Tell the Truth Read Online Free Page A

stop. ‘So when I saw her car I was hoping she was here because she’s good to be around. She’s one of those people others just like to be with.’
    â€˜Including you,’ Marconi said.
    â€˜Well, yes.’
    â€˜You said you were married?’
    â€˜I was. My wife, Jennifer, died two years ago. Breast cancer.’
    Marconi said, ‘I’m sorry.’ She glanced at Simon and the other detective.
    â€˜He and his girlfriend and Emelia live with me,’ Rowan found himself saying. ‘Megan’s parents threw her out when she got pregnant. We all looked after Jennifer at home. Emelia was six weeks old when she died.’ He closed his mouth.
    â€˜I’m sorry,’ Marconi said again.
    â€˜Stacey and I are good friends. That’s all.’ He could feel the sweat run down his sides.
    She looked at him for a long moment. ‘Understood.’
    â€˜Hi, Pa.’ Emelia was waving at him. He waved back, a feeling like a cramp in his chest.
    Marconi said, ‘Do you know Stacey’s sister, Marie?’
    â€˜Not well, but we’ve met a few times.’
    â€˜How about Stacey’s friends?’
    He nodded. ‘She’s got three that she hangs about with. Claire Comber, Vicky something and Aimee Russell. Claire’s a paramedic based at Rockdale. Vicky and Aimee are nurses at Westmead. Surgical ward, I think.’
    Marconi wrote in her notebook, then looked directly into his eyes. ‘What did you think, deep down, when you saw the stain in the car?’
    â€˜About how I’ve seen less blood in cars when I’ve pulled out stabbing victims too late to save their lives.’
    Saying the words aloud made the skin go tight on his scalp.
    *
    Murray was still talking to Simon, so Ella took the spare moment to type Stacey’s mobile number into her phone then call it.
    â€˜ Stacey here. Leave your deets and I’ll bell you back. ’
    â€˜This is Detective Ella Marconi of the New South Wales Police,’ Ella said after the beep. ‘Stacey, we need to know where you are and that you’re okay. If you need urgent assistance call triple zero. Otherwise please call me back on this number.’
    When she hung up, Murray was waiting for her by the boot of the car.
    â€˜I think there’s something between Stacey and her work pal Rowan,’ she said. ‘Between the way that James looked over at him when we asked if Stacey ever met anyone at Bicentennial Park, and Rowan himself saying that he just “noticed” the car here, I get the feeling there’s something deeper going on.’
    â€˜A relationship?’ Murray asked.
    â€˜I don’t think so. But something. He did say he hadn’t been to the park recently, though. What’d you get?’
    â€˜Simon said that James called his bank on the drive here and asked about any withdrawals by his wife from their accounts,’ Murray said. ‘He also asked about putting a stop on them.’
    â€˜Did he now.’ Ella beckoned James Durham back over. ‘You phoned your bank?’
    He nodded. ‘I thought that if she’d been abducted or something she might’ve been made to give up her cards and PINs, and if the bank could tell me where a withdrawal was made we could start to find her. But the accounts haven’t been touched.’
    â€˜You wanted to put a stop on them too,’ Murray said.
    â€˜And an alert, for the same reason. I want to make life hard for some scumbag kidnapper, not easy.’
    â€˜You were already thinking that she’d been abducted?’ Ella said.
    â€˜Rowan said there was blood in the car. What else was I going to think?’
    His voice was hard. Ella assessed his face again. He looked furious. Either he really was, or anger was an easier expression for him to fake than concern.
    â€˜Okay,’ she said. ‘And you were once in a relationship with Stacey’s sister, Marie?’
    â€˜If you