Chapter 62

It was surreal walking back into the murder scene with Katie now the woman of the house. Although this time a lot of things made more sense to her. After learning more about Katie's childhood, Kim understood the complex reactions to her mother's death.

Katie guided them to the kitchen where Sheryl had lain brutally murdered just days earlier. She showed no reaction as she headed towards the kettle.

‘Not for us, thanks,' Kim said, taking a seat.

‘How can I help?' Katie asked, turning.

‘It's going to sound like a weird question, but did your mum have a middle name?'

‘Octavia,' Katie said, leaning against the counter. ‘She hated it. After her grandmother.'

The art of successful deceit lay in staying as close to the truth as you could.

‘Katie, do you have a copy of your birth certificate?'

‘Of course. Why?' she asked, colouring.

‘I'd like to see it if you don't mind.'

‘It's upstairs,' she said, heading out of the room.

‘Oh, and a couple of baby photos while you're at it,' Kim called after her.

‘You gonna tell her what Stacey turned up?' Bryant whispered. The text had come through as he'd been parking the car.

Regardless of the dates, which meant that Sheryl couldn't have had another child, Kim wanted to see the birth certificate for herself.

‘Not yet. We don't know anything for certain about where she came from.'

‘Here it is,' Katie said, placing the document before her. In her other hand was a small photo album.

Kim knew immediately that the birth certificate was the same one that she'd already seen. There was no doubt now. Katie wasn't biologically Sheryl's child.

‘You knew, didn't you?' Kim asked.

Katie hesitated, then nodded.

‘Why didn't you tell us?'

‘I only found out that morning. I'd sent off a DNA kit months ago. Took hair from her brush. It cost a fortune, but I had to know. I didn't tell you in case you changed your mind and decided I'd killed her. I wanted to. I thought I had. I wasn't going to give you any reason to doubt me again.'

‘Your alibi was solid. You were in police custody when our second victim was killed.'

She shrugged. ‘I suppose I was still in shock.'

‘What made you wonder about Sheryl being your mum?' Kim asked.

‘I don't know. It's just a feeling I'd get sometimes, like a distant homesickness or like I was in the wrong place, living the wrong life. I'd always had it, but I just pushed it aside. I also felt very little emotional connection to her. I didn't know that wasn't normal. We were nothing alike, had no similar qualities. I pushed those thoughts away too, but then both the feelings started to come together, and I decided to make sure.'

‘And how did you feel when you found out you weren't related?'

‘Initially I was relieved. I didn't want to be her daughter. I didn't want those same traits in my genes. After that I was angry. All those years of humiliation, of forcing me into pageants, the scolding, the claims of self-sacrifice for my happiness, the loneliness. Everything I endured…and I wasn't even her daughter.'

‘And you never got the chance to ask her?'

‘That's why I came over, to confront her, to get details of the adoption and answers as to why she'd never told me.'

‘Do you want to know where you came from?' Kim asked.

‘Of course. I've never fitted here, with her. It was all lies. But I don't see how I'll ever find out now. There's no paperwork here. I've checked everywhere.'

A part of Kim ached to tell her what they suspected, but on more than one occasion, she'd seen evidence of Katie's fragile psyche. She had to be sure.

‘May I?' Kim asked, reaching for the album.

‘Carry on.'

Kim opened the album to the first photo, a faded polaroid. It looked to be the earliest photo of Katie but was still a few months after the Anderson baby had been taken. She could see similarities, but growth meant she couldn't be sure.

Kim continued to leaf through the pages until she reached toddler stage. Her eyes searched every photo until she came to one where Katie was around six or seven years old.

‘My first pageant dress,' Katie noted.

The sequinned gown had a full skirt and a satin bodice. The photo was taken from behind with Katie turning her head to look at the camera.

‘Ah, there's something on the lens there,' Kim said, brushing at the picture around the left shoulder.

‘That's a mole,' Katie said with a smile. ‘There's no brushing that away.'

Kim continued to leaf through another couple of pages, for appearance's sake, but she needed nothing further.

She'd found what she'd been looking for.