A Promise to the Dead by Victoria Jenkins

Author:Victoria Jenkins [Jenkins, Victoria]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781786816863
Publisher: Bookouture
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Twenty-Four

The woman who answered the door was in her early to mid fifties. She had shoulder-length light-brown hair that curled at the sides of her neck and was flecked with only the slightest signs of grey, and she was smartly dressed in a pair of tailored trousers and a knee-length cardigan. With a bag slung over her arm and her car keys in her hand, it was evident that she had been about to go out.

Alex introduced herself and showed the woman her ID. ‘I’m looking for Dean Williams,’ she explained. ‘Does he still live here?’

‘No.’ The woman’s grip on her bag tightened at the mention of the name. ‘Why, what’s he done now?’

Alex wondered why the reception of the young man’s name was so frosty. As far as his police record was concerned, his first misdemeanour had been his last.

‘You know Dean then?’

‘For my sins,’ the woman said with a sigh. ‘He’s my son. He moved out about a year back. Why are you looking for him?’

‘Your son has done nothing wrong, Mrs Williams,’ Alex reassured her.

‘That’s a first. And it’s Barrett now,’ the woman corrected her. ‘Nicola Barrett. I divorced Dean’s dad years ago.’

‘Do you think we could go inside to talk?’

The woman hesitated, her unease growing increasingly apparent. ‘I’m sorry, I was just on my way out. I’ve got an appointment in town.’

‘I won’t keep you long.’

Alex followed Nicola Barrett into the house. The woman stopped in the hallway, waiting for Alex to close the front door behind her.

‘Does the address 14 Oak Tree Close mean anything to you?’

Nicola shook her head. ‘Should it?’

Alex reminded herself that she needed to tread sensitively. This woman’s son was a relative of the person whose body had been buried beneath the patio, meaning that she too would be connected to the man, perhaps even more closely than her son was. It was likely that whatever arrangements Nicola Barrett had made for that day, the news that Alex was about to deliver might force her to postpone them.

‘Ms Barrett, we’re making inquiries into a possible missing person.’

‘A possible missing person?’ the woman repeated, noting Alex’s specific choice of wording. ‘What do you mean?’

‘Is there anyone in your family who’s been reported as missing?’

The woman’s face changed, her eyes glazing over almost instantly. ‘My brother. He went missing a long time ago now, though. 1981. I was just a kid at the time. Please tell me what’s going on.’

Despite the decades that had passed, Nicola’s reaction made it apparent that her brother’s disappearance was as raw now as it had been all those years ago. Alex looked to her left, into a living room, gesturing for Nicola to lead the way through. She did so without question, sinking on to the end of a corner sofa and looking at Alex expectantly as the detective took a seat at the other end.

‘I’m afraid a body has been found, and the DNA retrieved from the remains is a partial match with your son. It’s very likely therefore that the body is that of your brother.

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