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‘Arabella Webster knew,’ says Tanya. ‘She said, “they put her behind the wall”. I think she and her husband both knew. Perhaps Peter even helped.’
‘Why would he do that?’ asks Bradley. ‘I thought he adored Emily.’
‘Maybe Ballard had something on him,’ says Nelson. ‘Maybe Webster’s photography habit wasn’t so innocent after all. Maybe he had some indecent images. Didn’t his wife say something like that?’
‘She said “he put his photos in a special book”,’ says Tanya. ‘I thought it was creepy at the time.’
‘Well, we can’t get at either of the Websters now,’ says Nelson. ‘We need to question Gaia. She gave him the key. Did she know what it was for?’
‘I don’t think she will have asked,’ says Tanya. ‘She seemed completely under his spell. God knows why.’
Nelson doesn’t understand either, but he remembers Cathbad saying that Leo found out what you wanted and then offered it to you. Maybe that’s what he did with Gaia?
‘We’ll just have to make sure that the charges stick with Ballard and Amber,’ he says. ‘Make sure they pay for what they did.’
‘When are you going to tell Emily’s parents?’ says Clough. ‘They saw the arrests. They must guess something’s up.’
‘I’ll drive over there now,’ says Nelson. ‘Want to come for the ride, Cloughie?’
Nelson knows that Emily’s parents had planned a wake in the church hall. He hopes that, in the light of the disturbance after the funeral, this will be a short-lived affair. Sure enough, when Nelson and Clough park outside the Victorian house in Lincoln, Naomi is in the garden with the chocolate Labrador panting beside her. She has changed out of her black dress and is back in her gardening dungarees. She stands stock-still when she sees the two men approaching, soil cascading from her trowel.
‘What is it?’ she says.
‘Let’s go inside,’ says Nelson.
In the sitting room they find, not just Gordon Pickering, but Sophie and her husband Steve too. A large baby is sitting on the carpet, banging plastic bricks together. The child hadn’t been at the church earlier.
As succinctly as possible, Nelson tells the Pickerings that Amber Westbourne, née Fletcher-Ellis, has confessed to Emily’s murder.
‘Amber was always jealous of Emily,’ says Sophie. ‘She was another of Leo’s girls.’
Were you one too? wonders Nelson. But now is not the time for that question.
‘Was Ballard involved?’ asks Gordon hoarsely.
‘Yes, he was,’ says Nelson. ‘You were right about him. We’re charging him with being an accessory to murder. Also with false imprisonment and preventing the lawful burial of a body. I’m hoping he goes to prison for a long time.’
‘I hope he dies there,’ says Gordon. Both parents, Nelson notes, are still fixated on Ballard. Amber hardly registers with anyone except Sophie.
‘Amber married Tom too,’ says Sophie. ‘She wanted everything of Emily’s. She even said that she wished I was her sister.’
Look to the sister, thinks Nelson. Did Ballard know about this conversation?
‘At least we know now,’ says Steve. He’s a quiet man but he’s a calming presence. Nelson thinks that he would be a comforting doctor.
‘Yes,’ says Naomi, who is stroking the dog’s head with muddy hands. ‘We’ve laid her to rest and now we know.’
She looks as if she’s about to cry but Steve scoops up the baby and puts it in her lap. Naomi buries her head in the sparse curls.
And Nelson remembers that the child’s name is Emily.
Chapter 37
After Kate and Flint’s various demands succeed in driving David away, Ruth wants nothing more than to go back to bed. But she’s got to get through the day somehow. She makes lunch for herself and Kate and then the two of them sit on the sofa and watch the first Harry Potter film. How young the actors look, thinks Ruth. She remembers going to see this film with Shona, before either of them had children. She’d been rather embarrassed by this, had briefly considered kidnapping a nephew for the day. But they hadn’t been the only child-free adults in the cinema. Ruth had been captivated by the film, as she had by the books. The effects, which seemed wonderful then, now seem charmingly old-fashioned. But Ruth lets it flow over her, occasionally checking her phone. No more missed calls from Nelson.
When a car draws up outside, Kate says, ‘Is that Dad?’ Because Nelson was around a lot during lockdown, Kate is no longer quite so excited by his visits. Or maybe she’s just reached the age when neither of her parents can compete with a screen. Ruth goes to the window and sees Judy getting out of her Fiat. Ruth opens the front door.
‘Hi, Judy. How’s Cathbad?’
