‘Yes, well it used to belong to his father but what with his poor health since the accident and his dementia diagnosis not so long ago, it’s all on Cody now.’
‘Did Cody work on the boat twenty-five years ago?’
‘Well, not often. He was a student back then. That poor man wanted to escape the boats as a youngster. He studied biology, I think, but there’s something about growing up in a town like this. It’s a way of life. He didn’t want to lose his roots or what his father had built up, so after university he came back. I know he was around that summer but I don’t think he worked on the boat all the time.’
‘You mentioned an accident.’ I’m clenching my hands.
‘Before your family came, his father, Archie, was involved in a huge car crash. Not his fault, mind, but the idiot didn’t have his seat belt on. Took a nasty blow to the head, he did. Another car slid onto the wrong side of the road after a downpour. You’ve seen how narrow and windy the roads are. Then, a seven and half tonner came around the corner crashing into that car, shunting Archie’s car too. It tipped over in a ditch. Somehow he managed to crawl out and help the people in the car. After that, he suffered with amnesia bouts and had a few blackouts. That’s why Cody had to help him with the boat. The old man was okay most of the time, but, you know, he kept on having those turns. He never fully recovered. That’s why Cody stayed. He’d also found out that he’d got a local girl pregnant when he came back the Christmas before. It ended well. They got married and he became a father. The usual story.’
‘I’m sorry. It sounds like they’ve had it bad too.’
‘They have. And then Cody’s first wife died when their little girl, Daisy, was only two. Such a tragedy. It wasn’t an accident, some heart defect is what I heard.’
I think I have what I came for. All I need is to head down to the trip boats and look for Cody. I remember roughly what he looks like so it shouldn’t be too hard. My phone beeps. It’s Damien wondering where I am. He and the girls are waiting for me so that we can go out.
I can’t stop thinking about that cave in Polperro. Maybe the name, Will Wilcox, is a bigger clue than I thought. Maybe I’ll find the answer in the cave. That’s two leads. Cody and Willy Wilcox’s cave. Laura isn’t going to implicate Cody. I see it in her eyes when she mentions his name and I wonder if she has a soft spot for him.
‘You know it’s hard on us too. Please don’t go upsetting folk. We don’t know anything. We were devastated when it happened and when the media bring it up, it upsets everyone again. Cody is also going through a tough time at the minute.’
I don’t know how to respond. It’s not like I can let this go. ‘Laura, may I call you Laura?’
‘Please do.’ Her phone rings. ‘Sorry, I have to take this. It’s my daughter.’ I nod and wait for her to finish. ‘No, Beth. Just bring the car here and we can load up the returns. You can take them back to Fowey.’ She nods and ends the call. ‘Sorry about that. I have to go soon. My daughter will be here and she can’t park for long, which is a nuisance. She’ll only be a couple of minutes. I don’t know, we live up the hill and we have to do deliveries like this.’
I sense she’s trying to get me out of the shop.
‘Someone has brought me here because they know something. I’m not convinced it’s a joke.’ I don’t tell her that when we arrived, a dark-clothed figure was watching me when I peered through the cottage window. ‘Sooner or later, I’m going to find out who this someone is and I’m going to find out what they know. I will never give up on finding the truth of what happened to Jess, just like you wouldn’t if it were your daughter.’
She awkwardly smiles and buttons her cardigan up. ‘Okay, well have a good day and be careful.’
‘What does that mean?’ I can tell from her expression that I’ve snapped.
‘Nothing, it’s just, you know, these narrow roads and wonky paths. We get a lot of accidents. It’s polite to say, that’s all. Just be safe out there. You have a lovely family.’ Her smile widens and she seems genuine but there’s something behind her eyes that I can’t quite fathom.
My phone rings so I hurry out, saying my goodbyes. I answer to Damien, being sure to puff and pant a little down the phone. ‘I’m on my way. See you in five.’
Laura knows more than she’s letting on.
FOURTEEN
NATALIE
As she cleared the lunchtime queue, Natalie took a deep breath and pulled another large container of chocolate ice cream from the freezer, ready to slot into the display. She glanced at Alan’s phone, the keeper of all his secrets when he’d been alive. She should be mourning but all she could manage was more anger. She threw a few chocolate chips into her mouth and chomped on them as she scrolled down those messages again.
A teenage girl entered.
‘What can I get you?’
‘Double scoop, strawberry and chocolate in a waffle cone, please.’
She began to scoop the ice cream. As she looked up to smile, she caught a glimpse of a woman hanging around by the boats. Two little girls held onto the man’s hands. The woman turned, catching the man’s eye. In that moment, Natalie knew exactly who she was looking at. Laura had called her to say that the sister of the drowned baby was in town asking questions and everyone knew who Kate was. If they didn’t before, they did after that article was published. So many talks had been run since on the dangers of not watching children by the pier and harbour. Jess was used as their prime example of what could go wrong but Natalie knew more.
Word had gone around that Kate was staying at the cottages on the front. Natalie thrust the ice cream at the girl, almost dabbing it on her T-shirt.
‘That was close.’ Her brows furrowed as she pulled out a handful of mixed coins and went to hand them over.
‘It’s on the house.’ She needed the girl out of the shop and she certainly didn’t have time to count out a handful of ten and twenty pence pieces.
‘What?’ The girl licked a bit of dripping ice cream from the back of her hand, clearly in no hurry to leave.
