I Choose You Read online

  ‘Is it? She’s better off knowing the facts now. No point getting her hopes up.’ Nathaniel sat in one of the armchairs away from the rest of them. He was tired and grumpy, and the last thing he wanted to do was kid himself with unrealistic hopes.

  The door creaked open slowly and DC Chilvers quietly walked in. ‘Morning, everyone.’

  ‘Will there be someone guarding Ida’s room even when we’re not there?’ Elise had seen the DC leave the room to take a call and hadn’t checked she was there when they left, which immediately caused another bout of panic, and she wiped her nose with her cardigan sleeve.

  ‘Yes, we’ve arranged for twenty-four-hour surveillance. Don’t worry, Mrs Munroe, security on your daughter’s room is covered at all times.’ The officer’s phone rang. ‘I won’t be a second.’ DC Chilvers left the room, murmuring into her phone.

  ‘Where are Miles and Buddy?’ Elise’s thoughts were scattered, and she suddenly remembered her other two children. She’d spoken to Miles on the phone earlier and he’d been tearful, having wanted to sleep at the hotel in Ray’s room but having been told no by everyone. She’d tried to explain why he had to stay with Granddad Nick, but yesterday’s events were taking their toll on the exhausted eight-year-old. Elise had felt so guilty saying no, wanting him to do whatever would give him the most comfort, but she knew the children would be better settled in a house familiar to them. The situation had made her even more emotional; as much as Miles loved his dad and other grandparents, he just wanted to be with Ray. Especially now.

  ‘Miles has gone to school and Buddy is with Dad and Karen.’

  ‘Will you bring Miles and Buddy back with you?’

  ‘Yes, later today, but not to this meeting. Miles doesn’t need to hear what happened to his sister, he’s traumatised enough. We need to keep things as normal as possible for them both. Dad and Karen are taking Buddy out today, and as soon as they’ve picked Miles up from school, they’ll give us a call and see if it’s okay to visit.’

  ‘Well, it’s not okay, is it,’ Elise snapped.

  Sonny rubbed her arm, trying to reassure her. ‘Come on, Elise, this isn’t helping.’

  Elise snatched her arm away. ‘How do I know Miles is safe at school? What if the person who attacked Ida is waiting for him as well?’

  ‘You’re being irrational, Elise,’ Nathaniel said. ‘I went into the school this morning and explained the situation. You know security is tight there, and even more so now I’ve told them what’s happened.’

  ‘He’s my son, and I’ll decide what’s best for him,’ Elise said, standing up.

  ‘Miles is fine, Elise. Now sit down and shut up.’ Nathaniel grabbed her arm a little too sharply and pulled her back towards her seat.

  ‘Hey, that’s enough.’ Ray glared at Nathaniel.

  Elise turned to Sonny, remembering what she hadn’t asked him earlier. ‘Why did you go back to the house yesterday afternoon?’

  ‘I told you, it was quite literally for a couple of minutes. I’d left a file behind – I had an important case yesterday.’

  ‘Did you see Ida?’ Elise asked.

  ‘Briefly. She came in with Alistair the same time as me, and when I left they were both in the kitchen.’

  ‘Let’s talk about this later.’ Ray silenced them both sharply as DC Chilvers reappeared with the senior investigating officer, DI David Davis.

  Sonny smiled and stood up, reaching his hand out to DC Chilvers. ‘Hello, Alex, it’s good to see you again.’

  ‘Mr Travers.’ She nodded, barely shaking his hand. ‘I hope you all managed to get some rest,’ she said to the three of them. ‘I know this is a terribly difficult situation, but we’re doing everything we can and following all lines of enquiry.’

  The DC’s tone was stiff, professional, telling Elise she might be delivering some bad news.

  ‘Haven’t you charged Alistair yet?’

  ‘No, Mrs Munroe. We’ll be questioning him today, but we haven’t charged anyone yet.’

  ‘But didn’t the photos come from his Facebook account?’ Elise’s mind was muddled; the photos of Ida had haunted her all night, and she wished she’d never seen them. Under normal circumstances the photos would have been perfectly fine, but no one was sure who had taken them.

  ‘No. They came from your daughter’s account, but we can’t be sure who posted them, Mrs Munroe. We know your daughter couldn’t have uploaded them at that time, but we need to find out exactly who did. It happens a lot, unfortunately. Ida’s laptop was found in Alistair’s bedroom, but he’s insisting Ida forgot to take it with her the previous night when she was there. Jumping to conclusions and making hasty arrests isn’t going to help this investigation.’

  ‘Well, it’s not like her to leave her laptop anywhere. Can’t you just find out who hacked her account?’ Elise was becoming hysterical; the thought of her daughter having a relationship with someone they didn’t know was filling her with horrors she didn’t want to think about. It was easier for her to focus on Alistair, the person they were familiar with and had known since he was a little boy.

  ‘Listen to me, Mrs Munroe,’ DI David Davis said while DC Chilvers took another call on her phone, ‘we’re not going to mislead you in any way; we’re just going to tell you the facts, however painful they are, because I think you’ll be better equipped to deal with it.’ Everyone sat in an uncomfortable silence.

  ‘I’m going to be your allocated family liaison officer, so if you have any questions or information, you need to come to me,’ DC Chilvers said, having finished her call.

  ‘Why wasn’t Alistair questioned last night if he was arrested?’ Elise squeezed her fingers together until her knuckles hurt.

  ‘We didn’t arrest him,’ said DC Chilvers. ‘He was asked to voluntarily answer some questions down at the station. He’s going to be questioned today because we couldn’t find an appropriate adult to accompany him last night. It’s likely you’ll be able to return to your father’s home later today or tomorrow, but the block of flats is still out of bounds. Are there any other questions you want to ask us?’ She looked around the room.

  Elise folded her arms to comfort herself, desperately trying to think of all the questions she had wanted to ask, but her mind seemed to have moved to the other side of the room, out of her reach. At last, she came up with something. ‘So he was released last night? Why can’t Magda or his father, Liam, do it?’

  ‘Alistair’s clothes and phone were taken from him last night, and Mr and Mrs King were asked to arrange alternative accommodation with him while some of our team searched their house. His parents felt it was best for him to have an independent appropriate adult, so we thought it would be better to start afresh today.’

  ‘Why?’ Elise was becoming more irritated.

  ‘We agreed someone independent would be beneficial. That’s all I can say about the matter.’ DC Chilvers looked directly at Elise, letting her know the subject was closed.

  ‘There’s something I need to draw your attention to.’ Everyone immediately looked at Ray, who had been unsettlingly quiet. ‘It was something I forgot to mention last night. I had a client with me yesterday. When I received Elise’s call about the break-in, I was in a hurry to leave after the session. I’m not entirely sure he left the house . . . What I mean is, I didn’t escort him out like I would normally. I’m fairly certain I saw him heading towards the front door, but I can’t be totally sure.’

  ‘Okay, Dr Coe.’ DI David Davis picked up his pen. ‘What’s your client’s name?’

  ‘James Caddy. He’s been coming to me for two years.’

  Elise turned to Nathaniel. ‘The “strange” man Miles mentioned.’

  ‘The strange man?’ DC Chilvers addressed the two of them.

  Nathaniel nodded. ‘Miles mentioned he spoke to a strange man at Ray’s yesterday.’

  ‘Did he say anything else?’ DC Chilvers jotted everything down in her pocketbook.

  ‘No, that was it. A funny man with an
eye patch.’ Nathaniel was concentrating hard on Ray, and Elise could feel things were beginning to get out of hand. Nathaniel and her father had never seen eye to eye about anything.

  ‘You’ll need to give us a list of all your clients’ details, Dr Coe. Someone should have spoken to you about that last night.’

  ‘Of course. As soon as I can have access to my office, I’ll give you the keys to the filing cabinets, so you can look at any relevant cases.’

  ‘We’ll be looking at all the files, Dr Coe.’ DI Davis looked at Ray over his glasses.

  ‘Are you going to enlighten us on the details of James Caddy?’ Nathaniel’s gaze was still firmly on Ray.

  ‘I can’t discuss my patients with you, Nathaniel, you know that. I will talk with the officers privately.’

  ‘Someone has attempted to kill my daughter and you’re worried about client confidentiality?’

  ‘I will talk to the relevant people about the matter. The right people will have the information they need.’

  Before anyone could stop Nathaniel, he’d got out of his seat and grabbed Ray by his shirt and lifted him from his chair. ‘You’ll fucking tell us now!’

  Sonny and DI Davis rushed over to defuse the embarrassing scene.

  ‘This is all your fault!’ Nathaniel spat at Ray, his voice breaking with emotion. ‘This is all your fucking fault.’

  ‘Sit down, Mr Munroe. This isn’t helping the situation.’ DC Chilvers spoke firmly once Nathaniel had been restrained and was led back to his own seat.

  Ray straightened his shirt while Nathaniel shook his head. Elise was silent; it was all more than she could bear.

  ‘We’re done here, aren’t we?’ Sonny said. ‘I really must go, I’m due in court this afternoon.’ He picked up his phone and keys, ready to leave, as if these scenes were a common occurrence.

  DI Davis turned to him. ‘We need you to come down to the station and answer some more questions, Mr Travers.’

  ‘Me?’ Sonny frowned. ‘I really don’t have time now – I’ll come in this evening. I answered your questions and gave you an account of what happened last night.’

  ‘Sonny, I don’t need to tell you how crucial the first few hours are in any investigation. It won’t take long, just an hour out of your busy schedule.’ DC Chilvers stared at him forcefully.

  Ray stood up. ‘I’ll drive you down there and wait for you. Save you getting a taxi.’ He paused, looking at Nathaniel before he spoke again. ‘James Caddy is a paranoid schizophrenic. He was admitted to a high-security prison hospital some years ago for the attempted murder of his stepdaughter. He’s out on licence.’

  ‘And you just forgot to tell anyone this last night?’ Nathaniel shook his head.

  Ray opened and closed his hands. ‘I was tired and confused. He has no motive. I didn’t give him another thought after everything else that happened.’

  ‘What did he do to her?’ Nathaniel wasn’t going to let it go. ‘To his stepdaughter . . . What did he do?’

  ‘I told you, he tried to kill her. That’s all you need to know.’

  ‘Come on, let the police do their work.’ Sonny squeezed Nathaniel’s shoulder.

  ‘Tell me what he did to her, Ray.’ Nathaniel was persistent, and Elise couldn’t blame him for that.

  ‘You need to calm down, Mr Munroe,’ DC Chilvers said. ‘I’ll get all the details about James Caddy when I get back to the station.’

  ‘I need to hear it from him.’ Nathaniel banged his hand on the arm of the chair and then stood up and grabbed Ray again.

  ‘Stop it! Stop it! Stop it!’ Elise screamed, her hands pulling at her bedraggled hair.

  ‘If you don’t calm down, I’m going to have to arrest you.’ DI Davis gripped Nathaniel’s arm. ‘Is that what you want? Me to cuff you and put you in the police car in front of all the press and photographers standing out there? You need to support your wife.’

  Ray sighed. ‘James Caddy sexually assaulted his stepdaughter and attacked her with a claw hammer. He doesn’t recall the incident; he has paranoid schizophrenia.’ He looked at Davis and Chilvers. ‘He’s been struggling recently, which is why I gave him an emergency appointment.’

  A whole new set of thoughts hit Elise like she’d been punched in the stomach. ‘Ida hasn’t been raped, has she?’

  ‘We don’t know,’ Chilvers said. ‘Ida is in such a fragile state we haven’t been able to examine her properly yet.’

  ‘What aren’t you telling me?’

  Neither police officer answered Elise, focusing their attention on Ray instead.

  ‘Why has James Caddy been struggling recently?’ DI Davis moved in front of Nathaniel in case he lost his temper again.

  Ray glanced around the room. ‘He hasn’t been taking his medication and he has a history of cocaine addiction, which exacerbates his condition. He has an alter ego he calls Derek Mantel. The person he claimed to be when he attacked his stepdaughter.’

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  NOW

  Elise slammed the car door shut and let herself into the new home she and Nathaniel had bought in an attempt at starting again, away from all the memories the apartment had stifled them with. No sane person could possibly like the house – it was derelict, and had been abandoned for many years until the owner had decided to live there temporarily. It had been inhabited by an elderly man and no one quite knew his logic. One story Elise had heard was that he was eccentric and owned lots of properties in the area, places he’d never renovated, and as each one deteriorated and he was slapped with a compulsory purchase order from the council, he would move into the next, barely habitable residence. But this was where he met his tragic end in a house fire. Forensics suspected he fell asleep by the hearth in the sitting room while he was smoking a cigarette, and it ignited his clothes. Elise had nearly laughed when the estate agent told them, even though she knew it wasn’t funny at all, but it fed her dark sense of humour. He’d been known as such an eccentric character and yet there was no great story to tell about his death.

  The smoke had entwined itself around the house, so no one would forget. It had smeared the events of that day up the walls, encasing death inside, and Elise loved it. She wanted to be blanketed in it, to feel the full impact of its acrid, choking smell. It reminded her of Ida, and it was where Elise decided she wanted to be. The chipped black-and-white floor tiles in the hall, the curve of the cracked plaster peeling from the staircase, the smoke-damaged walls in the sitting room that had left a sinister shape by the fireplace, the kitchen with its eclectic layers of paint, and the skeletons of leaves from ferns that had been left to die in the sun on the deep windowsill of the lean-to all represented how Elise felt, and it was like she had found a kindred spirit, a friend. It was them – her and Nathaniel – and from there she could look at it all from the outside in.

  In their new home, Death and Elise had swapped the lure of their apartment balcony for the comfort of a gentle drowning, should the mood take her to step into the deep river at the bottom of their long garden and entangle herself in the thick reeds.

  Elise had stayed sober for three days now; she was coping and had felt okay until her boss had called her in for a meeting following the latest revelations with the Patons.

  ‘Don’t do this, Rick,’ she’d pleaded with him. ‘I’ll be better, I promise. I just went on a bit of a bender at the weekend and things got out of hand.’

  ‘I can’t give you any more chances, Elise. I’m being pressured to make a proactive decision because I should have dealt with this before.’

  ‘But if I wasn’t known by the public, no one would have any idea what happened. It’s only because some idiot filmed it on their phone, sold the story and it was splashed all over the papers.’

  ‘It’s got nothing to do with the papers, Elise. Jane Paton has been in to see me.’

  Elise frowned. ‘Oh, right, and you’re just going to take her word for it?’

  Rick was silent, and Elise could see he was wondering who she’
d turned into now – what sort of person she’d become to be in such denial. And she knew, vaguely, the level of her denial, but it was her protector, her saviour, because letting go meant facing up to a lot of truths she just couldn’t bear.

  ‘Elise, she’s doing you a favour. She’s told the police it was all a big misunderstanding and she wants to drop the charges. You’re lucky. I’m not sure I’d be so forgiving if you tried to take my child.’

  Elise couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Wasn’t she allowed a relapse, considering everything that had happened to her family?

  ‘Maybe I’ll press charges against her husband for assaulting me. Everyone knows he’s a fucking junkie.’ Elise shook her head and picked up her bag, ready to leave.

  ‘Mark is a top surgeon, one of the best.’ Rick was becoming irritated, and Elise knew she wasn’t helping herself, but she was beyond caring and couldn’t think of anything else to say. ‘Friend to friend, Elise. Go home, have some time off, and check yourself into a rehabilitation centre. You’ll have my full support if you do this, and there will be a job for you when you’re well enough to return. That is your only option. If you don’t accept, I’m going to suspend you. That isn’t something you want in the papers.’

  Elise had stood up and walked out. Somewhere inside her head she knew he was right, but she couldn’t grasp the thought and turn it into something comprehensible, because the major part of her mind was telling her he was wrong. She didn’t have a huge problem, she could control this, whatever ‘this’ was. She was no different to most people who relied on alcohol and various types of drugs to cope with life. She was functioning, she lived her life, for the most part, in a civilised manner – she was employed in a respectable job, she didn’t have a criminal record – so what was the problem?

  The house didn’t offer her any comfort today, which was unusual. Elise normally sighed with relief once she’d closed the door behind her but not today. There was something rattling in the rafters, she could feel it.

  Nathaniel walked in just as she’d poured herself a large glass of wine, his face white and drawn.