‘Really?’

‘Yes.’ Alice hesitated. She didn’t want to pour out her life story to a stranger, but she found Brenda easy to talk to; there was a breeziness to her which put her at ease. ‘My parents – both of them – died in the summer after my first year at university.’ She bit her upper lip. Even though she had told this story many times it still struck her afresh, still left her struggling to believe it had actually happened, still caused a deep pain that she was certain would never end.

‘How?’ Brenda said. ‘You don’t have to talk about this if you don’t want to.’

‘It’s OK. It was a car accident on the motorway. Broad daylight, normal weather.’

‘Jeez. I’m so sorry.’

‘Thanks. I was at Ned’s parents’ and I got a call. I couldn’t believe it. He’s been there for me ever since.’

‘You have brothers and sisters?’

‘No. Only me.’

The silence that followed was awkward. Alice was used to it, but people didn’t know how to react when they found out what had happened to her parents. There wasn’t much they could say.

The quiet was broken by her phone buzzing. It was a message from Ned.

Hi. Are you coming back?

She hesitated. The anger she’d felt at him had subsided, but even so she didn’t want to go and sit in their room in the youth hostel and argue about how she had encouraged Hendrik or sided with Donny. It was exhausting, and she wanted a break.

She typed a reply.

In a bit, I met an Australian girl and am having a drink with her

He replied immediately.

Right. An Australian girl. Enjoy your night out

She closed her eyes. She just wanted this to stop.

‘Your boyfriend?’ Brenda said.

Alice didn’t even want to talk about it. It was embarrassing.

‘Forget it,’ she said. ‘Let’s finish these and go somewhere else.’

Monday, 19 July 2021

Alice

MURDERED MAN IDENTIFIED

By Alice Sark

The body of the man found on Thursday, 15 July has been named as Stan Davidson, of Lymm, Cheshire. Mr Davidson, 23, was last seen at the Thorn Inn pub in Appleton Thorn, which he left some time before midnight on Wednesday, 14 July. He shared a flat with a friend, Mr Nick Taylor, who confirmed he did not return home on the evening of the 14th. Mr Taylor said he was not alarmed by his flatmate’s failure to return home and did not mention his absence, as he often stayed with his girlfriend.

The police confirmed that the case is being treated as a murder inquiry. The spokesperson did not respond to questions regarding any links to the murders of Jane Kirkpatrick and Amy Martin, who were both killed recently in similar circumstances. However, it seems increasingly likely that the three murders may be linked – and if so, there is a serial killer operating in the Warrington area.