I say to Dom, ‘When Zannah and I were at the Tillotsons’ house, he said something weird – Flora’s dad.’
Nothing. No response.
‘I told him I’d asked Lewis on the phone how old Georgina was now, in a “doesn’t time fly” sort of way, and he said, “Lewis won’t have liked thatat all.” As soon as he said it, I thought, “No, that’s wrong, there’s something off about it,” but then the conversation moved on and I forgot about it until just now.’
‘Doesn’t sound strange to me,’ says Dom. ‘If one of your kids is dead and you’ve decided to pretend they’re still alive – though God knows why you would, but anyway – you’re hardly going to welcome being asked about them and having to spout a load of bullshit to maintain the façade, are you?’
‘You didn’t hear how Flora’s dad said it. It wasn’t like “Lewis will have found that deeply uncomfortable or upsetting”, it was more … wry and knowing. “Lewis won’t have liked thatat all.” Almost as if he was thinking that, for Lewis, it would be more of a PR or image failure. Someone’s seen through the image he was hoping to project and that’s a disaster for his ego. Or maybe it was “Lewis will have hated to learn that something he thought he’d got under control had escaped his control.” Either way, trust me, it wasn’t Lewis’s grief that Gerard was thinking about.’
I’m not expecting a reply, but eventually Dom says, ‘You don’t know Gerard Tillotson well enough to read his tone. His words make perfect sense in the context.’
‘The tone was unmistakeable. Whether he realises it or not, Gerard knows that Lewis cares more about image management and controlling everything than he does about his dead daughter. Who isn’t dead, I don’t think.’
‘We don’t know if she’s dead,’ says Dom. ‘And I don’t see how this gets us any further forward. All right, Lewis is a control freak – everyone who knows him probably agrees, including Flora’s dad – but so what? What’s that bringing to the table? As people say in all the boring meetings I have to go to, where the only things brought to the table are boring ones. And the table’s also boring.’
I smile, knowing the joke is meant as a peace-offering.
‘Lewis is a control freak,’ I say. ‘He cares about image-management and control. Exactly.’
‘Exactly what?’
‘The Tillotsons also said Georgina was born prematurely. She wasn’t robust, they said. She had various health complications. What if that wasn’t good enough for Lewis, to have a not-perfect child?’
Dom frowns. ‘That baby that came round to ours was fine-looking.’
‘But she had health complications from being premature.’ I think back, trying to remember the details. ‘I’m pretty sure Rosemary said she was going to need an operation of some sort. What if, for Lewis, that sort of imperfection was intolerable? He decided he’d rather pretend she was dead and just … get rid. He nicknamed her Chimpy because he didn’t see her as fully human, and they put her in some kind of home, or care, or with a foster family.’
‘That’s horrific.’ Dom grimaces. ‘No. That’s not what happened.’
‘How do you know?’
‘Because it’s too horrible. It’s not just Lewis, Beth. He might be capable of God only knows what, but what about Flora? Can you see her treating a child that way?’
‘Not unless forced to by Lewis, no. That’s why she was crying when she was speaking to Chimpy on the phone.’
‘You’re making me feel slightly sick,’ says Dom. ‘And … you’re making all this up, Beth. Sorry, but it’s morbid and depressing and there’s no reason to think any of it’s true.’
‘It would explain Peterborough too.’
‘What’s that?’
‘A city north of Cambridge.’
He gives me a look.
‘I heard Flora say “Peterborough” on the phone. Maybe that’s where Georgina is.’
‘Yes, because when you ring someone, you always randomly announce the name of the place where they are. If someone rang me now, they’d suddenly say “the A14” in the middle of the conversation for no reason.’
As if on cue, my phone starts to ring. I unzip my bag and pull it out. ‘Hello?’
‘Is that Beth Leeson?’
‘Speaking.’ I know the voice, but I can’t place it.
‘This is Louise. Lou Munday. We met when you came into the school.’
‘Of course, I remember you.’ I didn’t give her my mobile number. I gave her the landline.
