Torment (40 page)

She turned to look at him. “Why doesn’t that make me feel any better? What did really happen to them anyway?”

“You were there, at the trial. You heard Stanley speak about what he discovered when his father died. The forensic evidence supported the theory that Wilf Collinson abducted the girls, brought them here … and strangled them. It was only after his father died that Stanley discovered their shoes and socks in one of his father’s bedroom drawers.”

Susan wiped her face with the back of her hand. “They were barefoot.”

“Stanley still held on to them, probably in some twisted sense of loyalty to his father. But he’d also discovered them down there.” He pointed to the farmhouse. “And instead of reporting it then, he blocked up the doorway, hoping to conceal them. I suppose we’ll never know for sure, but Stanley has admitted everything else, so I tend to believe him when he says he had no idea what his father had done … until the day he made his discovery.”

They stood in silence for a few more seconds.

“I love Christmas,” Susan finally said. “That’s what Mary told me. And Jennifer too.”

“Come on, let’s get back.” Sammy took hold of her arm and turned back to the car. “Gillian will have Christmas dinner ready for us.”

Strong checked his watch and looked at Souter. “Laura’s expecting us at two and we’ve got to pick up Alison on the way.”

“Thanks for coming with me, Bob,” Susan said, as she opened her car door.

“Enjoy the rest of your Christmas.”

As the cars fired up and disappeared back down the gravel track, the farmyard fell silent and peaceful once more. The wind picked up again, fluttering the labels on the bears.

“To Jennifer, Happy Christmas, love from Susan XXX”
, read one, and on the other,
“For Mary, Happy Christmas, love from Susan XXX”
; along the bottom of both,
“Sleep well, your torment is over.”

THE END

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