‘Hi,’ I said, as I sat beside her. She looked up from her book.
‘Oh, hey, Jacki?’ she said.
‘Yes.’
‘You want some pizza?’
‘Yeah, I’ll go get a slice,’ I said.
I bought a double pepperoni and sat beside her again, glancing at the book as I rested my plate on the counter.
‘Emily Dickinson,’ she said, showing me the cover. ‘Reading it helps me to calm down.’
‘I’m sorry I’m asking you to do this,’ I said. ‘But knowing the route Kayla took home would really help give me a clearer picture of the whole situation.’ I had to start detaching myself more from the suspects, I thought. I was getting too involved, feeling bad for asking questions, for even being there. I had a duty to Kayla, and I had to stop apologizing for it. It just wasn’t easy.
‘Oh no, it’s not that,’ said Amy. ‘It’s just… well, Andrew and I had kind of a messy break-up. We don’t really talk any more.’
‘Oh,’ I said. ‘OK.’
‘Well, we talk,’ Amy carried on, her words tumbling over each other. ‘But just so it’s not awkward for everyone else in the group. It’s never one-on-one.’
I hadn’t even thought of the possibility that they would’ve broken up. I’d just assumed that they were still going out. I wondered if it’d had anything to do with Kayla’s disappearance.
‘So you only kind of get along?’ I said.
‘I tolerate him,’ she said with a sigh.
I’d only had one other serious boyfriend apart from Nick – a guy called Cian, and I certainly didn’t get along with him. In fact I’d only heard from him once since we broke up. He called me to ask if I still had his Iron Maiden CD. I was pretty sure I didn’t have it, but I hadn’t looked very hard. I’d gone out with other people for a few weeks at a time, and I still got along really well with them. But I’d adored Cian and I suppose the more you loved a person, the more awkward it is.
Amy tensed up as soon as Andrew arrived. He wore a black T-shirt and denims and was quite tall and muscular, the kind of person you wouldn’t want to be up against in a fight.
‘Hey, Jacki, I’m Andrew,’ he said. ‘Hi, Amy,’ he added, without looking at her.
‘I thought we’d walk the route you guys took on the night of the party together?’ I said. ‘But first I’d just like to ask you some questions.’
Amy didn’t react. ‘Sure,’ said Andrew. ‘I’m just out of work – mind if I grab a slice?’
‘Go ahead,’ I said.
He bought a slice of pepperoni pizza too. I started off by asking them the usual questions – was Kayla in a good mood? Did she mention if anything was wrong? Did they notice anything suspicious? They had the same answers as her sisters and Ellie – she was in a great mood, having lots of fun, just like everybody else. Andrew finished his slice within a few minutes, but Amy didn’t touch hers. She tore off a piece, but didn’t put it near her mouth, instead dropping it down on the plate. I had a lot of sympathy for her. I knew I wouldn’t be able to stomach a pizza if I were sitting next to Cian.
It felt like I wasn’t making much progress though, like the stuff I was hearing was the same from everybody. At least one person from the group had to be lying, or knew things but wasn’t telling me. But the answers that Andrew and Amy and the others had given me corresponded exactly with their statements and with what they’d told the police. I suppose it didn’t matter so much what they told me, but what I picked up did matter. I was meant to be able to see beyond any lies and cover-ups and find out what really happened.
‘We should get going,’ said Amy, dumping her slice of pizza into the bin. ‘Before it gets too late.’
We walked up the hill, past the tram tracks and down to Kayla’s house. There was a blue Mini parked in the driveway, giant furry dice hanging from the rear-view mirror. The lights were on in the sitting room and I could hear loud music coming from inside.
‘That’s Hazel’s car,’ said Andrew. ‘It was parked in that exact spot on the night of the party, along with some other cars. Amy and I walked over from my house, and got here about nine p.m. By that stage nearly everybody else was here.’
‘How close are you to Kayla?’ I asked Amy.
‘Very close,’ said Amy. ‘She’s one of my best friends.’
Amy didn’t act like Libby or Ellie; she didn’t look like she was going to cry when she talked about Kayla. Instead she had a sort of vacant expression on her face, like her mind was somewhere else. It must have been hard to know that so many people partly blamed her for what happened to Kayla. I wondered what had been going through her head when she’d left her at the top of the road. I was wary of accusing her of leaving Kayla – I didn’t want her to become even more closed off.
‘So, you guys left the house at about twelve thirty a.m.?’ I asked.
‘Yeah,’ said Andrew. ‘Amy and Kayla wanted to go buy marshmallows, and I said I’d go with them.’
‘Because you didn’t think they should go alone?’ I asked.
‘No, I needed cigarettes and fancied a walk.’
I’d thought maybe he’d been concerned for their safety, but obviously not.
‘Always the gentleman,’ muttered Amy and rolled her eyes. ‘Anyway, it was Kayla’s idea,’ she continued. ‘We started talking about this time we’d gone camping and toasted marshmallows, and then Kayla said we should go buy some. The next thing I knew we were heading to the shop.’
‘We walked pretty fast,’ said Andrew, leading us up the path. ‘None of us had drunk that much.’
‘While you were walking to the shop, did you notice anything suspicious?’ I asked.
‘No,’ Andrew responded. ‘Like I said, everything seemed normal. Kayla was being kind of quiet, but Amy said that’s what she’s like anyway, so I didn’t think much of it at the time.’
I looked round at Amy; she hadn’t said anything at all on the walk. She stayed a short distance behind us.
‘Is this how you remember it too?’ I asked. She just nodded. It must have been a particularly messy break-up or else this journey was particularly difficult for her.
‘So, we crossed the road here,’ said Andrew. ‘Then went this way.’
We were on a busier road now and I could see the mini-supermarket up ahead, its OPEN 24 HOURS sign shining brightly.
Andrew crossed the path and walked ahead of us.
‘Did she talk at all?’ I said. ‘On the walk?’
‘Oh yeah, she talked about the party, and all the presents she’d got so far, that sort of stuff.’
‘Did she mention a fight with anyone?’
‘No, she didn’t talk about anything like that,’ said Andrew.
I felt like I wasn’t making much progress at all.
‘Did you notice anyone hanging around on the way up?’ I asked, desperate for some new information.
‘Nope. We passed a man walking a dog here, then we crossed at these traffic lights.’ Andrew hit the pedestrian button. It turned green almost immediately. ‘We crossed the road and arrived at another set of lights. We didn’t have to wait for these to change, just like now, because there was no traffic.’
It was so strange to walk like this, hearing Andrew recount every detail. It was like I could see it all unfolding in front of me. Kayla had walked this path, completely oblivious to what was about to happen. I wanted to go back in time and tell her to turn round.
Andrew walked into the shop and Amy and I followed. It was a small supermarket, with two cashiers. ‘Marshmallows were down the back somewhere,’ he said. ‘I waited here while the girls went and got them.’