Lucy Partington was 21 when she disappeared. For two decades, her family desperately hoped she was living elsewhere, under a new name. Then the world learned that she had been murdered by Frederick West. In the final exclusive extract from his memoir Experience, Martin Amis remembers his gentle, artistic cousin; and describes the agony of failed marriages - his father's and his own

Extract one: Kingsley and me
Extract two: The daughter I didn't meet for 19 years

On the night of December 27 1973, Lucy Partington, who was staying with her mother in Gloucestershire, was driven into Cheltenham to visit an old friend, Helen Render. Lucy and Helen spent the evening talking about their future; they put together a letter of application to the Courtauld Institute in London, where Lucy hoped to continue studying medieval art. They parted at 10.15. It was a three-minute walk to the bus stop. She never posted the letter and she never boarded the bus. She was 21. And it was another 21 years before the world found out what happened to her.

At certain times, for certain periods, David was able to persuade himself that Lucy was still alive - alive, but elsewhere. Naturally all the Partingtons attempted something of the kind. My mother, too, attempted it. I attempted it. Lucy was serious, resolute, artistic, musical and religious. Even when we were children, the message I always took away from Lucy was that she wasn't going to be deflected, she wasn't going to be deterred.

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