Chapter 42
Two police cars are parked at the entrance of the Clarkes’ driveway, and uniformed officers have been stationed out the front. This is shocking enough, but the crowd assembled at the taped-off cordon is what makes me gasp. It’s almost as if the entire village has congregated on the street.
I’ve seen many of the faces around Bramblethorpe. They always seemed friendly. I never imagined they would be the kind of people to take photos of the police outside someone’s home and swap gossipy theories, but many of them are doing exactly that.
Villagers aren’t the only people trying to sneak an exclusive.
As I park my car and squeeze through the crowd to get to the police tape, I clock a camera crew and reporter setting up.
My body jolts. I hadn’t prepared myself to see journalists here.
It only makes me worry more. Maybe something else has been uncovered – something I’ve yet to hear about.
Clenching my jaw, I pray it’s not bad news about Alexa.
But my horror peaks when my eyes lock on Sonya, looking more vengeful than ever. Her smug smirk makes my breath catch, then she nods her head towards the driveway, indicating for me to look.
Following her gaze, I see a hubbub of activity playing out.
Central to it all is a hunched Otis. Standing beside DS Rani and DS Mullins, he’s staring at the ground in a daze.
He looks so small and broken, it’s hard not to feel sorry for him, but beyond Otis is an even sorrier sight.
The front door of his impressive house is wide open, inviting figures in white all-in-one suits to enter it.
Forensics.
Suddenly, another figure steps out of the house and crosses the driveway.
Gabby, looking quietly furious but ever the professional.
She addresses the police, then turns to Otis.
Lifting his downturned head, she speaks to him, then to DS Rani and DS Mullins.
Being so far away, I can’t hear what they’re saying, but I lean closer instinctively.
‘Excuse me,’ an officer says, stepping forward and blocking my view. ‘You can’t pass.’
‘But—’
‘Unless you’re with Mr Clarke’s legal team, I’m going to have to ask you to move on,’ he says firmly.
I open my mouth to object, but DS Rani notices what’s going on and breaks from Otis’s side.
‘It’s all right,’ she calls as she walks towards me. When she reaches the police tape, she offers me a tight smile. ‘Janine, how are you?’
‘I’m okay. Is Otis under arrest?’
DS Rani glances at the cluster of eavesdropping press then lifts the police tape for me to duck under. She leads me partway up the driveway and turns us away from prying ears.
‘We have a warrant to search the house,’ she says.
‘It seems Otis hasn’t been as honest with us as we’d hoped.
We have you to thank for helping uncover that.
’ When my eyebrows dip in confusion, she leans closer.
‘Simon Brooks came to speak to us about his relationship with Alexa. He said you told him to come forward to help us find her.’
My head lifts. ‘You’ve found Alexa?’
When she sees my hope, DS Rani’s face creases with sympathy. ‘No, but I’m sure once we speak to Otis again, that may change. We’ll be bringing cadaver dogs to the house later today, too.’
‘Cadaver dogs?’ I gulp as a white-suited figure emerges from the front door behind DS Rani’s shoulder. ‘Does that mean you think Otis killed her?’
‘Janine, I’m going to speak candidly here, not as a police officer but as someone who knows how much finding Alexa means to you.
I know you’ve been hoping that she would be found alive and well.
We all have – but truthfully, from the moment we were made aware of Alexa’s disappearance, we suspected foul play. ’
I close my eyes as the statement cracks my heart.
‘No one goes into their garden and vanishes. No one. Our job here was to determine if something had happened to Alexa, or if she orchestrated her disappearance so she could escape her marriage.’
‘Do you really think she’d do that?’
DS Rani bites her lip, weighing up how much to tell me. ‘Things have happened within the walls of that house that Otis has not shared with you. I can’t say much more than that, but we have reason to believe that Alexa was a very unhappy woman.’
‘But – but Otis said Alexa loved him,’ I stumble. ‘He said they were happy.’
‘What someone in denial says and the truth are very different things. Alexa’s internet history shows searches for divorce lawyers and properties in Denmark, suggesting an intent to leave.
We have statements from Simon Brooks and Sonya West saying that she wanted out of the marriage.
We have evidence, Janine. Evidence that proves Otis’s assertion that things were okay is wrong.
And last night, we got confirmation that the stain on the tennis ball we found was blood.
It matches Alexa Clarke’s DNA.’ I recoil, but DS Rani reaches for me.
‘I’m not telling you this to upset you, but to help you walk away.
We’ll be taking Otis to the station soon for questioning as a formal suspect.
We expect him to be charged within the next twenty-four hours. ’
A gust of wind howls through the trees at those words. Shivering, I let it pass over me.
DS Rani rests her hand on my arm. ‘I know you feel a connection to Alexa Clarke, but you and she are not the same. What happened in her marriage is not a blueprint of what will happen in yours. Loss might be universal, but how it shapes us is personal. Leave what has happened here behind. Focus on yourself and your future.’
‘I just… I just wanted Alexa to be okay,’ I croak.
‘We all did, Janine. We all did.’
Sniffing back tears, I look up to the sky. Thick white clouds hang overhead, blocking out any sign of sunlight, a sure sign that winter is coming. A new season, bringing the old one to an end.
A new beginning, but only for those ready to see it that way.
‘I’d like to leave now,’ I say. ‘I don’t want to be here when you take Otis away.’
‘Of course. We’ll need to speak to you again at some point, but for now I think it’s time you went home to write your next bestseller.’
DS Rani and I share a smile. Then, without looking back, I leave Otis’s police-infested driveway behind, feeling both heavier and lighter at the same time.