by Sibel Hodge
‘We should get to the beach more often.’ Ethan slung his arm round me. ‘I always forget how great it is down here.’
‘You’re always working.’ I rested my head on his shoulder and watched Nadia, who was shrieking now as Charlotte had turned the tables and was tickling her.
‘Well, I need to spend less time on work and more on the things that are important.’ He kissed my ear.
I smiled, kissing his smooth cheek in return before turning my attention to Chris, who stood at the water’s edge staring at something in the sand and kicking it with his foot.
A cry from Nadia pulled my gaze away, and I saw her walking Charlotte back towards us, an arm firmly guiding her. Blood poured from Charlotte’s nose, down her face and chin, dripping onto the sand.
I leaped up and got into automatic nurse mode. ‘Sit her down.’ I went the other side of Charlotte and pinched the bridge of her nose. ‘You need to keep pinching here, darling, OK?’
Nadia sat her in Lucas’s chair as Lucas grabbed some tissues from their beach bag.
‘OK, can you pinch it now?’ I asked Charlotte when she was settled.
She nodded and took over on the spot my fingers had vacated.
Lucas put a wad of tissues under Charlotte’s nose to stop the blood going all over her.
‘She hasn’t had a nosebleed for years,’ Nadia said. ‘Since she was little.’
‘It was you. You banged into me with your forehead when you were trying to get away,’ Charlotte said with a nasally twang.
‘I didn’t. I wasn’t touching you when it happened.’
‘You did!’
‘Well, never mind,’ I said. ‘It’ll stop soon.’
Ten minutes later, when Charlotte stopped pinching her nose, it had stopped as predicted.
‘There.’ I smiled. ‘All finished.’
Charlotte glared at Nadia. ‘It was your fault.’
Nadia lifted her hands in mock surrender. ‘OK, OK, sorry if it was my fault.’
‘Why don’t we have some lunch now, then, eh? You up to that, darling?’ Lucas said to Charlotte, trying to take her mind off it as he handed her a wet wipe for her face. Food usually took her mind off most things.
‘Yeah. I’m starved. I want some of those cupcakes Mum’s made.’ She grinned and put the tissue in the rubbish bag.
There. Crisis averted!
After lunch, Charlotte and Anna were back in the sea again. They’d found a couple of kids with a Frisbee and were playing with them in the shallows.
I sat in one of the chairs, dragging my toe through the velvety-soft sand, not really listening to the conversation going on around me because I was worrying about what to do. I couldn’t keep it inside any longer. I didn’t want to ruin the family day. And I’d tried, really I had, not to bring it up. I’d tried to forget about it because it was so ridiculous. But, well, as family, I needed their advice on it, not just Ethan’s. I knew he wouldn’t be happy with me, but I thought it was only fair they knew what Tom had said, as well.
‘Something really weird happened when I went to see Tom this week.’ I sat forward in the chair and glanced around at Nadia, Lucas and Chris. I avoided Ethan’s eyes, but I could feel them burning into me because he knew what I was going to say.
‘What, did he catch himself in the mirror again and think his reflection was Gregory Peck?’ Chris laughed. ‘I had a nightmare trying to convince him otherwise a few weeks ago.’
‘No.’ I didn’t join in with the laughter.
Instead, I told them what Mary had told me about Tom having fitful dreams and then becoming agitated and hard to settle afterwards. About how he’d said Georgia Walker was haunting him. How she was apparently missing. And that he said he’d killed her.
Nadia gasped. Lucas’s jaw dropped open. Chris’s eyebrows shot up. Ethan glared hard.
‘What?’ Nadia asked.
‘Can you repeat that?’ Chris poked a finger in his ear. ‘I think I must’ve heard you wrong.’ He let out a slight laugh.
‘It’s completely crazy. I’ve already told her.’ Ethan shook his head wildly. ‘Dad’s just confused. Or delusional. There’s no way he’s talking sense.’
‘What, he actually said he’d killed her?’ Lucas whispered the word, his eyes straying to Charlotte and Anna, safely out of hearing distance as they bobbed up and down in the sea now.
‘Yes, that’s what he said.’ I repeated everything again for them so it would sink in.
‘I don’t believe it,’ Nadia said.
‘That’s what I said.’ Ethan gave me a superior look which made me want to smack him. ‘Dad doesn’t even know anyone called Georgia Walker.’
‘How do you know?’ Lucas asked.
‘Well, have you ever heard him mention her?’ Ethan said.
‘No. But that doesn’t mean anything.’
‘I’m sure it can’t possibly be true,’ I said. ‘But it’s bugging me why he keeps repeating it when he’s never mentioned anything remotely like it before. Do any of you know anyone called Georgia who Tom might’ve become confused about?’
One by one they shook their heads.
‘I did a search online, but I couldn’t find anyone with that name who’s mentioned as a missing person. I searched the telephone directories to see if she was in there, but again, I didn’t find anything helpful. Do you think we should go to the police and at least ask them if someone called Georgia really is missing?’
‘The police?’ Ethan snorted. ‘Oh, don’t be ridiculous!’
‘Wait.’ Chris plonked himself down heavily on the sand next to my chair and held up a hand. ‘How could he have killed someone? Dad’s the nicest guy you could ever meet. It’s . . . it just doesn’t make sense. There’s no way.’
‘I agree,’ Ethan said. ‘It’s impossible. It’s just the Alzheimer’s making him believe something he’s read or seen on the TV.’
‘But what if there really is a missing woman out there?’ I said. ‘Not that I think Tom’s killed anyone, but what if perhaps he knows something about where she is? Something that might help find her? I’ve been thinking that maybe he witnessed something that might solve a crime. It could be something that happened a while ago and he’s only just remembering it. She could have a family who’s looking for her.’
‘Of course he doesn’t know anything,’ Chris said. ‘He’s just confused.’
‘But why is he so obsessed with someone who doesn’t seem to have ever been mentioned in the papers? There must be a reason. I’ve checked for news stories and there’s nothing.’
‘That’s because there’s nothing to find out,’ Ethan said. ‘Honestly, when you get a bee in your bonnet about things, you’re a nightmare. Your imagination runs riot! This is all just stupid. I don’t even know why we’re talking about it.’ He glared out to sea.
Lucas stared at the ground, a pensive frown on his face. ‘Well, there’s a simple way to find out for certain.’
‘What do you mean?’ Ethan said.
‘I mean we go to the police like Olivia said and ask them if there’s anyone with her name who’s missing.’
Nadia shrugged. ‘We’ll just be wasting their time. There can’t be anything to it. I mean . . . Dad? It’s just nonsense. Honestly, Liv, you’re always finding something to worry about.’
‘I agree he’s confused,’ Lucas said. ‘But there’s no harm asking the police. What if Georgia is kid a who’s disappeared and Tom does know something about it?’ Lucas said.
‘I hadn’t thought of that. I just assumed she was an adult.’ I turned to Ethan. ‘We have to go to the police and at least check, don’t you see?’ I stood up and crossed the sand towards him. ‘Tom was very explicit about her, and he mentioned her not only once, but several times. And he was completely lucid when he said it, too. What if there really is a missing child out there and h
e could help find her?’
‘And what are we going to tell them? That our senile dad has confessed to killing someone but, hey, it’s probably not true because the other day he thought he was Gregory Peck!’ Ethan’s nostrils flared with anger.
I reached for his hand. ‘Look, I know you don’t want to talk about this but—’
‘Of course I don’t! No one would want to hear that about their father. You’re just worrying about nothing again.’
‘Look, it seems totally unreliable what Tom’s saying, but I think Liv’s right,’ Lucas said. ‘He could be an important witness to something.’
‘No, she’s not.’ Chris said. ‘I don’t want to go to the police and put Dad through that for nothing. He’s ill. He’s not thinking straight.’
‘So what do you suggest we do, then?’ Lucas asked. ‘If we’re all certain he’s never mentioned anyone called Georgia who we can check on, then we have to do something.’
There was a strained silence for a while.
‘I’m sure the police will just look into it and confirm that there is no missing person by that name and we’ll know for certain. But until then . . .’ I shrugged. ‘Well, we can’t hide something like this.’
‘We’re not hiding anything because there’s nothing to hide. It’s not true. Dad didn’t kill anyone, and he doesn’t know anything about any missing people.’ Ethan folded his arms over his chest.
‘We’ll just be wasting their time,’ Chris said. ‘I think we should wait until we know more.’
‘Weren’t you listening, Chris?’ I said. ‘I’ve tried to find out who she is but can’t. None of us knows who this person could be, and like Lucas said, what if this is something to do with a missing child? What if Anna or Charlotte were abducted and someone knew something, however inconsequential it might sound, but they didn’t do anything about it?’
‘But this is Dad we’re talking about,’ Chris said.
‘I agree with Chris,’ Ethan said.
‘Well then, the police will just tell us that it can’t possibly be true and that will be the end of it,’ Lucas said. ‘They’ll say there’s no one of that name on their records and we can just forget about this.’
I nodded. ‘Of course they will.’
‘Yes,’ Nadia agreed.
‘I bloody hope so.’ Lucas crossed his arms and stared off into the distance.
Chapter Six
Sergeant Downing looked too young to be a sergeant. Or maybe it was just that I was getting old. He sat on one side of the desk in the interview room with Nadia and me on the other. I felt like I was having a job interview and any minute he’d ask me what my strengths and weaknesses were. The walls were painted lilac, or lavender, or something. Maybe it was designed to make suspects feel soothed into dishing the dirt on their criminal activities. It was quite nice, actually. I could see it on our bathroom walls. I couldn’t even believe I was even thinking about that as Sergeant Downing frowned for the second time.
‘Right. So . . .’ he started off. ‘Your father-in-law is in a nursing home suffering from Alzheimer’s, and he’s been mentioning a missing person called Georgia Walker?’
‘Well . . . yes.’ I nodded firmly and chewed on my lower lip. We hadn’t mentioned the fact that Tom said he’d killed her because that was just plain crazy, and they’d probably laugh us out of the station.
‘I’m sure it’s all nonsense!’ Nadia emitted an embarrassed, tinkling laugh, as if she was terribly sorry for wasting their time.
‘I agree, but I’m just concerned that maybe he witnessed a crime and he’s only just remembering it. We think it’s our duty to check, just to make sure.’
Sergeant Downing frowned again. ‘Has he ever made any similar statements about missing people?’
‘No,’ I said.
‘What’s his full name, date of birth, and last address?’ He leaned forward on the desk and wrote as I rattled off the details. ‘I don’t recall anyone called Georgia being circulated as missing around here, but it can’t do any harm to check. Wait here, please.’ He stood and left the room.
I glanced at Nadia.
‘Ethan’s right: this is all just a waste of time. They’re not going to find anything,’ she said.
‘Of course they won’t.’
‘Did Ethan calm down on the way back?’
‘A little bit. With Lucas in agreement, he can’t do much else, really. But he’s not happy about it.’
‘No one’s happy about it. This is just stupid,’ she barked.
‘No, I didn’t mean . . . oh, never mind.’
‘Sorry. I’m just stressed.’
I squeezed her hand then. Of course she was, what with the worry of Lucas’s affair and now this – no wonder she was looking ruffled.
She picked at the hem of her dress. ‘I can’t believe we’re even doing this.’
I jigged my knee up and down as we waited in silence. It seemed like hours before Sergeant Downing came back, but in reality it was probably only forty-five minutes.
I tried to read the expression on his face as he sat down, but I couldn’t work it out. I bet there was a lesson on the art of pulling the perfect poker face during their police training. I visualised a whole room of officers pulling different expressions in front of the mirror to see which worked best.
Oh, God, get a grip, Olivia!
I took a deep breath and focused on him. ‘What have you found out?’
He took his time looking between Nadia and me. ‘There are no missing persons reports for someone of that name.’
I exhaled loudly. ‘Thank goodness for that.’
‘I checked the voters’ registers and there is a Georgia Walker listed in Abbotsbury.
I leaned forward, heart racing. ‘Oh?’
‘Unfortunately, there’s no telephone number listed for her, like you discovered, so I’m going to take a drive over there and see what I can find out.’ He stood up. ‘I’ll call you when I know something.’
‘Thank you.’ I stood up.
‘You promise you’ll call as soon as you hear something?’ Nadia asked.
‘Yes.’ He led us back out to the public area by the front desk and we said goodbye.
I gulped in a lungful of fresh air outside. The interview room had smelled of cheesy feet. Not pleasant.
‘Do you want to go home and wait?’ Nadia asked.
‘No. I don’t want to go home with bad news. Ethan’s still blaming me for all this. He mostly ignored me on the drive back, and when I dropped them all off at the house before we came here, he stomped off, which is so unlike him. He’s not normally a moody sulker.’
She put a hand on my arm. ‘I’m still sure there’s nothing to it.’
I nodded. ‘Shall we get a coffee or something?’
‘I fancy a real drink.’
‘Yeah. Good idea.’
So we drove back to Portesham and parked up at the Kings’ Arms, situated on the village green in front of the road that led to Abbotsbury in one direction and Weymouth in the other.
I bought a red wine and a gin and tonic and carried them outside to the beer garden where Nadia had bagged us the only table left. At six-thirty on a hot Saturday summer’s evening, the place was already heaving.
I took a gulp of red wine, savouring the kick as the alcohol hit the back of my throat. Nadia downed a third of hers in one suck of her straw.
I looked at my watch, even though I’d already checked it four times since I sat down. ‘What’s taking Sergeant Downing so long? He must’ve got there by now.’
‘Maybe she’s out shopping or something.’
I pulled my phone out of my bag and checked the signal. Yes, it was fine. And the battery was fully charged. I placed it on the table and knocked back some more wine.
Nadia’s phone rang in her mulberry-coloured Michael K
ors bag. She delved inside and pulled it out, looking at the display. ‘It’s Lucas.’ She answered it and told him what was going on before hanging up. ‘He’s coming up to wait with us. I’ll get him a pint.’ She finished her drink and stood. ‘Want another one?’
‘Yes, please.’
After she’d disappeared off to the bar, my phone rang, sending my heart pounding again.
‘Hello?’
‘Hi, is this Olivia Tate?’
I recognised Sergeant Downing’s voice straight away. ‘Yes. Did you find her? Was she OK?’
He let out a soft chuckle. ‘Yes, she’s perfectly alive and well. Nothing to worry about.’
A hand flew to my chest. ‘Good.’
‘I asked her if she knew Tom Tate and she said she did.’
‘Really? How?’
‘He did some work for her about thirty years ago. An extension.’
‘Oh, right. I suppose I should’ve thought about looking through his building records to see if he had any customers by that name, and then I wouldn’t have wasted your time. I’m so sorry.’
‘Well, all’s well that ends well.’ He paused for a moment. ‘Alzheimer’s is a terrible disease. My mum had it. It was awful watching her losing her mind while her body deteriorated as well. I’m sorry you’re going through this.’
‘Thank you. For everything. You’ve been very helpful.’
‘You’re welcome. Take care now.’
Ethan wasn’t there when I got home. Neither was Poppy.
‘Has Dad taken the dog out?’ I said to Anna, who was watching another documentary about death row on the laptop.
‘Yeah.’ She pressed ‘Pause’. ‘Where’ve you been?’
‘Nowhere.’
‘You must’ve been somewhere.’
‘I was with Nadia.’
‘Oh. What’s for dinner?’
‘You can’t possibly be hungry after all the food you ate at the picnic.’ I’m sure my daughter has hollow legs. Oh, to have the metabolism of a teenager again.