Helen and Louise were mentioned in Frontline and the names of the local victims were listed in the Southampton Evening News and the Portsmouth Echo, but there were no details of those who had survived. Everyone was more interested in the tragedy of those who had died. Helen slumped back in her chair. Another dead end. Were Amy and Sam just random victims? Perhaps they were and yet the killer had been so diligent in tracking down the others there had to be some connection.
Helen decided to surf the archives of the national newspapers, given that many of those caught in the pile-up were ferry passengers journeying to Portsmouth to start their holidays. She scrolled through the coverage in the Guardian, The Times, the Mail, the Express, the Sun, Mirror, Star… nothing of any interest.
She was about to give up when she thought she’d have one last stab. The Today newspaper was pretty tabloid and loved that kind of thing during its brief run as a national newspaper, so she decided to scroll through its coverage of that terrible day.
And it was then that she found it. Amidst the two-page spread that covered the carnage, there was a picture of a young traffic cop leading a woman to safety. The picture must have been taken by a rubbernecker and sold to the paper as there was no formal credit for it underneath the image. That was why no other paper had carried it and that was why Helen had missed it thus far.
It was a good picture and it illuminated everything for Helen. Her face was clearly visible as was that of the young woman she was helping from the wreckage. Suddenly everything made sense.
Helen pressed the bell down and held it. It was late and she wouldn’t get a good reception – but she had to persevere. Diane Anderson, hostile at first, ushered Helen inside when she realized she wasn’t going away. She – the family – had had enough of the neighbours gawping at the strange goings on at their house. She didn’t want to give them anything else to enjoy.
‘I’ll get Richard,’ Diane said over her shoulder as she headed for the stairs. She couldn’t face another round of questions on her own.
‘Before you do, I’d like you to take a look at this.’
Helen held out a printed copy of the Today picture that she’d run off at the station earlier. Diane paused, irritated, and returned to the living room, plucking the paper from Helen’s hand. As she looked at it, irritation gave way to shock.
‘Do you recognize the people in the picture?’ Helen asked – there was no time to beat around the bush now.