Page 83 of The Other Side

For once, Drum was grateful for the DI’s presence. Motson let him go.

“My mother,” Motson gasped. “What’s happened?”

“We don’t know yet,” Purbeck said.

“Can I see her?”

“Not at the moment.”

“You think someone killed her?” he whispered.

“I’ll come and talk to you in a few minutes.”

Motson looked about to collapse.

“Let’s go to my office and I’ll make you a cup of tea.” Tricia took his arm.

Drum watched her lead him away.

“Well done for stopping him,” Purbeck said.

More police officers came round the side of the building and Purbeck nodded to one of them. “You’re now recording officer, Myers. You can go, Drummond. Make sure you write it up.”

Drum left before he was called back. He sat in his car, wrote up exactly what he’d done that morning and almost immediately after he’d submitted it, he had a call telling him to go to straight to Matthew Green’s house.

Matthew opened the door when Drum knocked. He looked good, Drum thought. Not like he was puzzling over where he’d been for the last few months.

“In you come,” Matthew said.

“I thought you were in hospital.”

“Just overnight.” Matthew shut the door and led Drum into a lounge where his wife waited, along with a man and woman in their mid-twenties.

“This is my wife, Rachel, and these are my children, Ben and Penny.”

They all shook Drum’s hand.

“Please sit down,” Matthew said.

“Would you like a cup of tea or coffee?” Rachel asked.

“No, thank you.” Drum turned to Matthew. “How are you feeling?”

“Apart from an inexplicable gap in my memory, I feel great.”

“Dad took a bit of convincing that he’s been missing for four months, not a few days,” his son said.

“I’ve had to accept it but I can’t explain it. It makes no sense.”

“It doesn’t,” Drum agreed. “Do you remember what you were doing before you ended up there? Is there anything in your log?”

“I was looking for a missing dog. Indie. You brought him back with me, so I guess I must have found him.”

“Do you remember doing that?” Drum asked.

“I remember running after him. I think I fell. Where did you find me?”

“In the woods outside Calver.”