Page 116 of The Half Sister

‘And as I understand it,’ Stephens goes on, ‘Miss Linley has uploaded her DNA onto a genealogy website and has discovered that she has a half sister. Would that be Mrs Carter?’

Kate nods.

‘And yourself, of course, though I notice you’re not referred to in the article.’

Kate stays silent.

‘Were you perhaps not quite as accepting of the situation as Ms Carter?’

‘Well, it’s not exactly ideal,’ admits Kate, coughing to clear her throat.

‘Thatyourfather washerfather?’

‘Yes,’ says Kate quietly. ‘It’s not easy to accept that your father could have had an affair.’

‘Especially difficult to discover this after his passing, I must imagine,’ says Stephens, almost to himself.

Kate bristles at his clumsy attempt at sincerity.

‘But you accept it to be the case?’ asks Stephens.

‘I can’t argue with science,’ she says, smiling tightly.

Stephens returns her smile, though it doesn’t quite reach his eyes.

‘Do you have any reason to believe that your fatherknewof his third daughter’s existence?’

Yes. No. I don’t know. They all reverberate around her head on a loop, as her, Lauren’s and their mother’s different theories abound.

‘No,’ she says, because it feels the safest answer to give until she knows exactly what’s going on here. Relief floods through her as Matt returns and sits down next to her.

‘And you don’t remember the case of an abandoned baby when you were living in Harrogate at the time?’

‘No,’ she says honestly.

‘You would have been eleven or twelve?’ says Stephens, needlessly reminding her of her age.

‘That’s correct,’ she says.

‘And your sister, Lauren?’ says Stephens, referring to his notebook. ‘She’s a few years older than you.’

‘Yes, four.’ Kate is now worried that her answers are too short and clipped.

‘So, she might have some memory of it. Or indeed your mother, Mrs...’ He looks at his notebook. ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t quite catch your parents’ surname.’

‘Alexander.’

‘And Mrs Alexander is still in London?’ DS Connolly asks.

Kate nods.

‘Can I get an address for her please? We might need to ask her a few questions too.’

‘About what?’ says Kate, her hackles rising as well as her heart rate.

‘We just need to eliminate everyone from our inquiries,’ says Stephens, sounding as if he’s reading from a script for a TV show.

‘Inquiries for what?’ chokes Kate. ‘What is it that you’re investigating exactly?’

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