She nodded.
‘Then you need to be careful.’
‘I will.’
‘I mean it.This is a small town.God knows what you’re wading into.’
‘I get it, Jimmy,’ she said firmly.
‘Okay.’He leaned in.‘So what’s your theory?’There was curiosity in his eyes, like she hoped there would be.
‘I think she saw Ryan to talk about the pregnancy after I left her at the lighthouse.I think he killed her.Intentionally or accidentally, I don’t know, but I’m certain he had something to do with it.’
Jimmy looked out the window into the darkness, then back at Nel.‘Tell me what you know about that night.What you know for sure.’
Chapter 20
‘Officially, all we know is that Maddie disappeared sometime after I left her at the lighthouse lookout at eight thirty on Wednesday the twentieth of October, and that her body was found by surfers three days later, eight k’s south of town.But there’s definitely more to it than that.’
Nel gazed out the window, letting the memory come alive in her mind.She’d answered endless questions from O’Neill and Frisk in that bland interview room—her father an unwavering, unquestioning presence by her side—so it was strangely vivid.
‘Things had been weird between us for weeks,’ she began.Jimmy tilted his head to one side, listening.‘Maddie had been really distant, then that night she sent me a message asking me to meet her at the lighthouse.I remember feeling relieved, that maybe our friendship was okay after all, so I told Mum some story about borrowing a textbook and went to meet her.
‘It was dark when I got there, but there was a huge moon so I could see that she’d been crying.I was about to ask her what was wrong when I saw that she was wearing the ring Ryan gave her.They’d broken up months before, so I asked why she was wearing the ring.She looked confused at first, like she’d forgotten she was wearing it.’
Jimmy frowned.‘I’m kind of hazy on the timeline of Maddie and Ryan’s relationship.’
‘It started when Maddie was in Year 8 and Ryan was in Year 11.Poor Faye was beside herself about the age difference.They were together for about a year, but they broke up around Easter.I was … relieved.’
‘To have your best friend back?’
‘It was more than that.It wasn’t a good relationship.Ryan was … mean.He was always doing things to humiliate her.Little things, but they felt significant.’
She thought of the car door prank.She’d recounted that story to O’Neill and Frisk, trying to make them understand her concerns about Ryan, but in that cold interrogation room it had sounded trivial.Insignificant.A misguided joke, perhaps.Teenage boys having a laugh.
‘Anyway,’ she said, ‘they’d been broken up for roughly six months by the time she died.That’s why it was so strange that she was wearing the ring again.’
‘How did you know it was the same ring?’
‘It was an unusual design.Silver with a big black stone, onyx I think, with ornate silver clasps on each side.Apparently it had belonged to Ryan’s mother who died when he was really little.’
She looked back out the window, conjuring the scene at the lighthouse again.‘So when I saw the ring I got really angry.I shouted at her, “Tell me you’re not back with him!”’Nel pictured Maddie, twisting the ring with her fingers, eyes flashing with defiant tears.‘She denied it, but I didn’t believe her.I said, “If you’re not back with him, then why are you wearing his ring?”But she just stood there.’
Nel took a steadying breath.‘That was when I remembered seeing her in Ryan’s car—at least, Ithoughtit was her—so I said, “I saw you with him.You were in his car.”’
‘When was that?’Jimmy asked, leaning in.
‘I’m pretty sure it was the day before, on the Tuesday.I left school late after debating and I saw Ryan’s car in the distance.I thought I could see Maddie in the front seat.’Nel had frozen on the spot as she watched them, straining her eyes to make out the figure in the passenger seat, almost certain it was Maddie.‘I was bluffing.I thought she would deny it, but she didn’t.So I told her I was done with her, and then I left.’
‘You left her there alone?’Jimmy asked.
She nodded, shame washing over her.She’d left Maddie there alone and run the six blocks home in the dark.Faye’s words rang in her ears.If it wasn’t for you she wouldn’t be dead.
‘So she never admitted that she was seeing him again?’Jimmy asked.
Nel shook her head.‘Why would she admit it to me, though?She knew what I thought of him.Some fishermen reported seeing his car there, around 9 pm I think it was.’
‘Was it confirmed that it was his car?’
