Page 47 of The Mistake
‘No.’ Pete had wanted to get a Ring doorbell, but Natalie refused, saying she couldn’t bear the chime of it. She was even more resistant after Erin was born, convinced that the chime would wake the baby.
‘So,’ Travis shifts in her seat, as if she is also slowly going numb from sitting for so long on the uncomfortable plastic chairs, ‘if Vanessa came to the party uninvited, she would have had to let herself in through the side gate, but no one saw her?’
‘Not that I know of,’ Pete says. ‘Most people at the party already knew each other – it was close friends and family, mainly – but even if she had let herself in the side gate, I don’t know that anyone would have challenged her. I didn’t see her come in. The first time I saw her was when I noticed her standing on the grass when I finished making my speech.’
DI Travis and DS Haynes exchange a glance, and Pete feels it again – that little flicker of fear that tells him they are thinking something he’s too frightened to voice. That he knows something about Erin’s disappearance.
‘Did you see Vanessa leave the party?’
‘Yes.’ Pete doesn’t elaborate, doesn’t want to think about that awful argument with Natalie on the stairs.
‘Could she have returned at some point without being noticed?’
‘Of course she could. By that point – it was well after my speech and Natalie had already put Erin down to sleep – most people were pretty well oiled, and she’d already been seen at the party. No one would have thought it strange she was around.’
‘OK.’ DI Travis taps her pen against her chin. ‘What about the other guests? Did anyone leave the party unexpectedly? Could they have left and then returned?’
Pete pauses, thinking of Jake storming out, of Eve telling himshe was leaving, of Vanessa standing by the front door, her hand on the latch after she must have heard what was said between him and Natalie. ‘It’s possible, yes. Do you think Vanessa has something to do with Erin’s disappearance?’ She could have flicked the latch up as she left, stopping the door from locking. Pete goes cold at the thought that this might be all his fault. He knows Vanessa had sworn to get her revenge on him, but he thought that was just her telling Natalie about the affair, in order to cause the implosion of his marriage. Could she really have it in her to steal a child?
‘We have to consider all the options,’ Travis says. ‘Moving on, do you remember if Natalie was wearing make-up for the party?’
‘What?’ Pete’s head spins at the change in direction, not sure what relevance this has to anything.
‘Make-up. Was Natalie wearing make-up for the party?’ Travis repeats, patiently.
‘Yes, I think so.’ Pete can’t honestly remember. All he remembers is thinking she looked pretty when she came downstairs when Stu and Mari arrived. Everything else has been wiped out by the events of the rest of the evening. ‘Why? What does this have to do with Erin?’
Travis leans forward, her gaze solemn. ‘The blanket Erin was wrapped in … There was a red stain on it when the paramedics removed her from the bag. At first they thought it was blood.’ She watches him, gauging his reaction as Pete raises a hand to his mouth.Blood?‘It wasn’t,’ she says, and Pete visibly relaxes. ‘It was red lipstick – we’re pretty certain it’s MAC Ruby Woo. I’m asking because if Natalie was wearing that lipstick when she put Erin down to sleep, then there is a reasonable explanation for the lipstick being there. If Nataliewasn’twearing red lipstick, then we need to know who was, and how it came to be on the blanket.’ DI Travis opens up her phone and slides it over to Pete. It shows a photograph of Erin’s blanket, the faint smudge of bright red lipstick standing out like a gash against the white wool.
Pete sees Natalie in his mind’s eye, stepping down the stairs in her pink sundress. She wasn’t wearing red lipstick, he’s sure of it. In fact, he’s pretty sure that Natalie has never worn red lipstick, not even before Erin was born. Another image rises in his mind, amid a crashing wave of raw, unbridled anger. There is one woman in his life who religiously wears red lipstick. One woman who will do anything, it seems, to destroy his life.Vanessa.
Natalie
Natalie stands there speechless, adrenaline leaving her breathless as she debates what to do. Eve knows about Montpellier Square, knows what Pete has been doing, but how? Did she follow him? A horrifying thought floats into Natalie’s mind.Did Eve take Erin in an attempt to frame Pete? Is that why she asked if I knew where he was when Erin disappeared?Decision made, Natalie hands her still full cup of hot chocolate to the police officer and heads for the lifts down to the ground floor. Jabbing impatiently at the buttons, she hopes she can make it downstairs before Eve leaves the hospital. She is about to push open the swing doors to the stairs when the bell pings and the lift doors open. Natalie steps in beside a doctor with a stern face and a clipboard, and an older lady clutching a mangled tissue in her hands, pressing it to her nose in tiny dabs. Her eyes are red-rimmed and Natalie looks away, towards the mirrored walls. Immediately she wishes she hadn’t. Her reflection in the glass is set, her lips a thin white gash, and the tiny lines that she’s recently noticed around her eyes and mouth have deepened into gorges. Her skin has a waxy sheen to it, as if she’s in the middle of a bout of flu.
After stopping at every floor, the lift finally reaches the ground floor and Natalie is alone. Hurrying through the doors, she rushes through the accident and emergency department and follows the signs for the car park, her breath coming in short pants as her sandals slip on the wet pavement. The rain has finally stopped, but the air has an unseasonable chill and Natalie shivers as she casts her eye around the car park, searching for Eve’s car. She has almost given up hope when she sees movement at the parkingpay station, and then Eve crosses the tarmac in front of her, the street lamp illuminating her slight figure.
‘Eve!’ Natalie runs across the car park, ignoring the puddles splashing over her feet and up her bare calves, as the lights on Eve’s car flash. ‘Eve! Wait a minute.’
Eve pauses, about to step into her car. Her eyes are wide and alarm flits across her features before she realises it’s just Natalie. ‘God,’ she breathes, pressing a hand to her chest, ‘I thought I was about to get mugged. What is it?’ Her hand goes to her mouth. ‘Oh no. It’s not Erin, is it?’
‘No,’ Natalie frowns. ‘I wouldn’t chase you down out here if it was about Erin – I would bewith Erin.’ Natalie thinks this is a prime example of how important Eve believes she is to their family – important enough that Natalie would leave her daughter to tell Eve any news. ‘What did you mean upstairs? You said Pete should have been at home instead of spending time in Montpellier Square. What did you mean?’ Natalie’s hand shoots out and grips the car door, so Eve can’t close it if she gets into the car.
Eve’s gaze drifts to Natalie’s hand on the door, and then back to her face. ‘I didn’t mean anything by it. I’m sorry, I’m tired and I wasn’t thinking. I shouldn’t have said it.’
‘You knew.’ Natalie feels winded, as if all the air has been knocked out of her. ‘You knew Pete was having an affair and you didn’t tell me.’
‘It wasn’t my place to tell you, Natalie.’
Natalie isn’t buying that, not one little bit. ‘Bullshit, Eve. There’s nothing you love more than running Pete down, so why not tell me something you know is going to blow my marriage apart? Isn’t that what you’ve been waiting for? Something to prove you right about Pete?’ Natalie pauses, drawing in a breath.
‘That’s not true, Nat. I might not like Pete – in fact, I think he’s a right shit – but I wasn’t going to come between the two of you. He can do that all by himself.’
Natalie’s voice rises, echoing in the empty car park. ‘You think Pete had something to do with this. With Erin’s disappearance.’
Eve scoffs. ‘I never said anything of the sort—’
‘You don’t need to!’ Natalie half screeches as Eve takes a step back, raising her hands as if to ward her off. ‘You’ve made it perfectly clear what you think about him. What has he ever done to you, Eve? Even before you knew about the affair, you hated him. You’re so … sodownon him all the time, and he doesn’t deserve it.’ If someone had told Natalie a couple of hours ago that she would be defending Pete – Pete thecheat– she would have laughed in their face, but now standing in front of Eve, Natalie has never felt so passionately about him as she does now.
