27 years ago an entire class vanished, until a desperate mother noticed a crucial detail…

As they prepared to leave the station, Audrey emerged from the interview room. She looked exhausted, her face pale and drawn, but there was a lightness to her that hadn’t been there before, as if a great weight had been lifted from her shoulders. Thank you, she said to Laura, her voice thick with emotion, for believing me, for helping me find the courage to come forward.

Laura embraced her, feeling a connection to this young woman who had survived unimaginable horrors. Thank you for telling the truth, she whispered. You’ve given us all a chance at closure.

As Laura, Helen, and Matthew stepped out of the police station into the fading light of day, Laura felt a strange mixture of emotions. There was grief, of course—a fresh wave of sorrow for the daughter she had lost—but there was also a sense of peace, of a chapter finally closing, after being left open for far too long. She looked at Helen and Matthew, saw the same complex emotions reflected in their eyes.

They had lived with uncertainty for twenty-seven years, and while the truth was painful, it was also, in its own way, a relief. What now? Helen asked softly, as they stood in the parking lot, the weight of the day’s events heavy upon them. Laura took a deep breath, looking up at the sky where the first stars were beginning to appear.

Now, she said, her voice steady, we honour our children’s memory by making sure justice is served, and we help Audrey build a new life—the life she was denied for so long. As they made their way home, Laura felt a shift within herself. The grief was still there, a constant companion after all these years, but alongside it now was a sense of purpose, a determination to see this through to the end.

For Rory, for Sally, for all the children lost that day, and for Audrey, who had survived against all odds, Laura silently vowed to keep fighting until the full truth was known, and those responsible were held accountable. The road ahead would be long and undoubtedly painful, but for the first time in twenty-seven years Laura felt like she was finally on the path to answers, and perhaps eventually to a kind of peace she had thought forever out of reach.