‘Perhaps Peter and Lois are at Ted’s, you know how close they are,’ Maureen ventured, and then she stopped abruptly as the door opened and first Katie, and then Fin, scrambled into the jeep. Maureen slid along the seat to make room for them, and once Niall had jumped inside next to his father in the front, Michael turned on the ignition and backed out of the drive.
Katie immediately bunched up to her mother, and put her arm through hers, wanting the comfort and security of her closeness.
Maureen was well aware of Katie’s neediness tonight, and it was understandable. All of the girl’s defences were down, and she was still in shock, vulnerable and hurting, and wanting to be with her parents, her mother in particular.
No one spoke.
Michael drove towards New Preston and lovely little Lake Waramaug, heading for Route 202 which would take them directly to New Milford and the hospital.
Usually when they were in the jeep together they chattered and laughed, told silly jokes, and sometimes they sang their favourite songs, for they were all musically talented. Niall, in particular, had a wonderful voice that made every one of them stop singing the instant he opened his mouth, so they could listen to him. Fin said Niall had missed his way and ought to be in musicals, or a pop star, but they just laughed at Fin, most especially Niall.
But this evening the jeep was quiet and sad, the baleful silence engendered by shock and worry. And fear, of course, on Maureen’s part. She knew, deep down within herself, that she was terribly afraid for Katie’s safety, although she had not voiced this to Michael, nor to Katie herself, as yet.
Maureen Byrne was nobody’s fool, and she knew there was a deadly killer out there, on the loose. Perhaps he was some kind of madman, a psycho.
And how did they know that this psycho wouldn’t seek out Katie next? Perhaps he had intended to kill all three girls, but had been cheated out of one. Yes, there was still one left to kill. Her Katie. Her beloved only daughter. Maureen’s mouth went dry and there was a hollowness in the pit of her stomach as she contemplated the horrendous possibilities.
Such dire and troubling thoughts appalled Maureen, but she knew she must not push them to one side. Common sense told her she must deal with the situation in a direct manner, discussing it with Katie, as well as her husband. Despite her daughter’s feyness, her artistic turn of mind, her innocence, and lack of experience of life, she did happen to have a practical side to her nature. This trait had always pleased Maureen, reassured her that her daughter had good judgement, and that this would help her to make the right choices in life.
It now struck Maureen that Katie would be the first one to understand that she must be careful, that she must be street-smart, and not put herself at risk. Instantly, this realization brought a bit of relief, but she would have a proper talk with her about everything later, that was essential. At this moment, though, Carly’s condition, and the seriousness of her injuries were uppermost in everyone’s minds, and to discuss anything else would appear horribly selfish.
As if zeroing in on her mother’s thoughts, Katie leaned closer to Maureen, and said, in such a low voice it was almost a whisper, ‘Do you think Carly’s going to die, Momma?’
Maureen turned to look at Katie, and then she put an arm around her daughter’s shoulder and brought her closer.
‘I hope not, mavourneen. But we must be honest with ourselves, accept the seriousness of her injuries, not push them under the rug because they frighten us. ‘Tis important we face them. Head injuries of this nature can be fatal. On the other hand, they may be superficial, not as serious as we’ve been led to believe. The best thing is to be positive, and believe that Carly is going to get better. We’re also going to pray that she’s as good as new, not impaired in any way.’
Katie sat bolt-upright. ‘Mom, I hadn’t thought about that! Oh God, brain damage. Carly could end up…a vegetable.’ An involuntary shiver shot through the seventeen-year-old girl, and she squeezed her eyes tightly shut, suddenly more than ever afraid for her dearest friend.
Maureen took hold of Katie’s hand, and said, ‘Try not to worry, Katie, darlin’. And don’t forget what I’ve forever drummed into you…there’s nothing worse than anticipatory despair, ‘tis debilitating, for one thing, and a waste of precious time for another. So let’s not start anticipating anything. Let’s hold positive thoughts, and hope that Carly’s going to be her old self in no time at all. And we must be there for her as much as we can.’
‘Yes, Mom, we must. We’ll all rally round for Carly,’ Katie swiftly asserted, her natural courage coming to the fore.
‘She could end up in a coma like that woman Sunny von Bulow,’ Finian said, leaning forward around Katie, so he could look at his mother through his thick glasses. ‘And she’s never going to come out of it.’
‘Be quiet!’ Maureen hissed, waving her finger reprovingly at her youngest child. She never knew what he was going to come out with.
‘There are a few press people over by the door,’ Michael said to them as he drove up to New Milford Hospital and parked the jeep at the kerb. ‘But they don’t know who we are, or our involvement, so we’ll just walk in quietly. Don’t look at them, especially you, Fin. And all of you, stick close to me.’
‘We will, Dad,’ Finian promised, sounding excited.
‘Come on then, let’s go!’ Maureen said. Quickly taking charge, she opened the door, got out, then waited for Fin and Katie to alight from the jeep. She immediately took hold of Fin’s hand, even though he wasn’t too happy about this, considering it babyish. He struggled; she held him.
The Byrne family, huddled together, went through the front door of the hospital in a tight-knit little group. Once inside, Michael walked over to the desk where a nurse was on duty; the others trailed along, stood waiting patiently behind him.
‘Good evening,’ Michael said.
The nurse glanced up at him, half smiled, nodded.
‘We’re friends of Mrs Smith,’ he explained. ‘Mrs Janet Smith. She’s here because of her daughter, Carly, who’s in intensive care.’
‘Yes,’ the nurse replied, and shuffled some papers on the desk.
‘How is Carly? Do you know?’
‘About the same, so I understand.’
‘We’d like to see Mrs Smith, and Carly, if that’s at all possible.’
‘Can I have your name, please?’
‘I’m Michael Byrne. From Malvern. This is Mrs Byrne…’ As he spoke, Michael turned, took hold of Maureen’s arm and brought her forward. ‘And my children,’ he added, indicating the trio alongside.
The nurse peered at them all over her spectacles, and then she looked down at one of the pieces of paper on the desk, as if she were checking something out.
After a few more minutes without any kind of response, Michael, growing impatient, said, ‘Can we go and find Mrs Smith?’
‘You don’t have to find her,’ the nurse replied. ‘She’s in the second waiting room, down that corridor.’ She spoke somewhat grudgingly and looked ill at ease.
Katie at once noticed this and stepped forward, saying as she did, ‘Hi, Mrs Appleby! Don’t you remember me? Katie Byrne. I go to school with Florence.’
The nurse studied Katie for a moment, and when recognition finally dawned she knew exactly who Katie was, and exclaimed, ‘You’re that good little actress I’ve seen in the school plays and concerts! The friend of Carly and Denise.’ Nurse Appleby leaned over the desk, and dropping her voice, added, ‘Terrible thing about the murder, wasn’t it?’
Katie drew back, turning cold inside, and said nothing.
Michael took hold of Katie’s arm and, regarding the nurse, he smiled at her with great cordiality, and said in his most charming voice, ‘Thanks very much, Nurse Appleby. We’ll go and see Mrs Smith.’
They found their way to the second waiting room, halfway down the very long corridor.
Katie hurried forward, her eyes on Janet Smith.
She was sitting alone on a small two-seater sof
a, looking worried and forlorn. Her short, platinum-blonde hair was all awry, as if she’d been running her hands through it endlessly. Her face was as white as a bleached sheet, and there were dark violet smudges under her pale grey eyes, which were bloodshot from crying and filled with terror. As always, she wore black wool slacks and a matching black sweater; her beige raincoat was thrown over the arm of the sofa, and she tightly grasped the handbag resting in her lap.
She looked up as Katie came to a standstill in front of her, and blinked rapidly, frowning, as if she didn’t know who Katie was for a moment. Then she got a grip on herself, and said, in a hoarse whisper, ‘Oh Katie, there you are…’
‘I’m sorry we’re so late in coming, Mrs Smith,’ Katie apologized, and went on to explain swiftly, ‘Niall and I had to help the police. They kept us for ages. We had to give statements, and then Dad came to get us and we went home together to get Mom and Fin.’
‘We came as soon as we could, Janet.’ Maureen spoke softly, and seated herself next to Janet, who looked at her through the corner of her eye, then nodded dourly.
‘How’s Carly doing?’ Katie asked, crouching down next to Mrs Smith’s knees, her face full of genuine concern, her blue eyes spilling sympathy.
‘Thankfully, her skull has stopped bleeding, and although she’s still unconscious, the neurologist says he thinks she’ll regain consciousness in the next few days.’
Katie let out a huge sigh of relief, and she smiled for the first time in hours. ‘Oh, this is good news, we’ve all been so worried about Carly. Do you think I can see her, Mrs Smith?’ She gazed at her friend’s mother expectantly.
Janet stared back, shaking her head, and made a moue with her thin mouth. ‘No, they won’t let you, I haven’t seen much of her myself. She’s hooked up to a lot of tubes and machines, and there are two policemen guarding her door.’ Sudden tears sprang into her pale eyes, and she sucked in her breath, then gasped, ‘It’s terrible when you think of it…that she might be in danger still. My poor Carly, my poor little girl.’
Touched by Janet’s plight, and worried about her, Maureen put a comforting arm around her. ‘Look, she’s going to be all right. It’s just a precaution, the police being there.’
Katie rested her hand on Mrs Smith’s knee. ‘Carly saw him. So she can identify him, and that’s why the police have posted guards. In case he comes to the hospital. But he won’t come, and you mustn’t worry, because the police are going to catch him.’
Janet looked distracted for a moment, glancing around the waiting room, and then she finally tried to look at Katie. ‘Do you think they will? Catch him?’
‘I really do. And listen, Carly’s going to be fine. She’s young and strong and healthy, and she’s a fighter. She’ll make it, Mrs Smith.’
Wiping the tears from her eyes with the back of her hand, Janet finally nodded. ‘At least my Carly’s alive, which is more than –’ The rest of her sentence remained unsaid, but they all knew exactly what the unspoken words were.
Maureen leaned closer. ‘Tell us what we can do to help you, Janet. You only have to ask, nothing’s any trouble, and we’re here for you.’
Janet nodded, then glanced at Michael and his sons, standing off to one side. ‘It was nice of you to come, Michael. And you, too, Niall.’ She tried to smile without much success. Moving closer to Maureen, she grasped her hand tighter. ‘And you Maureen, and Katie, thanks for offering to help. But honest, there’s nothing you or anyone else can do. It’s up to the doctors.’
‘All you have to do is phone us,’ Michael said. ‘Whatever it is you want. We just feel you should know you have friends.’
‘In your time of need,’ Fin said.
For the first time, Janet smiled weakly. ‘Thank you, Fin.’
Maureen thought, the little scamp. But she made no comment, deeming it wiser.
Janet concentrated on Katie, peering at her. ‘The police told me you found Carly. Found them. Tell me. Please tell me about it.’
‘I’d forgotten my school books at the barn, and when Niall came home just after six he drove me back to get them. The lights were on, and I thought Carly and Denise had stayed late to rehearse, or do their homework. But they weren’t there. And then we saw their coats, so Niall and I went looking outside,’ Katie explained. ‘We found Carly first, resting on her back in the little wood, and her head was bleeding. But Niall said she was definitely breathing, so we knew she was alive. A bit away from Carly, he found Denise. She was already…dead. Niall sent me to phone for the ambulance, and he stayed behind to look after Carly.’
Turning her head, settling her gaze on Niall, Janet Smith said, in a low voice, ‘Thanks, Niall, for staying with Carly. You probably saved her life. Did she…say anything?’
Niall walked over to the sofa, shaking his head. ‘No, I’m afraid she didn’t, Mrs Smith. I think she was probably unconscious by then.’
Janet could only nod, and then she began to sob once more, bringing her hands to her face. And she wept and wept, the tears trickling through her fingers and down onto her handbag in her lap.
Her heart aching, Maureen wrapped both her arms around Janet and held her in a close embrace, endeavouring to comfort her. She understood totally how Carly’s mother felt, understood how much she was suffering. Maureen could scarcely bear to think about the other mother involved in this tragedy, and the emotional turmoil she must be enduring. Poor Lois. Her beautiful daughter Denise was on a cold slab in the morgue. That was unbearable even to contemplate.
Eventually, Janet seemed to settle down and the sobbing slowly ceased. It was then that Maureen said, in a soothing voice, ‘Janet, I know you probably don’t feel like eating, but can we take you out for something, even if it’s only a cup of coffee or a drink?’
‘That’s kind, Maureen. You and Michael have both been kind to me, ever since Barry died. But I’m not hungry. And since the doctors are forcing me to leave, I guess I’ll go home. There’s nothing I can do here and they won’t let me see Carly again. Not tonight. They told me that. And I was in her room just before you arrived.’ She shook her head, exhaling. ‘Oh dear, I’m going to cry again.’ Swallowing hard, she somehow managed to quickly get hold of her floundering emotions, and was able to continue. ‘The police brought me here, so my car’s at my house. Could you drive me home? That would be a help, Maureen.’
‘Yes, of course. Of course we will.’
Outside, the storm was now raging. Thunder and lightning and hard rain sluicing down greeted them as they returned to the lobby of the hospital.
‘Let me go first,’ Michael said to them. ‘So that I can unlock the jeep. And give me a second to pull up in front, then make a dash for it.’ Glancing at his wife, he said, ‘It’ll be best if Janet squeezes in the back with you, Katie and Fin.’
‘There’s room enough for us all,’ Maureen assured him.
Seconds later they were all rushing out through the front door and scrambling into the jeep, wiping their wet faces with tissues once they were settled inside.
Maureen and Michael tried to make conversation on the way to Janet’s house, but it was desultory at best, and in the end they fell quiet, understanding she was in the wrong frame of mind for talking. At one moment, Maureen did ask her if she wanted Katie or herself to sleep over that night, but Janet declined, telling them that she wanted to be on her own.
In a short while they were pulling up at Janet’s front door, and after thanking them again, she made a dash for it through the driving rain. Once she had opened the door, she turned, waved and disappeared into the house.
‘I wish she’d let me stay with her; or you, Mom,’ Katie murmured. ‘I hope she’s going to be all right.’
‘Oh she will be,’ Maureen answered. ‘She’s quite a strong person, tough. And let’s face it, Carly’s alive, and the doctor says she’ll come out of her unconscious state by the weekend, thank the Lord.’
‘Carly was lucky,’ Niall interjected.
‘Yes, lucky because
you and Katie got there in the nick of time,’ Michael added. ‘Now, we’d better pass by the Matthewses’, see what we can do to help them.’
It was only a short drive up the road to the house where Peter and Lois Matthews lived, and once he had brought the car to a standstill, Michael and Maureen alighted, and went to the door. The house was in total darkness, and Maureen said, looking up at the windows, ‘Maybe they’ve already gone to bed.’
‘I doubt it,’ Michael replied, ringing the bell and banging the brass door knocker. No one answered, and after a couple of seconds, he took Maureen’s arm and led her away. ‘We’re getting soaked to the skin. Come on, honey, let’s go home.’
When they were back in the jeep, Maureen said, ‘Do you think they’re at Ted’s house?’ and took some tissues from the box Katie was offering, wiped her face.
‘It’s possible.’ Michael turned on the ignition and pulled away from the kerb. ‘But it’s too far to drive there now, and also too late. I’ll phone Ted when we get home.’
‘We should keep an umbrella in this jeep, Dad,’ Fin announced in his piping child’s voice. ‘Then Mom wouldn’t get so wet.’
‘I put one in the back the other day,’ Michael told him. ‘But, mysteriously, it’s disappeared.’
‘The wee faeries took it,’ Fin shot back, mouthing a favourite phrase Maureen used when anything went missing.
They all laughed.
Then Katie said, ‘All this rain isn’t going to help the police, is it, Dad?’
‘No, it’s going to hamper their investigation, that’s for sure. But Mac is a good cop, the very best, and if anybody can solve this crime he can.’
Chapter Eleven
Katie sat in front of the big stone hearth in the kitchen, wearing her pyjamas and warmly wrapped in a blue fleecy-wool dressing gown. She was nursing a mug of tea and staring into the fire, watching the red and amber flames leaping up the chimney, her mind befogged with a jumbled mixture of thoughts.