The Daughter by Jane Shemilt

Author:Jane Shemilt
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2015-02-28T16:00:00+00:00

BRISTOL, 2009

SIX DAYS AFTER

Ted’s infidelity wasn’t the issue. We would deal with it afterward, when we had time. It wouldn’t hurt then.

I told myself that I was good at this. I prioritize all the time.

Ted phoned from the police station later in the morning.

“I told them,” he said briefly. “It wasn’t too complicated after all.”

Perhaps they had been complicit at the police station. It’s a male thing, infidelity, they might have said to themselves; they probably thought that it didn’t really matter.

When Ted reappeared in the kitchen, he looked better. There was even a glimmer of pleasedness about him, like a little boy who has done wrong but discovers he might get away with it. In another life I could have replayed back to him the practiced excuse of being at the hospital he had given me the night she disappeared, but I already felt we were very far from where I thought we had been then and there seemed no point. I was curious, though.

“How come they believed you?”

“They asked Beth to come in and . . .”

“And?”

“They phoned the restaurant where we tried to get a meal. They remembered telling us they were closed.”

We. Us. I stood there, the words echoing in my mind as Ted watched me silently. I couldn’t let this matter. I wouldn’t allow it to get in the way.

“I’ve made a list of what we need to do,” I said briefly.

Ted looked away. “It was unimportant, Jenny. I was tired and drunk. A stupid lapse. It couldn’t matter less.”

A lapse. Not a betrayal or a lie. After twenty years there were layers of how it mattered, but if I let go of where I was, I could get sucked into depths of minding.

“I don’t want to talk about any of it now,” I said.

“We can’t just pretend it didn’t happen.” His eyes looked puzzled.

“That’s exactly what I’m going to do for now. When we find Naomi, we’ll deal with this.”

“You don’t care if I was unfaithful?” He sounded incredulous.

“What do you want, Ted? A scene?”

“Well, it would be a natural kind of . . .” He didn’t know how to finish.

“I’m not doing it. There isn’t time.”

Something flickered at the back of his eyes. Disappointment? Triumph? Then he shrugged and spoke quickly. “You’re right. We’re losing time. What’s on the agenda today?”

“Miss Wenham.”

“Miss Wenham?”

“The headmistress. We have an appointment at midday.”

“Damn. I delayed my clinic to start at noon because I had to go to the police station.” He pulled his mouth down and spread his hands wide. Helpless.

Let it go. I can do it.

“It doesn’t need both of us,” I said. “I want to see if anyone at school has thought of anything since they saw the police. Then I’ve made five hundred copies of her school photo with information about when she was last seen.”

“I thought the police had done that.” He frowned as if he had missed something. “There’s one on the lamppost outside; the school must have lots, of course.”

“It’s not for around here,” I said.

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