‘In a street in Brighton. Luckily for us, someone handed it in. I’ll let you know if we find anything out.’
After the call ends, I imagine the police downloading his calls and messages, his photos of us; wonder if they’re mixed with photos ofher. Yet more damning proof that he isn’t who I thought he was.
I think about Lara. If she was still having a relationship with Matt, it would have made no sense for her to come here yesterday, letting slip about the fling they had. But I can’t be certain there weren’t more flings. And if Matt had been seeing another woman, why not two, or more than two? My brain goes full circle. Why not Lara?
*
At least now the police have Matt’s phone, means they must be coming closer to finding out what happened to him. Later that afternoon, PC Page comes over.
When she comes inside, I’ve already decided to tell her about Lara. ‘Have you found anything out from his phone?’
She shakes her head. ‘It’s being looked at as we speak.’
In the kitchen, I switch the kettle on, my voice tight as I tell her what I’ve found out. ‘It seems Matt had a fling, just before we were together. But it isn’t that in itself. It’s the fact that he didn’t tell me, because she’s still in his life.’
PC Page looks puzzled. ‘Go on.’
Placing two mugs on the table, I sit down. ‘She’s known Matt a long time. Since we met, I thought she’d become my friend too – it’s Lara. Our wedding planner.’ I break off. How did Matt have the nerve to do that? Frowning, I remember him saying the idea of helping to plan our wedding had come from her. Another lie? ‘It came out yesterday that they’d had a fling.’
PC Page frowns. ‘And that was the first you’d heard of it?’
I nod. ‘She’s known Matt longer than I have. She said it was a one-night stand, but I don’t know whether to believe her.’ I pause. ‘It was a big thing that I felt I could trust Matt.’ I watch her face for signs that she understands, before telling her what I found out from Cath. ‘I’ve also discovered that Matt came on to another friend of mine. She swears nothing happened. But I had absolutely no idea. It would never even have occurred to me that he’d behave like that.’
‘He really is a serial cheat. It must have come as quite a shock for you.’ PC Page shakes her head. ‘But all of this demonstrates what he’s capable of.’ After a moment of silence, she goes on. ‘I can only imagine how hard this is for you, but it’s building a picture of him. We still have no reason to doubt the other woman who reported him missing. When you take her photosand the CCTV footage, the time Matt’s taken off work, now there’s the fact that he insured your wedding without telling you.’
All of which I’ve already thought of. ‘I want to know if it’s her,’ I say slowly. ‘Lara, I mean. If you were in my shoes, wouldn’t you?’ There’s a long silence between us. ‘Her name is Lara Carmichael.’ I feel my heart beat faster, as I watch her face, suddenly panicking again. ‘God. I was right. It’s her, isn’t it?’
PC Page looks reluctant. ‘Amy, you know I can’t tell you.’
‘But you can tell me if it isn’t her?’ I persist, feeling my face flush. ‘Can’t you see what this is doing to me?’
Putting her coffee down, PC Page gets up. ‘Alright. I’ll tell you. For what it’s worth, whatever was going on between Matt and Lara, it wasn’t her who reported him missing. But I’d like to speak to her again.’
A sense of foreboding comes over me, as already I’m wishing I hadn’t mentioned Lara, dreading what she’s capable of saying about me.
‘I should be going.’ As she starts walking towards the door, her hand reaches for the latch, then she turns to look at me. ‘Amy, I will be in touch the minute I find something out. I know you’re upset, but you must understand, we’re doing everything we can.’
I stand there, irritated, reading between the lines.Don’t waste our timeis her clear message. But she visitedmetoday. I didn’t ask her to.
To my surprise, she changes the subject. ‘There was one more thing …’ She pauses. ‘It looks as though it wasn’t a heart attack that killed your neighbour. She died from carbon monoxide poisoning – most likely from an unswept chimney.’
‘What?’ I’m taken aback. She was always so organised – and something like that is completely avoidable. But it could havebeen caused by a combination of factors, the removal of any one of which might have meant she’d still be alive. The consumption of too much gin, which might have meant she nodded off to sleep, combined with the chimney that hadn’t been swept. Perhaps when she lit the fire, the smoke couldn’t get out, and she hadn’t noticed because of her poor eyesight and sense of smell.
PC Page continues. ‘People die every year from carbon monoxide poisoning caused by open fires. You wonder why she didn’t have a detector. You’d have thought her daughter would have made sure of it.’
‘It does sound unlikely, but I don’t think her daughter came here that often. Most of the time, Mrs Guthrie was alone.’
PC Page frowns. ‘I keep asking myself the same question. When an old woman keeps her garden meticulously, when she cooks proper meals, how come the fireplace was so neglected? Her daughter was sure she had it swept regularly. Apparently the chimney cowl was completely blackened.’
‘Her sight wasn’t good. Maybe she forgot?’ I fall silent, thinking of the dark rooms, the windows that need cleaning. ‘I suppose it could have happened gradually, so that she didn’t notice the room filling with smoke.’ I pause. ‘Are you treating her death as suspicious?’
‘No. It was a tragic accident that could have been avoided.’ She glances at her watch. ‘I really should be going.’ As she turns to open the door, she pauses briefly. ‘Take care.’ Her voice is kind, but I flinch. They’re the same words Matt said to me the last time I spoke to him.
Jess
Tall with lightly tanned skin, a ready smile, he always asked the right questions, had an apparent shared interest in whatever he thought I’d be into. At the beginning, flattered by his attention, just for a while, I fell under his spell.
When there’d been so much sadness in my mother’s life, I wanted her to be happy. After her sister died and my father left, for years it had been just her and me. And now I was about to go away. It was the perfect time for her to meet someone.
