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‘Why ever would you think that?’ she replies. ‘I’ve been to Clacton-on-Sea. Paul took me. The pier looks wonderful when it’s all lit up at night. Now, whose party is this? Should I have bought a gift?’
Krisha apologises to the news team but reads my expression when they ask if they can record some extra footage of us being reunited. She politely declines their request and ushers them out of the house. As soon as they leave, I can no longer hold my tongue. Paul is getting the brunt of my fury as Krisha returns.
‘What the hell makes you think it’s acceptable to take an elderly woman away from her daughter for two days without asking first?’
Paul shrugs. ‘She said she’d texted you.’
‘Of course she hadn’t! She doesn’t even know how to fucking text! And why wasn’t her phone on? I’ve been calling for two days and it’s been switched off.’
‘I bought her a new one.’
‘What? Why?’
‘I got a buy-one-get-one-free deal on mine. She has a new number too.’
‘And how was I supposed to know that?’
‘I wrote it down for you and left it in the dining room, propped up against the cat ornament.’
‘Which one?’
‘The green one with the eyes that feel like they’re staring at something.’
Krisha moves to verify his claim and returns with a yellow Post-it note with a number scrawled upon it. ‘It was under the sideboard,’ she says.
‘Perhaps the wind blew it when you opened the patio doors,’ Paul suggests.
‘Bullshit.’
‘I also emailed it to you along with the address and contact details of the hotel where we’d be staying.’
‘I didn’t get any email from you.’
‘Have you checked your junk folder?’
I whip out my phone and scroll through it. Sure enough, the junk folder contains an email from Paul Michael dated two days ago.
I turn my head towards Krisha in disbelief. ‘Do you see what he’s doing?’ I ask. ‘First he kidnaps her and makes sure she’s uncontactable. Then he tries to make it look like I’m the one in the wrong.’
‘Kidnap?’ Paul cocks his head and looks at me as if I’m mad. ‘Why would I want to kidnap Gwenny?’
‘Stop calling her that!’ I yell, even though I know that by losing my temper I’m playing into his hands. He wants to goad me, to remind me it’s a name for her that only he uses. ‘I know exactly what your game is,’ I accuse, prodding him in the chest. ‘You’re trying to worm your way into her life for her money, and I’m not going to let it happen.’
Krisha inserts herself between Paul and me. ‘Connie,’ she says, calmly but firmly, ‘perhaps we should have this conversation away from Gwen.’
The holiday glow she had moments earlier has been replaced by fear. She is scared of how I’m reacting. Her hands are pressed upon both cheeks like that paintingThe Scream. I feel awful.
‘I think it might be a good idea if you took a few moments for yourself in the kitchen,’ Krisha continues. ‘It’s been an extremely stressful two days but let’s not lose sight of the fact that we have the best possible outcome here. Your mum is alive and well, which is what everyone wanted.’
I let out a huff as I leave the room just as more police officers come in through the front door, along with paramedics. I hesitate and watch as two officers and Krisha escort Paul outside into the front garden. Alone in the kitchen, I light up another cigarette as my pent-up tears flow faster than Niagara Falls.
Thirty minutes pass before Krisha returns to the kitchen and closes the door behind her. She asks me to take a seat and I know I’m not going to like what she has to say because she isn’t focused on me, but on a small black pocket notebook she lays out on the table in front of us.
‘Okay,’ she begins. ‘We’ve spoken to both Gwen and Paul separately and their stories match. Your mum had apparently mentioned to Paul that Clacton-on-Sea was where she and your dad had their first proper holiday and that she wanted to go back one day. He thought it would be a good idea to take her there to relive some old memories while she still has—’
‘I don’t believe him,’ I interrupt. ‘There is more to that trip than he is telling you. I feel it in my gut. They flirt with one another and then he whisks her away for a weekend where it’s just the two of them. It’s not right. You can see that, can’t you?’
‘Paul claims that nothing untoward has ever happened between him and Gwen and that they had separate rooms at the bed and breakfast hotel where they stayed. He showed us a receipt to prove that two rooms were paid for.’
