“I’m going up to ask Julia what she knows,” Jack says, getting up.

“No,” Sean says, grabbing his arm. “She’s dying up there—you can’t go barging in screaming accusations.”

“You think the police won’t have questions for her?” Jack looks like he’s going to hit his brother. “Why are you so defensive about her all of a sudden? Have you forgotten she left us? Dumped us for a new family?”

“She’s dying.”

“Yeah—and now we know our dad has been dead for years, buried on his own damned land.”

“It has nothing to do with her.”

“Doesn’t it? How do we know this whole new family of hers didn’t put him there?”

I take a breath and hold it. The very air feels violent and I daren’t move for fear of setting it off.

“We don’t know anything—that’s for the police to find out,” Sean says, his voice shaking, and it reminds me again that the police will have questions for all of us about our relationships with Greg Lewis.

I get up and walk out of the room. Lena follows me.

“Well,” Lena says, staring at me, “this is a turnup, isn’t it, Tess? Bet you weren’t really expecting it to be Greg…Or were you?” She leans in closer. “You have to tell them now, Tess. You have to.”

I glance past her and see Jack watching us. I have to resist the urge to run.

THEN

Chapter 18

From the Western Vale News, June 25, 2007:

SECOND BODY FOUND

The body of a second teenager has been found in a wooded area near Porthcawl, police confirmed last night. At this stage, there are no more details, but following so soon after the murder of Annie Weston in April, less than twenty miles away, this latest discovery has raised speculation that the deaths are related.

June 27, 2007:

NICOLE WALLACE MURDERED

Police have confirmed that they are treating the death of Nicole Wallace as a murder inquiry and the same team investigating Annie Weston’s murder are working on the case.

Two murders of two teenage girls in the same area have led to local concern that this could be the work of a serial killer. While the police will not confirm they are looking for the same person in connection with the cases, they are warning local teenagers to avoid going out alone after dark.

July 2007