Q: I’ve had that experience, yes. And you came downstairs?
A: Some of the others were awake. Rosie and Noel still hadn’t come in. We were all feeling moribund. Someone, Julian maybe, said they wanted a fry-up. Eggs, sausages . . . someone wanted Monster Munch. So we decided we were going to go to the shops. Theo and Sebastian went out to find Rosie and Noel and bring them in.
Q: I understand there were two cars, one belonging to Sebastian and one to Noel. Which car did you take?
A: Sebastian’s. Noel’s keys were . . . with Noel, I suppose. We drove to the shops and when we came back, you were here. Not you, I don’t think, but a police car, I mean.
Q: I understand. I think that’s all we need for the moment.
EXCERPT FROM THE WITNESS STATEMENT OF YASH VARMA
24 June 1995
Q: Please tell me what you did when the game began at eleven o’clock?
A: I’m not a huge fan of the game, but I play it because . . . because that’s what we do. There’s a rule that once you leave the house, you can’t go back in or you forfeit, so I decided to start inside and stay there as long as possible. I went and hid under a bed in one of the bedrooms. I wanted to be indoors.
Q: And you were found?
A: Almost straightaway. I thought it would take longer. I was a bit drunk. Thought I was being clever. Hiding under a bed isn’t very clever.
Q: So you, Sebastian, and Theodora were seekers.
A: Yes. Together we searched the house top to bottom, which probably took us an hour. We may have stopped to have a drink before going outside.
Q: What time do you think you went outside?
A: Somewhere around midnight. We were all a bit reluctant to go, but we had to. It was absolutely bucketing down. Sebastian went down to claim a base position at the folly, and as we found people, we brought them to him.
Q: Did you go past the woodshed in your searches?
A: Oh yes. Several times.
Q: And you noticed nothing out of the ordinary?
A: Nothing at all.
Q: Did you check the door to see if anyone had gotten inside?
A: Well, the outbuildings were all locked, so there was no need to go through them.
Q: You didn’t check?
A: No need. Sebastian had the keys. He stuffed them down the front of his trousers right in front of us.
Q: Down the front of his trousers?
A: Yes. It looked quite painful.
Q: Did you notice anything at all out of the ordinary?
A: Nothing.
Q: Any cars on the drive, aside from the ones you came in?
A: Truly, there was nothing. And I was making loops of the house and grounds. I never saw a thing that I’d consider odd.
Q: You found some people?
A: Yes, I found Peter. He was crouched under a bench in the back garden. His hiding spot was almost as bad as mine.
Q: When was this?
A: Not sure. Within my first hour of searching, probably. This place is enormous.
Q: Yes, it is substantial, isn’t it? What happened with the rest of the time you were outside?
A: I know Peter found Sooz hiding in some bushes. Ange had been found. There was a godawful clap of thunder, and all of the lights in the house went out. We stayed outside for a few more minutes, found Julian hanging on top of the pergola, and then it was clear that we should get inside.
Q: What happened when you returned to the house?
A: Sebastian was banging on about this special bottle of whisky we had to try. It was very dark and he was crawling across the floor, fumbling with his keys. It looked like he was doing battle with the cabinet, so Peter had to get down on the floor and help him unlock it before he pulled the wall down trying to get in there. We opened it and we all had some. I had one glass, but by that point I was feeling it. We’d all had a lot. Angela had come to the end and went up to bed. Peter went upstairs to be sick for a bit. I didn’t make it that far—I remember being ill in the downstairs loo, then I crawled up the stairs and got into bed. I remember Theo putting a pint glass of water next to me and that was it until morning.
Q: Do you know what time this was?
A: I knew nothing by that point.
Q: So you were in bed the rest of the night?
A: Yes.
Q: Did you hear or see anything?
A: No, I was absolutely shattered. A plane could have landed next to me and I wouldn’t have known. The next thing I remember was Theo again, back with some tea. It was morning.
16
IN THE MORNING, THEY WERE AT PADDINGTON STATION, WHICH STEVIE was embarrassed to realize she hadn’t known was real. She thought it was made up, for the bear. Paddington Station really wanted to sell her a Paddington Bear. There had been no time to eat, but Paddington was rammed with restaurants. Stevie bought herself Brie and apple on a baguette, a water, and the biggest coffee available. Then they headed off to the massive overhang where the trains came into the station.
The box had to come with them—whatever was in it, whatever it was, it would not be left behind. But it was clearly a fire safe, and they couldn’t just turn up to Merryweather with a fire safe like that was normal. It would have to be hidden in something else. Stevie had pulled her suitcase from the corner of the room, tipped out the dirty clothes she had been storing in it, and managed to fit in inside. She had just enough room to wedge the onesie in with it. It was good packing material. So she dragged a massive, heavy suitcase full of fire safe behind her and carried her supplies for the night in her backpack.
There were some tables available, with four seats around them. She sat at one of these with David by her side, and Izzy and Nate across from them. Vi and Janelle sat behind, in a set of two seats. Stevie could hear them speaking gently to each other behind her head.
Once they were on the train and the doors slid closed, they all settled in with their food. Izzy stared at her phone, preoccupied, hoping for updates that didn’t seem to be coming. Nate was reading something on his. David also pulled out his phone to watch something, slouching over and tilting his head in Stevie’s direction. The last views of London were the backs of houses—gray and brick—with neat rectangles of back gardens.
She had done this. She had led her friends on this trip. With a lie.
Lies, she noted, took energy. They weighed a lot. She had to think about everything she said and did now to support the lie. It sat there in her head, giving off vibes.
Lies were radioactive.
She had to try to do something. Figure something out. But she had so little to work with. She had Sooz’s photos. That would have to do. She pulled out her tablet to look at them and enlarge them, to take them in and make them part of her own memory.
Noel was a beanpole in massive glasses and 70s clothes. Sebastian’s character came through loud and clear. He almost always had a glass of something in his hand, and his posture was theatrical. Theo was often with him. Her hair was short, and she wore a multicolored sweater vest over a white T-shirt. Angela was often to the side in the pictures, smoking and watching. Peter and Yash tended to appear together. Yash looked like he was twelve, swamped in a massive T-shirt. He had no beard. He always appeared to be in the middle of explaining something or telling a joke, a smile cracking his face. Peter almost looked the same as he did now. His ginger-blond hair was floppier, but he looked much like the man Stevie had met. Rosie was small, with long blond hair she often wore in pigtails. She too was often laughing in the pictures. The camera loved Julian—his blue eyes with their long lashes. He was the 90s incarnate, from his shell necklace to his flannel shirts to his boy-band sweep of blond hair. Sooz took most of the pictures, so she wasn’t in many, but when she was, she was the star—in front, arms or legs spread, hugging, jumping, her massive brown eyes taking the focus.