26. Jessica

Miss Fairchild was attired in her finest designer country-dweller clothes—jeans, checked shirt, riding boots, a soft cream jumper tied around her shoulders. Her hair was bobbed, and leaning more toward silver than blond, but otherwise she looked the same, which was impressive given that she must have been close to sixty. From the doorway she gave them a polite, uncomfortable wave. She looked hesitant, as if she wasn't sure whether to approach, as if she didn't know exactly what she was doing. Finally she nodded, as if to herself.

As she walked toward them, Jessica found herself pushing her hair back over her shoulders and standing up straight, even as her heart began to beat so loudly she felt like the whole pub could hear it.

"Hello," Miss Fairchild said. "I thought I might bump into you three this week."

Up close, her face had that slightly airbrushed look of middle-aged women who had conservative levels of Botox coupled with the odd cosmetic peel. Clearly, Miss Fairchild had the money to do that sort of thing since selling Wild Meadows.

"How are you, Jessica?" Miss Fairchild asked, when no one spoke. "You look great."

Jessica sensed the other women watching the pair of them with interest. Miss Fairchild, Jessica could tell, was aware of her audience. She reached out and touched Jessica's arm. "Jessica?"

Jessica's head swam; she felt like she might faint.

"How do you think she's doing?" Norah said. "A child's bones have been found under the house where we grew up, in case you hadn't heard."

Miss Fairchild's gaze moved to Norah. "I know. It's terrible what they've discovered. I'm going to assist the police investigations in any way I can."

Norah's hands were clenched and her face was flushed. Jessica felt uneasy watching her. You could practically see the blood pulsing under her skin.

"What are you doing here?" Alicia asked, stepping forward and slightly in front of Norah. Jessica moved to the other side of her.

"It's a small town," Miss Fairchild said, somewhat defensively. "I was driving past the pub and I saw it was still open. I don't need to tell you that there are not a lot of places to go around here, so I thought this is where I'd find you." Miss Fairchild smiled, as if this were a happy reunion, as if they were old family friends.

"And you wanted to find us… why?" Alicia said.

"Because I care about you girls. I've thought about you a lot over the years. I've worried about you. You had such a rough start to life. You probably won't believe this, but I really did try to help you."

"We know you tried," Norah said, stepping forward. "You tried isolating us, humiliating us, terrifying us…"

Alicia's and Jessica's shoulders were touching now, preventing Norah from coming closer to Miss Fairchild; her sister reminded Jessica of an angry dog being restrained by a lead. Jessica wasn't sure how long they would have succeeded in holding her back had Patel not stepped in.

"I'm Detective Patel," she said, extending her hand to Miss Fairchild. "We spoke on the phone."

"Of course," Miss Fairchild said. "Nice to meet you, Detective."

"Why don't I walk you out?" Patel said to Miss Fairchild. "What time are you coming in tomorrow?"

They all watched as Patel guided Miss Fairchild toward the door. It was a smooth maneuver on Patel's behalf, but Jessica could tell Miss Fairchild wasn't happy to be ushered away. Even after twenty-five years, Jessica still knew how to read her.

As Jessica watched them go, many things ran through her mind. Foremost was Miss Fairchild's comment to her: You look great. She was ashamed to realize how much it had pleased her.