Chapter Thirty-Two

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

IN THE BATHROOM, Ellen splashes water over her mouth with trembling hands. Her mind reels. Another girl. The phrase repeats over and over again in her mind. Brad hadn't said anything to her about any other girl. What else is Brad hiding from her? Is everything that comes out of his mouth a lie?

She has to pull herself together. She will ask Brad about this other girl. And then she'll leave. She can't stay here. If the man she's supposed to marry can behave improperly with his teenage students, she doesn't know who he is. If it was one girl, she might be making it up. But if there was more than one … another girl …

And – oh God – this other girl has been to the police. What has she told them? And what will Ellen say if the police want to interview her?

He's been trying to hide it, but she can tell how frightened Brad is. There must be a reason.

Now he's knocking at the bathroom door. ‘Are you okay in there?' He sounds alarmed.

She opens the door and faces him. She brushes past him into the living room, picks up her jacket and her bag, and turns to him. ‘What is this other girl going to say about you?' she demands.

‘I don't know,' he says, his voice climbing. ‘I never did anything to anyone – not Diana or anyone else! You must believe me!'

But she doesn't believe him. Not any more.

‘Ellen, sweetheart, don't leave,' he begs, his eyes desperate.

‘I need some time on my own right now,' she says as she walks to the door.

‘And I need to know if I can count on you,' he says wildly to her back.

She doesn't answer.

Sunday, Oct. 23, 2022, 9:30 p.m.

I got shit from my mom and dad when I got back this afternoon. I told them I hadn't expected to be gone so long.

‘Where the hell were you with your mother's car?' my dad demanded, with his Sunday afternoon drunk on. He was weaving a little where he stood, looking at me blearily. I've always hated Sundays. I wondered again why my mother didn't leave him.

I decided to tell them the truth. ‘Riley and I were following Joe Prior.' My mother's jaw dropped, literally. She stood there open-mouthed, unable to speak.

‘Who's that?' Dad asked vacantly. Always taking an interest, my dad.

‘Why don't you go back to your game,' Mom said to him. ‘I'll deal with this.'

Dad faded back into the den and Mom pulled out a chair and we sat down at the kitchen table. I told her all of it, and she wasn't happy. ‘He could be a murderer!' she cried. ‘Evan, you have to stay away from him!'

‘It was perfectly safe, Mom,' I said. ‘We never got out of the car.' A small fib. ‘We called the detectives to tell them that he'd crossed the border into Canada, and then we went to the police station, after we got back here.'

That was frustrating. The detectives weren't even there when we got there. We spoke to an officer in uniform. We repeated that Joe Prior had crossed the border into Canada at Derby Line at 1:20 p.m. He took the information down. He didn't seem to take us very seriously. It really pissed Riley off, and I don't blame her.

Roy glances furtively at his daughter as they all watch TV on Sunday evening. He can tell she's been crying, although she's obviously washed her face and put on a bit of makeup to try to hide it. She's been unusually quiet all evening, not her usual chatterbox self. She hardly touched her dinner. He and Susan have been sharing quiet looks since Ellen got home late this afternoon. Something has happened, and they both know it probably has something to do with her fiancé.

‘Everything okay?' he asks Ellen during a commercial break. ‘You seem quiet.'

‘Yeah, fine. I'm just tired,' she answers.

‘You can tell us if something's wrong,' he says gently. ‘Everybody has bumps in the road.'

‘I'm going to bed,' she says abruptly and gets up. ‘Goodnight.'

‘She's not fine,' Susan says quietly to him once she's left.

‘No,' Roy agrees. He tries to turn his attention back to the television programme, but he can't concentrate. He's worried about his daughter. When the programme is over, the local news comes on. There is a breaking report about the Diana Brewer murder, and Roy sits up in his chair.

Jennifer Wiley, a well-known face on KCVS News, is reporting from outside the small Fairhill Police Station. ‘New information has come out tonight in the investigation into the murder of local girl Diana Brewer. The seventeen-year-old was strangled, her naked body found Friday morning in the field of a local farmer. Now it has come to light that Diana had complained of inappropriate behaviour by one of her teachers at Fairhill High School.'

The penny drops for Roy.

The reporter continues. ‘I attempted to speak to the principal of Fairhill High School, Graham Kelly, today about the allegations, but he was not available. Stay tuned for more news on this breaking story.'

Roy turns to his wife. She's looking at him with a stricken expression – he knows they're both thinking the same thing.