“Wha’s taking so long?” Ray paced up and down the narrow corridor in the only area they would let us stay. “The monster’s lawyer arrived ages ago. They must’ve got that out of him by now, like?”
I flinched at his words and the reminder of Nancy Thompson’s face as I had boldly said on television that paedophiles weren’t monsters. I’d thought I was being so forward-thinking, so non-judgmental, and look where it had gotten me. My own personal hell to teach me how wrong I’d been.
“Can you please not call him a monster, Ray?”
“Why not? Tha’s what he is.”
I rubbed my eyes, the skin around them dry and worn. “Just … don’t.”
“Ms Walker?”
I lifted my head up quickly at the mention of my name. I knew the voice. It was DS Clarke walking towards us.
Ray stepped forward, his hands aggressively placed on his hips. “Wha’s the news? You pinned him yet?”
DS Clarke looked bemused. “Ray. Come up from Diss, have you?”
“I want to know wha’s going on. So?”
DS Clarke looked from him to me. “So, you two are on good terms now, are you?”
I shrugged. “We’re working together for Teigan’s sake. So, news?”
He looked tired, the bags under his eyes worse than the last time I’d seen him. He held himself awkwardly, as if in pain, and he generally had a rather defeated look about him, which I didn’t find reassuring in the least.
“I’m sorry,” he began. “We’ve done what we can, but there’s just not enough evidence — nothing concrete, at least — that he was involved in Teigan’s disappearance. He’s being released on bail for the possession of indecent images, so he’ll be monitored, I can assure you.”
“But,” Ray stammered, “weren’t he right there? At his mum’s house across the road or something?”
“Yes, but —“
“And he got no alibi for when she disappeared, right?” Ray was talking with his hands again, as if it were all blindingly obvious.
“Yes, but that’s all circumstantial. We thought we had something with a receipt but …”
My focus shot back from the grazes to his words. “A receipt? For what?”
He sighed and looked at me with what could only be described as an exhausted pity. “We found a receipt that matched the description of the heart bracelet Teigan had.” My heart felt like it was bulging into my throat — surely that was damning evidence? “But he claims he brought it for his mother. We got someone round there to verify, and she does own such a bracelet. Said he gave it to her for her birthday a couple of weeks ago.”
I sank back into my chair, broken by the so-close-yet-so-far news. I could see Ray’s hands flailing about as he argued with DS Clarke, but I couldn’t hear the words. It had been a week, and they had nothing except her smashed-up phone with dodgy text messages on it that may or may not have been sent by this suspect they’d failed to get anything concrete on. It was a shambles.
I was pulled out of my haze when I saw a man in my peripheral vision. A tall man with dark hair, his face half covered by a trendy amount of stubble. It was the man from the photograph: Monty Shepherd. The female DC was next to him, leading him away to the main door. But it was too late, I’d clocked him. I turned and caught his gaze, my veins turning to ice as I realised that this man may have hurt Teigan.
Ray followed my eyeline and put two and two together. “Is that him?” He marched forward, his entire arms clenched, ready to be used as weapons.
“Ray, please stay calm–“
Ray ignored DS Clarke, dodged around him, and hurled himself towards the suspect. Time slowed down for a moment as Ray’s clenched fist made contact with Monty’s cheek. A week ago, I’d have spoken out against hate crimes toward men who cannot help the way they are. But in that moment, I couldn’t help but enjoy seeing some pain inflicted on Monty. I was thankful for Ray’s presence and his tendency to use his fists instead of his head. And I knew, deep down, that if Monty really had taken Teigan — I’d want to see him suffer a lot more than that.
We got back to the house about eight that evening, and it was then that I picked up the message from Steph.
Hey, took myself to Yarco for the afternoon — haven’t been there in an age! The fresh air did me good. No hard feelings about denying my existence. I suppose I haven’t been there much. Hoping that will change now. Heading to the gym at Riverside now. Back at ten tonight. Love x
“Steph will be back around ten, apparently,” I said as I slumped down onto the sofa.
Ray followed suit and joined me on the sofa, sitting closer than we had been earlier. “Steph? Your sister’s staying with you?”
“Temporarily.”
“I thought you didn’t get on?”
I bristled in defence. “Yeah, well, you and I haven’t got on for years, and now look at you making yourself at home on my sofa.”
Ray broke into a smile for the first time since I’d seen him. In spite of myself, something fluttered through me. His smile was the thing I’d always loved most about him. He had such a warm smile, one that lit up his kind face in a way that said You’re safe with me.
“So,” he linked his hands behind his head and looked up at the ceiling. “What we going to do ‘bout this Monty creep, then?”
I blinked, taken aback. “What do you mean?”
“The police ‘int getting anywhere with him, are they? We gots to help them pin it on him. More solid evidence, like.”
“How are we doing to do that?”
He looked at me, something in his eyes I hadn’t seen before. “We got to trap him into confessing, I reckon. Tha’s the only way.”
I stared at him. What was he suggesting? Fabricating evidence? Beating him into confession? My gaze was distracted by the pictures of Teigan and me on the mantelpiece, and I became lost in the beautiful eyes of my daughter.
I had to look into those eyes again. Through whatever means necessary.