There was a low brick wall at the edge of the pavement, and Fleet moved to sit down. Holly propped herself beside him, so that together they faced the police station. As they watched, the building’s doors opened, and one by one they began to file out. Abigail Marshall. Cora Briggs. Fareed Hussein. And finally, tentatively, as though he were expecting to walk into an ambush, Mason Payne. He was right to be wary, Fleet thought, although by now the press would most likely have lost interest in him. The story had moved on. And anyway, the hacks were for the most part otherwise engaged. Inside the building, Superintendent Burton was finally hosting the press conference he’d been obliged to delay, though Christ knew what the man was saying. Fleet made a mental note to avoid the evening news. Now that he knew the truth, he had no interest in how the superintendent chose to spin it.
‘Is that them?’ said Holly.
Even as she spoke, the kids spotted Fleet across the road from them. There were mutterings, Fleet sensed – and then Cora raised her middle finger.
‘Yeah,’ said Fleet. ‘That’s them.’ He returned Cora’s salute with a nod.
‘What’s going to happen to them?’ Holly asked him.
As he watched the kids walk off – Fash in front, Cora and Abi side by side, and Mason dragging his feet just behind – Fleet felt an urge to spark up that cigarette. He swallowed, to remind himself of the burn in his throat.
‘In a legal sense, you mean?’ he said to Holly. ‘Not a lot. A slap on the wrist all round. Mason – he’s the one at the back. He’s in the most serious trouble. Potentially. But there are mitigating circumstances. He’ll be OK. I hope.’ Fleet queried himself, and found that he genuinely did.
‘And the boy? The one you fished from the river?’ Holly laid a hand on Fleet’s knee then, squeezing it gently. Fleet turned and Holly looked down awkwardly, returning her hand to her lap.
‘Luke’s still in hospital. He’ll be there for a few days yet. It was touch-and-go for a while. Nicky saved his life on the riverbank, you know. Administered CPR. And she’d already called for an ambulance.’
‘I know,’ said Holly. ‘I heard.’
‘You did?’
‘Word travels quickly in this town. That’s what I’ve gathered, anyway, from the little I’ve experienced of the place so far.’
Fleet didn’t know why he was surprised. The whole story was probably out by now. It wouldn’t have taken long for the news to go around, not after the police were seen heading to the woods again, and reports had begun to emerge that they’d discovered Sadie’s body.
‘Do you know they changed their stories?’ said Fleet, nodding towards Sadie’s friends. ‘When we told them what Luke told us … when they heard that he’d confessed to holding the knife … from saying they couldn’t remember what happened, every single one of them claimed they were the one holding the knife when Dylan died. Independently. Luke came back to protect them, and they decided to return the favour.’
Holly joined him in watching the kids heading off in the direction of the harbour. Cora had an arm around Abi’s shoulders, a sight Fleet would never have expected to see four days ago. Although when the lies had finally been stripped away, he’d been astonished by how much each and every one of the kids had changed. Even Mason. Particularly Mason. From a brash teenager, he’d morphed in Fleet’s eyes into a terrified little kid. Telling him that Sadie was really dead was one of the hardest things Fleet had ever had to do. At first Mason had said nothing. Moments later, Fleet hadn’t been sure the boy would ever be able to stop crying.
As he watched the kids comfort each other now, he marvelled at how quickly indiscretions at that age were forgiven. He pictured them gathering on the quay one coming evening, passing around a bottle of cider and sharing stories about Sadie. Their friend. A girl they had loved in spite of their betrayals, and whose memory would haunt them for the rest of their lives. And afterwards – after that final ceremony to say goodbye – it was likely their friendship would begin to crumble. Abi and Cora. Mason and Fash. Yes, indiscretions could be forgiven, but some could never be forgotten, and after Sadie things would never be the same. And of course there was Dylan – another ghost that would haunt them. This town was full of them, it turned out. Life was.
‘So who was holding it?’ said Holly, pulling Fleet from his thoughts. ‘The knife,’ she clarified. ‘Out there in the woods.’
Fleet shook his head. ‘Who knows? To be honest, I’m not sure it even matters. Maybe to some people, but whoever it was, they didn’t mean for it to happen. Officially, what happened to Dylan will go down as an accident.’
‘And Luke?’ said Holly, hesitantly. ‘Will he be charged? I mean, is it true that he killed Sadie? That’s what everyone seems to be saying.’
Fleet gave in. He lit the cigarette. The smoke was fire in his throat, and he sucked it greedily down into his battered lungs. ‘It wasn’t Luke,’ he told Holly. ‘It was Dylan.’
‘Dylan?’
Fleet left time for the sound of the name to settle. He knew he was breaking every rule in the book by confiding in his wife, but it would all come out soon enough anyway. Fleet would make sure of that. He knew Luke wanted nothing more than to protect his brother – even now, even after his death – but Fleet couldn’t simply stand by and watch Luke throw away what was left of his life.
‘Sadie was pregnant,’ he said. ‘I mean, that’s
