Cover the Bones by Rachel Amphlett

Author:Rachel Amphlett [Amphlett, Rachel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781915231567
Publisher: Saxon Publishing
Published: 2023-09-17T22:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Liz Moorlock walked them to the front door once Jan had administered the swab.

As Mark pulled the door to the kitchen closed and followed the two women, he caught a glimpse of Studley’s thinning white hair catching the sunlight, halo-like, and squared his shoulders.

‘Liz? Before we go…’

She stopped at his words, resting her hand on a table set against the hall wall. Above it, a series of framed family photographs were displayed, and she leaned forward to wipe an imaginary speck of dust away from one of them.

‘What do you want to ask me that you couldn’t in front of my father?’ she said, finally turning to face him, and crossed her arms over her ample chest.

‘There’s no easy way to approach this,’ he said, ‘but it’s a standard question that has to be asked. Did you ever suspect that your dad might be struggling to cope, perhaps taking out his frustration on your mother?’

She visibly staggered at his words.

‘No,’ she said vehemently. She shook her head as if to clear the thought. ‘No, they doted on each other. You heard him yourself. They’ve been married for sixty years. Dad was devastated by Mum’s dementia – we all were. If anyone was suffering abuse, it was Dad, not her.’

‘What do you mean?’ said Jan, keeping her voice low.

‘Towards the end… I mean, in the weeks before Mum disappeared, her dementia was getting worse. She was getting more and more confused, and with it she got angry. Frustrated. She would take it out on both of us.’

‘Did she ever suffer a fracture to her arm?’ Mark asked.

Liz’s eyes widened. ‘You have found her, haven’t you?’

‘Please, just answer the question.’

‘Y-yes. She did. About a year before she went missing. She slipped on an icy puddle out there on the patio. We were paranoid after that – Dad said he didn’t know what he’d do if she did it again. It broke his heart to see how much pain she was in, and by then they were both at their wits’ end, even with the help they were receiving from Sonia.’

‘Could you let us have her contact details?’ said Mark.

‘Why would you––’ Liz threw up her hands. ‘Sorry. I know you’re just doing your jobs. Hang on, I’ve still got her number in my phone. ’Scuse me.’

She brushed past him, went back to the kitchen, and returned with a mobile phone before reciting the carer’s name and number. ‘That’s the main phone number. It goes through to a call centre at the head office. I think they’re based out on one of the industrial estates on the other side of Didcot. If you ask for her, they should be able to put you in touch.’

‘Have you seen her since your mother went missing?’

‘No. No need to.’ Liz jerked her chin towards the back of the house. ‘Dad’s holding up all right – he’s got his health, he gets most of his meals delivered, and I stop by on the way home from work every day to check up on him.

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