She stepped back and immediately breathed more easily.

‘Quite something,’ Lake said.

Harri wondered how low someone had to be to take that final step. She shuddered and turned away. Was this why Ben had referenced the house in the poem? Was it because it was where his friend had died?

‘There was a witness?’ she asked.

Lake nodded. ‘Margery Allen. She was walking her dog, heading south when she first saw him. She passed him again when she was going home. Both times she said he was pacing around, muttering to himself. She walked about a quarter of a mile that way, towards Barmouth, before she glanced back, and when she did, he was gone. She didn’t think anything of it, until we started canvassing after he’d been reported missing and we found the car.’

‘And David Asha was reported missing by Ben Elmys?’

Lake nodded.

‘Any chance I could talk to the witness?’

‘She lives in Barmouth,’ Lake replied. ‘She’s listed in the phone book, but be careful, she can be a bit scratchy.’

Harri shivered as she looked around. She’d dealt with suicide in the past, but for a father to take his own life in such circumstances and leave his child alone . . .

‘Will you let me know if you find out what happened to this family?’ Lake asked. ‘Like I said, the guv’nor wouldn’t let me scratch my itch, but that doesn’t mean it’s gone away. Something doesn’t sit right.’

Harri nodded. ‘Of course.’

‘You want my theory?’ Lake offered. ‘I think he was done in by the death of his wife, but when the hospital lost her body, that was too much—’

‘The hospital lost her body?’ Harri asked. David’s body never being found was a common enough set of circumstances, but Beth’s body going missing in a hospital could have much darker implications.

‘Yeah,’ Lake replied. ‘Mr Asha was thinking about suing. At least that’s what his lawyer said. Talk about a mess.’

Harri shook her head absently. ‘Maybe. Or maybe it was good planning. A missing body means no autopsy. No toxicology tests. No way to be sure what happened to her.’

Chapter 14

Harri thanked Lake for his help, and the two of them parted ways. Lake took the forest trail back to his car, and she walked north along the clifftop path. The wind whipped her hair and she reached into her pocket for a band and tied a loose tail. A shiver kissed her neck and ran down her spine. She looked around, but saw no one apart from Lake, who was almost at the treeline.

Her eyes settled on the strange, solitary house for a moment. She saw a black slate plaque by the front door, which bore the words ‘The Elsewhere House’. She was disconcerted by the name, and the proximity of the building to the place where she believed David Asha had taken his own life, and managed to convince herself someone was watching her, even though there was no one in the windows. She was only being paranoid.