number, so answered with a hesitant ‘Hello?’
‘Grace? It’s Niall. I’ve just been to your cottage, and the fella there said you’d gone to Ockton.’
Grace was immediately wary. ‘Have you found something?’
‘Perhaps,’ Niall replied. ‘Where are you?’
‘I’m in Ockton, I was just heading back.’
‘Wait there. I’m driving over now. Meet me at the police station in ten minutes.’
He hung up before she could even ask what was going on. She felt herself trembling; his tone suggested he had uncovered something significant.
She had seen the police station on the main road through town, near the church. She swung the car round, reminding herself that she mustn’t be long. But at least Niall had seen Ben, so he and Millie must be okay, even if Ben wasn’t answering his phone.
As she drove, the snow fell steadily, her tyres slushing through a thin layer that had formed on the road. She discarded her sandwich, no longer hungry. The weather was making her nervous.
She pulled up in front of the police station. Niall wasn’t there. She took out her phone, but there were no messages. She decided to try Ben again to tell him she would be delayed.
This time he answered straight away. ‘Are you all right, Grace? A policeman was here looking for you. Said he had some information he needed to pass on.’ He sounded concerned.
‘Yes, I’m about to meet him – I don’t know what he wants yet,’ Grace replied. ‘How’s Millie?’
‘She’s still asleep. I hope you don’t mind, but I’ve brought Bess inside as it’s snowing quite a bit now. Don’t be too long if you want to get out of here today.’
‘Don’t worry,’ she assured him. ‘I’ll be back as soon as I can.’ As she spoke, she looked in her rear-view mirror and saw a car pulling up behind her. Niall climbed out. ‘He’s here. I’ll see you shortly.’ She hung up.
Niall walked over to her door. ‘Now then, Grace,’ he said as she opened it. ‘Thanks for meeting me. I wanted to have a word with you in person.’
‘What’s going on?’
‘Let’s get out of the snow for a minute while we have a chat,’ he said. Then to her surprise he headed for the church rather than the police station.
Grace followed him, watching the snow beginning to coat his hair. As Niall held the gate open for her, she said to him, ‘Please, just tell me.’
Niall walked past her, beckoning her up the church path. When they got underneath the porch, he finally stopped and said, ‘Grace, I’m afraid I found Jonny here.’
Grace briefly imagined a man waiting inside the church, ready to talk to her – perhaps with news of Adam. Then, as she looked back at Niall, taking in his sober expression, it clicked.
‘He’s dead.’ Her voice was dull.
‘Yes,’ Niall said, watching her carefully. ‘I thought it might be best for you to see for yourself.’
He moved out into the snow again and headed around the side of the church, treading on the patches of grass that grew in between the gravestones. Grace followed him, still trying to absorb the news.
Adam’s father was dead?
Why hadn’t she even considered that possibility?
Niall stopped at a low headstone. Grace focused on what was written there.
Grace felt her whole body sag. She had been so sure that finding Jonny would lead to answers. She pictured Adam – unwittingly searching for a father who had passed away years before. She looked at Niall. ‘Do you know what happened?’
‘I’ve had a talk with his sister. He was in an accident in Australia. A car crash. Apparently his mam and dad have been dead for years, and the sister stayed behind in Ockton to get married when the rest of them went overseas. He had no other family, so her husband flew over and collected his ashes, brought him back to be buried here.’
‘Did you tell her about Adam?’
‘No, I asked a few questions, like, said her brother’s name had come up in an investigation and I wanted to rule him out. She was ever so curious, as you’d imagine, but I haven’t said any more for now. If you want to meet her then I’m sure something can be worked out. But that’s up to you – and her, of course.’ He fumbled in his pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. ‘Looks like he’d done well for himself,’ he said, handing it to her.
It was a photocopy of an Australian newspaper article, under the headline LOCAL PROFESSOR IN FATAL CRASH, featuring a headshot of a balding middle-aged man, gazing to the right of the camera lens and smiling. Grace studied the picture, trying to take in the fact that this was Adam’s father, searching for something in his features that would link them; but Adam had looked much more like his mother.
‘You can keep hold of that,’ Niall said.
‘Thanks,’ Grace replied, folding the sheet and putting it into her pocket before the snow ruined it. She looked at the gravestone again.
‘Are you all right?’
‘I’m wondering whether Adam knew about this.’
‘If he found out, that day in the library, do you think it could have affected his state of mind?’ Niall asked gently.
Grace shook her head. ‘I would have seen it that evening, I’m sure of it…’ Unless he found out the day he disappeared, while she was out shopping. If he had discovered anything in the library, he could have made some follow-up enquiries that afternoon. Was that what his note was about? Had his emotions overtaken him once he’d written it?
She bit her lip to stem her distress.
Niall patted her shoulder. ‘I’m sorry, Grace. Come down to the station tomorrow, eh, and tell them what you’ve found over Christmas. Take it from there.’
‘I don’t think I can,’ she admitted. ‘I’ve had a bit of a change of heart about living in the cottage. I’m planning to leave later today.’
‘Well, give Barton a call instead, then.’
Niall obviously wasn’t convinced that she’d found anything worth investigating, or he wouldn’t be so accepting of her going. He was just being kind, she realised, helping her tie up loose ends for her own peace of mind. There was no point being here – hanging on to an empty hope. Everyone else was focused on other things. Life had moved on.
They traipsed back over the grass. Niall walked beside her, and didn’t say another word until they were next to Grace’s car.
He held her door open for her as she climbed in. As he did so, he looked up at the snow-laden sky. ‘Best get going, if you’re planning to,’ he said, the warning clear within his words. ‘It can be pretty dangerous driving on the moors with snow around – and it’ll be dark within the hour.’
38
It was barely three o’clock by the time Grace got back onto the main road, but Niall was right – already the daylight was beginning to fade. As she headed out of town she was slowed down by the drifting snow. She drove as
