She's Gone: A gripping psychological thriller by Susan Wilkins

Author:Susan Wilkins [Wilkins, Susan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Herkimer Limited
Published: 2021-06-13T22:00:00+00:00

35

Tuesday, 1.25pm

Marcia is walking up through the park towards Paddington intending to get a taxi. She’s rung the number Harry sent her. Repeatedly. One ring, then straight to voicemail. She suspects Phoebe’s blocked her. She’s also spoken to Doctor Grayson, the idiot tutor, who wasn’t much help. But she said she was expecting to see Phoebe, which means her daughter’s gone back to Cambridge. That’s some relief.

She’s still wobbly. Her head’s a jumble of warring emotions. What do you do when the fear that’s stalked you for years becomes a reality?

Marcia has spent her adult life putting as much distance as possible between herself and Elm Tree Farm. But in the last hour it has burst back into her consciousness. Even after all these years, the picture in her mind’s eye is vivid.

The majestic row of elms with their crows’ nests, which gave the place its name. They succumbed to Dutch Elm disease; she remembers them being cut down. The buzz of the chainsaws that dismembered them, the crash of falling branches. The crows screaming. Clutching her mother’s hand and watching her cry. Her mother cried a lot.

Later she understood why. Her grandfather’s prizewinning dairy herd was culled back in the sixties, before Marcia was born. The old man had to butcher two hundred pedigree cows, his life’s work, because of an outbreak of foot and mouth disease. And it destroyed him, too. He gave the farm to his daughter and son-in-law, then put a shotgun in his mouth and blew his brains out. Her mother found him. She once told Marcia that the place was cursed. And she was right.

How did Phoebe end up there? It’s not possible. The last time she saw her father he was passed out drunk in his own vomit. She assumed the booze would’ve killed him years ago.

As she moves forward, putting one foot in front of the other, she feels desolate and overwhelmed. Harry has abandoned her for no good reason. He’s trying to make it her fault, but few women nowadays would’ve put up with his serial adultery.

She needs help, but she has nowhere to turn. Her life has been based around her husband, her daughter, and work. She’s never been the sort of woman to make close friends.

She wonders about calling Lawrence, her PA. He would be sympathetic. But is that what she needs?

In the end, desperation drives her to phone DS Boden.

She’s surprised that the police officer even answers.

‘Hello, Mrs Lennox. I assume Phoebe’s called you.’

‘No. She phoned her father. But she’s blocked my number. I just need to be sure she’s all right. Because I’m still really worried about her.’

‘She seemed fine to me.’

‘I didn’t mean to lie to you. It wasn’t deliberate. I thought my father was dead. He was a serious alcoholic. I wouldn’t have expected him to survive.’

‘Families can be complicated. I’m sure Phoebe will come round.’ The police officer is being polite, which is something.

‘Has she gone back to Cambridge?’

‘I believe so.’

Marcia hesitates, then she

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