Finding Jennifer Jones Read Online Free Page B

it?”
    “Sure.”
    “Got a hangover?”
    “Not really. Well. A little bit.”
    “You could come and lie down again. It’s early yet.”
    She smiled and shook her head. “I told you. I’ve got to go.”
    “See you, Kate.”
    She nodded.
    “You don’t even know my name, do you?”
    “I do!” she said.
    “What is it?”
    He was calling her bluff. She simply couldn’t remember it. She picked her phone out of her pocket and looked down her list of contacts and came across the most recently entered name.
    “Jimmy Fuller.”
    He smiled. “Remember me, now.”
    “See you,” she said.
    She walked out of the room and out of the house. It took her a moment to work out where she was. The street was unfamiliar so she walked along it until she came to a junction. Then she saw the pub she’d been in the previous evening. She went on. It was another sunny day and she screwed her eyes up as she went.
    When she got closer to the beach she listened for any sirens but it was silent. She was still thirsty so she went into a shop and bought a bottle of water. The woman who served her was talking on her phone and Kate waited patiently until she’d finished her conversation, then handed over her money.
    “Any news on the girl who drowned?” she said.
    The woman nodded but made a face. “They found her late last night. Only she didn’t drown. She was murdered.”

Five
    Kate went straight up to her bedroom. Her mind was racing. The little girl’s body had been found. Not drowned but murdered . The news made her feel wretched.
    Her room was messy from the night before when she had rushed out. Her work skirt was sitting on the floor where she had dropped it. She picked it up and brushed it down. There was a pile of ironing there, waiting for her to work her way through it. She sighed. The house was quiet. There was no sound from Ruth’s room. No doubt Robbie was with her. It was gone eleven and the pair didn’t usually surface till the afternoon on Sundays. She couldn’t hear anything from Sally’s room either.
    She noticed a large padded envelope on her bedside table with a Post-it stuck to it. It was Sally’s handwriting.
    This came for you today. You must have missed it on the hall table XXX
    She picked the envelope up and opened it. A piece of paper came out, and a paperback book. She held onto the paper but her eyes were drawn to the book. Children Who Kill, by Sara Wright. The words underneath the title made her breath catch in her throat. The Case of Jennifer Jones .
    She sat down on the bed, shaken. Sara Wright . She recognised the name. Sara Wright was the journalist who had tricked her way into her life. Kate flicked through the book. One hundred and ninety-two pages. How could anyone write that much about her and what she had done?
    She unfolded the paper. It was a letter from Jill Newton, her first probation officer.
Dear Kate,
I hope you are well. This was sent to me a couple of weeks ago to be passed onto you. It is just being published, I understand. I kept it because I honestly didn’t know whether to forward it or not. I know it will upset you. However, I read it myself and I have to say it is a well-written and sympathetic piece of work. Sara Wright, for all her questionable methods, has written a decent book and I doubt that it will do you any harm. Of course, the media will be reviewing this book or writing about its publication and I would guess that you might be upset if those kind of articles surface again. But the book itself is well meaning, I believe. This is why I’ve sent it to you. I hope you are enjoying your degree.
Yours,
Jill Newton
    Kate opened the book. There was a foreword. She read it over.
A year or so ago, while working as a newspaper reporter, I followed up a story about the release of Jennifer Jones, the child who had killed her friend at a nature park six years before. I had information that this girl was living in Croydon with a carer. In order to find out how she was adjusting