He reads about Peter's father's death in the paper. He still gets the Irish newspapers delivered to him, just in case. The article is buried in the back pages and the headline is vague enough for him to have missed it, if not for the tiny photos of Peter and Jamie — thankfully not Adam — to the right of the text. He holds the paper with trembling hands and reads how Mr Savage took his own life on the anniversary of the disappearances. Rob had known what date it was, of course, but had become accustomed to letting it pass like any other day. The final blow is in the last sentence of the article: Peter's dad had hanged himself in the woods.
Fortunately he doesn't socialise with the other trainee officers on his course, otherwise they might notice something is wrong. He gets through the rest of the day on autopilot, then calls his mother when he gets home.
She brings up the news first. "I don't know if you saw..." she begins hesitantly.
"Yes, I know about the suicide," he cuts her off.
"I was thinking about sending a card, or something—"
"Don't," he says. "Don't get in touch. They'll want to know where I am." Unlike Jamie's mother, Peter's family hadn't blamed him for the disappearances, but he can't risk anyone finding out about his background. The police will never let him become a murder detective if they know about his link to a cold case.
His mother sighs. "Adam..."
"It's Rob now," he corrects her automatically.
"If you want to talk about it..."
"Why would I want to talk about it?" He suddenly feels so, so tired and realises it will never be over. "I've got to go. Speak soon." He hangs up before she can try to put his father on the phone.