FATHER ALWAYS SMILING

Chapter 55 ~~~~~

Cathryn was currently under house arrest as she had paid the hefty bail amount. If she was convicted of these crimes then she would be sentenced to prison for five years.

She claimed not to have done it, that she was out of the Provence when it happened, but the diary belonging to the still missing Lauren Davenport gave those in law enforcement other thoughts. For if a woman would allow the continuous abuse of her daughter at the hands of her husband and son, illegally moving a body would be no different. She could have easily paid someone to do it, the question was why?

Their deaths were ruled as an accident, as the son had broken his neck from falling down the stairs, while the father had tripped and slammed his head on the corner of the island table, where he died shortly after.

Then there's the issue with Lauren Davenport. She had been missing for months, and not a single person brought this up.

All but one person.

Alastor Hilmarsson.

He had a connection with Lauren, he knew of the abuse that the young woman suffered at the hands of her family.

Amalie's words rang in the depths of his mind, of what that seven-year-old girl told him in the precinct. Her expression, and her tone all made him feel like she was telling him the truth. A truth, that no one seemed to believe.

What if the same thing applied to Lauren?

What if Alastor did something that caused Lauren to go into hiding?

"Something about it isn't sitting well with me," Freddie answered before taking the copies of the photos and placing them out on the whiteboard that had a bright light to illuminate every detail.

The remains of the bodies were mangled beyond recognition, which was why it took so long to identify them.

"It's not uncommon for my husband and son to be out days at a time," Cathryn admitted to them while in questioning. "I merely thought that was the case when I came home. Nothing was out of place. But there was one thing I noticed. The place smelled clean."

"Is that really something you find strange?" Kira asked.

"No, I higher a cleaning service whenever I come home, my husband and son are lousy cleaners at the best of times. Lauren was the only one who'd keep the place clean. But I heard she had run away from home."

"You don't seem the least bit phased by that," Freddie told her, and she glared at him. "We've found Lauren's diary, we know what you, your family, did to her. But what I find disgraceful was that you did nothing when you heard she had gone missing."

"I wasn't even there!" Cathryn snapped. "What do you expect me to do? She's always acted so ungrateful, she had clothes, food, and a roof over her head. What more could she want?"

In response, Freddie slammed his hands on the table right in front of the woman and looked her dead in the eye. "You're her mother." He seethed. Kira wasn't even remotely phased while Cathryn looked scared out of her mind. "It's your job as a parent to take care of her, if you didn't even want her then you should have put her up for adoption."

"If I did that then he would have found out."

Kira's brows knit together. "Your husband?"

"No," Cathryn answered. "I mean Lauren's father."

"You're saying you had an affair?"