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
Chloe turns back to the cutting and reopens it. She tries to see Patrick as this stranger does. But to her, Patrick looks shattered, the same as his wife beside him. Hadn’t he also welcomed the police enquiry, even when they arrested him? A guilty man wouldn’t do that. Her fingertips feel clammy where she’s clutching the cutting. How could anyone think they got what they deserved? No one deserves to lose a child. Especially not these two, not when they had clearly cherished her so much.
‘That little girl was about the same age as my Jessica at the time,’ the woman starts again, only this time Chloe doesn’t turn around. ‘We were all saying the same thing in the school playground: it had to be him involved, police just couldn’t pin anything to him. And they do these appeals every year – what do they say?’ She leans forward to read the headline, then mimics them, ‘“We’re still waiting for Angie.” Well, she ent coming home. She’s gone, ent she? Gone the minute he took his eyes off her. Wouldn’t be surprised if he didn’t know where an’ all, you mark my words.’
Chloe has heard enough. She pushes the cutting back into her bag and looks up for her stop. It’s not the next one, but she decides to get off anyway. She gathers up her shopping, and as she does, two oranges roll out and down the central aisle of the bus. The woman tuts. Chloe feels the anger burning inside, her temples throbbing. How could someone say that about Maureen and Patrick? No two parents are more devoted than they are. If only she had been lucky enough to have been their daughter. Chloe would have killed for parents like that.
As the doors close she hears the woman say to the passenger sitting next to her, ‘Well, I was only saying.’
ELEVEN
There’s chaos in the newsroom when Chloe walks in on Monday morning. On days like these Chloe has learnt that it’s best to shuffle straight towards the archive, losing herself among the filing cabinets until tempers calm.
‘What’s happened?’ she whispers to Alec as they stand opposite each other in the archive, separated by metal, her filing B, him L.
‘No front page this morning,’ he says, slamming the L drawer shut. Chloe feels the reverberation of it inside the B drawer.
Nothing causes more panic here than a Monday morning without a splash. Malc is a micro manager, very often calling reporters into the office to brief them on stories himself. The one day of the week that he’s forced to spend with his family is a constant source of anxiety to him. He must spend all Sunday hoping for a story to break, Chloe has often thought. Alec said he should have stayed as a news editor; some people just can’t let go.