Are You Awake? by Claire McGowan

Author:Claire McGowan [McGowan, Claire]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer
Published: 2022-11-07T16:00:00+00:00

Mary

Oh God. How had this happened? She was in a police station – she had never even seen inside one before. How sheltered her life had been, how boring. How stupid she’d been to think she could solve a case like this. Mary sat in the little interview room, wringing her hands together, feeling how sweaty they were. What would Jack say? She’d had to call and leave a message with his work, say the kids were at Francine’s again – her friend’s eyes had been popping when Mary rolled up with both kids, Audrey clinging and confused and Leo howling.

‘I don’t understand. You’re going to the police station?’

‘Yes, they – I don’t know, they want to ask me questions.’

‘But why, Mary?’ What have you done, was the implicit query.

‘I don’t know. They think I might have seen Samantha. The missing girl, you know.’

Francine had looked baffled. ‘And did you?’

‘Maybe – look, I’m sorry, they’re waiting for me.’ The police car had followed her to Francine’s, cruising like a shark behind her little Fiat. There hadn’t been time to call Tim, even, let him know what was going on. ‘Will you keep them? Leo’ll need a bottle, there’s some in the bag. I’ve rung Jack but he’s in a meeting.’ He was always in a bloody meeting. And how was she going to explain it to him, what she’d been up to all this time?

‘Of course!’

And Mary had wrenched herself from her children, her guilt like a physical wound, and got into the police car. People coming out of their houses to look. It was so shameful. All because she had meddled, like a foolish middle-class mum.

The interview room had no windows, no way to know what time it was or how long she’d been here. Did she need a lawyer? She wasn’t being arrested, they’d said. Just questions. So why could that not be done at home? It must be serious, to take her away from her two small children.

She jumped as the door opened, and two detectives came in. The same woman from the day they’d searched 16 Cliveden Road, in her early thirties, a well-made-up face and her hair neatly back in a bun, serious grey trouser suit. Powerful energy. Also with her was a younger man, chewing gum, handsome in a slightly shambolic bearded way, sleeves rolled up and tie loose.

‘Mrs Collins.’

‘Um – Mary is fine.’

The woman nodded, drawing up a chair with a scrape on the bare floor. ‘I’m DS Diana Mendes, as I’m sure you recall, and this is DC Nick Andrews, from our cyber-crime department.’

Cyber-crime? What? ‘Um, hi. I’m not sure why I’m here.’

The DS flipped open a notebook. ‘Mary. You rang the station several times over the past two weeks, reporting that you’d seen Samantha Ellis in a nearby house. However, when we searched it the other day, there was no sign of her. Correct?’

‘Eh – yes.’

‘How well do you know Tim Darbandi, Mary?’

‘We met about two weeks ago, I suppose. We’re neighbours, but you know how it is, never saw him before.

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