Page 96 of She Saw What He Did

‘She’s at nursery, is she?’

It’s said in such a casual way. My throat seems to close up. I have to fight back my tears. I want to tell her. I could. I could tell her in confidence. Beg her to help us get Sam back. I don’t. I know I daren’t.

‘Yes,’ I say, my voice sounding strange to my own ears.

I place the cups onto a tray and walk into the living room. I look pleadingly at Jared who takes the tray from my trembling hands.

‘What can we help you with?’ he asks.

‘We have an ID on the body. He was a Ukrainian named Artem Taris. Is that name familiar to you?’

‘Not at all,’ says Jared, handing Weis his tea.

‘We’re wondering if the murder you saw was politically motivated,’ says Sergeant Burden.

I sip at my tea and say nothing.

‘I’m curious about the geocache you found.’

I gasp as hot tea spills onto my leg. Jared gently takes the mug from my hand.

‘Geocache?’ echoes Jared.

‘Yes. You’ll have to forgive me. I wasn’t too familiar with geocaches. But the geocaches we found on Laslow have no record that you visited them, so I was a bit confused.’

Chapter Fifty-Nine

The cottage was immaculate, Ellen noticed. There were several noticeable differences to when Ellen last visited. Abby Miller didn’t unlock numerous bolts this time before opening the front door and she was wearing make-up. Jared Miller had appeared behind her. The last time Ellen had seen him, Jared Miller had lain beneath white sheets in the island’s hospital. She didn’t think he looked any better now. His face was pale and drawn and there were dark rings under his eyes. Ellen felt he was over the top welcoming. The house was tidy. It was a marked difference to the last time they had visited the Miller’s home. Abby seemed on edge though and Ellen noted her hands trembled when she made the tea. What could they be so afraid of?

As soon as she mentioned the geocache, they both visibly tensed.

‘There was nowhere for us to leave a record of our visit,’ explained Jared.

Ellen noted he was clenching his fists.

‘I know you left the owl. Strange that was found some distance away from the geocache.’

‘Well anyone could have taken it,’ said Jared.

Ellen looked at Abby. She was sipping slowly and deliberately from her tea.

‘You see, we were wondering,’ broke in Colin, ‘If what you found wasn’t geocache at all?’

‘I don’t understand,’ said Jared.

‘There are three geocaches on Laslow. That surprised me,’ Ellen smiled. ‘The only one that we could find that overlooked the beach was one you didn’t visit. At least there’s no record that you did and …’

‘Someone probably went after us,’ said Abby.

Ellen shook her head.

‘I don’t think so. The last recorded visit was some months before yours. You left this didn’t you?’

She pulled the pencil case from her bag and held it up.

‘But the place you left this wasn’t a proper geocache site, and that would explain why there wasn’t a notebook to record your visit.’

Jared shifted in his seat.

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