Free Where the Memories Lie by Sibel Hodge

about this.’
    I nodded. ‘Of course they will.’
    ‘Yes,’ Nadia agreed.
    ‘I bloody hope so.’ Lucas crossed his arms and stared off into
    the distance.
    56

Chapter Six
    Sergeant Downing looked too young to be a sergeant. Or
    maybe it was just that I was getting old. He sat on one
    side of the desk in the interview room with Nadia and
    me on the other. I felt like I was having a job interview and any
    minute he’d ask me what my strengths and weaknesses were.
    The walls were painted lilac, or lavender, or something. Maybe
    it was designed to make suspects feel soothed into dishing the
    dirt on their criminal activities. It was quite nice, actually.
    I could see it on our bathroom walls. I couldn’t even believe I was even thinking about that as Sergeant Downing frowned for the
    second time.
    ‘Right. So . . .’ he started off. ‘Your father-in-law is in a nursing home suffering from Alzheimer’s, and he’s been mentioning a missing person called Georgia Walker?’
    ‘Well . . . yes.’ I nodded firmly and chewed on my lower
    lip. We hadn’t mentioned the fact that Tom said he’d killed her
    because that was just plain crazy, and they’d probably laugh us out of the station.
    ‘I’m sure it’s all nonsense!’ Nadia emitted an embarrassed, tin-
    kling laugh, as if she was terribly sorry for wasting their time.
    Sibel Hodge
    ‘I agree, but I’m just concerned that maybe he witnessed a
    crime and he’s only just remembering it. We think it’s our duty to
    check, just to make sure.’
    Sergeant Downing frowned again. ‘Has he ever made any
    similar statements about missing people?’
    ‘No,’ I said.
    ‘What’s his full name, date of birth, and last address?’ He leaned
    forward on the desk and wrote as I rattled off the details. ‘I don’t recall anyone called Georgia being circulated as missing around
    here, but it can’t do any harm to check. Wait here, please.’ He stood and left the room.
    I glanced at Nadia.
    ‘Ethan’s right: this is all just a waste of time. They’re not going to find anything,’ she said.
    ‘Of course they won’t.’
    ‘Did Ethan calm down on the way back?’
    ‘A little bit. With Lucas in agreement, he can’t do much else,
    really. But he’s not happy about it.’
    ‘No one’s happy about it. This is just stupid,’ she barked.
    ‘No, I didn’t mean . . . oh, never mind.’
    ‘Sorry. I’m just stressed.’
    I squeezed her hand then. Of course she was, what with the
    worry of Lucas’s affair and now this – no wonder she was looking
    ruffled.
    She picked at the hem of her dress. ‘I can’t believe we’re even
    doing this.’
    I jigged my knee up and down as we waited in silence. It seemed
    like hours before Sergeant Downing came back, but in reality it was probably only forty-five minutes.
    I tried to read the expression on his face as he sat down, but I
    couldn’t work it out. I bet there was a lesson on the art of pulling the perfect poker face during their police training. I visualised a whole 58
    Where the Memories Lie
    room of officers pulling different expressions in front of the mirror to see which worked best.
    Oh, God, get a grip, Olivia!
    I took a deep breath and focused on him. ‘What have you
    found out?’
    He took his time looking between Nadia and me. ‘There are no
    missing persons reports for someone of that name.’
    I exhaled loudly. ‘Thank goodness for that.’
    ‘I checked the voters’ registers and there is a Georgia Walker
    listed in Abbotsbury.
    I leaned forward, heart racing. ‘Oh?’
    ‘Unfortunately, there’s no telephone number listed for her,
    like you discovered, so I’m going to take a drive over there and
    see what I can find out.’ He stood up. ‘I’ll call you when I know
    something.’
    ‘Thank you.’ I stood up.
    ‘You promise you’ll call as soon as you hear something?’
    Nadia asked.
    ‘Yes.’ He led us back out to the public area by the front desk
    and we said goodbye.
    I gulped in a