‘I’ve told you I’ve no idea where she is.’
Natalia’s tone was agonized, fervent. She sat at the kitchen table, casting horrified glances at the police officers turning her house upside down. What were they searching for? What did they expect to find?
‘The last time I saw her was yesterday afternoon in church. We were at St Stanislaus Kostka –’
‘When was this?’ Detective Grey interrupted.
‘The service began at nine p.m. She left about twenty minutes later. Took a phone call and ran off.’
The police officer noted this down. Natalia watched her closely. Was she getting Kassie into more trouble by mentioning this?
‘She didn’t come home last night?’
‘No, I waited up for her, but …’
‘Does she often stay out all night?’
‘No, never. Well, hardly ever.’
‘Your daughter is missing then?’
Natalia shrugged an affirmative. She didn’t like to admit it, but it was true.
‘And yet you’ve not reported it?’
Natalia hesitated, embarrassed, before responding quietly:
‘I thought we were in enough trouble already.’
‘At least we can agree on that,’ the police officer responded curtly. ‘A woman was murdered last night – brutally murdered. Your daughter was seen following her.’
Detective Grey spoke calmly and carefully, terrifying Natalia even more. What had Kassie got herself involved in now?
‘It’s very important we find Kassie,’ Grey continued briskly. ‘For her own safety, as much as anything else. So, if you know anything – anyone she might be staying with, anywhere she might have gone – now would be a very good time to tell us.’
As she spoke, she fixed Natalia with a penetrating stare. Natalia’s whole world seemed to be collapsing in on itself, but she knew she had to do something to protect herself, to protect Kassie.
‘I wish I could help,’ Natalia stuttered, desperate to appear helpful. ‘But there’s no one – it’s just me and her. Honestly, I have no idea where she goes any more, but …’
A flicker of interest in Grey’s expression now.
‘… I have an inkling of who might have called her last night. Where she might have gone …’
Grey was staring directly at her. For the first time in this distressing interview, Natalia felt she had the upper hand.
‘In fact,’ she concluded, enjoying this brief moment of respite, ‘it’s someone you know … Someone you introduced to her.’
Natalia was primed to deliver the punchline, but the detective’s face told her she didn’t need to. Gabrielle Grey knew exactly who she was talking about.