“So, do you believe me now?” asked Kay.
Before Hannah could answer, Johnson returned with a tray ofcoffees.
“Thank you, Adrian, that’ll be all,” said Hannah. “Go andhelp out at the front desk for me, would you?”
“Whatever you say, boss. I’ll give you a call if I hear ofany time-travelling police boxes turning up.”
Disappointed when he got no reaction to his joke, Adrianleft them to it.
With him out of the way, Hannah said, “OK, I’m willing totrust what you’ve told me is true. I’m taking a big gamble with this, but we’llbring McVie in for questioning and I’ll make sure we DNA test him, no matterhow much he bleats about it. I could well end up with egg on my face over this,but I’ll take this risk this once.”
“Why?” asked Kent. “As soon as time travel was mentioned, Isaw your interest perk up. Why didn’t you react like Johnson did? The vastmajority of people would have.”
“Let’s just say I have had some experience with this sort ofthing,” said Hannah.
“The angel’s visited you, too?” asked Kent. “Blimey, he getsaround a bit, doesn’t he?”
“Not exactly,” said Hannah. “I’ve never heard of this angelbefore today. My experience is more to do with going forward in time, ratherthan backwards.”
“Well, this is an unexpected development,” said Kent. “Mindyou, the angel did tell me once that with regard to time travel in this town,that there was a lot of it about.”
“It only happened to me once,” said Hannah. “But I know ofothers it has happened to as well, but I would prefer not to go into detailsabout that. In my case, Richard, you were indirectly involved the night Itime-travelled. You might even remember it.”
“When was it?” asked Kent.
“It was only a couple of months ago,” replied Hannah. “Itwas just before that unfortunate business with the missing girl. Do youremember that a couple of nights before I went missing?”
Kent racked his brains, trying to remember, but couldn’trecall anything.
“You’ll have to give me more than that,” he said.
“OK,” said Hannah, hoping to jog his memory. “Do youremember that night when you sent me and Adrian down to the railway line toinvestigate some yobs spraying graffiti around? Adrian had to come back to thestation alone because he couldn’t find me after I went to look for the kids whowere doing it.”
Kent remembered now. “Yes, I do. I was late getting down thepub that night because we were trying to find out where you had gone.”
“Well, you’ll probably also remember that when I got backhere we had an argument about what time it was. That’s because it was muchlater not only than I thought, but than what my watch was telling me. Somethinghappened to me down at the railway line and I was transported forward aboutthree-quarters of an hour in time.”
“I gave you a right bollocking over that, didn’t I?” askedKent.
“You did. But it doesn’t matter now.”
“Why didn’t you tell me the truth at the time?” asked Kent.
“At the time I didn’t know what the truth was,” repliedHannah. “I was as confused as you were. But if I had known, would you havebelieved me?”
“To be fair, probably not,” said Kent. “I would probablyhave reacted like Adrian did just now. But a lot’s happened since then.”
“Right, well now that we’ve established that we all believein time travel, let’s move on,” said Hannah. “I’ve got a killer to catch.”
“Lucky you,” said Kent. “I waited all those years for one tocome along, then you get one in your first month on the job.”
“It’s hardly lucky is it?” said Hannah. “Three girls havedied, remember?”
“He didn’t mean it like that,” said Kay.
“I know he didn’t,” said Hannah. “You always did speakwithout thinking first, Richard.
“Putting my size nines in it, Debs says,” replied Kent.
“As for you Kay, I want to thank you,” continued Hannah.“Were you aware that there is a reward for information leading to the killer’sarrest? I will see to it personally that if this all holds up, you will getit.”
Kay wasn’t sure how she felt about that. It felt a bit liketaking blood money, profiting from Anna’s death in such a way, but she couldn’tdeny the money would come in handy. During her long talk with Maddie onChristmas Eve, her daughter had told her how much debt she had already run up inher first term at university. The reward money would go some way to helping herout, as well as funding some plans Kay had of her own.
“Thank you,” she replied. “Now go and nail that fucker.”
“We will,” replied Hannah.
She was true to her word. As Kay watched the evening news onthe BBC, with Maddie by her side, the news of McVie’s arrest was breaking.
As Maddie flicked through the special double edition of RadioTimes, Kay relaxed with a feeling of a job well done. For the rest of theevening they watched Christmas movies, shared a bottle of Baileys, and scoffedtheir way through a whole tin of Celebrations.
Kay still hadn’t decided where she was going on her finaltrip the next day, but she didn’t really care anymore. She was just happy to besafely back at home with Maddie, secure in the knowledge that McVie was behindbars.
Chapter Twenty-Two
February 2019
Kay and Maddie lay side by side on sunbeds next to theswimming pool. It was February half-term and Kay had whisked Maddie away fromDurham University for a much-needed week of winter sun at a hotel in Tenerife.
Kay loved going on holiday at this time of the year. Summerholidays were all well and good, but nothing could beat a good strong dose ofwarmth and vitamin D during a long English winter. Maddie was lapping it up,too, unlike the goths of Kay’s generation who had generally stayed out of thesun.
As Maddie streamed music from Spotify and read her Kindle,Kay thought about just how much her life had changed of late. It had been justseven weeks since Christmas and she certainly hadn’t been idle.
The day after Boxing Day she had seen
