Chapters (55)
- Cover
- ANNA WHARTON
- Dedication page
- ONE
- TWO
- THREE
- FOUR
- FIVE
- SIX
- SEVEN
- EIGHT
- NINE
- TEN
- ELEVEN
- TWELVE
- THIRTEEN
- FOURTEEN
- FIFTEEN
- SIXTEEN
- SEVENTEEN
- EIGHTEEN
- NINETEEN
- TWENTY
- TWENTY-ONE
- TWENTY-TWO
- TWENTY-THREE
- TWENTY-FOUR
- TWENTY-FIVE
- TWENTY-SIX
- TWENTY-SEVEN
- TWENTY-EIGHT
- TWENTY-NINE
- THIRTY
- THIRTY-ONE
- THIRTY-TWO
- THIRTY-THREE
- THIRTY-FOUR
- THIRTY-FIVE
- THIRTY-SIX
- THIRTY-SEVEN
- THIRTY-EIGHT
- THIRTY-NINE
- FORTY
- FORTY-ONE
- FORTY-TWO
- FORTY-THREE
- FORTY-FOUR
- FORTY-FIVE
- FORTY-SIX
- FORTY-SEVEN
- FORTY-EIGHT
- FORTY-NINE
- ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
- Praise
- THE IMPOSTER
PARENTS PRAY FOR ANGIE’S RETURN
THE parents of missing city girl Angela Kyle made a late-night visit to their local church to pray for their daughter’s safe return.
Maureen and Patrick Kyle are said to be ‘devastated’ at the disappearance of their daughter five days ago from a play park in Ferry Meadows.
Desperate for any information, they turned to their local congregation, who arranged a special mass to pray for news of little Angie.
Father Martin Cunningham, priest at St Gregory’s Church, conducted the service. He told this newspaper, ‘I’ve known Maureen and Patrick and their families for more than a decade. In fact, I married them just six years ago. I also baptized little Angie. They are both devoted to their daughter and, as you can imagine, this last week has been agony for them. But their faith is strong and that’s what is giving them the strength to face every day at the moment – that and the hope each new day brings that Angie will be found.’
More than a hundred worshippers packed the church last night to pray for the family.
‘The power of prayer can be an incredible thing,’ Father Cunningham added. ‘And right now it’s fair to say that we are praying for a miracle.’
She writes down Father Martin Cunningham. Underlining it. Twice. On and on she goes through the cuttings, searching for more details, names, dates, places that might be worth revisiting. One cutting mentions a sighting in Highbury, north London. She writes it down, then scribbles it out when it’s later revealed as a hoax. Then writes it again, this time with a question mark on the end.
She searches for more tiny details about Angie, finding the name of her cloth cat and writing Puss in her book. In one article, Patrick Kyle mentions she was wearing shiny new red shoes the day she went missing. That goes into her notebook too. Each little detail she writes, feeding this ridiculous fantasy at the back of her head that maybe she could find some missing detail that the police overlooked.
Chloe looks up at the street lamps peering in from between the heavy curtains. Were the detectives this vigilant? She doubts it. To them, Angela would have been just a job. But it already feels much more than that to Chloe. After everything she’s been through, she – more than anyone – understands. She just wishes she could help.
Chloe reads on until the inky words swim in front of her eyes and her back aches from lying on the carpet. She flicks back through her notebook; five filled pages, not bad. For now.
She folds all the cuttings away carefully, putting them back inside the brown envelope and tucking it into Nan’s sideboard alongside the photo albums overnight. She makes a vow to reopen the case in the morning.