was going to go somewhere and escape he
would have told us, told you at least.’
‘Well perhaps he couldn’t. Perhaps
he ran out of time and had to escape from someone, maybe from this mysterious
man, fast.’
Kate had felt a wave of exhaustion
hit her. It was as though she’d been holding her emotions in tightly and
needed to exhale to let them go. Leaning forwards in the chair, she buried her
face in her hands.
‘Are you all right, Kate?’ Martin
asked gently. ‘It’s a lot to take in, I know. But if we consider all the
possibilities, we can piece together the evidence and perhaps discover what
happened to Steven, maybe even find him. If that’s what you want.’
‘Of course I want to know what
happened to him!’ Kate said sharply, raising her head to look at him. ‘Do you
really think I haven’t been through it all in my head a thousand times over,
where he went and what happened? I desperately want to know the truth about
what happened to him, I always have. But the fact is the police searched
everywhere they could and found nothing, no trace of him. What makes you think
we could do any better?’
‘Because I think the police failed
to consider one strong possibility.’
‘Which is?’
‘That Steven hasn’t disappeared,
not really. He’s living under the radar, certainly. But it might be possible
to find him… Kate?’
She was shaking her head. ‘No, I’m
sorry, Mr Ast… Martin, I can’t do it. I know I said I want to find Steven. And
I do. But I think we should wait a while. There’s a chance that if he’s still
alive, and that’s a big if, he doesn’t want to be found. If he did want to be
found, he would have come out of hiding by now. I know it’s been years since
he vanished, but there could still be people out there who wish to harm him.’
She folded her arms across her chest as if trying to protect herself and
shivered involuntarily. ‘The truth is I’m scared,’ she went on. ‘I’m scared of
putting him and myself in danger of harm from the people who’re after him. And
I really think the police ought to be involved were we to go looking for him.’
‘So what do you propose we do? You
don’t think we’ve waited long enough?’
Kate took a deep breath. ‘We may
have to wait a while longer. I’m sorry, Martin, but I just can’t help you at
the moment.’
She’d caught sight of his
disappointed expression as she got up, but had resolutely opened the door and walked
quickly down the gloomy corridor without looking back.
Although this meeting with Martin had
taken place months ago, Kate still felt coldness inside her as she remembered
it now. Deciding to abandon her essay for the moment, she got up to go out for
a walk. She had a need to clear her head and shake off her feelings of
foreboding. As she was putting on her coat and boots in the kitchen, she
wondered what Martin’s true intentions were. Did he really want to help her as
he said? Or was there another more sinister reason for his interest?
Nine
The party two days ago had been a
hard one from which Emma was only just beginning to recover. As she lay in bed
with a cold flannel on her forehead she relived the events of the evening as if
she was watching a movie of it in her head. It had started so well; she and
Natalie were seeing eye to eye again – which was mostly down to Emma’s
acceptance of Natalie’s ultimatum – and Emma had surprised herself by how much
she was looking forward to it. The party was to celebrate the birthday of one
of their acquaintances and the girl whose birthday it was had decided to have a
fancy dress party, any outfit accepted. It was now May and for the past month
or so the weather had been balmy and beautiful. Emma could hardly believe
she’d been in London for a whole year.
‘I think we should go as two
eighteenth century ladies,’ Natalie had said as they made their plans.
‘Oh yes, that
would have told us, told you at least.’
‘Well perhaps he couldn’t. Perhaps
he ran out of time and had to escape from someone, maybe from this mysterious
man, fast.’
Kate had felt a wave of exhaustion
hit her. It was as though she’d been holding her emotions in tightly and
needed to exhale to let them go. Leaning forwards in the chair, she buried her
face in her hands.
‘Are you all right, Kate?’ Martin
asked gently. ‘It’s a lot to take in, I know. But if we consider all the
possibilities, we can piece together the evidence and perhaps discover what
happened to Steven, maybe even find him. If that’s what you want.’
‘Of course I want to know what
happened to him!’ Kate said sharply, raising her head to look at him. ‘Do you
really think I haven’t been through it all in my head a thousand times over,
where he went and what happened? I desperately want to know the truth about
what happened to him, I always have. But the fact is the police searched
everywhere they could and found nothing, no trace of him. What makes you think
we could do any better?’
‘Because I think the police failed
to consider one strong possibility.’
‘Which is?’
‘That Steven hasn’t disappeared,
not really. He’s living under the radar, certainly. But it might be possible
to find him… Kate?’
She was shaking her head. ‘No, I’m
sorry, Mr Ast… Martin, I can’t do it. I know I said I want to find Steven. And
I do. But I think we should wait a while. There’s a chance that if he’s still
alive, and that’s a big if, he doesn’t want to be found. If he did want to be
found, he would have come out of hiding by now. I know it’s been years since
he vanished, but there could still be people out there who wish to harm him.’
She folded her arms across her chest as if trying to protect herself and
shivered involuntarily. ‘The truth is I’m scared,’ she went on. ‘I’m scared of
putting him and myself in danger of harm from the people who’re after him. And
I really think the police ought to be involved were we to go looking for him.’
‘So what do you propose we do? You
don’t think we’ve waited long enough?’
Kate took a deep breath. ‘We may
have to wait a while longer. I’m sorry, Martin, but I just can’t help you at
the moment.’
She’d caught sight of his
disappointed expression as she got up, but had resolutely opened the door and walked
quickly down the gloomy corridor without looking back.
Although this meeting with Martin had
taken place months ago, Kate still felt coldness inside her as she remembered
it now. Deciding to abandon her essay for the moment, she got up to go out for
a walk. She had a need to clear her head and shake off her feelings of
foreboding. As she was putting on her coat and boots in the kitchen, she
wondered what Martin’s true intentions were. Did he really want to help her as
he said? Or was there another more sinister reason for his interest?
Nine
The party two days ago had been a
hard one from which Emma was only just beginning to recover. As she lay in bed
with a cold flannel on her forehead she relived the events of the evening as if
she was watching a movie of it in her head. It had started so well; she and
Natalie were seeing eye to eye again – which was mostly down to Emma’s
acceptance of Natalie’s ultimatum – and Emma had surprised herself by how much
she was looking forward to it. The party was to celebrate the birthday of one
of their acquaintances and the girl whose birthday it was had decided to have a
fancy dress party, any outfit accepted. It was now May and for the past month
or so the weather had been balmy and beautiful. Emma could hardly believe
she’d been in London for a whole year.
‘I think we should go as two
eighteenth century ladies,’ Natalie had said as they made their plans.
‘Oh yes, that
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