Chapter 19

NINETEEN

Over breakfast the following morning, Joanna insisted that Sally go home to her family. ‘You need to talk to Graham.'

Sally seemed to be particularly meticulous about making sure the jam was spread evenly on her toast. ‘Yes, I know. But I'm not leaving you yet.'

Much as she would've loved to keep Sally here, she insisted. ‘I'll be fine. I'm just keeping Charlotte company until the baby comes.'

That's how she was phrasing it to herself, the only way she could deal with it. It didn't matter what the doctors told her; she hadn't given up hope that Charlotte was still in there, holding on.

Sally paused her clinical knife work and looked up at her. ‘You could have a day off today. Rest?'

The nurse had suggested the same thing when she showed them out the previous evening. With an unspoken expression of ‘it won't make any difference now'. But she couldn't bear to think about Charlotte alone in that room. ‘I want to go in and, anyway, I've arranged to meet Abbie there at ten. She said she's got updates.'

Awake at three o'clock this morning – and four, and five – she'd tried to consider what those updates might be. If Freddie had confessed, surely Abbie would've just told her? What else could it be?

‘Well, I'll come in and keep you company, then.' Sally held up a hand to prevent Joanna from arguing. ‘No, don't object. I want Graham to spend some time with Harry on his own.'

On the outside, this might sound like a nice thing. But Joanna smelled an ulterior motive. ‘Why?'

Sally cut her toast into four perfect triangles, just like she used to when Charlotte and Harry were toddlers and they'd have to try and slot the toast into their mouths as they ran past them in the garden. ‘Because Graham thinks that Harry can cope with living on his own. Graham is at work from early in the morning until late at night. Not his fault, I know. But it does mean that he doesn't understand how much I do for Harry.'

Joanna suspected that he did know and that this was one of the motivating factors behind looking at supported accommodation for their son. But she wasn't going to push. ‘I see. And you think that spending time with Harry on his own will make him realise?'

Pointing one of the quarters of toast at Joanna, she used it to punctuate each syllable of her reply. ‘Exactly.'

Her determination was admirable, but knowing how capable Graham was as a father, Joanna couldn't help but wonder if Sally was shooting herself in the foot with this plan. She might find that Graham proved something else that she wasn't ready for. ‘In that case, I'd love to have your company at the hospital.'

She could only imagine that the hospital had been keeping the police informed about Charlotte's condition, because Abbie already knew when she arrived. ‘I'm so sorry, Joanna.'

This time, they were walking around the hospital building. It was cool and overcast, but there was no rain and Sally had suggested – forced her into the idea – that she needed to get some fresh air. Abbie had been happy to oblige. ‘Thank you. What was it you wanted to talk to me about? Has Freddie admitted to it?'

She shook her head. ‘No. Freddie still denies that he attacked Charlotte. His version of events is that he came home and found her on the floor. He says she must've fallen because there was no one else at the house. But her injuries are not consistent with an accident. The forensic pathologist is certain that she must've been pushed backwards with some force.'

She tactfully waited a couple of moments before continuing. Even though Joanna knew this was what had happened, it was still not easy to hear.

When she spoke again, Abbie's voice was calm and measured. ‘There was also no sign of forced entry at the flat. Which means that Charlotte is likely to have known whoever it was and let them in. We've been to speak to the residents of neighbouring flats and the next-door neighbour gave us some new information. He said that there was another man who came to the flat before Freddie did.'

Joanna gasped and stopped dead in her tracks, her head spinning with the news. Someone else there? Someone Charlotte knew? ‘Who was it?'

From behind them, an orderly with a large basket on wheels full of laundry rattled up the path, the whole contraption jolting as it banged over the uneven paving stones under their feet. When he was out of hearing distance, Abbie continued. ‘At the moment, we haven't identified this man. The neighbour can't be sure whether he left before or after Freddie arrived home. He can't provide us with a description because he didn't pay much attention at the time. But he thinks he was a similar build to Freddie because, when he first saw him, that's who he thought it was.'

A dark cloud spread over the roof of the hospital like ink in a glass of water, its outer reaches curled into the air. Abbie held out her arm to suggest they continue their walk and Joanna followed her lead. ‘What did Freddie say about it?'

‘Freddie is denying that there was anyone else there, but we are checking CCTV footage in the area for anyone of a similar height and build to him. Unfortunately, there are no cameras on that road so we don't have much hope of spotting anyone.'

Joanna remembered a heated discussion at home one evening when Charlotte had been reading about surveillance cameras in a magazine and was practically apoplectic about the invasion of privacy. It was funny how, the older Joanna got, the more she'd become willing to trade privacy for safety. Especially where her daughter was concerned. ‘What else can we do?'

‘I wanted to ask you whether there are any young men you know who might've visited Charlotte that afternoon? A male friend, perhaps? Or a relative that she was close to?'

The tattoo of their footsteps on the path beat the depths of Joanna's silence. She couldn't think of anyone. Apart from when she was at university, all of Charlotte's close friends were girls. She'd had various part-time jobs in the last year since graduation but had never mentioned keeping in touch with anyone from those. Although, there were plenty of bigger things that she'd also neglected to tell Joanna about. ‘I can't think of anyone. But I can speak to her friends again to see if they can.'

Abbie nodded. ‘That would be great.'

Something else occurred to her. ‘Actually. There is someone. Apparently, Freddie has a friend. Dominic. Charlotte's friends told me that he's been hanging around with them a lot. That he seemed quite interested in Charlotte.'

Abbie pulled a notebook from her pocket and scribbled his name inside. ‘We'll speak to him and see what his whereabouts were that day. If anyone else comes to mind, you can call me.' She looked up at Joanna. ‘Now that the hospital has updated us on Charlotte's condition, things have changed a little. This is a murder enquiry now.'

This is a murder enquiry now. They'd decided Charlotte wasn't going to make it? The words bit into Joanna like fangs that spread their poison throughout her body. According to the police, her daughter had been murdered. Her precious life was over. She squeezed her hands together to stop them from trembling, then realised her whole body was shaking, her breath coming in short bursts. She couldn't be murdered if she wasn't dead. Why had everyone given up on her? She hasn't gone. She's still here.

They'd completed their loop of the hospital and were back at the entrance. A mother was kneeling in front of a small child with a bandage on his arm, an old lady was being helped down the steps by a smiling man in a grey uniform, a couple – his arm around her shoulders – looked stricken by bad news. Life – and death – was happening all around them. She understood what Abbie was saying, she just didn't believe it. ‘I need to get back to Charlotte.'

Abbie nodded. ‘Of course. I'll be in touch if we have any news.'

Joanna turned and watched Abbie walk back to the car, trying to process what she'd said about this other man. Why wouldn't Freddie tell the police if there was someone else there? Was he worried that they would reveal what'd happened?

Joanna hurried back to the ward, to Charlotte, her mind spinning with the news. She was on the main corridor when her phone rang. Fishing it out of her bag, she half expected it to be Abbie with more news, but it was the bank. Thinking back to what the solicitor had said about her financial affairs affecting her custody bid, she had to answer it.

She was just ending the call when she turned to see a familiar figure, heels clicking towards her along the corridor. Annabelle. ‘What's happened? I went to Charlotte's bed and she wasn't there?'

Aside from her son, Annabelle was the last person Joanna wanted to see. ‘She's been moved to a different ward. After the surgery.'

She still couldn't say aloud what the doctor had said, what Abbie had known. But this time it served to confuse matters as Annabelle's eyes widened. ‘But the solicitor said she wasn't going to recover. Has that changed? Is she going to come round?'

If only that was the case. ‘No. She had another brain bleed. They're saying that…that she won't come back from this.'

Irritation flushed Annabelle's face red. ‘Why did no one call me? We only found out because Freddie's solicitor called for an update. He needs to be told what is happening with the baby.'

A tsunami of anger rolled through Joanna. She squeezed her fists either side of her. It was all she could do not to fly at Annabelle. How dare she worry about herself and Freddie at a time like this? What about my baby? she wanted to scream. What about what is happening with my baby?

The look on her face must've told Annabelle how insensitive she was being. ‘I'm sorry. I'm so sorry about Charlotte. I'm just worried about the baby. It's only tiny. I'm worried it won't survive.'

It was only by pressing her fingernails hard into her palms that Joanna could refrain from shaking her, from shouting at her to go away. ‘The baby is fine.'

Annabelle looked as if she'd spent the morning at a salon. Her hair was freshly blow-dried and her make-up perfect. Yet her face softened as she reached out to pat Joanna's arm. ‘So Charlotte's body is still looking after her baby when she can't. That's a mother, alright. Protecting her child with her dying breath.'

Coming from Annabelle, this unexpected kindness hit Joanna hard and softened her anger. It made her feel guilty, too. Was she in the wrong for holding Annabelle accountable for what Freddie had done? Was Sally right in suggesting that she was allowing Annabelle's behaviour at school to inform what she thought of her now? She certainly looked as if she was genuinely upset about Charlotte.

She remembered what DC Abbie had said about this mystery man who'd been to Charlotte's flat. Though she was jealous at the thought that Charlotte and Annabelle had shared confidences, maybe Annabelle might have an idea who it was. ‘Do you know if Dominic was there that day?'

Annabelle frowned. ‘Dominic? Freddie's schoolfriend?'

‘Yes. They're close, aren't they?'

Annabelle's proud smile was still irritating. ‘Freddie is close with all his friends. Everyone loves him.'

Joanna wasn't sure that she should share any of the details that the police had told her about the mystery of the other man. ‘Did he like Charlotte?'

A frown clouded Annabelle's brow. ‘I have no idea. What are you getting at?'

It was difficult to explain what she wanted to ask without repeating the information from DC Abbie. ‘Just that sometimes boys don't like it if one of their friends gets a girlfriend.'

She knew this for a fact. When she'd dated Jacob at fifteen, his friends had been decidedly unfriendly. A memory she was clearly not about to share with Annabelle. ‘Well, I doubt that was a problem for Freddie's friends. They'd be used to it. He always had girls interested in him. When he was tiny, my mother used to say that he could charm the birds from the trees. He was such a beautiful baby. I wonder if their child will have the same dark curls that he had. I didn't want to cut them, but my husband insisted. Said he looked like a girl. What was Charlotte like as a baby? Was she fair?'

Charlotte had been the most beautiful baby. Her hair hadn't been blonde so much as gold. And her eyes…they were the roundest, bluest eyes she'd ever seen. ‘She was beautiful. Everyone would remark on her when I took her out in the pram.'

‘I can imagine. She's a very pretty girl. I'm sure the baby will make us proud.'

Though Annabelle's voice was firm, her eyes were misted and Joanna realised that she was on the brink of tears. Her words hung on the air between them. They both wanted the best for this baby. Maybe she could appeal to Annabelle, mother to mother. Of course she wanted to protect her son, but surely she could see that someone with the potential for violence shouldn't be raising a child?

Once Annabelle had gone, Joanna leaned against the wall and closed her eyes. She was utterly exhausted. Who was this Dominic? If he was a friend of Freddie's, what did he have to do with Charlotte? And was he the man who'd been in their apartment that day?

Just as she was about to get going again, her phone rang in her pocket. It was Sally.

‘You need to come, Joanna. Something's happening, they've made me leave the room. You need to come right now.'