Jim suddenly sprang to his feet and fetched one of the boxes of tissues along with a glass of water, putting them down on the table in front of her. It was only then that Fleur realized there were tears rolling down her cheeks, and she’d been too shocked to even notice.
Rick was looking at her, concern on his face. “Are you all right?”
“No. I don’t think I am. But I have to hear the last tape.” Nothing that she’d thought she’d known about that night was true anymore. She had to know if the truth was what she hoped it might be.
Rick put the third tape into the player. It started with the popping sound of a soda can being opened, and Sheriff Taylor’s voice, telling Fleur that he needed to hear her story again, right from the beginning. He was questioning her closely, pulling out every little inconsistency in what she said, and when she refused to give the names of her friends, he asked her how he was supposed to believe her. By the time the tape had finished, she was clinging to Rick, held tight in his arms.
There was a long silence. Then Rick spoke.
“I don’t think there’s much doubt about what happened here.”
“What...what do you think happened?” Fleur thought she knew, but she didn’t dare say it. “Could you tell me how it sounds to you? Please...”
“Okay. Well, I noticed that Sheriff Taylor stopped the first interview right after you said Evan’s name. He told you he was going to get you a drink, and went off to phone Evan’s father, who agreed to get his son off the island if the sheriff made the problem go away. Then Sheriff Taylor performed his end of the bargain, and came back and trashed your story so it wouldn’t be taken any further.”
Fleur reached for the glass of water in front of her, taking a gulp. That was what she’d heard as well. “And do you think that my story would have held up?”
“Fleur, what is this? We both just heard the tape...”
“I want to know how it seems to you, Rick. It’s important.”
He shot her a questioning look, and then he smiled. “You want to know if Sheriff Taylor had any reason to say that you wouldn’t be believed.”
“Yes...yes.” Fleur grabbed another tissue from the box. She was beginning to understand the impact that Sheriff Taylor’s assertion had made on her life. No one would have believed her, so she hadn’t answered the gossips back. No one would have believed her so she hadn’t told her parents how she had really been feeling, had just plowed all her energies into dance and getting off the island. All these years she’d been driven by that one lie.
“Well, I’d say that your facial injuries are very telling, and if I saw a patient with that kind of bruising my first thought would be that they’d been assaulted, not that they’d fallen. Despite all the pressure you were under, you told your story coherently, and it’s perfectly obvious why you wouldn’t give up the names of your friends.”
“And...the parts where I got things wrong?”
“Recall is a reconstructive process. You got a few little details wrong and then you corrected yourself, but overall your account was clear and consistent. Lara was a teacher and she used to say—”
He broke off suddenly, as if he was having second thoughts about mentioning his wife. Then Rick smiled suddenly, as if it was okay after all.
“Lara used to say that when she wanted to know if one of the teenagers she taught was lying, she just kept quiet and listened. Generally speaking, the ones who were telling the truth said what they had to say, then stopped. The ones that were lying used to keep going, keep on embellishing until they tied themselves up in knots. By her test, you were telling the truth. And everything I know about dealing with people tells me that you were telling the truth, too.”
“So maybe the jury would have believed me.” Fleur puffed out a sigh of relief.
“That’s not what we’re here to find out, Fleur. You’re not on trial, Sheriff Taylor is. And from what I’ve heard here, he’s both a liar and a bully...” Rick paused. “Bully’s not a strong enough word actually.”
“Abuse of a minor. Corruption...” Jim supplied a few more, and Rick nodded in agreement.
“What I don’t understand is why he left this file here, though, Jim. It’s pretty damning.”
“The file wasn’t in the cabinet with the others. We had to drill the old safe out when I started, and there were a few files in there. I didn’t look through them properly at first, as there was a lot to do, so Emma just filed everything away in the cabinet.”
“But for him to keep it here at all...” Rick still looked perplexed.
Fleur could answer that. “Sheriff Taylor left very unexpectedly. He went on holiday for a couple of weeks to see his sister and had a massive stroke while he was there. He’s never recovered, and he’s been in a high-level care facility ever since in Florida, close to his sister.”
The last piece of the puzzle had fallen into place. Fleur reached forward, taking a tissue and sipping from the glass of water. “This is such a great room, Jim...”
“Thanks. We spent a bit of time on it.” Jim smiled proudly. “Do you want me to reopen the case, Fleur?”
Fleur shook her head. She had what she needed now. Her grown-up self had been able to look back at what had happened, and she knew that she’d been in the right.
“Sheriff Taylor’s a sick man, and I don’t want to take this any further. Things have changed here, and that’s what really matters. What do you think, Jim?”
“I reckon you’re right. The only thing to be gained is your peace of mind.”