“Oh shut up, Sean, I didn’t for one second suggest that. I am not stupid. But do you think the police won’t be asking those questions? About what you were doing there alone? And what if the bones are really old? Didn’t they speak to you all when those girls died before?”

“They spoke to bloody everyone. They spoke to your dad, didn’t they? And Bella?”

“Bella was Nicole’s best friend. Of course they talked to her.” I swallow. “And Jack went out with Nicole.”

“Jack went out with everyone.”

We’re facing each other now, almost shouting, my sore ribs forgotten. I hear my words repeated in my head and it sounds awful. Am I really suggesting that Jack or Sean…?

I step away from Sean, confused, anger fading. “Look, I’m sorry, okay? I shouldn’t have said that. I didn’t mean to imply anything, honestly.”

He frowns at me and shakes his head. “I don’t understand you. I don’t get you at all.”

That. There. His words. Like an echo. Like a conversation we’ve had before.

I smile as I complete the echo. “Well, I don’t get me, either.”

He looks confused for a moment, then his frown fades and he almost smiles back. “You shouted that at me once, didn’t you? It made no bloody sense.”

I shrug. “Yeah, well, I rarely do make sense.”

A police car drives slowly past us.

“They’re going to drag it all back up, aren’t they? Even if the bones they’ve found have nothing to do with those murdered girls. It’s going to be the summer of death all over again.”

THEN

Chapter 14

Chapter 14

January 2007

Dad’s late. It’s dark outside and the Bolognese that Bella and I have cobbled together is going gloopy in the pan. He’s always home by six. And he’s meant to be going out tonight for his regular pub quiz with Julia and Greg. I’ve already got the box of toys out for Ellie, ready to welcome the new dolls she got for Christmas. I grin. Bella’s staying in tonight—it’ll be her first experience of an epic Barbie marathon. I think she’s kind of looking forward to it. Yes, she rolled her eyes and played sulky, but she also went rummaging in the attic for the last remaining Barbie from our own doll days—a sad, shorn-haired thing, its head colored purple with felt-tip pen.

“Where is he?” Bella’s frowning and looking out of the window. The clock is creeping toward seven. “Do you think he went straight to the pub?”

I shake my head. “No, Ellie’s coming here. He always waits for Julia and Greg to drop her off and they go out together.”