Emma sits in the kitchen with her sister Kate. The thought of being on her own terrifies her. Here she is, eight and a half months pregnant and about to be a single mother of two children under the age of three. She reaches her hand down and gently strokes the soft head of her Jack Russell and the repetitive motion soothes her.
Whatever Alex has done, it is inconceivable that he hurt Nicky Scott. Emma is absolutely convinced of that. In all their years of marriage, Alex has never even lost his temper, let alone hit anyone. Sometimes Emma finds it frustrating that he is so laid back, but it is also part of his charm. She remembers once being in a queue at a supermarket when he accidentally bumped into the man in front of him with his trolley. The man had turned round and starting swearing, but Alex, mild as ever, had just said, ‘Sorry, mate, it was a mistake.’ The man had then jabbed his finger at him and said, ‘So you’re a posh fucker as well as a clumsy idiot.’ A few minutes later the two men were chatting away like old friends and it turned out they had served in Germany at the same time. Despite herself, Emma smiles to think of it.
‘Listen, Em, I really think we should call Mum,’ says Kate, interrupting her sister’s daydream. This isn’t like before. Alex is in really serious trouble and he may need a lawyer.’
‘I don’t care,’ Emma replies. ‘He’s got himself into this mess, he can deal with it.’
‘You know you don’t mean that. Whatever he’s done, he’s always going to be the father of your children.’
‘I know, but I’m just so tired – I can’t deal with this.’
‘So that’s why we should call Mum. She and Dad will handle everything and you can look after yourself.’
‘But then the whole thing with Alex will come up again. Mum and Dad always said I shouldn’t have gone back to him after the second time, but I really believed he had changed, and then I got pregnant.’
‘It’s going to come up at some point, so you might as well get it over with.’
‘Maybe, but I just can’t face that disappointed look on Mum’s face.’
‘It’s not disappointment, Em, it’s worry. She loves you. I know she may not be very good at showing it, but she really does and they always say how proud they are of you and the success you’ve had with your painting.’
Emma sighs, and then looks towards the window, listening.
‘That was a car, wasn’t it?’ She puts her hands to her face. ‘Oh my God, it might be Alex.’
‘You said he was going to the police station,’ says Kate, standing up to take a look.
‘That was hours ago.’
‘It’s not Alex. It’s a police car.’
Emma clamps her hand to her mouth. She is on the verge of tears and finds it hard to speak. ‘Kate, what’s happening?’
‘Don’t worry. I’m here – it’ll be okay.’
Emma is panic-stricken.
‘What am I going to say? Should I tell them what Alex said when he rang me? They might not even know he saw Nicky last week. I don’t know what to do – I might make things worse.’
‘Sssh, calm down, it’ll be fine. You can’t lie, Em – just answer the questions but don’t tell them anything unless they ask for it.’
When the bell rings, Emma takes a deep breath and goes to the door. Two police officers are standing outside.
‘Hello, can I help you?’
‘Mrs Worthington?’
‘Yes, is something wrong?’
‘I’m Detective Sergeant Barker,’ the officer says, showing his badge, ‘and this is Detective Constable Groves. I need to speak to your husband, if that’s alright.’
‘He’s not here. He’s at work.’
‘Actually, he’s not at work, madam. Apparently, he was feeling ill and left first thing this morning. He told a colleague he was going home and I would have expected him to be here by now.’
‘Well, he hasn’t come back yet. What’s happened? Why do you need to speak to him?’
‘Unfortunately, I can’t give you any details at the moment. Have you heard from him at all?’
‘Er, yes. He rang me this morning, but he didn’t say what time he would be home.’
‘Whose car is that in the driveway?’
‘That’s my sister’s car, she’s inside. Can’t you give me some idea of what’s going on, detective? Is my husband in trouble?’
‘I’m afraid there’s nothing more I can say just now. Are you absolutely certain your husband isn’t here?’
‘Of course he’s not, I told you he wasn’t here,’ Emma snaps, her panic evaporating and anger taking over.
The officer’s radio crackles into life. ‘Excuse me one minute, I need to take this.’
Barker walks over to the car, talking into his radio, but Emma can’t hear what he’s saying. The other officer gives her an embarrassed smile.
‘You can go inside in the meantime, madam. If we need to ask any more questions, I’ll give you a shout.’
Emma leaves the door ajar and goes back into the kitchen.
‘What did they say?’
‘They just said they wanted to talk to Alex but they didn’t say why.’
Emma winces and holds her hand against her stomach. ‘I have to go to the loo and check on Ben – I won’t be long.’
*
John has just finished talking to Peter Byrne, the pathologist, when a light blinks on his phone, indicating an internal call. It’s Adam Newman, one of the three detective constables on his team.
‘There’s a call for you, guv, from one of the Andover boys. I’m sorry, I didn’t catch his name.’
‘No problem, put him through, thanks.’
When he replaces the receiver a few minutes later, he thumps his fist on the desk. The officer had told him that Alex Worthington had not gone home after all.
‘I wonder what’s happened to him,’ Lucy says when he tells her. ‘Maybe he really has absconded.’
‘Assuming he’s guilty, that is. Or maybe he didn’t want to go home to face the music from his wife and has holed up somewhere else. By the way, I spoke to Pete and he’s got the preliminary report. I want to go over there now – can you be ready in a few minutes?’