Fatal Connection by Malcolm Rose

failed. Know what I mean?’
    Lexi shook her head. ‘Never had a less than perfect exam performance.’ Then, trying to cheer him up, she smiled cheekily.
    ‘Yeah. Right.’
    ‘The more people are educated, the less they believe in religion. Outers are cleverer, so we’re good at exams and we don’t believe in all that business about souls and the afterlife. No evidence for either.’ She shrugged. ‘Anyway, going on for ever sounds boring to me. I’m happy that, when I die, that’s my lot. Gone. Finished. Done.’
    ‘Believing in heaven – a reward for living a good life – gives us a reason to behave.’
    ‘Huh. You majors set yourselves up for guilt, shame and self-loathing, don’t you? Hey. We all make mistakes. Get over it.’ She hesitated, realizing that, despite trying, she wasn’t being sympathetic. ‘I’m sorry. But I can’t change my opinion because you’re feeling bad. I’m still me.’
    ‘I know,’ Troy replied. ‘I don’t want you to change – or say things you don’t believe – for my sake. It’s done. Dad’s moved on. I just want to get on with the case.’
    She looked at the road ahead and said, ‘Well, we’re going in the right direction. Perhaps.’
     
    They drew a blank at the only campsite near Loose End but, knowing that Alyssa and Richard would have needed to hire camping equipment, they also tried an outdoor shop in Tight End. Surrounded by climbing, camping and skiing equipment, sturdy clothing and footwear, Troy showed a collection of photographs to two assistants who seemed to stick together like glue. ‘Oh, yes,’ the first one said. ‘Him and her.’ He pointed at the images of Richard Featherstone and Alyssa Bending.
    ‘Really?’ the other one replied, as she looked more closely at the images.
    ‘Don’t you remember?’
    ‘Maybe,’ she muttered.
    ‘They looked very cosy together. Like they were going to have a good weekend.’ He nudged his colleague.
    She nodded. ‘That’s right. They asked about somewhere.’
    ‘Yes. Somewhere to go walking and fishing.’
    Troy simply stood there and listened to the two of them. He saw no need to interrupt with questions.
    ‘Where was it?’
    ‘He – the man – had an ancient map. It wasn’t downloaded. Really old and tatty.’
    ‘That’s right. It was something about wild walks.’
    ‘We’d never seen it before, had we?’
    ‘That’s right,’ she agreed. ‘I hadn’t heard of the path they asked about either.’
    ‘That’s how wild it was.’
    They both laughed. Then they looked at Troy and the male major said, ‘So, it looks like we can’t help you on where they went.’
    ‘But it was off the beaten track,’ Troy replied.
    ‘No doubt about it.’
    ‘Did they hire – or buy – anything other than a tent?’
    ‘No. Just the tent.’
    ‘The map Richard was holding. You must have got an idea about the area it covered.’
    The man replied, ‘It was between Loose End and the sea.’
    ‘That’s right,’ his friend added. ‘It’s kind of wild up there. Parts of Loose End Edge used to be popular with climbers and hang-gliders.’
    The first shopkeeper chipped in, ‘Caving and potholing as well, but not any more. There was an accident. It’s not safe. Landslips and the like. You’d have to be crazy to go along the edge now.’
    ‘Richard mentioned fishing …’ Troy began.
    ‘There’s the river – and lots of streams that feed into it.’
    ‘And two remote bays. Very hard to get to. One would be a long walk. They’d have to scramble down to the other or go by boat.’
    ‘And if we wanted to go there now?’ asked Troy.
    ‘Take the road north from Loose End.’
    ‘That’s right,’ the woman said. ‘The road ends at the chemical factory. You’re on foot from there.’
    ‘What’s this factory?’ said Lexi.
    The shop assistants looked at each other blankly and shrugged. ‘It makes chemicals. That’s all we know. It’s out of the way because it’s not very pretty.’
    ‘And