no-one's seen her. They're all going to keep an eye out and search their out-buildings, just in case she turns up." She paused for a moment. "You need to..." Her voice trailed off, and she put her head in her hands, clearly starting to sob. "Divers," she blurted out eventually, taking big gulps of air. "You need to check the river! She might -" Before she could finish, put her head in her hands and began to sob. "You need to check the river," she said eventually, as tears dripped down onto the kitchen table. "She might have been washed away..."
"We're going to do everything in our power to find your daughter," the male officer said, glancing over at Charlotte for a moment before turning back to Tony, who had hurried over to put an arm around his wife. "I need someone to draw up a list of any places in the area that she might have gone. Parks, buildings, school... any place she might be familiar with. If she's lost, she might head to a familiar location and hope that someone comes to find her. Children sometimes do that if for some reason they're disorientated. If that's the case, we need to get to her before nightfall. I'm sure the temperature could get pretty low after dark."
"There are a few places," Tony said. "There's are a couple of parks we go to sometimes, and there's the dog shelter, and -"
"Can you write them down for me, Sir?" the office said, passing him the notebook and a pen. "Anywhere you can think of. It might seem silly, but we have to check every possible location. Would you describe Sophie as being worldly-wise? Do you think she'd be good at looking after herself?"
Charlotte couldn't help but grin at the suggestion.
"She's eight years old," Tony said, as Ruth continued to sob at the table. "How worldly-wise can an eight-year-old girl be?"
As the discussion continued, Charlotte waited a few minutes before slipping over to the door and heading out into the garden. She'd been feeling suffocated in the house, as if somehow everyone was blaming her for Sophie's disappearance. Standing on the porch and staring down toward the river, she waited for some sign of life; anything that might indicate Sophie's sudden return. Although she fully understood the seriousness of the situation, she hadn't yet given up hope that this was all some kind of huge misunderstanding, in which case Sophie might suddenly come running home, breathless with excitement after some kind of adventure and completely shocked that anyone was worried about her. That was the best-case scenario, at least.
"This must be very difficult for you," said the female officer, coming out to join her. "I'm sorry, we weren't introduced properly. I'm Eve Locklear. I do a lot of cases like this."
Charlotte nodded, preferring not to shake the woman's outstretched hand.
"I hope you don't mind," Eve continued, "but I'd like to ask you a few questions about the time you went missing."
"It's a pretty simple story," Charlotte muttered. "I went missing, and then a year later I came back. Apparently, anyway."
"Apparently?"
"It was twenty years ago," Charlotte replied, hoping to head off any questions as quickly as possible. "I was a kid, I really don't remember anything. Most of it, I just know from what I've been told."
"But you were away for a year?"
Charlotte nodded again.
"And you don't remember anything at all from that year? Not even a place or a face?"
"Nothing," Charlotte replied. "Before you mention it, my sister was lying. I did go and see a psychotherapist. I had several extremely tedious and expensive sessions before I finally figured I'd tried enough and there was no need to put myself through any more of that crap. I wasn't making any progress. Whatever I forgot, it's probably best left undisturbed."
Eve paused. "Were you examined for -"
"Yes!" Charlotte said firmly, keen to cut the question off. "I was poked and prodded once I came back and generally examined at great length. There was nothing wrong with me, and nothing had been done to
"We're going to do everything in our power to find your daughter," the male officer said, glancing over at Charlotte for a moment before turning back to Tony, who had hurried over to put an arm around his wife. "I need someone to draw up a list of any places in the area that she might have gone. Parks, buildings, school... any place she might be familiar with. If she's lost, she might head to a familiar location and hope that someone comes to find her. Children sometimes do that if for some reason they're disorientated. If that's the case, we need to get to her before nightfall. I'm sure the temperature could get pretty low after dark."
"There are a few places," Tony said. "There's are a couple of parks we go to sometimes, and there's the dog shelter, and -"
"Can you write them down for me, Sir?" the office said, passing him the notebook and a pen. "Anywhere you can think of. It might seem silly, but we have to check every possible location. Would you describe Sophie as being worldly-wise? Do you think she'd be good at looking after herself?"
Charlotte couldn't help but grin at the suggestion.
"She's eight years old," Tony said, as Ruth continued to sob at the table. "How worldly-wise can an eight-year-old girl be?"
As the discussion continued, Charlotte waited a few minutes before slipping over to the door and heading out into the garden. She'd been feeling suffocated in the house, as if somehow everyone was blaming her for Sophie's disappearance. Standing on the porch and staring down toward the river, she waited for some sign of life; anything that might indicate Sophie's sudden return. Although she fully understood the seriousness of the situation, she hadn't yet given up hope that this was all some kind of huge misunderstanding, in which case Sophie might suddenly come running home, breathless with excitement after some kind of adventure and completely shocked that anyone was worried about her. That was the best-case scenario, at least.
"This must be very difficult for you," said the female officer, coming out to join her. "I'm sorry, we weren't introduced properly. I'm Eve Locklear. I do a lot of cases like this."
Charlotte nodded, preferring not to shake the woman's outstretched hand.
"I hope you don't mind," Eve continued, "but I'd like to ask you a few questions about the time you went missing."
"It's a pretty simple story," Charlotte muttered. "I went missing, and then a year later I came back. Apparently, anyway."
"Apparently?"
"It was twenty years ago," Charlotte replied, hoping to head off any questions as quickly as possible. "I was a kid, I really don't remember anything. Most of it, I just know from what I've been told."
"But you were away for a year?"
Charlotte nodded again.
"And you don't remember anything at all from that year? Not even a place or a face?"
"Nothing," Charlotte replied. "Before you mention it, my sister was lying. I did go and see a psychotherapist. I had several extremely tedious and expensive sessions before I finally figured I'd tried enough and there was no need to put myself through any more of that crap. I wasn't making any progress. Whatever I forgot, it's probably best left undisturbed."
Eve paused. "Were you examined for -"
"Yes!" Charlotte said firmly, keen to cut the question off. "I was poked and prodded once I came back and generally examined at great length. There was nothing wrong with me, and nothing had been done to
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