They pulled into the Caplan’s driveway. The morning fog had burnt away leaving a cold but clear midday sky. Rebecca climbed out and spoke to Nashy before she closed the door.
“I won’t be long. I just want to feed her and give her a bit of attention.”
“Ok Bec. I might hang out here if you don’t mind. Don’t feel right me heading into a coppers house uninvited, even if it is a mates and…I know you’re going to tell me otherwise, but I need a bloody smoke.”
“Yeah I think I’ll allow it. Just one though.”
“Deal.”
As she ventured up to the front door, Rebecca stopped and lifted a flat white rock from beside a sun-bleached bird bath in the garden. Beneath it was a spare key to the front door. The same hiding place for the past ten years. As she unlocked the door and stepped inside, the darkness enveloped her. Like it had Aunty Meg since the disease had started. Aunty Meg had hidden from the world in her last years, seemingly embarrassed by the waif like woman she had become. Rebecca pulled the cord on a blind and the room seemed to burst to life with an explosion of light. Everything had a place, and everything was in its place. Aunty Meg had always been one for being tidy, but it seemed in the last few years it had become her obsession. Rebecca inhaled, taking in the smells, closing her eyes, and imagining her doting Aunt still dusting the furniture or cooking Lemon Meringue Pie in the kitchen.
Rebecca made her way into the kitchen, noticing a small pile of dirty dishes in the sink and unlocked the back door. Sitting on the back veranda, almost unmoving was Peaches. A ball like bundle of white fur that barely lifted its head to Rebecca, but when recognition took hold, she stood and gave a friendly ‘Yap’.
“Hey girl. You know, don’t you?”
The dog stared back at Rebecca, giving a fretful whine that almost brought tears to her eyes.
Rebecca scooped the small dog up and carried her inside, cuddling her and scratching behind her ears and under her chin as she went.
“You hungry or is that a really stupid question.”
Rebecca found tins of dog food and a bowl. Peaches despite her obvious depression, devoured it before running into the front room to bark through the now lifted blind, at the car in the driveway.
“You get him girl.”
From her vantage point she could see straight down the kitchen hall and through the front window to the now seemingly sleeping Nashy.
“Okay, guess I got time to clean up these dishes while you nap then.”
There were only a few plates, cups, cutlery items and a saucepan. Rebecca, despite not having visited properly in years remembered exactly where everything went, and she knew Aunty Meg would have approved of her cleaning up. She finished up and was hanging the tea towel over the back of one of the chairs surrounding the small table in the kitchen, when she noticed the jumbled mass of paperwork on the table.
“Well best tidy that as well.”
At first, she regretted touching it, but curiosity soon won.
The symbols on the front of the folders told her that these were police files and the name on the front of the top one was Matthew Lonergan. She felt a chill rush through her body and her shoulders shrugged instinctively. Rebecca balanced herself by placing one hand on the table, not wanting a repeat of the last time she had been confronted by information about Matt.
She put her hand on the front cover of the file, wanting to open it but holding herself back. The folder slid to the side and those beneath it fanned out. Now she could see some of the names on them. Tate Sedgewick, Zak Thomson, Cameron Nash, Tony Higgins, and Craig Braye. She drew a deep breath not realising for the past few moments she had been holding it.
“What the actual F…” The sharp blast of a car horn outside cut her words short. She desperately wanted to look inside the files. Her only explanation was that Paul suspected one of these people to be the one who had broken into her home. ‘Obviously’ she thought ‘it’s not Zak.’ She was also sure, positive in fact that it was Matt, but then why were there files for Craig, Tony and even Nashy. She flipped open the cover of one the files, feeling like a criminal herself and started to read. The horn outside blared once again, so she pulled out here phone and took several quick photos as she flipped through the other files. As she opened the file that belonged to Cameron Nash, she jumped and screamed. Not at what she saw, instead at the noise of Nashy banging heavily on the front door.
“You done yet girlie. You alright. Haven’t fallen down and can’t get up have ya?”
“Sorry Nashy. I’m coming.”
Rebecca tidied the files and table before giving Peaches a final rub behind the ear and locking up the house.
“What the hell took you so long in there? Did you do the ironing or something?”
“Sorry Nashy. Lots of memories of Aunty Meg in there.”
“Nah, it’s me that’s sorry. You don’t need to explain. I can be an impatient old bugger sometimes…but…it’s gonna be hard for a lot of people. You, Paul. Even me…Let’s get home, I need to give Liz a hug.”
“Yeah. I need to ring Gran and Jake. I reckon we've all have got a few more tears to spill before the day is over.”