AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He sighs, looking out to sea. “It doesn’t seem that long ago that we were all so young and carefree.”
“You’re only twenty… what? Six? Seven?” I tease.
“Eight. Yeah, I know it’s still young, but it’s different from being twenty-one, when even thirty seems like old age. And now Maddie won’t make thirty. She’ll never see Leia grow up. That fucking sucks.” He stops, and I can see he’s fighting emotion, too. I put my arm around him and kiss his shoulder, and he sighs.
The coffees arrive, and we rejoin James and pass him his, drink it while we wait until it’s nearly five, then head into the police station.
Chapter Twelve
James
We’re shown to the office of Detective Inspector Maddox.
“Thank you for going to identify Maddie, and I’m so sorry for your loss,” she says as we enter, so the mortuary has clearly called her.
“Thank you.” I indicate the two others. “These are my friends, Aroha and Henry.”
Everyone says hello and shakes hands.
The DI sits in her chair on the other side of the desk. “Okay, so I believe the sergeant who came to see you at your place of work told you that we discovered Maddie’s body this morning just before eleven.”
“Yes.”
“We have a little more information to share with you now,” she says. “We’ve discovered that Bruce Clarke, Leia’s father, wasn’t listed on Leia’s birth certificate. Because Maddie didn’t live with him, it means that he is not Leia’s guardian, so if he wants to be involved in her life, he’s going to have to apply to the courts. We also discovered that Maddie saw a lawyer and named you, James, as Leia’s testamentary guardian.”
I stare at her, shocked. Maddie hadn’t told me she’d done that. “What does that mean?”
“That she wanted you to be the one to make decisions about her daughter’s upbringing if something happened to her.”
I’m Leia’s guardian. Jesus. I don’t know how I feel about that. Pleased for Leia, I guess. And panicky in equal measure.
“Does it mean he has custody of Leia?” Henry asks.
She shakes her head. “Guardianship and custody—what we now call day-to-day care—are two separate things. I recommend you see a lawyer yourself soon, and he or she will be able to explain the difference in more detail.”
“Have you spoken to Blue—I mean Bruce Clarke—yet?” I ask.
The DI shakes her head. “We’re trying to find him. We should hear tomorrow whether the coroner believes a post-mortem is necessary. My guess is that it will be, as we still don’t know the reason for her death. We’re also carrying out an investigation at the site. We’re questioning people who were there around the time of the incident to try and put together a picture of what might have happened. Of course we’ll let you know as soon as we know anything.”
Her mobile rings, and she says, “Excuse me a moment,” and answers it. She jots down a few notes, then thanks the caller and hangs up. “We’ve accessed Maddie’s mobile phone records,” she says. “She made a phone call this morning at 9:52 a.m., about an hour before her body was found.”
“What number was it?” I ask.
“It’s registered to Bruce Clarke.”
Fire rushes through my veins. “What?”
The DI looks thoughtful. “Do you know when Maddie last spoke to Bruce?”
“They only hooked up a few times, and he didn’t treat her well—I think he was also seeing another girl at the same time. When Maddie found out she was pregnant, she went to his place, and his mate said he’d left and wasn’t coming back.”
“And she didn’t hear from him again?”
“Not as far as I know. She didn’t try to track him down. She said she wanted someone who wanted to be with her, not some arsehole who didn’t give a shit.” I know my voice is harsh, but the DI doesn’t blink. “You think Maddie called him to tell him about Leia, and he said he didn’t want anything to do with her. And Maddie was so upset she killed herself.”
The DI doesn’t reply.
“She wouldn’t do that,” I say. “Not over a piece of shit like him. She had more self-worth than that.” The DI still doesn’t say anything, and I go cold. “You don’t think he… pushed her?” Next to me, Aroha gasps at the notion.
