Page 128 of Her Last Walk Home

‘I can sympathise with that sentiment.’

Upstairs in Shannon’s room, she recalled Kirby’s notes. It had been tidied. No clothes on the floor and the bed was made. She ran her hands under the pillows. Nothing. She lifted the sideof the mattress. Nothing. Then the other side. It was a waste of time and she’d known that. But still she’d hoped she might find something. Back downstairs, she found George with a bottle of Calpol in his hand.

‘Did Shannon ever talk about wanting to move out?’

‘All the time. She liked to annoy me.’

‘She ever mention Pine Grove?’

‘Not that I recall. Jess might know. They were thick as thieves.’

‘She was interviewed already but can I have her number?’

‘Jess? Sure.’

She hoped the girl might be able to give her an insight into Shannon’s life and in turn a clue as to where she was.

Outside, she called Jess and arranged to meet in a half-hour.

It was early evening and Fallon’s was quiet. Chloe hadn’t arrived for her shift yet. Good. With a coffee by her hand, sitting in a nook, Lottie waited for Jess to arrive. She really should go home and prepare dinner. Instead she phoned Sean and told him to rescue something from the freezer and she’d be there in an hour. She had to talk to Jess herself to see if there was anything she’d left out when she was interviewed by Kirby.

The pub clientele were mostly after-work office workers, and the tone was low. Tired, like her, having a drink before facing home. She thought back to the time when she’d have fortified herself with a glass of wine too, but now it was either Diet Coke, coffee or tea. Safer.

A young woman muffled up in a warm jacket and knitted beanie approached and stood by the table. ‘I’m Jess. You must be the detective who rang me. I saw you on the telly once.’

‘Please sit down. Can I get you anything?’

‘I’m fine, thanks. Have you any word on Shannon?’ She removed the jacket and hat, and sat, crossing her jeans-clad legs. Her face showed signs of strain and her eyes were hollowed in her face.

‘I’m sorry, there’s nothing yet. I’m hoping you can help me.’

‘I told everything to that other detective.’

‘I know you spoke with Detective Kirby, but you may have remembered something since then that might help us.’

‘You sound desperate.’

Lottie had to admit it. ‘We are.’

Jess leaned forward, elbows on her knees, her hands supporting her chin. ‘I’ve been over it in my mind a million times. There’s nothing else.’

‘What can you tell me about Shannon’s time in rehab?’

‘Poor Shannon was in a bad way back then,’ she said. ‘Rock bottom. But she was good after it. Really good. I was so happy for her.’

‘How was she recently?’

‘I think she was fed up living with George and his girlfriend. They use her as a babysitter, childminder, whatever. He works from home and is around all the time. Shannon found it hard to get a minute to herself, so she started going out. She was fixated on getting herself a man. Maybe that’s why she joined that agency. She went there to have photos taken with the daft notion she could break into modelling. I told her they only want eighteen-year-olds, but the next thing I know she’s an escort.’

‘You didn’t approve?’

‘It’s a glorified sugar-daddy service. Not that she had much success with it, and now… I can’t believe someone would take her.’

‘Let’s go back to when she was in Cuan rehab. Did you visit her there?’

‘Once, and it was enough for me. She was in the horrors. You get worse before you get better, they say, and it’s true.’

‘Afterwards, did she talk about her time in there?’

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