Page 75 of She Saw What He Did

Chapter Forty-Six

‘Where’s Mummy?’ asked Sam.

Her tiny voice echoed in the basement. ‘Can we go home soon? I want my teddies.’

Daphne had been dreading this question. Surely the man would be back soon. She knew he wasn’t in the house. They heard his footsteps when he was. What if he never came back? Daphne fought down the first stirrings of panic.

‘We’ll be going home very soon,’ she assured Sam, laying out the board game they had been playing the night before.

‘Do you want some cereal?’ she asked, pointing to the cornflakes box on the floor. There was enough milk left for breakfast and coffee. He would surely bring them some more food?

‘Can I have my jelly babies?’ Sam asked, her face lighting up.

Daphne pulled the sweets from her bag, grabbing her own angina tablets as she did so. She was getting claustrophobic in the basement and all she could think about was the man who was holding them there. Was he the murderer that Abby had seen? She fought the urge to look again at the photo of Joe that she kept in her purse. Everything was going to be okay. She and Sam would get out of here very soon. They must have found her car by now. They were most likely all over the news. She tried to remember the last words she had said to Joe. Had she told him that she loved him? He knew that, of course he did. The angina pill helped, and she threw the bottle back into her bag.

‘I need to pee,’ said Sam.

Daphne looked over at the portable loo in the corner.

‘What if that man comes?’ asked Sam nervously.

‘I’ll stand by the door like I did earlier,’ smiled Daphne.

‘Okay,’ said Sam, popping another jelly baby into her mouth. ‘Can we watch The Minions afterwards?’

Daphne nodded.

She seemed happy with her sweets. So far she hadn’t sensed any danger, but Daphne knew it couldn’t last.

Daphne got up and climbed the steps to the basement door. There was no way to get help. All she could do was shout whenever she heard footsteps and so far she hadn’t heard any. She fought back tears and smiled widely at Sam.

‘Let’s watch The Minions together,’ she suggested.

*

Ellen walked into St Cecilia’s police station and sighed at the sight of Scott with his feet on the desk. Her head throbbed from the wine she’d drunk the night before. She’d arrived home in the early hours. Her last message to Peter had been about midnight.

‘Just out for some dinner,’ she’d texted.

‘There was me thinking you were doing police work.’ He’d texted back scathingly.

She was grateful they didn’t live together. At least she got to go to bed without an argument. She still hadn’t called him. She’d overslept and was now desperate for some painkillers.

‘Oh, you’ve returned then,’ said Scott as she strolled in. ‘We’ve kept the islands safe while you’ve been gone.’

Ellen opened the fridge and took out a bottle of water.

‘Can’t you for once sit with your bloody feet on the floor?’ she snapped.

Scott’s eyes widened.

‘Blimey, who rocked your boat?’ he said, lifting his feet off the desk.

Ellen was tetchy. The hangover wasn’t helping and the boredom of policing on the islands was even more noticeable after her time in Porthaven.

‘Where’s Ryan?’ she asked.

‘Day off. You’re losing touch with our rota these days.’

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