The Night She Disappeared by Lisa Jewell
44
September 2018
The doorbell to Sophie’s cottage rings; it’s an old-fashioned doorbell, the type you don’t hear very often in these days of apps and electric chimes. It’s incredibly loud and it makes Sophie jump out of her skin every time she hears it.
Kim is standing at the front door.
‘Sorry,’ says Sophie, clutching her heart as she opens the door, ‘that bell always make me jump. Sorry. Come in.’
Kim follows Sophie into the kitchen and watches her fill the kettle at the tap. ‘I just spoke to Dom,’ she says. ‘He still hasn’t looked at the clip of the Amelia girl. It’s so frustrating. I know the police are doing everything they can, but the more time passes the slower things seem to move. I just thought, you seem to have a different view on things. I mean, you found that video of Mimi, and being a detective novelist …’ She smiles wryly. ‘I don’t know, there are just some bits and pieces that I’ve been trying to put together in my head. Flashes of stuff.’
‘Like what?’
‘Oh, like, you know, the day after they went missing, I went to talk to Tallulah’s college friend, her name’s Chloe, she lives just over there on the road out of the village. Church Lane. I always thought she and Tallulah were really close friends. There was one night when Tallulah even slept over with her because she thought Chloe was feeling suicidal. So she was obviously the first person I’d think of to ask. Tallulah didn’t have many friends, you know. She was so wrapped up with Noah – and with Zach too, to a certain extent. Anyway, I spoke to Chloe and she said not only were she and Tallulah not really friends any more, she also told me that Tallulah had never spent the night at her house, and that Tallulah had gone off with Scarlett Jacques at the Christmas party the year before. Yet Scarlett was so adamant that she and Tallulah hadn’t really known each other before that night. And then, just now, just before I messaged you, I remembered something. Something that didn’t really hit me at the time. I’d been to see the Jacques family the day before and Scarlett had just got out of the pool and she was sitting in a towel and I noticed, just here’ – Kim points at the side of her foot – ‘she had a tattoo and it was very clearly the initials TM.’
Sophie looks at Kim questioningly.
‘TM. Tallulah Murray. And now, you know, my head is spinning, replaying things, looking at everything from a different angle, because what if Tallulah and Scarlett were, you know, having an affair? And what if Zach had found out? And what if it all came out that night, at Scarlett’s house. And what if—’ She stops. ‘Anyway. Things are happening. I know things are happening. The lever they found in the flower bed. I’m certain it’s got something to do with it. I know they’re trying to trace the Jacques family and I know lots and lots of things are happening, but it just feels like we’re getting so close now and I can’t push Dom any harder and I just really need someone to bounce off. There isn’t really anyone else, you know. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’ve got friends. I’ve got my son. But I haven’t really got anyone else who might want to get sucked up into all of this with me. And I just wondered how you’d feel about maybe teaming up with me? I know that might sound a bit weird—’
‘No,’ Sophie interjects forcefully. ‘No, it doesn’t sound weird, not at all, it sounds great. To be honest, I’ve been wanting to help you but I didn’t want you to think I was being morbid or ghoulish.’
Kim smiles. ‘I would love for you to help me. I really would. And I thought it seems like you’re quite up on social media, that kind of thing? And maybe we could see what else we can find? Maybe see if we can’t get to the Jacques family before the police do?’
Sophie nods. ‘Yes,’ she says, her heart beginning to race slightly with excitement. ‘Yes.’ She goes to the front hallway and grabs her laptop, brings it to the kitchen table and opens it wide. ‘Let’s find these people.’
Kim and Sophie sit side by side at the kitchen table, Sophie poised in front of the laptop. They look at Mimi’s video again on YouTube and scroll down to see if there are any new messages in the comments section. There are three. They scan them quickly. The last one chills them. It’s from someone called Cherry and it says simply:
Take this down NOW.