‘Ran? As in …’
‘As in, ran away,’ said Fleet. ‘Maybe she didn’t want to. Probably she felt she had no choice. But she’d bought a cheap phone nobody would have been able to trace. She had cash, allowing her to avoid leaving an electronic record, either of the fact that she was planning to leave, or – afterwards – of where she’d gone. Because she knew full well that people would have come looking for her. She was smart, sir. Very, very smart. The only place she really tripped up was with her bag.’
‘Her bag? The one we found by the river?’
Fleet nodded. ‘Containing her phone, her wallet, her house keys – everything people would have expected her to have been carrying, unless of course she no longer needed them.’
‘It was a decoy?’ said Burton, catching on. ‘To make it look like she’d fallen in the river? To make her disappearance look like an accident? She put it there?’
‘That’s what I’m guessing,’ said Fleet. ‘And that’s why the bag was so close to the towpath: to make sure someone found it. And it was wet through, as though someone had dunked it in the river first, to make it look as though it had washed up after Sadie had theoretically fallen in.’
‘It was too high on the bank,’ said Burton. ‘That’s what you said before. Right at the start.’
‘It was just a feeling, sir,’ said Fleet, unable to resist. Burton was too busy frowning to register the jibe.
‘But if Sadie ran away – if what you’re saying is true – why haven’t we found her? Maybe she was smart, and maybe if her plan had worked and nobody had been looking for her other than out at sea, it would have been a different story. But in case you hadn’t noticed, Detective Inspector, the search for Sadie Saunders has turned into the biggest missing persons enquiry in the county’s entire history. I know – I’ve been signing off on the bills you and DS Collins here have been busy racking up.’
This time it was Fleet’s turn to ignore the jibe.
‘And what about her coat?’ the superintendent went on. ‘None of what you’ve just outlined explains how or why we found Sadie’s coat in the river, her blood all over the hood. Unless it’s your contention that Sadie planted that as well. That, rather than an accident, she wanted her disappearance to look like murder.’
Fleet shook his head. ‘No, sir. I don’t think she wanted that at all. Quite the opposite. I believe she went to considerable lengths to ensure nobody would be blamed.’
Burton was waiting. ‘Well?’ he said. ‘How does it all tally up, Detective Inspector? Where does your theory lead now?’
Fleet glanced at Nicky. The truth was, they’d reached the point at which the evidence ran out. From here on in, it was all conjecture.
‘All I can say, sir,’ Fleet said, ‘is that just because Sadie ran, doesn’t mean she got away.’
There was a silence which filled the entire room. There was no pretence now among the officers present that they were anything other than attuned to what Fleet was saying. Probably, like Fleet, most would have recognised a long time ago how slim the chances were of finding Sadie alive. But recognising the fact and accepting it were very different things.
‘So what we’re dealing with here is a runaway and a murder?’ said Burton.
As so often in recent days, a phrase echoed in Fleet’s head. More than one thing going on …
‘Yes, sir,’ he said. ‘You asked me about my theory, and that’s basically what it boils down to. Sadie ran, and someone tried to stop her. Someone who didn’t want her gone.’
‘But that’s Mason!’ said Burton. ‘And if Sadie was unfaithful, as you claim, that’s all the more reason to suspect him. I’m sorry, Rob, but nothing you’ve just been saying to me does anything to change my opinion. Which was your opinion at one stage, too, I might remind you!’
Fleet didn’t bother to correct him. The truth was, the superintendent had reacted exactly as Fleet had feared he would.
‘The only thing I can say, sir, is that Mason wasn’t the only one who loved Sadie.’
Burton opened his mouth, then shut it again. He looked over Fleet’s shoulder, towards the corridor leading to the interview rooms. After that, he checked his watch.
‘The social worker’s in there?’ he said.
‘She is. She has been for a while.’
Burton’s nostrils flared as he breathed out. ‘One last interview, Rob. Is that what you’re promising me?’
‘All I can promise, sir, is that it will be worth listening to. I don’t know yet whether it will change your mind.’
Once again Burton exhaled. ‘I suppose we had better find out,’ he said at last.
Luke
You said you’d help. Right? You said you’d help my friends. So the important thing, the thing I want to begin with, is to say that none of it was anybody else’s fault.
I’m guessing you know pretty much what happened out there in the woods by now. Because you’ve been speaking to the others, right? So what I’m saying is, please don’t blame them. Not even Mason. Especially not Mason. They were just … they were scared. That’s all. All of them. That’s the reason no one told you the truth before we set off. Why they agreed to stay quiet after. Because they were worried about how things would look. Cora thought you’d think she did it. That she was the one who … who killed my sister. Because she figured you’d decide she hated her or something. That Cora hated Sadie, I mean. Which she didn’t. I know for a fact she didn’t. She only did what she did because of Mason. Because she was so in love with him. And Abi … Abi got herself in a mess. Which was partly Cora’s fault, too. As for Fash … I mean, Jesus.
