I'm back! This is the penultimate chapter so if you've stuck with me this far then thank you and well done - this one is probably slightly shorter than usual but I had to make an appropriate break before the last.
oOo
One month later...
Kerry sat at her desk, finishing off a particularly tedious piece of paperwork about a burglary committed by two young men who were obviously not cut out to be villains, having forgotten to pick up their bag of stolen goods on their way out. Typing the last full stop on the report, she leaned back in her chair, stretched and gazed out of the window at the sky. Sipping her coffee, she was all too aware that it had been exactly one month since the incident but still found her thoughts often drifting back to the dark desolation of the basement, often at very inopportune moments. Debbie was still not back at work and would not be for a couple of weeks, but was at least allowed to go home from hospital and Kerry stopped by several nights a week after work. All they had been through had brought them close enough to consider each other friends rather than colleagues and Debbie had promised not to wield too much power over Kerry once she was back at work and became her boss once more. They were able to talk about what had happened without getting too upset and had been a great source of comfort to each other, despite the fact that one mystery stayed unsolved: Eve's body remained unfound.
The office block had been so badly damaged that it was decided to demolish its remains and start again. Naturally, the basement was cleared as well, and the secret passage was filled in as well, for safety, but in doing so, no body was found. This was little comfort, since there was virtually no doubt Eve was dead, but perhaps in a way that was a good thing because there had been no luck in tracing her family at all and the case was all but closed. Nobody else seemed all that bothered about the whole thing now and sometimes it seemed that the little girl who had saved their lives would remain a mystery forever.
Kerry was just about to pack up and go home when Claire Stanton wandered across the room towards her and perched on the desk.
"You ok?"
Kerry nodded. "Just about to knock off, Sarge."
"You just looked a bit...I don't know, upset? Thoughtful?"
"Nah, it's fine," Kerry shrugged, getting up and reaching for her jacket. "Was just thinking about stuff, you know."
"If you're sure," Claire smiled. "Oh, and I was going to mention it, thought you might be interested. They've finally identified that skeleton you came across. It was a kid who went missing back in the 60s, believe it or not. They're about to launch an enquiry and someone will have to inform the parents tomorrow but I'll keep that away from you, yeah? I think you've had more than your fair share along those lines already."
"Thanks, Sarge," Kerry said gratefully. "Just out of interest, could I see the report?"
"Sure," said Claire, retrieving a large brown envelope from her desk. "It's all in there. Just pop it back on my desk when you've finished with it; I've got to get going."
"See you tomorrow," said Kerry, opening the envelope. Since she'd done the dirty work, literally, in discovering the damn thing, she told herself, she might as well know who it was who had given her so much trouble.
As she scanned the report, a photograph of the skull fell out of the middle, along with details of the dental records used to identify its owner. Paper clipped to it was another photo, in colour but obviously quite old and fading, of a little girl aged about ten with long black silky hair and bright green eyes. Eve Jordan.
Kerry froze. She flicked through the other papers looking for something else, anything to convince herself that she wasn't going mad. She sat slowly back down and held the photograph in trembling hands, and staring at it for what seemed like hours until suddenly she got up, still holding it, and left the office.
Open file, missing persons, she thought as she sat down at a free computer. Search on Eve Jordan, within the last year. Nothing. Last five years ... nothing. Last fifty years...?
Eve Jordan, age twelve, registered missing May 9th 1963.
Still half wondering if she was dreaming, Kerry read the document and report Claire had given her word for word, several times over. It could not be right, she told herself, there has to have been a mistake, but the little girl's dazzling green eyes seemed to bore into her even when she looked away. She even telephoned the pathologist to ask if there could possibly have been an error but it was quickly confirmed that no, everything was in order.
Kerry sat back in the chair, still holding the photograph, expecting to wake up at any moment. If it was true, as it had been confirmed that it was, then there could only be one explanation. But that was ridiculous, it didn't bear thinking about.
Something made her look particularly closely at the photograph and her eyes widened as her gaze fell upon something the child was wearing. A necklace. A silver necklace that was one half of a heart. Kerry gasped out loud and pushed her chair away from the desk. This could not be happening. It dawned on her how ludicrous this would sound if she were to present her findings to a senior officer; she would probably be given sick leave and a direct order to seek psychiatric help. But maybe there was one person who would not think she was mad...
Kerry sorted the papers, quietly photocopied them and put the originals neatly back in the brown envelope before leaving them as requested on Claire Stanton's desk. Her heart pounding, she managed to say a cheery "goodnight" to a couple of people left in the office before getting into her car and setting off to see the one person who could back up her story.
oOo
"Coming!" Debbie called as the doorbell rang for the second time. She opened the door and gave a sigh of relief as Kerry came into view. "Thought you might be a double glazing salesman," she smirked as she gestured for Kerry to come inside.
"Um, is this a bad time?" Kerry asked, noticing that Debbie was wearing only a silky green dressing gown and had rather damp hair. "Didn't get you out the shower, did I?"
"Nah, it's ok, came out about ten minutes ago," Debbie shrugged. "I was hoping you'd pop round, it's getting really boring being stuck here. I'm not even supposed to drive for another week. Coffee?"
"Yeah, thanks," Kerry smiled restrainedly, following her into the kitchen. "Look, I need to talk to you about something, something I found out today."
"Oh yes?" Debbie murmured absent-mindedly as she filled the kettle.
"Better wait 'til you're sitting down, though."
Debbie looked up with a sly grin. "That good, huh? Well, I think you'll find I'm pretty unshockable these days. Let me guess; Reg found growing weed in his greenhouse? Rod been caught wearing his grandmother's underwear? Am I warm?"
Kerry couldn't help laughing. "No, nothing like that! That wouldn't surprise me too much really...but no, no, it's a bit more, um ... delicate than that."
As they made themselves comfortable on Debbie's squashy sofa, Kerry started to feel scared. What if she had made a really obvious mistake and was about to make a fool of herself?
"Come on then, I'm sitting down and I promise not to drop my coffee," Debbie said slightly impatiently. "It can't be that bad," she added, noticing that Kerry had turned rather pale.
"It's ... it's about Eve," Kerry said slowly. "Something impossible has happened."
Debbie looked hopeful. "She's been found alive?"
"No," Kerry shook her head, and Debbie could tell that whatever it was Kerry had to say was causing her great difficulty. "She's definitely dead ..."
"They found her body?" Debbie suggested in an attempt to help.
"No...well, yes, I suppose they have but not in the way we had in mind ..."
"Sorry, Kerry, I have no idea what you're trying to say," Debbie said, totally confused. "They've found her body but they haven't ... what do you mean?"
Kerry thrust the wad of paper into Debbie's hand. "Read this," she said, her voice trembling. "Claire Stanton showed me earlier and I photocopied it. Just read it and tell me I'm not going mad."
Debbie took a sip of her coffee as she scanned the first sheet. "Don't skip any; read every word," Kerry added.
For a while, Debbie read on, as she would any other document. After a minute or so, however, she started to look confused and put her coffee down on the table beside her. Then her eyes widened as she studied the photograph and she looked between the two pieces of paper in disbelief. Finally she looked up at Kerry, unable to speak but her expression rendered words unnecessary.
"The original is in colour," Kerry said quietly, gesturing towards the photograph. Her hair was black and her eyes were bright green."
"So ... so ... this means ... no! No, Kerry, this is impossible!"
"I know. But it's still true, isn't it? Eve died forty years ago."
"NO! It CAN'T be! There must have been a mix-up, it's the only explanation." Debbie put the papers down on the coffee table and folded her arms, refusing to take it in.
"I phoned the pathologist, Debbie. It's for real."
Debbie took a few deep breaths to calm herself, then picked up the photograph again. She knew it was Eve, as did Kerry, but how could it be?
"It is her, isn't it?" said Kerry gently. It was a statement, not a question.
Debbie was about to argue the point and try to come up with a plausible explanation but then paused and looked at Kerry who gave a weak but unyielding smile.
Debbie gave a weak nod, years of experience suddenly useless. "It's her."
There followed a long silence, both women well aware that what they were both thinking was implausible and impossible. There was no solid evidence, nobody else had seen Eve, therefore it was just their word against scientific fact.
"You don't think we were hallucinating?" Debbie said suddenly.
"Both of us? Hallucinate the same thing? "And she was solid," said Kerry. "She helped me walk ... we both touched her!"
Debbie took another sip of coffee, only to find it had gone cold. "We couldn't have saved her," she murmured, still trying to take it in. "Whatever happened she was never going to escape with us ..."
"Because she was already dead." Kerry finished the sentence, though still not entirely trusting herself. "And that's why she gave me the necklace." She picked up the pathologist's report and scanned it again. 'Cause of death will probably never be established for sure, but some trauma to the back of the head is likely to be of significance. Almost certainly not accidental.' A man was brought in for questioning in connection with her disappearance, one Graham North, but was released without charge. That's him. It would make sense."
"We need to go though this," Debbie said, sitting up and putting the papers back in the right order. "And things she said to us. We have to make sure everything is in order before we decide what to do next. We have to think of everything she said to us - the technicalities, the little things – we can't overlook anything. Once we've got the whole picture it might make a little more sense."
"Right. Well, for a start, the passage. Why was it there and how on earth did her body end up hidden in the wall for forty years?"
"We'll have to look that up tomorrow," Debbie nodded slowly, rising. "Someone will know. It'll be in the architecture when and why it was built, though how Eve's body got there is another matter; that'll be harder. And remember she said this Graham bloke died some time ago so we can't exactly bring him in for questioning. Another coffee?"
"Yeah, why not," Kerry smiled through a yawn. She had a feeling it was going to be a rather long night.
