The Curfew Quotes
"But at this moment, at a few minutes past three o’clock in the morning, all I know is that I’m awake."
"I’m struck by a pang of nostalgia for the years when I’d read him bedtime stories every night."
"But at 3.09 on a Sunday morning, none of that matters – because my boy is home. He’s in his room, in his bed, where he is supposed to be."
"Unaware, in that moment, of how badly mistaken I am."
"I sleep fitfully and wake from a dream in which I’m convinced the front door is standing open."
"‘Double shot,’ she says. ‘Looks like you need it.’"
"‘Anyway,’ I say, ‘Connor made his curfew, did he?’"
"You know, there comes a point when we both just have to trust him, Andy."
"‘No,’ Dad,’ she says with a sigh. ‘Just some TED talks.’"
"No, I think I’m fine for everything, thank you, Andrew."
"I’m worried, Andy. What if he’s done something stupid?"
"You’re not going to lose him. We’re not going to lose him, I promise you."
"‘He’s all I’ve got, Andy,’ he says suddenly, his face ashen. ‘I can’t lose him too.’"
"‘You need to be at home,’ I say finally. ‘For all we know, Zac could already be waiting for you there.’"
"‘I can’t do this,’ he says suddenly. ‘Can’t handle it, not now, not after everything.’"
"Not waiting for an answer, I turn the handle and push the door open into his pitch-dark bedroom."
"The fluttering in my chest gathers momentum, a painful drumbeat against my ribs."
"Silent and so dark that where she stood there were only shadows upon shadows, pools of inky black so deep that Emily’s eyes couldn’t adjust."
"I’m sorry, Andy, I’ve got another call coming in. Please please let me know if you hear anything about Emily."
"For a moment I wonder if he has thrown it all away, if one night of madness will be the point on which his whole life hinges."
"Because I barely recognize this angry, frightened boy sitting across the table from me."
"Let’s talk about the house party on The Avenue."
"It’s her first time in a police station. And mine too."
"If Connor has been changing imperceptibly into this other person, for months or years, and I have been too preoccupied to notice."
"I know him. I may not have brought him into the world, but I was the first person to really hold him, to cradle him in my arms."
"Just a few words would sort this out, surely. All I had to do was vouch for my son and we could take him home."
"He’s a very honest boy, very truthful. He’s never been like that. It’s not who he is."
"He looks wretched, his jaw clenched, swallowing hard and doing everything he can to keep his emotions hidden."
"They can’t lock you up if you haven’t done anything."
"What did they do to you? ‘Just asked me some stuff, that’s all.’"
"It was possible – although uncommon – for serious head injuries to be missed on a quick examination."
"Let’s take our time, OK? Give me a minute to talk to him."
"It’s not a game, it’s real. What about her mum? It’ll kill her. You want to be part of that?"
"He’s holding something back, and I need all the information I can gather. I need to understand."
"I remember something else DS Shah had mentioned in the interview yesterday, and type ‘Beaufort Terrace’ into the app’s search bar."
"A shiver touches the top of my spine as I realise they are looking for Emily."
"Police officers looking for clues to help find her, bring her home safe to her family."
"‘Sorry,’ I say again. ‘Your trousers, his paws, they might be a bit muddy . . .’"
"‘Don’t worry about it,’ she says, leaning down to gently stroke the curly fur on Toffee’s head."
"‘Sorry,’ she says again, ‘I’ve spoken to so many people since yesterday morning, I’m starting to lose track.’"
"‘Thank you, so do we.’ She indicates the blond man next to her. ‘This is my partner, Karl, by the way.’"
"But as a parent, as a mother, I want to appeal to anyone who might be able to help."
"Emily, if you’re watching this, we love you, we miss you so much and we all just want you to come home or just get in touch to let us know you’re OK."
"Please help bring my baby home. Thank you so much."
"‘What’s going on?’ She frowns at us. ‘What’s all the shouting about?’"
"‘Dad’s losing it,’ Connor says through gritted teeth."
"This is bloody serious, Connor! This is not a game!"
"He said I couldn’t see him for a bit, at least until the police . . . until they do whatever they’re going to do."
"‘Must be absolutely awful for her,’ my wife says."
"‘Isn’t it a bit weird?’ I say. ‘I mean he can’t be much more than ten years older than Cathy’s twins. Kind of a weird stepdad dynamic, isn’t it?’"
"To be honest, I try to have as little to do with him as possible."
"‘Right now I have to look out for my son,’ he says, his eyes hidden behind the mirrored shades."
"‘Why are you doing this, being like this?’ I say. ‘We’ve always looked out for each other. Always.’"
"I told you. Alexander’s a school governor and he’s got all kinds of other connections, said he was going to do everything he could to get the local community organised, and that we should all be sort of coordinating our efforts, working together."
"‘So you met up with Drew’s dad,’ I say slowly, ‘and Emily’s stepdad, without even telling me? I could have joined you, helped you.’"
"Look, Andy, to be honest when I turned up I thought you’d be here too, OK?"
"Even if that includes pulling a few strings."
"The sooner she’s back safe and sound with her family, the better."
"The main thing with a missing person is to do it quickly, right? Strike while the iron’s hot."
"She pads out of the lounge in bare feet, Alexander’s wistful gaze following her."
"Tonight was a gift, really. It was an opportunity."
"Emily, if you’re watching this, we love you. It doesn’t matter what’s happened, or where you’ve been, please come back to us."
"I want to help. And I do. It is, after all, why I love my job and why I chose medicine in the first place."
"Waiting, waiting to hear something. Waiting for a phone call or a knock on the door."
"Most people in her situation would be too wrapped up in their own fears to think of anyone else."
"The kindness of it, the generosity of spirit, feels remarkable."
"I can't imagine how hard these last few days have been."
"A tiny chink of light in the darkness of the last few days."
"It tears me up that he wants to keep me at arm's length."
"How things might have unfolded if her mother had been anyone else."
"The events you all took part in on Saturday night, the staging of her disappearance, the evidence we've found since. All of it gives me real concern that Emily may have come to grievous harm."
"You will feel a thousand times better if you just tell us the truth, Connor. You don’t have to carry this thing all on your own."
"Get it off your chest. You’ll be able to sleep again, eat again, you won’t feel like you’re going crazy."
"The room holds its breath, as if she’s placed a hand grenade in the middle of the table and we’re all waiting for it to go off."
"You don’t have to answer. You’re not obliged to say anything at all."
"I just had a bad feeling, like something was wrong."
"Someone whacked me on the side of my head. Next thing I knew I was waking up face-down in the leaves, blood in my hair and a splitting headache."
"All you have to do is tell me what happened up in the woods. What really happened."
"You never posted it, did you? You didn’t do what she asked you to do. You kept it instead."
"I’m sure you don’t want to prolong their suffering any further, do you?"
"There’s nothing you could ever do or say that would make us love you any less. Nothing."
"It was the worst night of my life, Mum. The stink, and the noise. There was just so much noise."
"Maybe I did hurt Emily like everyone says I did. Maybe that’s why I’ve got the blanks in my memory."
"She was the best friend Olivia had ever had. And the worst."
"She could burn you, too. Olivia knew that better than anyone."
"Sometimes she loved her so much she almost couldn’t stand it."
"Day four is not really about finding her alive, anymore, is it? After the first twenty-four hours in this kind of case, the chances of that start to drop exponentially. It's about finding a body now."
"Why were you following her? What kind of weirdo follows a young girl into the woods?"
"Accuse your enemies of the exact things you have done yourself, fill the air with confusion and counter-accusations until it’s almost impossible to discern the truth."
"Maybe I can find what Georgia had been looking for – now that I know exactly where to look."
"Imagine you’re a teenager, and you’ve lost your mum."
"What’s the most dangerous thing in the world? A mother whose young are threatened."
"Even as I press ‘send’ on the message I have a powerful sense that I’m about to break something sacred and unique, to shatter it so completely that it will never be whole again."
"I know these things and yet still I feel like a coward, like the worst kind of traitor."
"A wave of sadness, of grief for a young life lost. Final confirmation that this girl will never come home, never grow up, a family that will never be the same again. A mother, forever broken."
"Not him. Not the sweet child who used to climb into bed with us when he had a nightmare, the boy who used to give his little sister endless piggybacks, the teenager who wanted to be a lawyer one day so he could help people."
"Everything I can to protect him. Everything."
"We’re going to get you out of here, Connor. Until then, just look after yourself, OK?"
"So this was our zero hour, our new midnight. The starting point for a new kind of life, the first step on a dark journey that none of us ever wanted to take."
"‘You need to stay outside until the police arrive, OK?’ I hand her Toffee’s lead. ‘Just in the doorway where I can see you, but don’t come inside.’"