‘So Mikey Graften says he was due to meet the victim the night she died, and that she’d messaged him earlier that day saying that after that night all their money worries would be over. He says he waited for her in the spot they’d agreed, but she never showed.’
Lizzie frowns. ‘And you believe him?’
Rick exhales hard. ‘The kid’s pretty messed up about it. Seemed like he was telling the truth to me. I don’t think he killed her, but Golding does. He showed up while we were still talking to the kid and arrested him.’
‘Does he have evidence we don’t?’ asks Lizzie.
‘I doubt it.’ Rick glances at Philip, who doesn’t look up. He looks back at Lizzie. ‘Golding said it was off the back of the plate sighting that he was bringing the kid in. It shouldn’t be enough to hold him long.’
‘What about the CCTV?’ asks Lizzie.
‘Nothing left, from what I could see. The hard drives had been ripped out of the computers, and all the USB backups destroyed.’
‘So Moira and Hank got injured for nothing.’
They sit in silence for a minute.
‘How did things go here?’ asks Rick. ‘You find anything useful?’
Lizzie glances through the patio doors into the kitchen. Her testing kit is sitting open on the countertop. The water-testing equipment is drying on the drainer rack beside the sink. She shakes her head. ‘Nothing of use, I’m afraid. The sample was non-conclusive – there was too much cleaning agent in the water.’
‘Worth a try.’
‘I guess,’ says Lizzie. ‘I’m still working on the phone. I haven’t managed to get it to work yet, but I’ll keep trying and maybe I’ll get lucky.’ She glances at Philip. He hasn’t spoken for ages. She keeps staring at him until she catches his eye. He looks away fast as if he’s been burnt.
Rick notices. He stands up. ‘Look, I should get going.’ He looks at Philip. ‘I’ll do another round of the volunteer patrollers in the morning and collect the last few logs.’
Philip sounds distracted when he speaks. ‘Good, good.’
Rick frowns but doesn’t say anything; instead he turns to Lizzie. ‘Thanks for the coffee, Lizzie. Let me know if Moira needs anything, I’m more than happy to help out.’
Lizzie smiles and thinks what a kind and uncomplicated man Rick is, not like her husband. She feels a pang of guilt almost before the thought is fully formed. ‘Of course.’
She waits until Rick’s disappeared around the side of the house and she’s heard the back gate open and then click shut. Philip’s still staring into his mug at the half-drunk coffee. It’ll be cold now, Lizzie thinks, and he hates cold coffee. She gathers her and Rick’s mugs up and heads inside to the kitchen. She’s at the sink, washing out the mugs, when Philip joins her.
Lizzie turns off the water and turns around to face him. ‘Did something happen today?’ She tries to keep her tone conversational, but even she can hear the telltale quiver of worry. She keeps her eyes on Philip’s face, even though he’s avoiding eye contact.
‘It’s nothing,’ he says, putting his mug in the dishwater and turning towards the hallway.
Lizzie moves fast, blocking his path. ‘What’s going on?’
Philip shakes his head. ‘It’s—’
‘Don’t tell me it’s nothing, because I know it can’t be nothing. You’re never silent unless there’s a problem, and you’ve hardly spoken a word to me or Rick for the last hour.’ She stares at him until he meets her gaze. ‘Tell me what’s happened.’
There’s a long pause. Then Philip says softly, ‘Golding knows.’