Where the Memories Lie (8 page)

round me. ‘I always forget how great it is down here.’

‘You’re always working.’ I rested my head on his shoulder and

watched Nadia, who was shrieking now as Charlotte had turned the

tables and was tickling her.

‘Well, I need to spend less time on work and more on the things

that are important.’ He kissed my ear.

I smiled, kissing his smooth cheek in return before turning my

attention to Chris, who stood at the water’s edge staring at some-

thing in the sand and kicking it with his foot.

A cry from Nadia pulled my gaze away, and I saw her walk-

ing Charlotte back towards us, an arm firmly guiding her. Blood

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Where the Memories Lie

poured from Charlotte’s nose, down her face and chin, dripping

onto the sand.

I leaped up and got into automatic nurse mode. ‘Sit her down.’

I went the other side of Charlotte and pinched the bridge of her

nose. ‘You need to keep pinching here, darling, OK?’

Nadia sat her in Lucas’s chair as Lucas grabbed some tissues

from their beach bag.

‘OK, can you pinch it now?’ I asked Charlotte when she was

settled.

She nodded and took over on the spot my fingers had vacated.

Lucas put a wad of tissues under Charlotte’s nose to stop the

blood going all over her.

‘She hasn’t had a nosebleed for years,’ Nadia said. ‘Since she

was little.’

‘It was you. You banged into me with your forehead when you

were trying to get away,’ Charlotte said with a nasally twang.

‘I didn’t. I wasn’t touching you when it happened.’

‘You did!’

‘Well, never mind,’ I said. ‘It’ll stop soon.’

Ten minutes later, when Charlotte stopped pinching her nose,

it had stopped as predicted.

‘There.’ I smiled. ‘All finished.’

Charlotte glared at Nadia. ‘It was your fault.’

Nadia lifted her hands in mock surrender. ‘OK, OK, sorry if it

was my fault.’

‘Why don’t we have some lunch now, then, eh? You up to that,

darling?’ Lucas said to Charlotte, trying to take her mind off it as he handed her a wet wipe for her face. Food usually took her mind

off most things.

‘Yeah. I’m starved. I want some of those cupcakes Mum’s made.’

She grinned and put the tissue in the rubbish bag.

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Sibel Hodge

There. Crisis averted!

After lunch, Charlotte and Anna were back in the sea again.

They’d found a couple of kids with a Frisbee and were playing with

them in the shallows.

I sat in one of the chairs, dragging my toe through the velvety-

soft sand, not really listening to the conversation going on around me because I was worrying about what to do. I couldn’t keep it inside any longer. I didn’t want to ruin the family day. And I’d tried, really I had, not to bring it up. I’d tried to forget about it because it was so ridiculous. But, well, as family, I needed their advice on it, not just Ethan’s. I knew he wouldn’t be happy with me, but I thought it was

only fair they knew what Tom had said, as well.

‘Something really weird happened when I went to see Tom this

week.’ I sat forward in the chair and glanced around at Nadia, Lucas and Chris. I avoided Ethan’s eyes, but I could feel them burning

into me because he knew what I was going to say.

‘What, did he catch himself in the mirror again and think his

reflection was Gregory Peck?’ Chris laughed. ‘I had a nightmare trying to convince him otherwise a few weeks ago.’

‘No.’ I didn’t join in with the laughter.

Instead, I told them what Mary had told me about Tom having

fitful dreams and then becoming agitated and hard to settle after-

wards. About how he’d said Georgia Walker was haunting him.

How she was apparently missing. And that he said he’d killed her.

Nadia gasped. Lucas’s jaw dropped open. Chris’s eyebrows shot

up. Ethan glared hard.

‘What?’ Nadia asked.

‘Can you repeat that?’ Chris poked a finger in his ear. ‘I think

I must’ve heard you wrong.’ He let out a slight laugh.

‘It’s completely crazy. I’ve already told her.’ Ethan shook his

head wildly. ‘Dad’s just confused. Or delusional. There’s no way he’s talking sense.’

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Where the Memories Lie

‘What, he actually said he’d
killed
her?’ Lucas whispered the word, his eyes straying to Charlotte and Anna, safely out of hearing distance as they bobbed up and down in the sea now.

‘Yes, that’s what he said.’ I repeated everything again for them

so it would sink in.

‘I don’t believe it,’ Nadia said.

‘That’s what I said.’ Ethan gave me a superior look which made

me want to smack him. ‘Dad doesn’t even know anyone called

Georgia Walker.’

‘How do you know?’ Lucas asked.

‘Well, have you ever heard him mention her?’ Ethan said.

‘No. But that doesn’t mean anything.’

‘I’m sure it can’t possibly be true,’ I said. ‘But it’s bugging me

why he keeps repeating it when he’s never mentioned anything

remotely like it before. Do any of you know anyone called Georgia

who Tom might’ve become confused about?’

One by one they shook their heads.

‘I did a search online, but I couldn’t find anyone with that

name who’s mentioned as a missing person. I searched the tele-

phone directories to see if she was in there, but again, I didn’t find anything helpful. Do you think we should go to the police and at

least ask them if someone called Georgia really is missing?’

‘The police?’ Ethan snorted. ‘Oh, don’t be ridiculous!’

‘Wait.’ Chris plonked himself down heavily on the sand next to

my chair and held up a hand. ‘How could he have killed someone?

Dad’s the nicest guy you could ever meet. It’s . . . it just doesn’t make sense. There’s no way.’

‘I agree,’ Ethan said. ‘It’s impossible. It’s just the Alzheimer’s

making him believe something he’s read or seen on the TV.’

‘But what if there really is a missing woman out there?’ I said.

‘Not that I think Tom’s killed anyone, but what if perhaps he knows something about where she is? Something that might help find her?

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Sibel Hodge

I’ve been thinking that maybe he witnessed something that might

solve a crime. It could be something that happened a while ago and

he’s only just remembering it. She could have a family who’s look-

ing for her.’

‘Of course he doesn’t know anything,’ Chris said. ‘He’s just

confused.’

‘But why is he so obsessed with someone who doesn’t seem to

have ever been mentioned in the papers? There must be a reason.

I’ve checked for news stories and there’s nothing.’

‘That’s because there’s nothing to find out,’ Ethan said.

‘Honestly, when you get a bee in your bonnet about things, you’re a nightmare. Your imagination runs riot! This is all just stupid. I don’t even know why we’re talking about it.’ He glared out to sea.

Lucas stared at the ground, a pensive frown on his face. ‘Well,

there’s a simple way to find out for certain.’

‘What do you mean?’ Ethan said.

‘I mean we go to the police like Olivia said and ask them if

there’s anyone with her name who’s missing.’

Nadia shrugged. ‘We’ll just be wasting their time. There can’t

be anything to it. I mean . . . Dad? It’s just nonsense. Honestly, Liv, you’re always finding something to worry about.’

‘I agree he’s confused,’ Lucas said. ‘But there’s no harm asking

the police. What if Georgia is kid a who’s disappeared and Tom does know something about it?’ Lucas said.

‘I hadn’t thought of that. I just assumed she was an adult.’

I turned to Ethan. ‘We have to go to the police and at least check, don’t you see?’ I stood up and crossed the sand towards him. ‘Tom

was very explicit about her, and he mentioned her not only once,

but several times. And he was completely lucid when he said it, too.

What if there really is a missing child out there and he could help find her?’

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Where the Memories Lie

‘And what are we going to tell them? That our senile dad has

confessed to killing someone but, hey, it’s probably not true because the other day he thought he was Gregory Peck!’ Ethan’s nostrils

flared with anger.

I reached for his hand. ‘Look, I know you don’t want to talk

about this but—’

‘Of course I don’t! No one would want to hear that about their

father. You’re just worrying about nothing again.’

‘Look, it seems totally unreliable what Tom’s saying, but I

think Liv’s right,’ Lucas said. ‘He could be an important witness to something.’

‘No, she’s not.’ Chris said. ‘I don’t want to go to the police

and put Dad through that for nothing. He’s ill. He’s not thinking

straight.’

‘So what do you suggest we do, then?’ Lucas asked. ‘If we’re all

certain he’s never mentioned anyone called Georgia who we can

check on, then we have to do something.’

There was a strained silence for a while.

‘I’m sure the police will just look into it and confirm that there

is no missing person by that name and we’ll know for certain.

But until then . . .’ I shrugged. ‘Well, we can’t hide something

like this.’

‘We’re not hiding anything because there’s nothing to hide. It’s

not true. Dad didn’t kill anyone, and he doesn’t know anything

about any missing people.’ Ethan folded his arms over his chest.

‘We’ll just be wasting their time,’ Chris said. ‘I think we should

wait until we know more.’

‘Weren’t you listening, Chris?’ I said. ‘I’ve tried to find out

who she is but can’t. None of us knows who this person could be,

and like Lucas said, what if this is something to do with a miss-

ing child? What if Anna or Charlotte were abducted and someone

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Sibel Hodge

knew something, however inconsequential it might sound, but they

didn’t do anything about it?’

‘But this is
Dad
we’re talking about,’ Chris said.

‘I agree with Chris,’ Ethan said.

‘Well then, the police will just tell us that it can’t possibly be

true and that will be the end of it,’ Lucas said. ‘They’ll say there’s no one of that name on their records and we can just forget about this.’

I nodded. ‘Of course they will.’

‘Yes,’ Nadia agreed.

‘I bloody hope so.’ Lucas crossed his arms and stared off into

the distance.

56

Chapter Six

Sergeant Downing looked too young to be a sergeant. Or

maybe it was just that I was getting old. He sat on one

side of the desk in the interview room with Nadia and

me on the other. I felt like I was having a job interview and any

minute he’d ask me what my strengths and weaknesses were.

The walls were painted lilac, or lavender, or something. Maybe

it was designed to make suspects feel soothed into dishing the

dirt on their criminal activities. It was quite nice, actually.

I could see it on our bathroom walls. I couldn’t even believe I was even thinking about that as Sergeant Downing frowned for the

second time.

‘Right. So . . .’ he started off. ‘Your father-in-law is in a nursing home suffering from Alzheimer’s, and he’s been mentioning a missing person called Georgia Walker?’

‘Well . . . yes.’ I nodded firmly and chewed on my lower

lip. We hadn’t mentioned the fact that Tom said he’d killed her

because that was just plain crazy, and they’d probably laugh us out of the station.

‘I’m sure it’s all nonsense!’ Nadia emitted an embarrassed, tin-

kling laugh, as if she was terribly sorry for wasting their time.

Sibel Hodge

‘I agree, but I’m just concerned that maybe he witnessed a

crime and he’s only just remembering it. We think it’s our duty to

check, just to make sure.’

Sergeant Downing frowned again. ‘Has he ever made any

similar statements about missing people?’

‘No,’ I said.

‘What’s his full name, date of birth, and last address?’ He leaned

forward on the desk and wrote as I rattled off the details. ‘I don’t recall anyone called Georgia being circulated as missing around

here, but it can’t do any harm to check. Wait here, please.’ He stood and left the room.

I glanced at Nadia.

‘Ethan’s right: this is all just a waste of time. They’re not going to find anything,’ she said.

‘Of course they won’t.’

‘Did Ethan calm down on the way back?’

‘A little bit. With Lucas in agreement, he can’t do much else,

really. But he’s not happy about it.’

‘No one’s happy about it. This is just stupid,’ she barked.

‘No, I didn’t mean . . . oh, never mind.’

‘Sorry. I’m just stressed.’

I squeezed her hand then. Of course she was, what with the

worry of Lucas’s affair and now this – no wonder she was looking

ruffled.

She picked at the hem of her dress. ‘I can’t believe we’re even

doing this.’

I jigged my knee up and down as we waited in silence. It seemed

like hours before Sergeant Downing came back, but in reality it was probably only forty-five minutes.

I tried to read the expression on his face as he sat down, but I

couldn’t work it out. I bet there was a lesson on the art of pulling the perfect poker face during their police training. I visualised a whole 58

Where the Memories Lie

room of officers pulling different expressions in front of the mirror to see which worked best.