Clare entered and placed an arm around her mother. Mary held her hand to her mouth and smiled. ‘Did you find Howard?’
Gina nodded and swallowed. ‘We found him at the Youth Club. He’s dead.’
‘How could he have done this to me? All this time, I trusted him, brought him into my home; left him alone with my grandchildren and that man, that child abuser, Ron. How could I not have known?’
‘How could any of us have known? Unfortunately people like that look like the rest of us. Mary. Please don’t ever blame yourself.’
‘She’s right, Mum.’ Clare pulled her mother closer. Gina felt her heart breaking as she watched Mary stroking her daughter’s hand.
‘Clare, I have to ask, why were you avoiding speaking with me about your sister’s disappearance whenever I came over?’ Gina realised how sharp she had just sounded. ‘I’m sorry, I know this is hard.’
‘I err, I…’
‘Tell her, Clare.’ Mary pulled a tissue from up her sleeve and blew her nose.
‘I knew you’d ask me things about our relationship, about our family, about Ryan and the children.’ She turned to the patio doors and gazed into the darkness at the back of the garden. ‘In my mind, I thought Susan had run away because Ryan may have let something slip out about Harrison during one of their rows.’
‘Just tell her. Look what secrets have done to Susan. From now on, we promised, no more secrets. The truth is hard, Clare, but we all deserve it. At least we know what we’re facing. Susan will forgive you in time.’ Mary sighed.
‘Harrison is Ryan’s son. She didn’t know. When they were trying for Rory, they’d argued a lot. I think Rory was meant to be their marriage fix. Ryan came over one night, drunk, telling me about how they’d rowed and asked if he could have my couch. We drank and he talked and one thing led to another. There you go. You can all judge me now.’ Clare went to grab her coat. ‘Actually, I think I should stay. She’s not going to want to see me for a long time.’
Gina wasn’t vocal about her thoughts, but she had to agree. ‘You will all get through this.’ She knew they had the strength as a family to pull through. They’d already been through so much. ‘Are you ready, Mary?’
‘I’ll just grab my umbrella.’ She headed up the stairs.
Gina glanced back at Clare who was staring at the wall. ‘I’ve been informed that one of the last calls received on Ronald Halshaw’s phone was from you, along with a plethora of angry messages just before he answered. An officer found the phone at the scene. Why was that?’
‘I’ve stuffed up so badly!’ She wobbled a little, then leaned against the wall. ‘Another man I became infatuated with. He came around a lot to speak to Howard and one day, when they were out, he asked me on a date. I know he was a lot older but I liked him. I know the family would have frowned, Mum never trusts my judgement so Ronnie told me not to tell her. When I saw those photos in Howard’s study I called him non-stop until he answered. I was angry. He lied to me. All those times he listened to me going on about Susan, fishing for information about her, where she lived, what she did, everything. I told him about her and Ryan’s marriage problems. I trusted him. I thought he loved me.’ She burst into tears as Mary came back down the stairs.
‘Susan will come round, I told you.’
‘It’s not that, Mum. I can’t talk right now. Just go.’ Clare turned away.
‘We’ll need you to come down the station to give a statement, Miss Collins.’
Wyre nodded and waited with Clare as Gina gestured towards the door. For now, she needed to get Mary to the hospital.
‘Clare, I do love you and whatever’s happened, I always will, I promise.’ A tear welled up in Clare’s eye.
Gina led the shaking woman to the car leaving Clare with Wyre. It was easy to judge and she knew there were boundaries that people shouldn’t cross. Clare had crossed a major boundary, but then again, so had Ryan. Then she shuddered at how Clare was carrying on with Ronald Halshaw, the man who’d kidnapped her sister and niece. The murderer, the child abuser. That was another thing Clare would have to live with, but he’d used her too.
‘Let’s go see Susan.’ Gina opened the car door for Mary.
There was so much about the case she still didn’t understand, she hoped Susan was ready to talk.
Seventy-Two
‘She’s asked for you,’ Mary said to Gina as she left the room. A police officer sat on a chair at the end of the corridor, reading a newspaper. A beeping sound came from the monitors and an entanglement of tubes and leads were hanging under a drip. ‘Is it okay if I go and see Phoebe for a bit?’
Gina nodded. ‘DS Driscoll is there and he’d like to speak to her. Would you be able to sit with her while they talk?’
‘Of course.’
As Mary went to turn, Ryan strutted down the corridor, his nose red from the icy chill. ‘I need to see her.’
‘No you don’t.’
‘I’m her husband.’
