Dead Secret Read Free Page B

daughter.”
    “Did they fall out? Were they estranged?”
    “Oh no, nothing like that. For all I know they were the kind of arguments that mothers and daughters engage in all the time. Most young people are selfish, aren’t they, Sergeant?”
    Ava was much closer in age to the hapless Amy than she was to Anna Foster.
    * * *
    They had arrived at Nancy’s shop. Anna Foster walked straight into the back room and embraced her friend, prompting a fresh shedding of tears. Neal and Ava excused themselves and waited in the shop’s more cheerful interior.
    “I hated sewing at school,” Ava remarked picking up a kit containing all you needed to create a cushion cover of Van Gogh’s ‘Sunflowers’ painting in needlepoint. “Nice design though, would go well with my bedroom curtains.”
    “We need to interview Amy’s flatmate as soon as possible; the one who reported her missing,” Neal commented.
    “Becci Jones?” Ava said, “I spoke with her briefly on Saturday evening, remember?” It was as close as she would permit herself to come to saying, ‘“I told you so.’”
    They were interrupted by the hesitant appearance of Anna Foster at the stockroom door.
    “Nancy’s ready,” she said, and Neal nodded. A few moments later, they stepped outside into the sombre light of late morning, Neal and Anna Foster supporting Nancy up the hill to where Ava’s car was parked in a side street, outside the pedestrian zone. Ava walked slightly ahead of them in the drizzling rain, conscious of the heavy weight of sorrow following in her footsteps.

Chapter 2
    Ava wished Becci Jones would stop sending those critical looks in her direction.
    “If your lot had listened to me on Saturday evening when I first reported her missing, Amy might still be alive,” the girl complained, shaking her head. Ava felt herself redden. She didn’t dare look at Neal. In the circumstances, explaining that most people who failed to return home on a Saturday night usually turned up safe and sound the next day seemed inappropriate.
    Becci obviously needed someone to vent her anger on, but Ava wished she hadn’t chosen her. Then again, she had promised Becci she would do all she could to ensure that Amy’s disappearance would be properly investigated. Well, Amy’s disappearance would certainly be investigated. Along with her death. In fact, Amy Hill’s short life and her death were about to be given the highest police priority, but it was too little too late as far as Becci Jones was concerned. Neal cleared his throat, and Ava was grateful for his words.
    “Perhaps we need to focus on how we can help bring your friend’s murderer to justice.”
    For a moment, it seemed that Becci Jones hadn’t heard. Then, she simply nodded and sat down. “Yes, I suppose you’re right. It’s just so overwhelming, you know? I can’t believe I’ll never see Ames again. I keep hoping she’ll just walk in the door and like, laugh her head off at us all for getting so worked up.”
    Ava felt a pang of pity for the girl. And not only for her grief, but also her thinness, the pinched, slightly undernourished look, like a waif. She was dressed in a blue crop top and skinny jeans that hung low on her jutting hips, leaving her white midriff bare. A silver ring pierced the skin around her navel. Fine, heat-straightened hair hung limply around a plain, unremarkable face. She could be pretty, Ava thought; she had the kind of face that could be transformed with the right amount of colour, like a blank canvas.
    “Had you and Amy been friends for long?” Neal was asking.
    “Since school. We got this flat share together after we both got accepted at the Uni.”
    Becci’s eyes filled with tears. Perhaps she was remembering her first day at school, the uncertainty she and Amy shared, the first stirrings of friendship.
    “Had you noticed any changes in your friend recently? In her appearance or her behaviour?” Neal asked.
    “No. She was just Amy.”
    “Did Amy confide