Silent Scream

‘Cerys, what’s that?’ Kim asked, staring at something protruding from the shoulder joint.

Cerys dusted it once and Kim could see that it was fabric.

Kim’s heart began to hammer in her chest.

‘Cerys, dust it again.’

She did and Kim swore. Cerys turned and their eyes met.

‘Is this what you were looking for?’

Kim nodded, her feet already moving slowly towards the bike.

‘Cerys ... I have to ...’

‘Go,’ she said, taking out her phone. ‘I'll call it in.’

Kim sprinted up the hill as fast as her legs would move.

Seventy-Six

Kim knocked on the door and took a deep breath.

The door opened.

‘Detective, good morning. Please come in.’

‘Good morning, Nicola,’ Kim said, entering the flat.

Nicola closed the door and stood in front of it. ‘You’re alone today?’

Kim nodded. ‘I have to give my team some time off.’

‘But not yourself?’

‘Soon, Nicola. Very soon.’

‘Please, sit.’

Kim did so. As she lowered herself down her eyes rested on the edge of the sofa, and her mind now fully registered the significance of what she had glimpsed on her last visit.

‘How can I help?’ Nicola asked.

Kim took a second to analyse Nicola’s expression. It was open and earnest. Kim detected no deceit at all. Dammit.

‘We’ve uncovered another body.’

Nicola’s hand flew to her mouth. ‘Oh God, no.’

The shock was genuine.

‘Nicola, do you have any idea at all who the fourth victim could be?’

Nicola stood and paced back and forth behind the sofa. ‘I can’t even begin to imagine who ...’

‘Nicola, was there a fourth member in that group?’

Nicola frowned. Her eye movement indicated she was searching her memory.

‘No, Detective. I’m sure there were only three.’

Kim sighed and stood as though to leave. ‘Oh, perhaps Beth might recall another girl?’ Kim asked, hopefully.

Nicola shook her head. ‘Beth’s out shopping at the moment but when she comes back ...’

‘Are you sure?’ Kim asked.

‘Of course I’m sure,’ Nicola said, smiling.

Kim nodded towards the edge of the sofa. ‘Then why didn’t she take her stick?’

Nicola’s eyes rested on the walking aid hooked over the back of the sofa. Her expression was one of genuine confusion.

Kim took the momentum and strode across the room. She headed for the first door and just hoped it was the right one.

‘Perhaps she hasn’t left yet. Perhaps she will ...’

‘Detective, don’t go in there. Beth doesn’t like ...’

Her words trailed away as Kim pushed open the door.

Nicola was beside her and they surveyed the room together. The single bed was a box spring and mattress. There were no sheets or a duvet cover. A two-drawer cabinet sat beside the unused bed.

Kim strode to the wardrobe in the corner and opened it. Seven empty coat hangers stared back at her.

Kim looked back at Nicola who stood, horrified, in the doorway.

Kim waited for a response but Nicola continued to stare into the empty room.

A single tear rolled down her cheek. ‘She’s gone again ‒ and she never even said goodbye.’

Kim ushered Nicola out of the doorway and closed the door behind her. She guided Nicola to the sofa and sat beside her.

‘Has Beth done this before?’ she asked, gently.

Nicola nodded. ‘She’s been doing it ever since we left Crestwood.’ A fresh wave of tears rolled over her cheeks. She wiped them away with the sleeve of her jumper. ‘She’s always so angry with me but she won’t tell me why. This is what she does. She comes back and then just leaves me again. It’s so unfair. She knows I have no one else.’

Kim went to the kitchen and retrieved a few squares of kitchen roll. She sat and handed the tissue to Nicola. The tears were not over yet.

‘Can you remember when she last came back?’

Nicola stopped crying and thought. She sniffed and nodded. ‘It was two years ago, when I had glandular fever and was taken into hospital. I woke up and there she was, sitting beside the bed.’

‘And the time before that?’

‘I’d had a minor car accident, just a shunt really. I wasn’t badly injured but it frightened me a lot at the time. I hadn’t been driving very long.’

‘So, she’s been in and out of your life since leaving Crestwood. Do you have any idea why she might be angry with you?’

Nicola shook her head vehemently. ‘She won’t tell me.’

Kim heard the exasperation in Nicola’s voice and realised this was going to be even harder than she’d imagined.

Kim reached for Nicola’s hand. ‘I need you to think back to the day of the fire. I think there’s something there that you may have forgotten. Do you think you could do that if I’m right here with you?’

‘There’s nothing,’ she said, confused.

Kim squeezed the hand. ‘It’s okay, Nicola. I’m right here. Tell me step-by-step what you remember from that day and we’ll see what we can piece together.’

Nicola stared forward, her eyes focused on the opposite wall. ‘I know it was cold and Beth and I had argued about something. She was giving me the silent treatment so I went to the common room.’

‘Who was in the common room?’ Kim asked, gently.

Nicola shook her head and then frowned. ‘No one. They were all outside, building a snowman.’

‘So, what did you do?’

Nicola tipped her head. ‘I heard voices, shouting. It was coming from Mr Croft’s office.’

‘What did you hear, Nicola?’

Kim was holding onto Nicola’s hand but her thumb rested on the slim wrist. The pulse had quickened.

‘They were talking about William, about covering something up. They were saying he would get into trouble, that he’d go to prison. They were talking about what would happen to Lucy.’

‘Do you remember who you heard in there?’

‘Mr Croft and Miss Wyatt were arguing. Father Wilks was talking quietly and I heard Tom Curtis and Arthur Co

Five of them, Kim thought. ‘What about Mary Andrews?’

Nicola shook her head. ‘She’d been off sick with the flu.’

‘What happened next, Nicola?’

‘Father Wilks opened the door and saw me. He looked angry. I ran away.’

Kim could feel the palm of Nicola’s hand turning clammy.

‘Where did you go?’

‘I went to find Beth. She was in our room. I was sick of people being angry with me.’

Kim’s voice was barely a whisper. ‘So, what did you do?’

‘I told her ... I told her ...’

Kim squeezed the hand but Nicola’s head was already shaking from side to side. Her eyes were darting around, searching her own memory, hoping to rearrange the past.

‘No. No. No. No. No.’

Kim tried to hang on to the hand but Nicola broke free easily.

She paced around the room like a caged animal looking for somewhere to hide.

The panic was rising in her. Her movements were quick and frantic.

‘No, it can’t be ... I couldn’t have ...’

Nicola’s hands thumped down on the breakfast bar. She turned and started banging her fists into the wall units and then punching herself in the head.

Kim ran over and grabbed Nicola from behind, forcing her arms to her sides to prevent her from any further damage to her own body.

‘What did you tell Beth?’

Nicola struggled to free herself from Kim’s hold but she had interlocked her fingers and she wasn’t about to let go.

‘Please stop, I can’t ...’

Kim’s voice grew louder. ‘Nicola, you have to remember. What did you tell Beth?’

Nicola’s head thrashed from side to side. Kim craned her own neck back to avoid being struck.