‘Do you clean Amy’s bedroom?’
‘Well, I give it a hoover and obviously change the sheets, but she is very particular about keeping it spotless herself. I mean, I have a daughter, a lot older than her, but she’s never been so obsessive about her bedroom. She sprays the shower in there after every use; she can be in there for hours polishing and dusting, and that includes her perfume bottles and moisturizer and she has a place for everything.’
‘That’s very unusual in a young girl,’ he remarked, encouraging the woman to continue.
‘Yes, I know. The reason I know just how obsessive, and I am using the right word, she can be is because once I’d moved something or other and she knew, gave me a right ticking off, saying that I was not to touch her personal things. From then on I’ve never touched anything because she is a right little madam, she can get this nasty tone to her voice, looking down at me as if I’m beneath her. I mean, I don’t want to say anything bad about her, but she is a very arrogant young woman.’
This was a somewhat different picture of Amy to her previous description. It was obvious Agnes didn’t like her – in fact he was getting used to realizing that the portrait they’d all painted of her was cracking.
‘Will you take care of Mrs Fulford?’
‘Yes of course. Will Barbara be staying on? If she is, I’ll prepare some lunch.’
‘That would be very kind.’
In the kitchen, DC Burrows was still answering the phones, but they had quietened down somewhat. Glancing up as he came in, she asked if he would like to look at the names of the callers, which she had divided into two lists, personal and press.
Reid skimmed the list of private calls, remarking that a Gail Summers had rung frequently.
‘What’s the connection?’
‘She runs Mrs Fulford’s children’s party business and seems desperate to talk to her; she appears genuinely very concerned. The other frequent caller is a Marjory Jordan – she said she was Mrs Fulford’s therapist and again was obviously very concerned about the missing girl.’
Reid passed the notebook back, asking DC Burrows to make a copy for him and to remain at the house. ‘And look, if Marcus Fulford calls or makes an appearance, then let me know. I’m going to have to head back.’
‘Of course.’ Barbara Burrows smiled as confidently as she could, hoping that this was all making a good impression on her boss.
Back at the incident room, DS James Lane was waiting as they had received a call from the television station to say they could do a three-minute slot on their new crime show, Crime Night. They were semi-interested in broadcasting a reconstruction, but it would take a few days to set up and would be used the following week – obviously, only if the girl was still missing.
‘How did it go at the house?’ Lane enquired and Reid sighed, taking his seat behind his desk.
‘As you can imagine, there was a highly charged atmosphere.’
‘About the cadaver dog?’
Reid smiled. ‘A bit, but the dog didn’t react to a thing, not even a bloody yelp out of it. Mrs Fulford’s got herself all worked up that Amy was sexually abused because she was masturbating in a video.’
‘What?’ a startled-looking Lane remarked.
‘It may be something or nothing, and if you blinked you’d miss it. Thing is, I think she suspects her husband as the abuser.’
‘You think it’s the father?’ Lane asked and Reid shrugged, reluctant to admit that was what he suspected, as he was also loath to cast aspersions until he knew for sure.
Lane pressed him. ‘Did she say as much?’
‘No, and part of me was worried, in case I was wrong, that if I asked her she’d bite my head off. There’s a good deal of dysfunction in the family and to be honest the quiet innocent teenager everyone has described Amy to be is now appearing to be something of a Lolita.’
Chapter 16
Marcus attempted yet another call to Lena, but the landline had been engaged for hours and Lena’s mobile went to voicemail. Frustrated and extremely anxious, he decided he would drive over to the house.
Marcus found Lena holed up in her bedroom. ‘What the hell is going on, Lena? I’ve been trying to contact you all morning.’
‘The phones have been ringing here since eight o’clock and I’m at breaking point!’ she shouted.
He sat her down on the bed. ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t realize, and I shouldn’t have had a go at you. Tell me everything that’s happened, but slowly and calmly please.’
Lena told him about the search in the house, the cadaver dog and the video she’d discovered of Amy masturbating. Visibly shocked, he protested that she should have shown it to him the previous evening. Again she became angry, insisting that at first she had not really taken in what Amy was doing but had shown it to Detective Reid as she felt it was important he should know. Marcus was totally taken aback and almost in tears.
‘How could you do that without first consulting me about it?’
‘Consulting you? What the hell is the matter with you? Amy was naked and masturbating!’
‘I never filmed that – dear God, that bloody detective is bound to think it was me.’
‘I told him it was me filming and it was accidental.’
‘What fucking else did you tell him that I don’t know about?’
She clenched her fists. ‘Maybe if you would just think about it for a second you’d see what I mean. For Amy to behave like that, someone must have been abusing her while we were on holiday.’
‘Don’t be ridiculous; you’re jumping to conclusions, and besides, she’s a teenager who wasn’t expecting you to walk in with a camera.’
‘Stop making excuses, Marcus.’
‘Excuses for what – your wild imagination?’
Lena paused and stared at him accusingly. ‘Was it you abusing her?’
He had to stop himself from slapping her face and shaking some sense into her. He stood up and moved away, knowing he had already been unable to control himself once before, and he didn’t want to hit her again as it was so against his nature.
‘Was it you, Marcus?’ she asked in a distressed voice.
‘No, I have never touched Amy improperly in my life. Even the suggestion makes me feel sick,’ he said, sinking into a wing-back chair by the window.
‘Reid has asked me to make a list of everyone from the Antigua holiday. Last night we both agreed that her behaviour in the Antigua video was different – she’s aggressive, and not like her normal self. I even tried to talk to you about it after the holiday, but when we returned you said you needed to have some bloody space, and moved out.’
‘Don’t try and put the blame onto me, Lena. You know full well that before we even went to Antigua we were hardly speaking. Maybe that was why Amy was different and looked so miserable – because of us.’
She put her head in her hands and started to cry. He sat there watching her, at a loss not only as to how to comfort her, but how to face the fact that their daughter might have been sexually abused and neither of them had been aware of it owing to their own emotional problems. At last he got up and went to her side, putting his arms around her.
‘Come on, sweetheart, let’s think this through together. Even if we come up with someone, the reality is Amy’s gone missing two years later and it might have nothing to do with Antigua, but we need to really think long and hard about whose names we should give to the police.’
He rocked her gently in his arms as he looked over to her bedside cabinet. ‘Are you taking your medication?’
‘Yes.’
He reached across to look at the label on the sleeping tablets.
‘You shouldn’t take these on a regular basis.’
‘I need them to get some sleep.’
‘Are you still seeing your therapist?’
‘Yes.’
He stroked her hair. ‘Do you want me to ask her to come over?’