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“You told me you last saw Luke at band practice in the church basement about a week before he disappeared, right?” A
Liz nodded. She slumped in her chair and worked at a fingernail, looking a lot younger than her twenty-one years.
“Did he have the shoulder bag with him?”
“He always had it with him.”
“Then what was it doing in your cupboard?”
“I’ve no idea.”
“How long has it been there?”
“Must’ve been since band practice.”
“He came to the flat first?”
“Yes.”
A
“It must’ve been a new one.”
“No,” A
Liz frowned. “Well, I don’t see how…”
“Me, neither. Unless you’re not telling us the truth.”
“Why would I lie?”
“Oh, come off it,” Kevin Templeton butted in. “Luke’s dead. I’d say that’s a pretty good reason to lie, wouldn’t you?”
Liz jerked forward. “I didn’t kill him! You can’t think I killed him.”
“I don’t know what we’re supposed to think,” said A
“I’ve told you, I don’t know when he put it there.”
“Where were you that afternoon?”
“What afternoon?”
“The Monday Luke disappeared.”
“I don’t know. Home, I suppose.”
“Are you sure he didn’t call at the flat, then perhaps forget his bag when he went off somewhere else?” A
“I didn’t see him.”
“Did he have a key?”
“No.”
“So you couldn’t have gone out for a minute and he let himself in?”
“I don’t see how.”
So much for that line of questioning. “Liz, you’re not making our job any easier. I’ll ask you again: How did Luke’s bag find its way into your hall cupboard?”
“I told you, I don’t know.”
“And I don’t believe you.”
“Well, that’s your problem.”
“No, Liz. It’s your problem. And it’s going to be a very big one if you don’t tell us the truth soon.”
“Maybe it was Ryan,” Kevin Templeton suggested.
Liz looked confused. “Ryan? What do you mean?”
“Well,” Templeton went on, “let me tell you what I think happened.” A
“No. I told you. He didn’t come that day.”
“Let me finish.”
“But it’s not true! You’re making it up.”
“Be quiet,” A
Liz flopped back in her chair. “Whatever.”
“Luke came to your place after he’d been in the market square. It was late afternoon. Ryan was out and the two of you thought you had time for a roll on the bed. He was a good-looking kid, fit, looked older than his age-”
“No! That didn’t happen. It wasn’t like that!”
“But Ryan came home and caught you at it. The two of them got in a scuffle and one way or another Luke ended up dead. I’m sure Ryan didn’t mean to kill him, but you had a body on your hands. What could you do? You waited until dark and then you loaded Luke’s body into the car and took it to Hallam Tarn, where Ryan hoisted him up the wall and dropped him over. He should have sunk the way dead bodies do, at least for a while, until they start to decompose and the gases build up and carry them to the surface, but he didn’t. His T-shirt snagged on an old tree root. Bad luck. Ryan wasn’t to know that. And nobody should have been in a position to find Luke because the whole area was quarantined due to foot-and-mouth restrictions. But a man from the Ministry had to take water samples. Bad luck, again. Ryan wasn’t to know that, either.” Templeton smiled, showing his white teeth, and folded his arms. “How am I doing so far, Liz?”
“It’s all lies. Nothing like that happened. You’re just making it up to get us in trouble. I’ve heard about the police doing things like this before.”
“You’re already in trouble,” A
“Look, I don’t know how that bag got there,” Liz said. “We hadn’t seen Luke since the last band practice.”
“You’re not making it easy for us,” A
“I can’t help it! What do you want me to do? Make something up just to satisfy you?”
“I want the truth.”
“I’ve told you the truth.”
“You’ve told us nothing, Liz.”
“Look,” said Templeton, “we can check, you know. Our forensics people are very good.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean they’ll go through your flat with the proverbial fine-tooth comb, and if there’s any evidence of wrongdoing, even a drop of Luke’s blood, they’ll find it.”
“He’s right,” A
Liz crossed her arms and bit her lip. A
Liz shook her head.
“Ryan’s being interviewed just next door,” Templeton said. “I’ll bet he’s telling them it was all your fault, that you killed Luke and he had to get rid of the body for you.”
“Ryan wouldn’t do that.”
“Even if it were true?” A
“But it’s not true. We didn’t kill anyone. How many times do I have to tell you?”
“Until we believe you,” A
“I don’t know.”
“What about the ransom demands?”
“What about them?”
“Whose idea was that? Was it Ryan’s? Did he see it as an easy opportunity to make some money now that Luke was dead anyway? Or did he do it to confuse us?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
A
“Right, ma’m,” said Templeton.
“And don’t bloody call me ma’m,” A
Liz stood up. “You can’t do this! You can’t keep me here.”
“Just watch us,” said A
Banks tapped on his parents’ front door and walked in. It was early evening, and he had plenty of time to spare before his nine o’clock meeting with Michelle. His parents had finished washing the dishes and were settling down to watch Coronation Street, just as they had all those years ago, the night the police came to call about Graham, the night Joey flew away.
“It’s all right, don’t get up,” Banks said to his mother. “I’m not stopping long. I have to go out. I just came by to drop off my overnight bag first.”