With that, the officers finally leave, and I watch Mum disappear with them out through the doorway and into the corridor beyond. Almost immediately, there is a buzz of activity around the common room as everybody starts talking about what has just happened.
‘That was weird,’ Sarah says, and I nod my head because she won’t get any argument from me there. ‘Do you think Rupert’s okay?’
‘I don’t know, but it’s not a good sign if the police are involved,’ Zara muses.
‘I’m sure it’s fine,’ I say, figuring I better contribute something to the conversation otherwise it might seem strange to my friends.
‘I hope so,’ Sarah replies, shaking her head.
‘By the way, your mum looks like a badass in her uniform,’ Zara says to me and Sarah laughs before agreeing.
My best friend has a point. Mum did look a little intimidating as she stood there and looked at us all. But it wasn’t just her uniform that made her appear powerful. It was her eyes too. It was the way she looked at me.
The non-verbal communication told me I had to stay strong and not breathe a single word to anybody about what we did this weekend.
17
HEATHER
It’s a relief to leave my daughter’s college behind, but I doubt I will find much respite when we reach our next destination. My colleagues and I are now on our way to the park where several attendees at Saturday’s party reportedly went after they had been turfed out of the house. It’s not believed that Rupert was among them, and I know for a fact that he wasn’t, but we are going to go anyway as we attempt to try and retrace the footsteps of the missing young man.
It was clear from our time in the common room of Higher Green Sixth Form that nobody in there knows what happened to Rupert. Most of the questions that were asked were met with silence, and while I am sure there is plenty of speculation being bandied about in there right now, it’s evident that nobody really knows what happened to him.
Apart from my daughter and me.
I saw the fear on Chloe’s face when she clocked my appearance alongside several other police officers, and her heart must have been in her mouth as she tried to figure out what it possibly meant for her. It would no doubt have been a similar reaction to the one I had when I realised that I was sitting outside the home of Rupert’s parents, and I feel awful that she would have gone through that same bout of panic, stress and shock. I wish I could speak with her now to make sure she is okay, but I cannot do that.
But maybe I will get a chance when we get to the park.
I look ahead through the van’s windscreen and see Bishop’s Park come into view up ahead. All I can think is thank God we’re not at the park ten minutes from here.
The park where Rupert lies buried.
The driver brings his vehicle to a stop, and I step out onto the tarmac of the car park with my fellow officers before we wait for further instruction. When it comes, it’s clear we are here on nothing more than what we call a “fishing expedition”, which means we are hoping to get lucky and find a clue, but we aren’t expecting much. All we are told to do is have a walk around the large park and see if we can find anything that might suggest Rupert was here recently. Basically, we have no idea where he is or what might have happened to him, and this is the best we’ve got.
I follow the other officers out of the car park and onto the grass before we all fan out and look busy while pretending like this isn’t the big waste of time that we know it is. Of course, every officer around me would love to be the one who found something that might lead to solving the mystery of where Rupert is. It’s just that they know the chances of that are slim.
When somebody is missing, that means they’re pretty hard to find.
I continue across the grass in the direction of the trees just behind a small playground that I recognise from the times I used to bring Chloe here as a child. But it’s not just happy memories that are tied up here. I also came here with Tim a few times. He would push Chloe on the swings and chase her around the see-saw, and I would smile whilst filming it all on my mobile phone to look back on at a later date.
But those videos are long gone now.
As I reach the trees, I take a quick look over my shoulder to ensure that none of the other police officers are nearby before taking out my phone and checking if there are any messages from Chloe.
There are none, but that doesn’t mean she is okay, so I decide to give her a quick call.
It rings five times before I hang up. Either she hasn’t noticed me ringing, or she is ignoring my call. She’s probably still sitting in that common room with her friends, so I can understand why she might not want to answer. But I would have liked to hear her voice, and more importantly, I would have liked to reassure her that everything was okay.
Instead, I make do with typing her a text message.
Hope your day is okay. Can’t wait to see you tonight x
I’m just about to press send when I hear a twig snap right behind me.
My phone falls from my hand as I jump at the noise and turn around to see Becky standing right behind me.
‘Someone’s jumpy,’ she says with a smile as she watches me bend down
