When Leanne finally persuaded Carole Brody to agree to another interview, she wasn’t on the hunt for more information on Claudia, but she did want to know more about the two women who had occupied her seats. They were the proof that Claudia wasn’t where she had claimed to be, and if Leanne could prove one lie, the rest would fall like dominoes. Or that was what she hoped as Carole opened the door.
‘Thanks for agreeing to see me.’
Carole’s face was creased with wrinkles. ‘Come in.’
There was no offer of refreshments and, although the house was warm, Leanne didn’t take off her coat.
‘I want to put this all behind me,’ Carole said, wringing her hands.
‘I know, and I’m sorry for making you go over it again, but if I’ve learnt one thing in the last year, it’s that you can have six hundred people experience the same thing and every one will tell a different story. I wasn’t there, but even I came up with my own version of events, and it’s one I’m currently rewriting. I can’t imagine what it must be like for you.’
Carole pressed the tips her fingers to her lips.
‘I don’t mean to upset you, Carole.’
‘Ignore me, I’m being silly,’ she said, but her voice wobbled. ‘I never could hold back my emotions. Too sensitive for my own good.’
‘You care too much about others. It’s like your superpower.’
The joke was met with a howl as Carole put her hands over her face and slumped down onto the sofa. Leanne grabbed a box of tissues from a shelf.
‘I’m sorry,’ Carole said, grabbing a handful and blowing her nose. ‘I knew I’d be found out. It was only a matter of time.’
Leanne sat down on the armchair. Her mouth opened, then shut again.
‘You think you know what you’d do in an emergency, but the reality is very different,’ Carole continued between sobs. ‘I was terrified I wasn’t going to see our Rachel again, but I was just as scared for her as I was for myself, and that’s the truth. I imagined the police knocking on her door and her collapsing with shock. She could have lost the baby.’
‘What are you trying to tell me, Carole?’
‘I wasn’t a hero, not in the slightest,’ she admitted. ‘It was me who needed help getting out. I grabbed hold of this woman and refused to let go of her. Have you found her? Does she remember me?’
‘Carole—’
She wiped her nose. ‘It’s OK. I knew this day would come.’ The confession had lifted the weight from her shoulders and she managed to raise her head to meet Leanne’s puzzled gaze.
‘I’m not investigating you, if that’s what you’ve been worried about. I’m looking into something else entirely.’
‘But when you asked about Claudia Rothwell, you said you were tracking down the woman who was with me.’
‘And I would very much like to find her, but right now I don’t have any other leads. I was hoping you could help.’
Carole was quiet for a moment. ‘I was deliberately vague with you before. I was worried that if you spoke to her, you’d realise I’d been lying. I didn’t want my daughter to be ashamed of me and, worse still, for Curtis to grow up knowing that his nanna was a coward.’
‘You’re not a coward.’
‘Oh, but I was selfish,’ Carole replied. ‘That poor woman was so busy looking after me that she didn’t realise she’d lost her friend. I was clinging to her for dear life. I hope they’re both OK. What do you need to know? I don’t remember much.’
‘Can you tell me what they looked like?’
‘The lady we lost had dark hair, but that’s about all I can say. Her friend was the one who sat next to me. Now, I think I’d recognise her again. She had shorter hair. Golden, like a halo.’
‘OK, good. Now, can you cast your mind back to the start of the evening? The reason I asked you about Claudia was because her tickets were for the seats next to yours. I’ve been told there might have been a mix-up at the box office.’
‘A mix-up?’ Carole asked. She dabbed her eyes with a crumpled tissue. ‘Not as far as I could tell. I was already in my seat when the two ladies arrived. I was knitting a baby blanket for Rachel, so there was a bit of a kerfuffle letting them past.’
‘And you didn’t notice anyone challenge them?’
‘No. If anything, I was impressed with the whole organisation considering the staff were so new. What an induction they had that night.’ She shook her head.
‘I know this is going to be difficult, but I want to show you something that might prod your memory,’ Leanne said, taking out her phone.
Joe had suggested Leanne take another look at the videos of the disaster that had been uploaded by members of the public onto YouTube. She had felt voyeuristic, but it was necessary and it had been fruitful.
‘I’ve come across a recording that was taken further back in the stalls. The stage is bright so it only shows the audience in silhouette, but I think I’ve spotted you,’ Leanne said. ‘Would you be OK to look at it?’
‘No,’ Carole said, but she was smiling as she took the phone.
As Carole watched the clip, Leanne asked, ‘You can just make out the two figures sitting next to you. Does it trigger anything new?’
Carole shook her head. ‘I’m afraid not. Are there any others?’
‘Nothing that gives more detail.’
‘You know, I took some videos. Obviously I was filming what was happening onstage, but you never know,’ Carole said. ‘You’re lucky, I was going to delete them.’
After checking her mobile, Carole handed it over to Leanne. There were three recordings, each no more than thirty seconds long. The first was a close-up of the performers onstage, and the second looked like it was going to be more of the same.
‘When you talked to the women, did they sound local?’ Leanne asked as she continued to watch the screen.
Carole seemed to consider her answer. ‘The blonde was definitely local, but I can’t be sure about the other girl. They were mostly chatting to each other before the performance, whispering and giggling. A lovely couple.’
Leanne had reached the end of the second clip at the point where Carole had tilted the phone ever so slightly as the recording stopped. The image was frozen on an image of a woman’s lap. She had her hands folded gently on top of each other.
Realising what Carole had just said, Leanne looked up. ‘They were a couple?’
‘They were holding hands at one point. I thought it was nice.’
Returning her attention to Carole’s recordings, Leanne was about to play the final clip, but the frozen image of the hands gave her pause. At first she had thought the woman was wearing a mustard-coloured skirt, but it was a beret resting on her lap. Leanne could almost hear the sizzle of synapses making connections inside her brain.
‘I’ve seen that hat before,’ she said, and after a quick internet search, she found the Facebook image she had looked up months ago. ‘Is this who you were sitting next to?’
Carole gasped. ‘You’ve found her. Who is she?’
‘Her name is Beth McCulloch.’
Beth had been wearing the same beret when Leanne had pounced on her in the car park. It made perfect sense, of course it did. Claudia had passed her unwanted tickets to her lover, who had passed them on to his sister and her partner. If nothing else, this proved the connection between Claudia and Declan.
Carole’s eyes filled with tears as she looked at the second woman in the photograph. ‘What happened to her girlfriend?’
‘She survived,’ Leanne assured her. ‘Remember what you told me about Declan Gallagher calling out to his sister? Well, that’s her.’
Carole bit her lip. ‘Is that why she didn’t follow us out? She heard him calling out to her?’
‘I think so,’ agreed Leanne. It felt good to have some of the unknowns revealed at last.
‘Oh, the poor thing. She nearly died, didn’t she? And then she had that awful business with the press vilifying her brother.’ Carole paused, a look of apology on her face. ‘Present company excepted.’
‘No, you’re right. We did demonise him, and it wasn’t deserved. I have to say I’m seeing everyone in a different light.’
‘Including me.’
Leanne wanted to reassure Carole that she was still a hero, but she let the comment slide. It was time to stop twisting the truth to suit the narrative. ‘I’m wondering now if Declan was shouting because he was trying to find Karin, or because he was trapped. Can you remember hearing a second crash, it would have blocked the remaining stairwell?’
‘With all the wailing I was doing, it was a wonder I heard Declan’s shouts.’
‘What about at the exit? Did you see Claudia Rothwell there? Beth told me she did, so you would have passed her too.’
‘I’m sorry. I was looking at the door, not the people around me. I just remember savouring that first gulp of fresh air, even if it did taste of smoke.’
Leanne put her hands on the arms of the chair, ready to stand up. ‘Well, I think that’s about all,’ she said. ‘Thank you so much, Carole. You’ve been a great help.’
‘That’s it?’
‘Unless there’s anything else you want to add?’
Carole played nervously with her hands. ‘Are you going to publish what I’ve told you?’
Sensing a reticence to share whatever else was bothering her, Leanne said, ‘If I do write another article, I don’t see why I’d need to revisit what I’ve already written about you.’
‘What about Amelia?’
Leanne’s pulse quickened. ‘Why do you ask? Did you see her?’
Carole nodded. ‘It was when the alarm went off. She was waiting for her mum and it crossed my mind that I should make sure she was OK, but it looked like everyone filing past was doing the same. Later on, as I was leaving the auditorium, I looked across to where I’d last seen her. There were bits of masonry all over the place, and I remember thinking …’ She pursed her lips. Took a breath. ‘I remember having this terrible fear that she must be underneath it, but it was too much to bear. I was already wailing like a banshee by then and convinced myself she had to have got out. I wasn’t brave enough to go back for her, but I’m glad someone did. She had a guardian angel that night.’
‘Yes, she did,’ said Leanne, grateful that Carole hadn’t mentioned the angel by name. Leanne had been instrumental in placing Claudia on that particular pedestal and, when the time was right, she would take great pleasure in knocking her off it. She was already taking aim.