Rosie smiles and nods. ‘Where’s Daddy?’
I exhale. ‘He had to go home, sweetie. An urgent job came in but we’re staying here for the rest of the holiday. I tell you what, you get into bed and I’ll be up soon to read you and Millie a story. Okay?’
‘Okay. Is Grandad staying?’
I nod. ‘Yes, he’ll be sleeping on the settee.’
She nods her head in an animated way and shrieks before running off. I hear her shouting with Millie as she closes their bedroom door.
There is a loud bang at the front door and I can’t help but jerk in alarm. My dad gets up and pulls the curtains apart slightly. ‘It’s the police.’ Slowly, he opens the door.
‘Hello, we’re investigating an incident that was reported earlier. Do you mind if we step in? I’m PC Barnes, this is PC Bickerford.’
The tall, uniformed PC wipes his feet on the mat and the younger female officer takes her raincoat off, so she doesn’t trail water into the living room.
‘I’m Kate.’ I know they’ve come to speak to me, I just don’t know how they found out where I was staying. ‘How did you find me?’
The woman with the bobbed brown hair gripped away from her face smiles. ‘An incident was reported out in Polperro this afternoon and while we were speaking to everyone, we were given the coat you left behind. You had a water-damaged work ID in it and a soggy receipt for a chip shop in Looe. We just about managed to work out the name of the place from the mulched up paper. After asking around the pubs and restaurants, the landlord of this property recognised you and told us where you were staying. It’s a small town thing.’
‘Do you have my coat?’
The woman nods. ‘Given the nature of what’s been reported, we’d like to keep it for forensic analysis. We don’t anticipate getting much from it given that it got pretty wet but you never quite know.’
I nod in agreement before sitting on the couch. Millie runs down, her auburn hair crazily up in several ponytails in only the way that Rosie does it when they play. ‘Mummy, are you coming to read us a story?’ She’s holding her oversized party dress up so that she doesn’t trip.
‘Yes, sweetie. You go back up, I’ll be there soon.’
‘Who are these people?’ Millie puts a finger in her mouth and begins to bite her nail.
‘They are from the police. They just want to talk to us about something.’
‘Are we in trouble?’
The male officer takes off his hat and bends down to Millie’s level. ‘I’m PC Barnes and it’s lovely to meet you. Your mummy is helping us, that’s all. No one is in any trouble.’
Millie giggles and runs back upstairs.
‘Can I get anyone a drink?’ Dad leans against the kitchen door frame.
‘I think we could both do with a cuppa,’ PC Barnes says as he manoeuvres his gangly frame further into the room. He places his hat on the coffee table and PC Bickerford pulls out a notebook from her top pocket. ‘May we sit down?’
‘Yes, of course.’ I step ahead of them, grabbing all the toys and books, then I throw them in a pile on the carpet.
PC Barnes continues to speak. ‘From what we were told, you were found trying to crawl off the beach as the tide was coming in. You then told our witness that someone attacked you. Can you tell us what happened today?’
I take a deep breath. All I want to do is sleep and try Damien’s phone again. Everything is going to have to come out now. I bite my ragged bottom lip and I wonder if I’ll ever find out who Will is and why he’s playing with me.
THIRTY
KATE
Clearing my throat, I begin. ‘I was in the cave.’
‘In Polperro?’ PC Barnes seems to be the one doing the talking while PC Bickerford writes.
‘Yes, Willy Wilcox’s cave.’
‘Do you know what time that was?’
