Ness nodded gravely, understanding the seriousness of the situation. “How’s Elea going to take this, if it comes to fruition?” Her voice was so low that he could barely make out her words.
“I don’t know,” Swann replied. “But be discreet. You’ve told Control that you’re making local enquiries?” Such an update on the system could relate to anything.
“Already done—we’re on it. I’ll keep you in the loop.” Ness cleaned her glasses with the end of her floral shirt before turning for the door.
Swann watched her go. DC Ollie Evans was waiting in the car park to back her up. He could trust Ness and Ollie. Discretion was key. Because if his hunch was correct, the Ice Angels case was about to take another shocking turn.
Chapter 69
Elea’s elation was overshadowed by her daughter’s reluctance to spend time with her. It wasn’t Liisa’s fault. The more she listened to her, the more Elea realised the depth of Anu’s manipulation and lies. Not only did Anu tell her that Elea had got married, but he’d also claimed that she’d moved to the UK and had started a family of her own. He’d kept track of Swann’s movements, showing Liisa a picture of him with the twins. Anu had even moved to Lincoln, in the guise of helping Liisa find her family and start again. But then he dashed her daughter’s hopes by saying that Elea had mysteriously moved away. By cleverly weaving in truth with lies, he gave Liisa enough evidence to slowly turn her against the person who loved her most in the world.
As for Chelsea and the others, Liisa claimed they must have been kept in separate locations. She said that Anu would disappear for days on end. That they were always moving around. There might have been times when Liisa could have escaped, but she had become bound to her captor in a way Elea couldn’t understand. A deep dive had been done on Johanna, who had a sister living in Helsinki. She did not come from an honest family and was far wealthier than her cabin in the woods implied. Johanna’s mother had hanged herself when she was forty-two years old. Johanna herself ran away from home as soon as she was able, becoming a recluse from a young age.
Elea wanted to believe Liisa. She sat across from her daughter after the interview had ended, trying to explain it all to her. The air was fresh and clean, sweetened by the occasional puff of a plug-in air freshener. Liisa’s jeans needed a wash, and her hands disappeared into the sleeves of her knitted pink jumper. “I never stopped looking for you,” Elea said. “I never gave up.” She looked to Swann, who was sitting next to her. “We’re separated now. He lives with his new partner, Alice, and the twins.”
“Your twins?” Liisa finally said.
“I don’t have any other children, apart from you,” Elea assured her.
“Who lives in our house now?”
“Our house? In Porvoo?”
Liisa nodded.
“Us. I mean, me. It’s just as you left it.” Elea tilted her head to one side. “Why?”
But Liisa didn’t answer. Her pretty face contorted in a frown. She was too young for the worries weighing down upon her.
Swann had left them to it. There were still briefings to be conducted. Post-op conclusions to be made. Remaining enquiries to be followed up.
Liisa yawned, pressing the sleeves of her jumper against her mouth.
“I’m renting an apartment in town. It’s on the Brayford, so not too busy. There’s swans and ducks, a canoe club.” Elea delivered an awkward exhalation of breath. “We have a sauna. A swimming pool...” But she was losing her audience.
Liisa shifted in her seat.
“Liisa? Would you like to stay with me? Is that OK with you?” But there was a force-field of lies between them. Years of conditioning had separated her daughter from the rest of humanity. Elea was happy to give her time. Liisa was alive. She was loved. But right now she was in pain. “I’ll give you as much space as you need.”
Liisa rose from the sofa and moved towards the window blinds. Elea sighed. At times like these, she needed her own mum. Hilma had been elated to hear the news. Elea’s thoughts fell away as she heard the door open. Then she watched Liisa’s face light up.
Hilma’s presence felt like a dream as she entered the room. Elea blinked. The surprise reunion was the last thing she had expected, but she was so grateful for it. She watched with a tinge of envy as Liisa fell into her grandmother’s arms. There were no such boundaries there. No recriminations. No blame.
Elea and Swann stood back, observing the happy scene: Elea’s mother, in her billowy clothing and Buddhist beaded bracelets, uttering comforting words. “I have a place to stay, in the countryside. You will come with me, yes?” Hilma said, holding Liisa tightly.
“Yes,” Liisa replied, as Hilma soothed her.
“It’s for the best,” Swann said, in a voice meant only for Elea. “Your mum will talk Liisa round.”
“How did you get her here so quickly?” Elea asked, a little in awe of him.
“I can’t take all the credit. My mum has been keeping Hilma updated. That’s where she’s staying.”
“Does Helen still live in Sudbrooke?”
“She does,” Swann replied. “Near the woods, with horses in the back field. She’ll take good care of them both.”
He was right. Liisa didn’t need the city. She needed peace and recuperation. But Elea had waited so long to be with her daughter. She couldn’t bear to be separated from her.
