---

Alison does everything I ask of her; we visit several flats and she puts down a deposit on one in Hammersmith. It’s currently empty so is available immediately, but the letting agent tells us they need to check references and get paperwork sorted from the landlord, so it will be at least Thursday before she can move in.

It’s only Monday now, but Freya is happy to stay with Pam and Graham until then, and the extra days buy me more time.

I watch Alison whenever I can, studying her carefully, and with each passing day she seems to become more confident, moving further away from the timid woman who walked into my office on that first day we met. As far as I know, she’s had no contact with Dominic, and she’s spending less and less time on her phone, so, on the surface, at least, it appears that she’s making an effort to start her new life. But it is almost too perfect, too staged, and if it hadn’t been for her watching Will and me in bed the other night, I might have begun to trust her.

I’ve told Alison I’m going on a course today, because now I have everything in place to catch her out with her lie.

Dominic has agreed to meet me and I’ve made sure it’s somewhere public. I don’t want to be alone with him in his house and I can’t risk him finding out Alison has been staying with me. So now I’m in a coffee shop, close to where Zach used to work, and Dominic is late. I’ve considered the possibility that he might not turn up at all, but I’m willing to bet he’s so desperate for information on Alison that he’ll make sure he gets here.

Twenty minutes later he rushes through the door, scanning the room until he spots me. ‘Mia, I’m so sorry.’ He pulls out a chair and sits down. ‘I had a meeting that overran and then had to get back to Ealing. Thanks for waiting. And thanks for calling. You said you’d heard from Alison?’

‘Yes, that’s right. But there’s no way I’m telling you where she is.’ I hold my breath and wait for his reaction.

‘What? Why? What do you mean?’

‘I’ve seen her bruises, Dominic. First-hand. The bruises that you left all over her body.’

He leans forward and bangs his knuckles on the table. ‘Whoa, hold on! If you’re talking about that small bruise on her arm, that was an accident. She was hysterical and I was trying to calm her down. Maybe I grabbed her a bit too hard and it… it left a mark. But there’s no way I’d hurt her deliberately.’

‘A mark is not how I’d describe it. But I’m sure the police have already talked to you about that. Anyway, that’s not the only reason I’m here.’

‘Wait, Mia, what are you talking about? What police?’

‘Oh, come on, Dominic. I know Alison’s been to the police and that they’ve spoken to you. There’s no point denying anything any more.’

His mouth hangs open and he stumbles on his words. ‘Alison’s been to the police? What about?’

‘About the physical abuse she’s suffered at your hands. Probably mental abuse too. All of it. They know everything, Dominic.’

‘Wait, physical abuse? Are you saying I’ve hurt Alison? Is that what she’s told you?’

‘She’s my client. I can’t discuss that with you.’

‘Mia, listen, I’ve told you before that Alison’s not in her right frame of mind. She needs help, she’s disturbed.’

‘So you keep saying. But of course you would say that, wouldn’t you? Especially when she’s not around to defend herself. That’s just what men like you do, isn’t it?’

‘You’ve got this all wrong. And the police haven’t spoken to me about anything. Surely you can check that? I would never hurt Alison – or any woman.’

His words are so confident, so adamant, that I find myself doubting what I’m doing. What if I’ve got this all wrong? I start to feel short of breath. It won’t be long until panic overwhelms me again, unless I can calm myself down and think rationally. I’ve got to salvage this before it’s too late.

‘Prove it to me. Prove you haven’t done anything to Alison, and that she’s as troubled as you say she is.’

‘I can’t. How can I prove it? It’s my word against hers, isn’t it?’ He lets out a deep breath and his head flops back against his chair. ‘Wait. Maybe there is something.’ He leans forward again and pulls his phone from his pocket. ‘This is a text she sent me on Thursday.’

He holds the phone out and I tentatively take it, unsure what I’ll find on the screen. It’s definitely a text from Alison, but the words almost stop my breath.

I’ve got to go away for a few days to be by myself. I’m sorry, I just need some time to get myself straight. But I love you. Never forget that.

I read it again, hoping the words will say something different this time around, something that proves Alison has been telling the truth, because even though I’ve doubted her at times, her lying to me throws everything into question. I wanted to believe her claims about Dominic; that they stemmed from the confused mind of an unstable woman in an abusive relationship. But whether or not she truly knows anything about Zach, she has fabricated this story about her own partner. But why?

Dominic gives me some time then reaches for his phone. ‘From the look on your face I can tell that’s done something in my favour. What exactly did she tell you?’

I don’t mention that Alison’s been staying with me for the last few days, but I tell Dominic I’ve seen her and that she went to the police station; supposedly to report his abuse.

‘But what did she say to them? I swear, they haven’t called me or come round or anything.’

That’s when it dawns on me that I don’t actually know what she was doing in there. I was outside, and didn’t even wait to see her come out. Shooting pains cut through my stomach. When I manage to speak my voice is almost a whisper. ‘I don’t know what she said. Or if she even actually spoke to them.’

Dominic shakes his head. ‘This is what she does, Mia. I tried to tell you. She makes things up, tells lies to cover her tracks and then that leads to even more lies.’ He checks his watch. ‘Look, will you come somewhere with me? There’s someone I want you to meet. It might help you understand a bit more.’

I stare at him but don’t know how to reply.

‘You can drive if that makes you feel more comfortable? It’s only in Hayes, so not far.’

---

Alison’s parents must only be in their fifties, yet they look at least twenty years older than that. They live in a tiny ground-floor flat, but inside it’s neat and well maintained.

Dominic has already filled me in on the way here, and there was sadness in his voice as he told me they used to own a large house in Milton Keynes but had to sell it to move to London to be closer to Alison. This was all they could afford and they even had to throw in over half their savings to buy it.

‘I hadn’t met her at that point,’ Dominic had explained. ‘It wasn’t long after, you know, what happened with Zach and Josie and everything. It just really affected Alison and she lost it a bit. Had some sort of breakdown. But they can tell you more about it.’

So now I stand in their cramped kitchen, not sure where this will lead or what I will find out, what it will mean for the future.

‘I’m so sorry for your loss,’ Camilla Frances says. It was no surprise to find out from Dominic that Cummings isn’t Alison’s real name. That might explain why I found no trace of her on the Internet when I first looked her up.

‘Why Cummings?’ I’d asked Dominic.

But he had no idea. ‘She probably just picked a name at random from the credits of a TV programme or something like that. Things are not always clearly thought out with Alison. A lot of the time what she does is just random.’

The loss Camilla refers to must be Zach, but to me it could also mean what I’m about to lose: everything I’ve believed in. ‘Thank you,’ I say.

‘It must be so awful for you. I hope people are leaving you alone now.’

I nod and try not to show my discomfort. If I tread carefully I will leave here with a much better insight into Alison, so I can’t afford to make an enemy of Camilla and Anthony. ‘It’s been a long road but nobody seems to bother me any more. I did get a lot of abuse about Zach in the beginning. Well, for over a year at least, but people seem to have short memories.’

She takes my hand. ‘Well, I’m glad they’re leaving you alone now.’ She turns to Dominic. ‘Please tell me you’ve found her?’

‘Yes, well, sort of. She’s not at home but I have heard from her this time. And she’s okay, so there’s really no need to worry.’

Camilla sinks back against the worktop. ‘I do nothing but worry about her, though. You know that, Dominic.’

He moves across to her and takes her hand. I’m not easily fooled by people but it’s getting harder to believe that this is an abusive man, although I know from experience that they can be extremely charming with other people. But still, Alison’s text seems to refute everything she’s said so far.

But she is tied up in what happened to Zach and Josie, I know it.

‘Well, I thought it might be good for you to speak to Mia. She’s a counsellor, too, so I think it will help us all actually.’ He turns to me and offers an apologetic smile.

Camilla nods, but a frown appears on her husband’s face. ‘All this talking,’ says Anthony. ‘It hasn’t done Alison any good so far, has it? And it’s been years. We’ve never cared about money and we’ll pay anything we need to in order to help her, but we really have very little left now.’

I shouldn’t be surprised to hear Alison had been seeing someone before she came to me. ‘I won’t take any of your money,’ I say to Anthony. ‘I just want to help Alison.’

‘I, um, thank you. That’s very kind of you.’

‘I really think Mia’s the best person to help us,’ Dominic says. ‘Especially as it seems finding Mia has heightened Alison’s obsession, for some reason.’

‘Don’t call it that,’ Anthony says. ‘It’s not an obsession. She just needs help, that’s all.’

This isn’t the first time I’ve felt out of my depth since Alison stepped into my life, and I hate feeling out of control. ‘Just what exactly is going on?’ I say to all of them.

‘Let’s go and sit in the garden,’ Camilla says. ‘It’s too crowded in here.’

We all trudge outside and I’m grateful to breathe in the fresh air. The garden is quite large, given the size of the flat, and it’s freshly mown and as neat as the inside.

As soon as we’ve sat down, Camilla begins speaking. ‘My daughter’s not a bad person, Mia. She’s not. She just… well, what happened to Josie hit her really hard.’

She must see the doubt scrawled on my face because she quickly adds to her statement. ‘I know they weren’t close, but they did live together all those months, so Alison felt a part of Josie’s life, I suppose.’

I tell her that’s understandable, but from everything Alison’s said about Josie I wonder just how true this is. She disliked her intensely, so why would she care about never seeing Josie again? Alison claimed that Dominic is somehow connected to Josie’s disappearance, but now that doesn’t seem likely. So why is she doing all this?

No matter how much I think about it, or find out, I still don’t know who to trust.

‘She fell apart after it happened,’ Anthony says. ‘Didn’t even finish her degree and never tried to go back. It was the beginning of the trouble for her. She just seemed to have no direction. No purpose any more.’

‘I think she’s made Josie her purpose,’ adds Dominic. ‘It gives her something to do, especially now she’s having a break from work.’ He shakes his head. ‘I’ve tried to help her, Mia, I really have, but nothing works. And now she’s made up this stuff about me abusing her. Why would she do that?’

‘Because she’s sick and she needs help. Medication or something.’ Anthony answers before I can even think of how to respond to this question.

‘I’ll do whatever I can to help her,’ I say. ‘But I need a lot more information first. What was she like before she met Josie?’

‘She was always a clever child,’ Camilla says, ‘but she never found it easy to make friends. Socialising just wasn’t her strong point. But we weren’t worried about it because she was doing so well academically. We had no concerns about her future.’

‘Until she met Josie.’ Anthony reaches for his wife’s hand. ‘That was the start of it, I think. She just had so much hatred for that girl, though as far as we could see Josie hadn’t done anything other than be a totally different person from Alison.’

It’s a struggle to get this next question out. ‘I know this may be hard to hear, but do you think she may have been jealous of Josie?’

Camilla is quick to disagree. ‘No, I don’t think it was that, I really don’t. Alison’s a pretty girl, why would she be jealous of anyone?’

I have to set her straight. ‘Jealousy isn’t just about looks, Camilla. It can be about any aspect of someone. Anything in their life.’

‘But that girl had nothing. Her mother’s boyfriend almost beat her to death and her mum did nothing. Alison couldn’t have been loved more. So why would she be jealous of that girl?’

‘I don’t know.’ If I did know, then I’d understand exactly what Alison is playing at, but I’m still none the wiser.

I turn to Dominic. ‘Alison only just found me and it’s been five years since it happened. Why now?’

He shrugs. ‘Only she can answer that. I’ve tried to find out but I have no idea.’

The photo. It’s got to be linked to that.

For the next half hour I listen while Camilla and Anthony paint me a picture of their daughter, but at the end of it I still have no clue what she’s doing, or who to believe.

‘We’d better get going,’ Dominic says. ‘I’ve got a lot of things to prepare for my classes tomorrow.’

---

In the car, Dominic directs me back to Finchley. ‘So now do you believe me?’

‘I might, but there’s one thing I need to check first. When I drop you off, can I come in for a minute?’

Dominic frowns. ‘Okay – but why? I’m not hiding her there, if that’s what you’re thinking.’

‘If you want to help Alison, please just humour me.’

It’s so different being in Alison’s house this time. My perspective has shifted, even though I’m still not sure what I believe.

‘I’d offer you a drink,’ Dominic says, ‘but I’m sure you don’t want one. So are you going to tell me why you wanted to come here?’

I feel braver than I thought I would, being here, but that’s because I’ve got everything at stake. Freya. Will. And I’ll do whatever I can to protect them. ‘I need to see your computer, Dominic. I’m sorry, I know it’s intrusive, but, well, when I tell you why, I hope you’ll understand.’

He frowns and stares at me, probably shocked by my audacity.

‘But why would you need to see my computer? What’s it got to do with Alison? She has her own laptop, she never uses mine.’

I make a split-second decision, hoping I don’t regret it, and tell him everything Alison has told me, about the picture she found on his computer, and her suspicions that Dominic was involved in Josie’s death. I’ve got nothing to lose now; at least one of them is lying to me and this is the only way to find out who it is.

Dominic sits down and buries his head in his hands. ‘I can’t believe she’d say something like that. She can’t really think I had anything to do with Josie… Why would she tell you all this?’

‘She said the photo was on your computer, Dominic. And that it was probably downloaded from your phone. The video I saw actually showed her finding it.’

‘So that’s why you want to see it?’ He jumps up. ‘Come on. I’ll even let you switch it on just so you know I’m not getting rid of anything on there.’

Upstairs in his study he stays true to his word and I turn on his computer while he keeps his distance, hovering in the doorway. ‘I don’t have a password on it,’ he says. ‘Never thought there was any need – it’s only me and Alison living here. And I thought I could trust her.’ He sighs. ‘Anyway, you should probably take a seat – it might take you a while to check everywhere for that photo.’

I retrace the steps Alison filmed herself taking, and browse Dominic’s photos, but there is no sign of Josie. I even see the photos it was jammed between, and this convinces me even more the photo was planted. There’s no way Dominic could have known I would come here and ask to check his computer, and why would he delete it now after keeping it for all these years? It must have been Alison. She put it there and tried to make him look guilty – but why?

For the next half hour I thoroughly scan the rest of Dominic’s computer, just to make sure the photo isn’t anywhere else. There are plenty of lesson plans and other work documents, but nothing remotely personal.

‘I don’t use it for anything other than work,’ he explains, as if he knows exactly what I’m thinking. He’s sitting on the small sofa in the corner of the study, watching everything I do. ‘The truth is I’m not very good with technology. Alison always sorts out the computer stuff in the house. She’s quite the expert, actually.’

‘Well, the photo’s not here,’ I say. ‘Not anywhere I can find it at least.’

‘So now will you finally believe me?’

‘If I’m going to help you, and help Alison, I need to know everything you know about what happened that night with my husband and Josie.’

‘Well, that’s not much. Anyway, how’s this going to help Alison?’

‘You said yourself she’s fixated on what happened to Josie, so I believe that’s why she’s come to me. I think she’s crying out for help.’

‘So why accuse me of harming Josie? And all the abuse stuff?’

‘Because she needed me to listen to her, and that certainly got my attention.’

‘You’re a counsellor, though. You would have helped her anyway, even if she hadn’t said all that.’

I shake my head. ‘Actually, if the situation wasn’t so desperate I probably would have told her I was too close to this to be able to help her. I would have referred her to someone else.’

He considers my words for a moment. ‘I suppose that makes sense. Nothing else does, though.’

But it’s all starting to become clear to me now.

Alison knows exactly what happened to Josie.