Hollow Pike (17 page)

What was more depressing were the pupils who paid their respects to Laura, no doubt for a fee, in the cheesy tabloid. There was a picture of Laura with Poppy Hewitt-Smith, the ponytail victim.
Lis knew that Poppy and Laura had despised each other, and yet there they were, smiling in ink.
Like sisters
read the quote under the picture. The photo looked about two years old. Yuck,
Poppy was a vampire, feeding on Laura’s death. Lis slammed the paper shut and threw it across the room where it tumbled into the recycling box.

‘You OK?’ Sarah asked.

‘Yeah. I suppose it’ll get easier.’

Sarah poured the tea. ‘Well, there is one thing, Lis . . .’

‘Go on.’

Placing the tea next to her, Sarah started mixing the pancake batter. ‘Well, while you were sleeping, we had a phone call from the police.’

‘What?’ Lis exploded, nearly dropping her tea.

‘Don’t fret!’ Sarah said quickly. ‘They’re talking to most of your class – just gathering information about the last few days. They said it was absolutely
nothing to worry about.’

Oh, if only that were the case
, Lis thought.

Two hours later, Lis looked across the car park. Sheets of rain bounced off the tarmac, yet she could still make out the shape of the police station in the distance.

‘Right. I’m ready.’ She sighed.

‘Are you sure?’ asked Max in his broad Yorkshire accent. As Sarah was with Logan, Max had left his site to accompany Lis. ‘You know we don’t have to go today. They said
“in your own time”.’

Lis turned and tried for a smile. ‘What’s the point in waiting? Might as well get it over and done with.’

With Max holding a mighty golf umbrella over both of them, they sprinted through the downpour. Lis had never seen rain like it. Even in the short dash, they were both drenched by the time they
fell through the automatic doors.

Fulton Police Station was a local affair, but it had that strange council vibe: tatty posters curling at the edges and leaflets littering torn vinyl chairs. Lis sat, pulling at some exposed seat
padding, while Max spoke to the officer on the desk. This place was almost as chaotic as the gymnasium had been. It was obvious the regional station didn’t have the capacity to handle
something like this.

‘Lis, we’ve got to wait through here.’ Max beckoned her through a security door and she found herself in an almost identical waiting room. She wondered if the whole station was
like an Escher print where she’d keep going through doors only to discover the same room behind each one.

‘I need the loo,’ Lis said, feeling increasingly nervous.

‘OK, pet, I’ll wait here.’

Lis left the waiting room and searched the long corridor, looking for the ladies’. She turned a corner and saw the lavatories next to a tall, brown coffee machine. Suddenly, she heard a
familiar voice.

‘Do you have any idea how embarrassing this is?’ It was Kitty’s father. He had close-shaven grey hair with a neat beard to match, and the darkest mahogany skin. He was maybe
even taller than Max, who took some beating in the height stakes. He towered over a terrified Kitty, who was pressed against the vending machine. Her friend had been crying, and was without her
trademark make-up. She looked very young. Lis quickly ducked back around the corner, but remained within earshot.

‘I’m sorry. I should have said something sooner,’ Kitty said. The pair were speaking in low voices.

‘Do you think?’ her father raged. ‘Do you bloody think?’

‘What else can I say? I’m sorry!’ There was none of the usual coolness in Kitty’s voice.

‘Katherine, do you think you get some sort of special treatment for being my daughter?’

‘Well, clearly not!’ Kitty sobbed bitterly.

‘Don’t get bloody clever, young lady!’ he snarled. ‘Now, are you sure there’s nothing else you want to add before you go? Because if I find out you’ve
“forgotten” something, I will have you arrested and that is a promise!’

Lis winced at the grilling. It was painful to listen to so Lis could only imagine what it would feel like to be on the receiving end. Jack was right: Kitty’s dad
was
the scariest
man ever.

‘That’s everything,’ Kitty said. ‘We had a fight at Danny’s party. It wasn’t even a proper fight. She was taking the mick out of Delilah, so I slapped her and
we both fell down the stairs. Dad, I promise, that’s everything. It had nothing to do with what’s happened!’

Her father paused for a moment. ‘Right, get out of my sight.’

Lis heard their footsteps approach. She promptly resumed her walk, trying to look as casual as possible. Kitty and her dad almost crashed straight into her.

‘Lis!’ Kitty said, astonished. ‘I tried calling you a hundred times. Your phone was off. I—’

‘That’s enough,’ snapped her father. ‘Go home, Katherine. I’ll speak to you later.’

Kitty looked from Lis to her dad, choosing not to argue. ‘Call me later, OK?’ she said to Lis and left quickly.

Kitty’s dad turned to Lis. ‘Right. It’s Elisabeth London, isn’t it? I’m Inspector Keith Monroe. I’ve got you down as my next appointment.’

Lis and Max were led into a room marked ‘Interview 1’. A female officer sat quietly at a desk in the sticky little room. The only sound was the streaming rain
beating against the single window pane.

‘This is PC Alison Price, my colleague. She’ll be taking some notes while we chat,’ explained Inspector Monroe, gesturing to them both to sit. ‘Try to relax, Elisabeth,
you’re not in any trouble.’ He was full of Yorkshire charm now, but Lis couldn’t forget the way he’d treated Kitty.

‘Everyone calls me Lis,’ she mumbled.

‘Fair dos. Right, Lis, we need to gather as much information as we can about Laura’s last few days. We’ve spoken to all her friends at school and your name came up.
That’s why we’d like to speak to you.’

Lis nodded slowly. Under the table, Max gave her hand a supportive squeeze.

‘Now we need to know anything at all you can tell us, love. It might not seem important but you never know when something might be a smaller piece of the big puzzle, do you see?’

‘OK,’ she practically whispered. She cleared her throat noisily. ‘What do you want to know?’ Her heart was pounding so loudly in her chest Lis felt the inspector must be
able to hear it. Guilt, guilt, guilt, banging away. Had Kitty, Jack and Delilah confessed to their little game? She recalled how Delilah had insisted they write nothing down so there’d be no
evidence. Why would they then go and tell the police everything? But then it had all been hypothetical, at least to her. Now it was real. Just answer the questions, she decided.

‘Right. Something that’s come up a few times is that Laura had upset quite a lot of people at your school. Is that true?’

Be honest. Don’t waffle. ‘Well, yeah. She could be really mean, I suppose.’

‘How was she mean?’

‘Well. Uh . . . she was rude to a lot of people. And unkind. Really unkind.’

‘Was she unkind to you?’

Oh, Christ, she saw where this was heading. Max again gave her hand a rub.
Just be honest
, Lis told herself. She hadn’t done anything wrong. She’d had nothing to do with
Laura’s
actual
death.
Theoretical
death was another matter entirely. ‘Yeah. She told everyone that I came to live with my sister because I’d given my baby up for
adoption, or something. It’s not true, but it was still embarrassing.’

‘You didn’t say anything, love!’ Max seemed shocked.

‘It’s not the sort of thing I enjoy sharing, Max.’

He let a long breath out through his nose and fell silent once more.

‘Was that the end of it?’ asked Inspector Monroe.

‘Yes. I talked with Mr Gray, my form tutor. He said it was being sorted out with Ms Dandehunt. Laura was picking on half the school. It wasn’t just me!’ Anger started to rise
inside her. Did they really think she’d killed Laura over some stupid prank? Of course, it had been that email that had prompted her to plan Laura’s death, but that was different.

Monroe relaxed in his chair. It was a physical apology of sorts. ‘Lis, we weren’t trying to say you’d done anything. We just need every side of the story. We’ve already
chatted to Mr Gray. He said exactly the same thing as you.’

Lis nodded, feeling calmer.

‘Do you know anyone who would want to hurt Laura?’

Anyone who met her.
‘No.’ She paused. ‘I don’t know.’

‘Well, which is it?’

Lis stared, unblinking, at Monroe. ‘Was Laura nasty? Yes. Did she upset lots of people? Yes. Can I think of a single person who could be evil enough to actually
kill
her?
No.’

On the last word, her voice broke into a sob. It was true. Did she really think that Kitty, Jack or Delilah could have murdered Laura? She
had
to believe they were innocent.
But what
if they weren’t?
It felt like acid, burning at her insides.

Monroe observed her shrewdly for a moment and Lis held her breath. He finally looked away, seemingly accepting every word she’d said.

Damp and tired, Lis dragged herself up the stairs to the side door. The drive back had been eerily silent, with none of her usual banter with Max. As soon as they entered the
house, Lis headed for her bedroom, wanting to seek refuge under her duvet again. She only got as far as the lounge.

‘Elisabeth May London, what’s going on?’ Oh, Sarah meant business if she was bringing out the middle name. Logan looked at Lis accusingly too – what did he know? He
wasn’t even one year old yet!

Lis slumped on the sofa. ‘It was awful, Sarah.’ She could hardly find the words.

‘Why?’ Sarah demanded.

‘She did fine,’ Max said from the kitchen. ‘You were very brave, pet.’

‘So what’s up?’ Sarah wanted to know.

‘I . . . I . . .’ Could she really tell her sister? What if she dragged Sarah into her problems? What if her friends
weren’t
innocent? Did she really want to put Sarah
in the firing line? ‘I just . . . I mean, there’s a murderer out there! It could be anyone!’

‘You silly sausage! What happened to Laura has nothing to do with you.’

At that point, an uncontrollable sob wracked Lis’s body. She shook as it found its way out.

Sarah regarded her, her face full of concern. ‘If there’s something going on, Lis, you know you can tell me, don’t you? You can tell me anything, babe.’

Lis nodded, not daring to speak in case all the events of the last weeks spilled from her lips.

‘It’s just me, your sister. We don’t need to tell Mum or Max,’ Sarah continued in a low whisper.

But Lis couldn’t do this, not to Sarah. ‘I’m fine. This Laura stuff . . . it’s like the nightmares. Only this time I don’t wake up.’ Her voice cracked.

Sarah carefully placed Logan on the rug and came over to her, wrapping Lis in her arms.

‘You’re not too big for a hug, you daft thing.’

Lis curled into her sister’s embrace, drawing in a lungful of her comforting scent.

‘What do you want to do, babe?’ Sarah asked gently. ‘Watch a DVD? Go do some shopping maybe? I’m all yours. I’ve neglected you!’

Lis straightened up, tucking her hair behind her ears. How much could she risk telling Sarah about Laura, the woods, the rituals, the rumours about her new friends being witches? And what about
the nightmares, or ‘
warnings
’ as she’d been told – visions of what was to come. ‘Sarah. You know the stories about Hollow Pike?’ Lis began.