Page 22 of Savage Obsession

Her mother is having none of it. She holds out her hand until the girl produces the device and passes it to her. She scans the message chain in stunned silence, then hands the phone back. “Dear God, I had no idea! Monika, you should have told me. That poor girl.”

“She didn’t want me to tell anyone,” Monika protests.

“We’ve talked about this,” her mother replies. “Some secrets are bad secrets. Lily was clearly very unhappy. Maybe we could have helped her.”

I bite my tongue rather than state the obvious, that her own mother should have been doing that. Instead, I go to the final messages. “You arranged to meet Lily on Monday morning. How did that go?”

Another shrug. “Fine.”

“Monika,” her mother snaps. “This is serious. What did she say?”

“Not much. She was in a hurry. She said she had a train to catch.”

“A train?” I lean in. “Did she say what train? Where to?”

Monika shakes her head.

“What time was it when you met her?”

“Around nine.”

“Where did you meet? You mention ‘the usual place’.”

“It’s bench in the park, near the play area.”

“And she went straight to the station after that?”

“As far as I know.”

“Have you heard anything from her since?”

More head shaking. “She was supposed to call me, but she never has.”

“Weren’t you worried about her?” her mother demands. “You should have said something.”

Monika shrinks into herself again, clearly starting to clam up. I don’t want that.

“Let’s not dwell on that too much. None of this is your fault, Monika. Just to be certain, she was catching a train from Warsaw Central Station soon after nine on Monday morning. Definitely a train, not a tram or a bus?”

“She said train.”

“And she definitely had her phone with her?”

“Yes, I think so.”

“Do you remember if she had a bag of any sort?”

“Her red rucksack,” Monika replies. “It looked full.”

I get to my feet. “Thank you, Monika. And thank you, Mrs…?”

“Kowalczyk. Hanka Kowalczyk.” She takes my hand and shakes it. “Did you mention your name?”

“Bazyli and Julia Bartosz. We’re much indebted to you, Mrs Kowalczyk. And to you, Monika. Obviously, if you do hear from Lily, I need you to let me know immediately.” I scribble my mobile number onto a scrap of paper and hand it to the mother. “Any contact at all.”

“Of course. And I’m sorry, I never even offered you tea.”

We make our excuses and leave, to a furious welcome from Henry.

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