‘Thanks,’ she said, then spotted Dorothy and came in for a hug.

She smelt of sweat and adrenaline, mingled with her shampoo, apples and something sharper.

‘Where’s Mum?’ she said, stepping back.

Dorothy shook her head. ‘She’s not answering her phone.’

Thomas stood behind Hannah, waiting to engage.

‘What’s the story?’ Dorothy said to him.

Thomas nodded to Hannah as if to say it was her story to tell.

‘I was stupid,’ she said, shaking her head.

Dorothy rubbed her arm. ‘I guessed that.’

That brought a smile.

‘I went to Longhorn’s house and waited while the police spoke to him. They didn’t arrest him and I kind of flipped. I hit his wife.’

She swallowed and tears came, her shoulders shaking as she wiped at her nose with a tissue.

‘I don’t know who I am at the moment,’ she said between breaths.165

Dorothy hugged her again. It was painful seeing her granddaughter like this, it scratched at her heart.

‘I’ve spoken to the Longhorns and squared it away,’ Thomas said. ‘Hannah’s only getting a warning this time, but she needs to stay away from them.’

‘Of course,’ Dorothy said.

‘I’m sorry,’ Hannah said.

Dorothy held her. ‘It’s stress. This is a hard time for everyone.’

She looked at Thomas. ‘What did the officers say?’

Thomas shook his head. ‘There’s just no evidence, the pictures don’t count because of how Hannah got them. They have good cause to say Hannah is pestering them, and they say that’s what Melanie was doing too.’

‘It doesn’t seem likely,’ Dorothy said.

‘I know,’ Thomas said. ‘But until we have more to go on, that’s all we can do.’

Hannah released herself from Dorothy’s embrace and straightened her collar, put her tissue away.

Thomas raised his hand and Dorothy saw a piece of typed paper. His look confirmed what it was.

‘The results,’ she said.

‘I was about to call you anyway.’

‘And?’

‘It’s not a match,’ Thomas said, handing the paper over. ‘There’s no DNA connection between Jim and the Lawrence girl.’

Dorothy stared at the paper. Technical phrases, a line graph, some numbers, it might as well be hieroglyphs.

Hannah looked from Dorothy to Thomas. ‘What does that mean?’

Thomas deferred to Dorothy. He always let her speak, such a small thing but an important one.

The paper quivered in her hand.

‘I don’t know,’ she said.

166

32

JENNY