‘Yes, like the bloody psychic. You know, I think they’ve finally gone completely nuts/
‘Completely?’
‘Well, they’re still functioning on some basic level. But they’ve lost touch with reality. They’re delusional. They could end up being a danger to themselves/
‘According to the Traffic crew who picked them up, that’s exactly what they were doing at the underpass. Being a danger to themselves/
‘Well, yeah. And all these little rituals they go through - it seems to me that they’re all designed to bolster the Renshaws’ conviction that their daughter will come home some day. Mrs Renshaw said it herself - “you have to believe”, she said. I think they’re terrified that they’ll start having doubts. And once they start to have doubts, that’s when they’ll fall apart. The Renshaws will just crumble if their delusions are ever shattered/
‘How fragile are those delusions?’
‘At the moment, they seem to be feeding off each others’ belief. But, of course, if Emma Renshaw’s body is ever found . .
‘It would bring them back to reality, surely?’
232
‘But it would also take away their last hope. The only thing that’s keeping them going.’
‘I’m sure they’ve been offered counselling.’
‘Several times. They went through some sessions, hut there was always a problem. The counsellor would talk to them about closure, about letting go. And the Renshaws can’t understand that. How can they let go, they say, when Emma will be coming home soon?’
‘I think Emma’s body will be found one day, don’t you? The circumstances don’t look like a voluntary disappearance.’
‘Maybe. But some victims are never found.’
Cooper shuddered. ‘How long can the Renshaws keep it up?’
‘I don’t know,’ said Fry. ‘And I don’t want to be around to find out.’
‘No.’
‘What about the Oxleys? More down to earth, I hope?’
‘I sort of meant what I said at the Renshaws. My impression is that the Oxleys are synonymous with Withens. They could never live anywhere else. I mean, I can’t imagine the Oxleys doing the opposite of what the Renshaws did, and moving from Withens to Marple.’
Fry thought about it. ‘I’m still not clear on the reasons the Renshaws had for moving.’
‘Because it was more real, man.’
‘That’s just it - it sounds too, sort of, New Age for them. Too dreadlocks and dope, if you know what I mean. The Renshaws aren’t old hippies, are they?’
‘I don’t think so. But it’s kind of difficult to tell with most of them, after all this time. Unless they’ve got ponytails and kaftans and they’re running shops selling crystals and runes, they look pretty much like anyone else in their fifties. They grow out of it outwardly anyway.’
‘Yeah. Outwardly.’
Cooper looked at her. ‘I know the Renshaws have turned a bit wacky with all this stuff about Emma, but I don’t think they’re actually sharing a spliff every time we’re not looking.’
‘No.’
‘What are you thinking, Diane?’
‘I’m thinking it can be very dangerous when people believe every word that you tell them. Dangerous - or very convenient.’
233
They drove into the car park in Withens. Fry switched off the engine, and they sat tor a few minutes looking at the square stone houses, the tower of the church beyond the yew trees, and the background of black hills.
To Cooper, the hills seemed to have moved in a little closer every time he came here, making Withens a bit more claustrophobic, a bit more impermanent. What had Tracy Udall said? It didn’t look like a place that would last. But surely it had lasted. The railway navvies’ shanty town had been here in the middle of the nineteenth century, and the farms must already have existed long before that. So why did it feel so temporary?
Cooper wondered where exactly the shanty town had been. Where had fifteen hundred navvies lived in such appalling conditions? Was it here, where the village now stood? Or further down the road, past the church, among the banks of bracken and peat bogs?
‘You’re meeting PC Udall here?’ said Fry.
‘At the church.’
‘What’s she like?’
‘She’s very sound. Dedicated. Good at her job.’
‘Great. I think you ought to try harder on the Oxleys. I don’t think you’re wasting your time.’
‘You think if we dig hard enough, we’ll find some connection with Emma Renshaw?’
‘Ben, if you can find what this blacked-up faces thing is all about, it would help.’
‘Neil Granger might just have been using it as a form of disguise, or camouflage at night. It’s only theatrical make-up. Anyone could get hold of it, but if he had it lying around anyway for rehearsals for this dance group ‘
