about his sonâs state of mind, but that statement had been retracted. Mark Ling felt the need to tell me this as he didnât want me to subsequently hear about it and worry.
I was later to discover that Forrest allegedly had mental health issues. Even now I canât bear to think about what they could have been, or what the implications might have been for Gemma if the pressure had all become too much for him while they were in France. What if he had lost his mind and hurt her?
As well as being in touch with Forrestâs parents, the police had spoken to his wife Emily about the situation before he disappeared. She had told them that they had been having some marital difficulties, but that they had been out to dinner on the previous Wednesday night and had agreed to work through their problems. When he disappeared, she said it had hit her like a brick wall.
The police had traced Forrestâs bank details and could see that he had taken out a large sum of cash before he and Gemma left the country. They didnât tell me exactly how much, but they had worked out how long it would last if they were frugal and eked the money out. The police were hoping Forrest would eventually use one of his bank cards because then it would instantly be traced, but he would most likely have known this, hence him taking out a wad of cash before they fled.
Everyone seemed to be offering the police as much help as they could. The only person who was hindering the investigationwas Gemmaâs friend Louise. She had been questioned on a number of occasions, but had given different accounts about what had happened.
I felt a little sorry for Louise. Obviously caught between a rock and a hard place, she was trying to stand by her best friend and was scared to be facing the police. Meanwhile, her stories were getting more and more convoluted. I was told that further measures might have to be taken if she continued to refuse to cooperate with the police, as she was holding up the investigation, and I promised that I would contact her the next day.
At the end of Mark Lingâs visit, I truly felt that everything that could be done was being done. Even so, I wanted to be in France, looking for Gemma myself. I turned around to Chloe and said: âI need to do something, I need to go out there and look for her. I canât keep sitting here feeling like Iâm doing nothing.â
Without missing a beat, she said: âFine, thereâs nothing stopping you. We can get on the Eurostar and be in France in a couple of hours. Then what are you going to do? Do you know how big France is? What if they arenât even in France now? What happens if she calls? What then?â
I felt useless at home just waiting, but Chloe stopped me in my tracks and made me think again. âEverything that can be done is being done,â she said. âYou have everyone working twenty-four hours, looking for her. You need to be here for when she calls. Youâre providing the police with every single piece of information you know. What more can you do? Think about it seriously for a moment. What your family really needs is to have you here. You need to be here for when Gemma comes back.â
And I realised that Chloe was right. I knew I needed to stay at home, but I wanted to be sure I hadnât missed anything with so much going on. I knew the police might call, asking for more information or for me to go somewhere at any point, and I couldnât do that if I was in France. More importantly, Gemma might phone and there was no way I would want to miss that.
That evening, Max called me and told me that he had also been thinking about going to France. A TV company had been in touch with him and wanted to take a film crew to France and start their own investigation. I could understand why he wanted to get involved, but I told him that he shouldnât, as there was more going on than I could tell him about at the moment.
At that stage I
I was later to discover that Forrest allegedly had mental health issues. Even now I canât bear to think about what they could have been, or what the implications might have been for Gemma if the pressure had all become too much for him while they were in France. What if he had lost his mind and hurt her?
As well as being in touch with Forrestâs parents, the police had spoken to his wife Emily about the situation before he disappeared. She had told them that they had been having some marital difficulties, but that they had been out to dinner on the previous Wednesday night and had agreed to work through their problems. When he disappeared, she said it had hit her like a brick wall.
The police had traced Forrestâs bank details and could see that he had taken out a large sum of cash before he and Gemma left the country. They didnât tell me exactly how much, but they had worked out how long it would last if they were frugal and eked the money out. The police were hoping Forrest would eventually use one of his bank cards because then it would instantly be traced, but he would most likely have known this, hence him taking out a wad of cash before they fled.
Everyone seemed to be offering the police as much help as they could. The only person who was hindering the investigationwas Gemmaâs friend Louise. She had been questioned on a number of occasions, but had given different accounts about what had happened.
I felt a little sorry for Louise. Obviously caught between a rock and a hard place, she was trying to stand by her best friend and was scared to be facing the police. Meanwhile, her stories were getting more and more convoluted. I was told that further measures might have to be taken if she continued to refuse to cooperate with the police, as she was holding up the investigation, and I promised that I would contact her the next day.
At the end of Mark Lingâs visit, I truly felt that everything that could be done was being done. Even so, I wanted to be in France, looking for Gemma myself. I turned around to Chloe and said: âI need to do something, I need to go out there and look for her. I canât keep sitting here feeling like Iâm doing nothing.â
Without missing a beat, she said: âFine, thereâs nothing stopping you. We can get on the Eurostar and be in France in a couple of hours. Then what are you going to do? Do you know how big France is? What if they arenât even in France now? What happens if she calls? What then?â
I felt useless at home just waiting, but Chloe stopped me in my tracks and made me think again. âEverything that can be done is being done,â she said. âYou have everyone working twenty-four hours, looking for her. You need to be here for when she calls. Youâre providing the police with every single piece of information you know. What more can you do? Think about it seriously for a moment. What your family really needs is to have you here. You need to be here for when Gemma comes back.â
And I realised that Chloe was right. I knew I needed to stay at home, but I wanted to be sure I hadnât missed anything with so much going on. I knew the police might call, asking for more information or for me to go somewhere at any point, and I couldnât do that if I was in France. More importantly, Gemma might phone and there was no way I would want to miss that.
That evening, Max called me and told me that he had also been thinking about going to France. A TV company had been in touch with him and wanted to take a film crew to France and start their own investigation. I could understand why he wanted to get involved, but I told him that he shouldnât, as there was more going on than I could tell him about at the moment.
At that stage I
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