Chapter 55
EDINBURGH
‘Moira isn’t at home, not answering her phone and she was seen talking to this Peter in the café, and now we find out Sylvia Green was with him,’ Brodie said, driving over the speed limit.
‘You don’t know for a fact she met him after that,’ Lucy said.
‘We don’t know that she didn’t,’ Brodie said. ‘I have a bad feeling about this.’
‘Could it be her husband is messing her about?’ Lucy asked.
‘Roger He’s a windbag. Moira would knock the stuffing out of him. No, he wouldn’t have touched her. It has to be this Peter guy, but who the hell is he? And if he took her, where would he have taken her?’
‘Let’s not assume the worst, sir.’
They drove the rest of the way in silence up to Liberton, Brodie not being able to get his sister out of his mind. The traffic was starting to pick up in the late afternoon, the prelude to rush hour.
Alice Jack was simply sitting back with a lovely cup of tea when the doorbell rang. She had added a splash of whisky to her drink, just to soften the memories a little. The memories of five years ago.
‘Ms Jack,’ Brodie said, standing large in her doorway. Beside him was the female detective who had been with him the last time.
‘DCI Brodie. I thought you might come today,’ she said, ushering them in.
‘Why is that?’ he said as she closed the door. It was cool in here, the late afternoon sun neither hitting the front nor the back of the house.
‘Because of the anniversary. Five years ago today, I killed somebody.’
Brodie looked at Lucy as they walked into the living room. ‘I know, you told me all about it the last time we spoke. You said it was almost five years to the day. And you’re right, that is why we’re here, but not because of the anniversary.’
‘Today is the day.’ They sat down on the couch, with Alice taking a chair. ‘Why are you here? Is it because you know now?’
‘We do know,’ Lucy said. ‘We need you to elaborate.’
Alice looked at her tea and wanted to down it in one go, but resisted the urge. ‘I was sure she was going to tell you eventually, DCI Brodie. It wasn’t my idea, it was all hers. She wanted to protect you.’
‘Go on,’ he said, not wanting to stop her talking now.
‘She left the scene before the police got there. Nobody knew she was in the car when I hit the cyclists.’
‘Who left the scene, Alice?’ Brodie said.
‘I thought you said you knew?’
‘I think we’ve got our wires crossed here,’ Brodie said. ‘Who are you talking about that left the scene?’
Alice paused for a moment before answering. ‘Your sister. Moira. She didn’t want to cause any bother for you. She thought it might reflect badly on you, so she left before the police got there.’
‘Moira was there?’ Lucy said, unable to keep the shock out of her voice.
‘Yes. She’s one of our friends. We were all drinking, but I was the one driving. I wish we had taken a taxi that night, but we thought we could make it back here if we were careful. However, I was too far over the limit to drive safely. And then the accident happened.’
‘Where did this happen?’
‘On Liberton Brae. Not far from here. We were almost home…’