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‘Like what?’ Mary said,

‘How much do you know about what he did in the years he was away from Barrow?’ Gray said.

‘Not much,’ Mary said. ‘I know he was married, made a lot of money. No kids. Is there something else?’

‘Not really,’ Gray said. ‘Not a lot, anyway.’

‘But something?’ Ryan said.

‘I can’t be certain,’ Gray said. ‘But there is something. Something a little unusual.’

Mary’s scalp prickled. ‘What kind of unusual?’ she said.

‘Well,’ Gray said. ‘This is probably just a coincidence, and after all, people do have types.’ He took out his phone, swiped the screen, turned it to show Mary and Ryan. ‘That’s a photo of his ex-wife, Allison. I’m not showing you anything I shouldn’t be, it was on social media from around the time of their marriage. When I saw it I was a bit taken aback.’

Mary was, too, although more than a bit taken aback; she was shocked.

Allison – the woman Carl had chosen to marry – was the spitting image of Mary.

‘My God,’ Mary muttered. ‘We could be sisters.’

‘Never mind sisters,’ Ryan said. ‘You could be twins.’

‘That’s not all,’ Gray said.

Mary looked up at him; he seemed perplexed, almost worried.

‘What is it?’ she said.

‘About five or six years ago,’ he replied. ‘She disappeared.’

She Looks So Much Like You

‘What do you mean, “disappeared”?’ Mary said.

‘Exactly that,’ Gray replied. ‘She vanished. Her social media accounts are still up – she has Facebook and Instagram – but there has been no activity recently. I checked with a colleague down in Boston, and he told me that there was a missing persons report filed – I think by a friend of hers, he gave me the name but I can’t remember it off the top of my head – but no action was taken.’

‘Why not?’ Ryan said.

‘Because there was no evidence of any crime being committed,’ Gray said. ‘He spoke to the husband, but he had no idea where she had gone either. She was reported as a missing person, but she was never found.’

‘And they accepted that he didn’t know anything about it?’ Mary said

Gray shrugged. ‘People go missing all the time, for all kinds of reasons. Unless there’s a reason – strong reason – to believe a crime has been committed, there’s not really a lot we can do.’

‘I think it’s weird,’ Ryan said. ‘They’ve been married for however long and one day she just leaves? I don’t buy it.’

‘What’s the alternative?’ Mary asked.

‘He wanted rid of her,’ Ryan said.

‘Are you suggesting he killed her?’

‘I don’t know,’ Ryan said. ‘Maybe it was something else. But I find it hard to believe she just left for no reason.’

Mary turned to Gray. ‘What do you think?’

‘It’s hard to know. But it’s certainly unusual. And then there’s the fact she looks so much like you.’