‘Well, that was where the bodies were found,’ Annie said as she drew a tremulous breath. ‘All credit to the Batemans for marking the spot.’

Annie lowered her eyes then and lapsed into sullen silence.

James pushed his plate to one side and reached across the table to take her hand.

‘What I don’t understand, Annie, is why you’ve never told me about this before now. It was obviously an event that made a big impression on you.’

She looked up and as she did so her eyes seemed to go out of focus.

‘I suppose because it was a memory that I chose to bury,’ she replied. ‘A lot was going on in my life back then and people eventually stopped talking about it. Over time it became one of those things that I pushed to the back of my mind. And it would still be there if the Batemans hadn’t been killed.’

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Thursday December 28th

Somehow, despite being taunted by images from the crime scene and the story that Annie had told him the previous evening, James managed to get six hours sleep.

He came awake at 6 a.m. to find that he was alone in the bed, but there were sounds of movement coming from the bathroom.

He switched on the bedside lamp but stayed where he was for a few minutes, thinking about the day ahead and wondering if there had been any significant developments overnight.

Then the bathroom door opened and Annie appeared.

‘I didn’t realise you were awake,’ she said. ‘I tried to be quiet.’

‘It wasn’t you,’ he told her. ‘I’ve got a lot on my mind. Why are you up so early?’

She pulled a face. ‘A bout of morning sickness. I just managed to reach the loo before throwing up.’

She was wearing her dressing gown, and as she stepped towards the bed, he saw that her skin was flushed from the heat of the shower.

‘Did you have a bad night?’ he asked her.

She nodded. ‘I couldn’t stop thinking about what’s happened to the Bateman family. It’s like the grisly sequel to a horror movie that was set in the same location.’

It was a fair analogy, James thought as he hauled himself out of bed. He gave Annie a hug and told her that she smelled really nice. But he couldn’t say the same about how she looked and that concerned him. Her face was lined with emotion and fatigue, and red veins laced the whites of her eyes.

This was just what she didn’t need during the early stages of her pregnancy. It was bad enough having to deal with all the mental and physical issues that having a baby brought up.

‘I’ll go and make some coffee,’ she said. ‘Have you got time for breakfast before you go?’