Chapter Forty-Seven

CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN

ELLEN LEAVES THE farm without telling her parents where she's going. She doesn't want them to know in case they try to stop her, but they'll figure it out anyway. Where else would she go?

She drives her little car down their long driveway and turns onto the gravel road at the end of it. It feels creepy, now, when she drives down this road. As she passes the fields, and approaches the one where the body was found, she sees the white cross again, at the side of the road. At the sight of it, she feels a stab of anxiety and asks herself what the hell she's doing. There's a hysteria inside her, hovering just beneath the surface of her skin. She's lost her natural optimism, her innate sense that everything is all right with the world. She has carried that within her from childhood, instilled in her by her parents, or perhaps she's just made that way. She's never had to doubt much of anything. Until now, when she's doubting everything. She needs to know the truth.

She wants to see this file. She wants to know exactly what Diana Brewer said about her fiancé. He says it's exaggeration and lies. She doesn't know whether to believe him. She'd like to speak to this attorney too. Is it true that Brad's got nothing to worry about? What about the other girl who's come forward? She wishes she could talk to her; maybe she could tell if the girl is lying.

When she arrives on Brad's street and parks, she glances up and sees him at the window, watching out for her. Her heart stumbles. Is this the last time she will ever come to this apartment? Is this the last time she will ever let herself see him? She observes his outline; he's smoking a cigarette, flicking the ash out the window. He's so effortlessly handsome, standing in the window, that it gives her a pang. He could have anyone, and he chose her. Why would he bother with teenage girls – unless there's something wrong with him, unless he's not normal? She doesn't like that he's taken up smoking again with a vengeance. It's a disgusting habit, she thinks. And that makes her worry about what other disgusting habits he might have.

She climbs the stairs with dread, and Brad opens his door before she even knocks.

‘Ellen!' he says and takes her in his arms. She allows herself to be held, but she's stiff, and she doesn't hug him back. She doesn't say anything. When he releases her, she walks into the living room, takes off her coat, throwing it on the back of the sofa, and turns to face him, her arms crossed. ‘I want to see this file.' It's why she's here – to see the file, not to see him.

‘Yeah, sure, of course,' he says and goes into the kitchen.

She watches him pick a file up off the kitchen table and bring it to her in the living room.

‘Fortunately,' he says, ‘Graham photocopied it before he gave it to the police, so he made another copy for me.' He looks only slightly apprehensive as he hands it to her.

She sits down silently and opens the file. It's short, just a couple of handwritten pages. It outlines how Diana Brewer had requested a private meeting with him and Brad Turner. The meeting took place after school on the afternoon of October 11, 2022, in his office. Diana told them she felt that Turner looked at her inappropriately and suggestively, that he touched her unnecessarily and inappropriately on multiple occasions, and that it made her uncomfortable. She said she didn't want to make a formal complaint, but she wanted this behaviour to stop. Kelly notes that he did not find her convincing, that he didn't believe her account, that he was inclined to believe Turner and think that Diana had either exaggerated the situation or made the accusations up. He wasn't going to take it any further because Diana did not want him to, which further made him believe she'd invented it all. Kelly felt it hadn't happened at all, or that, at worst, it was all a misunderstanding. Turner denied most of it, but apologized to Diana in front of him for any apparent misunderstanding and said that nothing like that would happen in future.

That's all.

Ellen finishes reading and stares down at the pages, getting her thoughts together. It's just as Brad said it would be. Kelly was there, and he clearly took his side. Kelly believed Brad, not Diana. It's just that … this other girl has come forward now. What is she going to say?

Finally, she nods and looks up at him. She still doesn't like it – any suggestion that her fiancé might have looked at a teenage girl the wrong way, that he might have touched her inappropriately, even if it was a ‘misunderstanding'. She would prefer that he'd had better judgement. She would prefer that she could be certain that Diana had made it all up. And this other girl too. But is that what really happened?

‘What about the other girl?' she asks. ‘What's she going to say?' Brad flushes and looks down at the carpet. And then she realizes. ‘You already know. What is she saying?' Ellen asks, her voice sharp.

‘She's lying, making stuff up, just like Diana,' he says. His voice is bitter. ‘The police interviewed me, yesterday morning. She's claiming I walked in on her, in the girls' locker room. It's bullshit. It never happened.'

Ellen's heart sinks again.

He narrows his eyes at her, annoyed. ‘There is no record at the school of this other girl ever complaining about me, so my attorney says I shouldn't be too worried. It makes her look like an attention seeker, coming forward now.'

Ellen looks back at him uneasily, not completely reassured. Does he really love her? Or does he just need her to stand by him?

Prior is sitting in his recliner at home, his feet up. Working construction is physically exhausting, and it's been a stressful day. The police have finally cleared out of his apartment. He's scrolling through the news on his phone as he eats the thick beef sandwich that he's made for supper, washing it down with a cold beer. He sees the news about that teacher and another girl. Good. Maybe they'll leave him alone now, he thinks. They found nothing at his apartment, and this teacher looks like he might have done it.

He continues to idly look through the news. There's a story that catches his immediate interest. MISSING GIRL FOUND DEAD. There's a photograph of her – a school photo, familiar. That photo was plastered in the media for weeks. They've found her in upstate New York, far out in the woods. He's put the sandwich down. He reads the article. Found by a hunter. It's always a hunter. Or a hiker. Somebody with a dog. The grave had been disturbed by animals, and the hunter's dog discovered it. He gets up and grabs himself another beer.