‘No,’ Tom said. ‘You can’t just take her. Have you got a warrant?’
He came bounding down the steps, but the man blocked his path. ‘Please stay out of this, sir. Your sister hasn’t done anything wrong and we’re not arresting her. There’s nothing to worry about.’
Tom tried to get past him. It was horrible. Terror flared in his eyes. ‘I want to speak to her.’
‘I’m afraid I can’t let you do that.’
‘She’s not under arrest, so you can’t stop me.’
‘Please, sir, you need to calm down. We’ll sort it out very quickly and bring her safely back, I assure you.’
Ellie took a step towards him. ‘Go back inside, Tom. I know what I’m doing.’
‘What does that mean?’
She dared to look right at him. ‘You know what it means.’
Tom shook his head at her. Then he bit his lip. He looked at his feet, then at the sky. Mum appeared behind him. She must’ve come through the French doors. She’d changed her coat, had her handbag with her.
Tom grabbed her. ‘Stop her, Mum. Don’t let her go with them.’
She put a hand on his arm. ‘Tell Dad where we are. Tell him to come home and stay here with you.’
Tom’s face opened in alarm. ‘You’re going with her?’ He buckled, leaned against the door frame to steady himself. ‘They haven’t even got a warrant.’
‘I’m aware of that.’
Tom watched her get her door keys from the hook. ‘Dad’ll go mad.’
‘I’m sure he will.’ She tried to give him a kiss goodbye, but he twisted away, yanked out his phone and stabbed at the numbers.
‘I’m going to call him. I’m going to tell him what you’re doing.’
Mum gazed at him sadly for a moment. ‘I’m Ellie’s mother, just like I’m yours,’ she said.
And she buttoned her coat and walked down the steps.
Forty‑two
‘Are you absolutely sure my daughter’s not entitled to a solicitor?’
Detective Thomas sighed. ‘She’s here voluntarily and so doesn’t require legal representation. I thought I explained this in the car?’ She folded her hands on the table. ‘When my colleague comes back, he’ll be very happy to show you to a waiting area, Mrs Parker. I wonder if you wouldn’t be happier there?’
‘No, I wouldn’t.’ Mum scooped up Ellie’s hand and held it tight. That her mum dared to do this without consulting Dad was like a miracle of light in the middle of the dark. Tears of relief stung Ellie’s eyes.
‘Here,’ Mum said, and pulled a tissue from her pocket, fluffed it out and gave it to Ellie.
Detective Bryce came back with coffee in plastic cups and some plain digestives spread out on a plate. ‘How’s it all going in here then? Everyone OK?’
He was the jovial one, the note‑taker, the coffee‑getter. ‘Sugar, anyone? Milk?’ He passed out the drinks, offered biscuits. Finally, he sat down, opened his laptop and switched it on.
Detective Thomas said, ‘Right, I think we’re ready to begin.’ She handed Ellie a sheet of paper. ‘This is your original statement. Could you read it through for me, please, and then we’ll go through it point by point.’
Ellie knew the details off by heart. It had the date, the time Tom had arrived back from the pub and the names of the five people with him. Karyn McKenzie’s name swam in and out of focus.
‘Are there things that are incorrect?’ Detective Thomas said. ‘Or perhaps you’ve remembered something new?’
‘Something new, yes.’
The detective nodded, as if that was perfectly understandable. ‘Let’s run through it then, shall we? You originally told us that your parents were away, and when your brother arrived home at eleven o’clock with five friends, you briefly said hello to them, then went straight upstairs to your bedroom. You saw nothing more until eleven‑thirty, when you heard laughter coming from the garden and looked out of your window.’ She picked up a sheet of paper in front of her. ‘I quote from your statement here, Ellie: They looked like they were having a good time out there, smoking and chatting. I noticed my brother and Karyn had their arms round each other. Karyn looked very relaxed. Anything you want to add to that?’
Karyn McKenzie worked a finger around the inside of her mouth as if she was making a spell. Tom appeared hypnotized. Ellie stood at the window, stirring her own mouth and wondered about having that kind of power.
Detective Thomas looked up. ‘Anything to add?’
‘No,’ Ellie whispered.
‘OK, so about ten minutes later you went to bed and had no further contact with anyone until the morning. Is that still correct?’
‘I did have contact.’
‘Who with?’
‘All of them, but Karyn first.’
‘When was this?’
‘I don’t know, maybe an hour later. She came into my room.’
The detective frowned. ‘Was she alone?’
‘Yes. She was looking for the bathroom, she said she felt sick. I told her there was one downstairs, but she said there was someone in it, so I showed her the one across the landing and waited for her to come out.’
‘You waited? Why did you do that?’
‘She wasn’t well. I wanted to check she was OK.’
Hot blood flushed Ellie’s face, because although Karyn was drunk and slurring her words, Ellie also thought she might nick stuff. She hated it about herself now – that she could be worried about Dad’s iPod on the bedside table and the cash lying around in her parents’ room.
‘She was in there for ages. Stacey came up looking for her, and the two of them stood on the landing, talking.’
‘Where were you?’
‘Back in my room. My door was open a bit, but they didn’t know I was there.’
‘And what did they talk about?’
‘The boys mostly. Stacey said she liked Ben and Karyn liked Tom. Stacey made some joke about the evening going well considering they’d only gone out to get chips, and Karyn said not to talk about food, or she might chuck up. Stacey asked why she was so wrecked and between them they counted Karyn’s drinks. She’d had two in the pub and three more at the house. They said the boys were trying to get them drunk. Karyn said something like, Well, it’s working. They both laughed at that.’
The detectives looked at each other. Ellie couldn’t read the signs between them.
‘And then what happened?’
‘Tom came upstairs. He said the boys were getting lonely. Stacey went down to find Ben.’
‘Karyn stayed with your brother?’
‘Yes.’
‘And did they talk?’
‘They kissed.’
The detectives must think Ellie was a weirdo, spying on people kissing. But there weren’t words to describe how she wanted a version of it for herself. She wanted to be dressed up and out of control on a Saturday night, allowed out to parties, able to find love in the dark.
‘Was the kissing a mutual thing, Ellie? Did Karyn seem happy about it?’
‘Yes, but they stopped when I opened my door. I told Tom I wanted to speak to him, and Karyn went downstairs. I told him Karyn was only fifteen and she was really drunk.’
‘And what did he say?’
‘He told me to chill out. He said Freddie had put two bottles of Dad’s vodka in the punch and everyone was knocking it back like water.’
Mum slapped her hand to her mouth. Detective Bryce looked up from his notes. ‘Are you all right, Mrs Parker?’
Mum looked as if she was going to be sick. Detective Bryce stood up and opened the window.
He said, ‘If you want to step outside, Mrs Parker, I can show you to a waiting area. This must be very difficult for you.’
She shook her head. ‘I’m not leaving.’
Ellie leaned across and took her hand again. ‘I’m sorry, Mum, I’m so sorry. Don’t stay, you don’t have to…’
‘I’m not going anywhere.’
Her hand was warm. It was good to keep holding it.
‘OK, so let’s go back a bit,’ Detective Thomas said. ‘You told your brother Karyn was only fifteen. Did he say anything to that?’