had been right about Kirstie. Beth could hear the TV even through the front door and she had to ring the doorbell then knock hard twice before the girl finally answered, looking flustered, her long hair wet and dripping water on to the shoulders of her T-shirt, as if she had dressed hurriedly when the doorbell went.
‘I was drying my hair.’ Was this an explanation for the late answering of the door or a rebuke because Beth had called at an inopportune time? Beth explained the reason for her visit and Kirstie looked genuinely upset at the mention of her friend’s name. ‘You’ve still not found her?’
‘No,’ said Beth, ‘but we’re doing everything we can.’
Kirstie offered to help if she could, and Beth asked if she could come in and ask a few questions. They went into the lounge and Kirstie turned off the television. The room was sparse and Beth was struck by the absence of the items you might normally find in someone’s home. There were no books, no ornaments, no flowers, no paintings on the wall, only a cabinet with two small framed photographs on it. The first featured Kirstie with an older man who was presumably her father and a boy who Beth assumed must be her elder brother. The second showed the younger man in army uniform, holding a rifle, while on exercises somewhere hot. Beth instantly surmised that Kirstie lived with her father and, for whatever reason, her mother was gone.
Once again, Beth took her time and began with questions about how long Kirstie had known Alice, their life in Collemby and the school. Kirstie was dismissive of the after-school activities, in particular the sixth-form club, which she described as lame. ‘What do you like to do instead?’ she asked the girl.
Kirstie shrugged. ‘Come home. Who wants to hang out at school any longer than necessary?’
‘So you were at home when Alice disappeared?’
‘Yeah.’
‘With a friend?’ The girl shook her head. ‘On your own, then? Watching TV and fighting your old man for the remote control, if your house is anything like mine was.’
‘He was out, so I had the telly to myself.’
‘What did you watch?’
Kirstie frowned at her, as if this was of no interest to anyone. She didn’t realize that Beth was subtly establishing her alibi. ‘Can’t remember,’ she said. ‘The usual shite.’ She rhymed off a list of soaps and reality TV she might have tuned into that night.
Beth gently steered the conversation round to talk of boyfriends. Kirstie didn’t have one but thought Chris was okay. She was less keen on Tony. ‘He took it all too seriously,’ she said dismissively.
‘Was there anyone else Alice fancied?’
‘She used to say most of the boys in Collemby weren’t worth crossing the road for. Why do you ask?’
‘We heard Alice might have been seeing someone else, that’s all.’
‘Who?’
‘We don’t know. That’s why I’m asking her friends.’
‘Alice would never do that.’
‘Because she had a boyfriend?’
‘Yeah, so someone’s stirring it.’
‘Who would do that? Did Alice have enemies?’
‘No, but people like to spread gossip, don’t they?’
‘Did Alice ever tell you about her drama group?’
‘Sometimes. I’m not in it, though, so …’ She meant it wouldn’t be of much interest to her, hence why Alice didn’t talk about it much.
‘Did she ever mention any of the teachers who run it?’ And when Kirstie looked blank, Beth said, ‘I saw a picture of the drama class and there was quite a young teacher involved, looked like he was in his early to mid-twenties?’
‘Oh, Mr Nash. He’s lush.’ She quickly added: ‘For an older guy.’
‘Alice seemed to think so, too, judging by the smile she was giving him in the photograph.’
‘Everyone thinks he is good-looking, but we only look. Alice wouldn’t cheat.’
Beth smiled at her. ‘Not even if the guy was lush?’
Kirstie looked like a shocked maiden aunt. ‘Of course not.’
‘I was only joking,’ Beth assured her.
‘And anyway, he’s got a fiancée,’ said the girl, as if that were an end to the matter.
‘Were there any other good-looking men in Alice’s life she might have liked, even if she didn’t do anything about them? Maybe they hit on her and she told you about it?’
‘Ricky at the bar was always on at her to go out with him,’ confirmed Kirstie. ‘She told him she had a boyfriend, but it didn’t stop him asking.’
‘He was persistent, then,’ asked Beth. ‘Wouldn’t take no for an answer?’
‘Guys don’t, do they?’ she said wearily.
‘You have a low opinion of them?’
‘Only most of them,’ she joked.
‘What about Alice’s brother?’
‘Not my type, but he’s okay, I suppose.’
‘I’m guessing Sophie Mayhew would have a very low opinion of Daniel Teale.’
‘Oh, her.’ Kirstie raised her eyebrows. ‘She would now, but she used to like him.’
‘You mean she liked him as a person, or she fancied him?’ asked Beth.
‘She was definitely crushing on him.’ This seemed like such an American expression Beth wondered if Kirstie had picked it up from the TV.
‘He didn’t feel the same way?’
‘I don’t know, but she certainly made it obvious.’
‘So how did it go from that to him throwing a drink in her face?’
She hesitated and Beth urged her to go on. ‘They went off together for a while on New Year’s Eve.’
‘What happened?’
‘I don’t know.’
‘Come on, Kirstie.’
‘I know she was after him that night, and they disappeared for ages, but after that she told everyone there was something not right about him.’ She looked troubled then. ‘And this stupid rumour started going around about Daniel and Alice.’
‘What kind of rumour?’
‘It was sick.’
‘Tell me.’
She seemed reluctant but finally said, ‘About him and Alice being more than just brother and sister.’ Beth’s eyes widened in shock. The rest of Kirstie’s words came out in a rush. ‘It was rubbish. They are close, but they’re not …’
She couldn’t even find the words. Instead, her face flushed and she looked down at her shoes.
‘Okay, Kirstie,’ said Beth. ‘Where can I find this Sophie Mayhew?’
‘What’s this got to do with Alice’s disappearance?’
Beth shrugged. ‘Maybe nothing.’
‘She’ll be at work now, but in the pub later.’
‘Which one?’
‘The Dirty Donkey.’ She corrected herself: ‘I mean, the Black Stallion.’
‘I know it.’
‘She goes there every Friday and Saturday night, with the same old crowd from her school year.’
‘Thanks for your help, Kirstie.’
‘No problem. Anything at all – I mean it. If it will help you to bring Alice home.’
‘There is one other thing you could do for me, if you don’t mind?’
>
‘Sure.’
‘Give me all the goss.’
‘About what?’
‘Everything. Your school, for starters. We’ll never get to hear the truth about the place if I just ask the headmaster, but I reckon you could give us the inside track.’
‘What do you want to know?’ She seemed hesitant now.
‘I don’t know. There must be some gossip – about the teachers as well as the pupils. I could spend all week taking statements from people there, but they might not tell me the truth. What I need is the word on the street from someone in the know.’ This was designed to make Kirstie feel important, and it was the right approach.
‘That’s me, for sure. There’s only one problem if you want all the gossip.’
‘What’s that?’
‘Have you got all day?’ She giggled. ‘There’s a lot of it. Collemby Comprehensive isn’t like other schools.’
Beth smiled like they were two girls of equal age sharing confidences. ‘What do you mean?’
‘Virtually everyone there has done something they shouldn’t have.’ She laughed. ‘And that’s just the teachers.’
Beth folded her arms then said, ‘And I bet you know all their secrets, Kirstie.’
The Journal of Alice Teale
Chloe and Kirstie.
Kirstie and Chloe.
What am I going to do with them?
One is needy, and the other one is …
I don’t even need to write that down.
Kirstie and I both know Kirstie’s little secret, and some secrets ought to stay that way until they are ready to be let out, so in consideration of Kirstie, my lips are sealed, which is kind of appropriate, really.
And then there’s Chloe.
You have to love her.
No, really, you have to. Otherwise she’ll let you know about it. If you haven’t empathized and sympathized with her and prioritized her well-being, if you haven’t called her, hugged her, picked her up, bigged her up or talked her down from whatever ledge she’s metaphorically standing on, then woe betide you.
Oh God, I know I sound like a total bitch, even to myself, and I do love her, I really do, but the whole thing is so bloody exhausting. Yes, she does have a bit of a shit life with her mum and dad being the way they are and, yes, I know boys pretty much completely ignoring her has to be a bit of a brain-fuck so my oh sooo complicated love life must seem like a romantic adventure by comparison but, really, no, it isn’t. It only looks that way from the outside, not when you’re living it, and it’s all relative, anyway. She’ll find someone one day, she will, she’s nice, most of the time, and fun. She’s pretty when she smiles, which is almost never, but if she just made a bit of an effort. It’s the endless pep talks I can’t stand. I just don’t have the energy any more. You think you’ve got problems, Chloe, but I’m here to tell you that you haven’t, not really. Not compared to mine or others I could mention. I just wish I could say it to your face without you losing it completely.
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