Jennifer nodded, keen to change the subject. ‘I take it your abilities don’t stand up in court.’
‘No. Think of it as a copper’s intuition. Evidentially you can’t use it, but it can point us in the right direction.’
‘It’s a cool trait. Remind me to bring you into interview.’
Claire smirked. ‘It’s not foolproof, so I don’t rely on it too heavily. I mean, it’s not like a lie detector test. But let’s put all that aside for now, I’m more concerned about your investigation. It’s time we called the DI in here, and work out a plan of action for the Raven.’
Claire was impressed to see Jennifer had made good headway into the investigation, having arranged an informal appointment with Bert’s psychiatrist the next day. Ethan, her DI, had taken the decision to bring Lexton MIT fully up to date on their investigation. Although unhappy at being kept in the dark, progression of an undercover officer in the Facebook group was welcomed, and Zoe’s activity was being closely monitored.
Officers would be briefed and kept on standby for any forthcoming raids, and although Ethan had given her a telling-off for withholding information, Jennifer felt she was finally making some progress in the investigation. She was painfully aware of the lack of physical forensic evidence, but she was closing in on the killer, and if anyone could help her, his psychiatrist could.
[#]
An evening call from her sister was the last thing she expected, and Jennifer cradled the phone as she whipped together some eggs.
‘Hi, how are you?’ Amy asked.
Jennifer gave a wry smile. She always recognised when her sister’s calls were leading up to something. ‘Fine, just making an omelette for supper. Is everything OK?’
‘Mmm? Oh yeah, fine … Josh stop that … no, Lily isn’t allowed Lego …’
Jennifer diced a spring onion and plopped it into the egg mix, imagining her nephew presenting his little sister with his latest Lego creation.
‘Sorry,’ Amy said, ‘I was wondering if you’d be free to babysit Josh and Lily some night? Just for a couple of hours. I haven’t been out with David for ages, thought it would do us good.’
Jennifer stood open-mouthed as thin blue smoke began to rise from the frying pan. Amy rarely asked her to babysit Josh, and always brought Lily with her.
‘Yeah, sure, I’d love to … oh crap, hang on, my pan is burning.’ She turned off the pan and pushed it to the side. A thought occurred to her. Jennifer wondered if the offer was a thinly veiled peace offering. Amy was the only person she knew who looked upon the offer of babysitting as a treat. ‘So how did it go? With dad, I mean. It’s OK to talk about him, I won’t snap your head off, I promise.’
‘It was all right,’ Amy said flatly.
‘Just all right?’ Jennifer said, trying to remember that she wasn’t supposed to have seen him. ‘Is he still off the booze?’
‘Oh yeah, he’s been off it for some time now. He goes to AA, or so he tells me. He’s got a girlfriend, she’s American.’
Jennifer pretended to sound surprised. ‘Really? I take it she’s an improvement on mad Peggy from Hackney then?’
Amy snorted. ‘Anything’s an improvement on that silly woman. Dominique, this one’s called, very glam. She was his hypnotherapist.’
Silence passed and Jennifer gave in to her curiosity. ‘Dad has a therapist? Go on then, spill the beans.’
Amy whispered conspiratorially down the mouthpiece of the phone. ‘She’s very wealthy. I liked her at first but now …’ A door closed in the background and Amy’s voice drew closer to the phone. ‘… She’s a bit pushy, and she doesn’t like kids.’
Jennifer smiled. Not liking children was a hanging offence in her sister’s eyes.
‘And dad’s no better, he didn’t even bring them a bag of sweets! And I know I’m always telling you off for buying chocolate but they could have brought Josh something, the tight gits.’
‘Mmm,’ Jennifer said, not entirely surprised. Their father had never even sent her a birthday card.
‘And that’s not all. I went to a real effort, baking a Victoria sponge and those nice little jam tarts that you like.’
Jennifer’s mouth watered at the prospect. Her sister was the best cook she knew.
‘David took the kids into the sitting room and I brought dad and Dominique into the kitchen for a chat. She started looking around the place saying how quaint everything was. Quaint. I’ll give her blooming quaint …’
Jennifer giggled into her hand, reluctant to interrupt her sister’s flow.
‘So I gave them tea and cake using my best china, and … well, you’d think I’d given her poison. She started going on about how bad carbs were for you, and wouldn’t allow dad to have any either. Then it just went from bad to worse.’
‘Worse? How could it get any worse?’ Jennifer said, abandoning her unmade omelette as she pulled out a chair to sit down.
‘She started saying that dad had to sort out his issues before he could move forward, and it wasn’t long before I realised that we were the issues she was talking about.’
‘Bloody cheek. What did he say?’
‘He couldn’t get a word in. Then she said that in order for him come to terms with things, we would have to set up a family meeting so we could all move forward. I said “What things?” and she said – wait ’til you hear this – she said that when dad was regressed, he said you set fire to the boathouse on purpose. Have you ever heard anything so stupid?’
Jennifer held her breath, relieved her sister could not see the look on her face. A sick feeling of dread erupted in the pit of her stomach, the words filling her with shame.
‘Hello? Are you there?’ Amy said.
‘Yeah, sorry, I’m just … astounded.’
‘That’s how I felt … for about two seconds. Then I told her that when we were living in the boathouse, dad was pissed most of the time, and then I told her that her theory was thoughtless and cruel. I’ve looked it up, she’s filling his head with false memories through her hypnotherapy sessions.’
‘Yeah … that’s what it is.’ Jennifer’s hand caressed her throat as a red flush spread from her collarbone to her jawline.
‘That’s when I threw them out.’
Jennifer would have laughed if she were not feeling weak at the revelation. ‘You didn’t, did you?’
‘Well, I politely asked them to leave. Dad was full of apologies but she wasn’t. I don’t think she liked me calling her a quack.’
This time Jennifer did laugh. ‘Oh dear. She didn’t do a very good job at impressing you, did she?’
‘Honestly, I don’t think she could have insulted me any more if she tried. First my kids, then my house, my baking, and finally you! Who does she think she is? Snooty cow.’
‘So what now?’
‘I’ve told dad we’re not here to make him feel better about himself. If he just wants to rake over the past, I’m not interested. He’s said he’s sorry, but we’ll see where it goes.’
Jennifer was not sorry things had worked out the way they did. At least now, Amy was back on her side. The comment about the fire made her feel sick to her stomach. The last thing she needed was being confronted about the past. Her sister’s loyalty had proved itself to be fickle, and if the truth came out, Amy would never forgive her. Jennifer emptied the contents of the pan in the bin, having lost her appetite. Much of her life was spent raking over the bones of her past, and she wished she could wipe the slate clean. She shook her head at the irony. She was hunting down a group whose aim was the exact same thing.