‘When we spoke before, it was because you’d been to see Mrs McKenna.’
Ellie nodded.
‘You said you’d been in touch with her son.’
‘Yes, but that wasn’t true, I told you about that.’
‘Quite. And is that still the case, that you’ve never been in touch with Samuel McKenna?’
Samuel, his Sunday name, so quaint. It felt like something out of the Old Testament. She couldn’t imagine the gangly teenager crying on the bridge as Samuel.
‘That’s correct,’ Ellie said.
Macdonald shot a glance to Wood. ‘The boy is back home,’ she said.
Ellie smiled. ‘That’s good news. I was worried about him, as I explained when we spoke before. It must’ve been scary, being out there on his own.’
‘Don’t you want to know what he said?’ Wood said. ‘Where he’s been? Why he ran away?’
Ellie shrugged. ‘I’m sure he had good reason. As long as he’s back home and safe, what does it matter?’
Ben stepped further into the room. ‘But he does back up my wife’s statement, yes? That she’s never met him.’
Wood raised his eyebrows at the interruption. Scanned Ben up and down. He was just a kid who thought he had more authority than he really possessed. When your teenage son has committed suicide, when you’ve killed a man and dumped his body in the sea, that gives you a certain authority. That gives you the power to truly not give a fuck, to not be intimidated by jumped up little pricks.
‘He’s not been all that communicative,’ Macdonald said. ‘Although he did say that he’d never heard of your wife, yes.’
Ellie looked at her hands. ‘So where was he all this time?’
Macdonald and Wood both eyed her closely. She was risking it, but she didn’t care. Macdonald referred to her notes, but it was just for show, she knew the details already.
‘In a lock-up garage beneath the rail bridge,’ she said. ‘I believe it belongs to the family of a friend of his sister.’
That was good, a piece of misdirection away from the marina, keep them from looking there. Ellie should’ve thought of that.
Wood spoke. ‘The sister came back too, they were together.’
Ellie looked surprised. Wood was trying to catch her out.
‘His sister was missing?’ she said, voice natural. ‘That wasn’t in the news.’
Macdonald looked at her colleague. ‘Not for long. She didn’t come home last night. Said she spent it with her brother in the garage, then persuaded him to come home today.’
‘I’m so glad,’ Ellie said. ‘The family’s all back together.’
Wood snorted. ‘Not exactly.’
Ben came over and put a hand on Ellie’s shoulder. ‘What do you mean?’
‘Jack McKenna might be missing,’ Macdonald said.
Ellie looked surprised. ‘Isn’t he in hospital?’
Wood shook his head. ‘He checked himself out, against the advice of doctors.’
‘What do you mean, “might be missing”?’ Ben said.
‘It’s unclear at this stage,’ Macdonald said. ‘He left home on foot very early this morning, told his wife he was going to look for Samuel and Libby. She hasn’t heard from him since.’
‘And the children didn’t see him?’ Ellie said.
‘They say they haven’t,’ Macdonald said.
Wood narrowed his eyes. ‘Have you seen him?’
Ellie shook her head. ‘No.’
‘Have you ever seen him?’ Macdonald said. ‘Before today, I mean.’
‘Never, only a picture on the news.’
Wood sat back in his seat, pleased with himself. ‘That’s interesting, Mrs Napier. Because we have a description of someone who sounds very much like you visiting Jack McKenna in hospital the day after he was stabbed.’
Macdonald looked at her notebook. ‘Several nurses in his ward described a woman claiming to be his sister who spent several minutes alone with him.’ She looked up. ‘Jack doesn’t have a sister, Ellie.’
Ellie felt Ben’s grip on her shoulder tighten. She concentrated on her breathing, looked down at her hands and back up.
‘OK,’ she said finally. ‘I did go and see him in hospital.’
Wood smiled. ‘Why?’
‘I can’t explain it,’ Ellie said, her voice shaky. ‘It’s part of the same thing, the reason I went to see the mother and lied about her son. I felt involved somehow. It made me think of everything that happened with Logan. I felt sorry for the police officer, worried about him. I didn’t want those children to lose a father, I didn’t want Mrs McKenna to lose her husband.’
Macdonald frowned. ‘But he was a complete stranger to you, correct?’
Ellie nodded, felt Ben rubbing her arm. ‘I just . . . I haven’t been sleeping. The pills I was taking weren’t working. After Logan jumped, I haven’t been able to cope. When I saw the story on the news, I felt like it was my family. You wouldn’t understand. I don’t understand myself, really. I felt like if I could just make the McKennas’ lives OK, just get them all back together, then that was a second chance for me. Does that make sense?’
Wood sucked his teeth. ‘Not really.’
Macdonald stared at him.
Wood ignored it. ‘So how does this family love tally with the accusations you made about PS McKenna to his wife?’
‘I never made any accusations.’
‘You never said he was abusing his daughter?’
‘I told you last time, I never made any accusations.’
‘Why would Mrs McKenna make something like that up?’
‘You’d have to ask her,’ Ellie said. ‘She’s under a lot of stress. Maybe it was just a case of crossed wires.’
Wood snorted. ‘Really?’
‘Her son was missing,’ Ellie said. ‘Her husband in hospital. Unless you have a family, you can’t understand the strain of that.’
‘Oh, come on,’ Wood said.
Ellie looked at the wedding ring on Macdonald’s finger. If she had kids maybe she could understand the loss, the need to be useful, involved in the lives of others. That’s what Ellie was banking on.
‘Can you tell us what you’ve been up to since we spoke to you yesterday?’ Wood said.
Ellie thought for a moment. She wiped at her eyes and nose, buying time. Felt Ben’s hand still on her shoulder.
‘I think my wife has told you everything you need to know,’ he said.
‘No, she hasn’t,’ Wood said.
Ellie looked up, put a hand on Ben’s. ‘It’s OK. I’m fine.’
‘Since the interview yesterday,’ Wood said.
Ellie remembered getting in the car with Jack, walking back to the marina, coming home. Then all of today, back and forth in the car, out on the water. Everything.
‘I’ve just been at home mostly,’ she said.
‘I can vouch for that,’ Ben said.
‘Mostly?’ Macdonald said. She was still trying to be kind, trying to give Ellie options.
‘Maybe I went for a walk today,’ Ellie said.
‘Maybe?’ Wood said.
Ellie nodded. ‘I did. This morning.’ She remembered telling the cops the same thing in the station. Try to be consistent.
‘Another of your famous big walks,’ Wood said. ‘Can you remember this time where you went rambling to?’
She couldn’t say Port Edgar, didn’t want them even thinking of that place, going there and asking around. But she couldn’t say the other direction, along the High Street and the prom, because that led to the lock-up where Sam said he stayed.
‘The bridge.’
‘The road bridge?’ Macdonald said.
‘Yes.’
‘Why?’ Wood said.
‘I go up there every day.’
This was good, this was true. She was up there yesterday, first thing, she could use the truth to make a lie. She gave Macdonald a look, mothers together.
‘I go up there every day,’ she said. ‘Ever since Logan jumped.’
Wood shifted in his seat. ‘That’s a bit sick, isn’t it?’