Chapter 35

THIRTY-FIVE

The Bullseye was a bar by day and a club by night. It'd been a very long time since Joanna had been in a place like this. The darkness took a while to get used to and the loud thump of the music prevented her from hearing anyone in there. Bodies were packed together and she had to shuffle sideways after the two girls, trying to find somewhere to stand. Rachael leaned in close and shouted in her ear. ‘What do you want to drink?'

She had no idea what to ask for. She was pretty sure that they wouldn't be serving the kind of wine she liked to drink. ‘A beer?'

The girls had been brilliant. When she called them yesterday, they'd both wanted to know all about Eliza and how she was doing. Without questioning it, they'd cancelled their plans to bring her here, the bar where they thought Dominic was most likely to be. It may have been easier – and less shot-in-the-dark – to ask Annabelle to arrange for her to meet him, but she wanted to leave that as a last resort.

Rachael nodded at her choice of drink and veered off in the direction of the bar. Lucy reached out for Joanna's hand and pulled her towards the far wall. It was less busy here and she could hear herself think. ‘Is he here?'

Lucy craned her neck to see over the heads nearest to them but shook her head. ‘I can't see him. But it's still early.'

Early? It was almost ten o'clock. She'd been hoping to speak to him straight away and then head home. This place was so far outside her comfort zone, she needed another passport. Everyone was under twenty-five and brimming with the beauty of youth. Scanning the crowd herself, she could imagine Charlotte here. Laughing and joking and nodding her head to the music. How many times had she dropped her somewhere like this, or collected her at the end of the night when she and her friends were buzzing with excitement about the night they'd just had? There was so much life in this room. She turned to Lucy. ‘Did Charlotte like it here?'

She smiled. ‘Yeah, it was one of her favourite bars. She said you could always be yourself here. No judgement.'

How must that have felt? She had to ask. ‘Unlike at home?'

Lucy looked surprised. ‘What makes you say that?'

Quicker than she'd anticipated, Rachael was back with the drinks. ‘I may have agreed to go on a date with the barman to make sure we got served quicker.'

Lucy shook her head. ‘You are unbelievable.'

It was so odd seeing them without Charlotte here. Even in the hospital, she'd been there in body if not in spirit. It was like seeing only two sides of a triangle. ‘You girls had some adventures over the years.'

They looked at each other with the kind of love only lifelong girlfriends share. Like she and Sally shared. ‘Yeah.' Lucy nodded. ‘Usually Rachael would start the trouble, Charlotte would join in and then I would have to dig them both out of it.'

‘Excuse me .' Rachael placed a hand on her hip in mock indignation, then let it fall. ‘Yeah, okay, that's pretty accurate.'

Lucy laughed. ‘Do you remember the night when we went to that bar Dominic's uncle owned after the gig at The Garage? When Freddie persuaded the barman to do a lock-in and we were so high on our performance that we did the whole gig again a cappella?'

Their smiles were infectious. ‘I'd loved to have seen that.'

Each of their memories had a sting in the tail because she could remember the times she and Charlotte had rowed because she didn't want Charlotte going to places like this. It all seemed so unimportant now.

The flashing lights showed the glisten of tears in Rachael's eyes. ‘She was so talented. Our clever friend.'

Lucy reached out and rubbed Rachael's back. ‘She really was. And we'll make sure that Eliza knows it, too. Always.'

Joanna pressed her hand to her chest at this subtle promise that they'd both be in Charlotte's daughter's life. But another element of their story struck her. ‘You both saw quite a lot of Freddie, then? You liked him?'

Rachael glanced at Lucy, who nodded her support. ‘We did. Obviously, we were a little cool with him when they first got back together, but he literally begged for her forgiveness. And once she'd forgiven him, we kind of had to. They were really good together. To be honest, we just can't believe that he's guilty. I mean, it's awful. And he loved her. Like, really loved her.'

Lucy's smile was tentative. ‘And when you told us about the baby it made even less sense. I mean, I know it could've been an accident. But that would still have needed him to push her and we just can't see that happening.'

She could tell by the way they looked at each other that they'd discussed this at length. Joanna rubbed at her temples. It was so hard to think straight with that music pounding in the background. Before she could reply, or ask another question, Lucy looked up and nodded her head in the direction of the door. ‘Dominic has just walked in.'

Joanna followed the two girls as they threaded their way through the crowd towards Dominic. Aside from the lights around the bar, and the strobes coming from the DJ corner, the whole place was in darkness. Even so, Joanna could see the boy's eyes smile as much as his mouth when he saw Lucy and Rachael walking towards him. He seemed less certain when Joanna materialised between them.

‘Hello Dominic.'

He glanced back and forth at the two girls before frowning at her in confusion. ‘Sorry, do I know you?'

Dominic was a well-built young man, with clothes that looked expensive and a tan that'd probably been caught on a jet ski somewhere exclusive. He was just like the boys she'd known at school: Jacob's friends. He had that aura of a life with well-oiled wheels.

‘I'm Joanna. Charlotte's mother.'

His eyes widened. ‘Freddie's Charlotte?'

Much as she didn't like that description, she nodded. ‘Can I talk to you for a minute?' She glanced at the other two men he was with. ‘In private?'

He looked even more confused. ‘Er, yeah. Okay.'

He looked around him as if searching for one of the threadbare benches to be free for them to sit, but the music was getting louder and she wasn't going to be able to hear him soon. ‘Shall we go outside?'

At the back of the bar, there was a garden with damp picnic benches on a patio between the door and the car park. Joanna chose the one furthest away from the waft of marijuana coming from the trio of men just outside the back door.

Dominic had the decency to pay his respects as soon as they sat down. ‘I'm really sorry to hear what happened to Charlotte. I liked her a lot. It's terrible, what's happened.'

He wasn't going to get any argument from her on any of that. ‘Thank you. That's what I wanted to talk to you about, actually.'

He twitched. ‘What do you mean?'

‘I'm trying to find out what happened that night. Freddie says it wasn't him and I want to see if he's telling the truth.'

Elbow on the table, Dominic leaned to one side in that easy way boys of his age – with their endless limbs – always seemed to sit. ‘Freddie wouldn't have hurt Charlotte. He worshipped her.'

Each time she heard this, another seed of doubt grew in Joanna's mind. ‘That's what I keep hearing. But the police have arrested him on suspicion of her murder. So something doesn't add up here. There was another man seen arriving at the flat that day. Did you know that?'

He frowned. ‘No. Why would I know that?'

‘And he was described as having the same build as Freddie.' She paused and really looked at him. ‘Which would be the same as you, too.'

Dominic pulled himself up straight. ‘I wasn't there.'

At least she was getting a reaction out of him now. ‘Someone saw a man arrive. Park outside the house and go in.'

He held out his hands. ‘Well, then it can't have been me. My car has been off the road for the last three months. My dad is refusing to buy me another one.' He looked sheepish. ‘To be fair, I've had a bit of a history with cars.'

That threw her. ‘Are you sure about that?'

He laughed. ‘A hundred per cent. You can ask those two guys in there. They haven't stopped mugging me off about it.'

‘And you definitely weren't there at any point on that Sunday?'

He shook his head. ‘Definitely not. I was away that weekend. A messy one in Brighton with mates. Freddie was invited but he didn't want to be away from Charlotte. I didn't even hear what'd happened 'til I got back on the Monday.'

Joanna's shoulders slumped. She'd pinned a lot of hope on Dominic being able to tell her something.

He looked as if he felt sorry for her. ‘You've got to understand, I don't want Freddie inside any more than you do. If I knew something, I'd tell you. What kind of car was this man driving?'

She wanted to be careful that she didn't reveal her source. She was pretty sure that the neighbour wouldn't want a solicitor from the Knight-Crossley camp knocking on his door. ‘I don't know the make. But someone said it was white.'

Surprise, then dread flashed across Dominic's face. Then he leaned towards her, more in apprehension than threat. ‘You need to talk to Freddie. You need to tell him what you've just told me.'

‘What is it?'

He shook his head and got up. ‘I'm saying nothing. If you want to know more, you need to talk to Freddie. I need to get back to my friends. Can I buy you a drink?'

Her head was banging, and not just because of the music. ‘No. I'm not going back in. Can you tell the girls I'm here?'

‘Sure thing.' He extricated his legs from under the bench. ‘Go and see Freddie. Talk to him. Give him a chance.'