The Worst Lie

by Shauna Bickley

  Eden stared at the bare white walls, no emotion showing on her face. Lexie had an overwhelming urge to shake her.

  ‘It’s my fault Spike’s dead. If Hunter had come for me first, I’d have told him Spike was innocent that night, all he did was try to help me.’ For the first time Eden sounded upset at the results of her actions, but only for Spike, not for poor Cathy Doyle.

  Lexie hooked her ankle around the leg of her chair, before glancing down at the front pocket of her handbag where her phone was recording the conversation. Now for the reason she needed to talk with Eden. Her words were once again a statement of fact, not a question. ‘You killed Renelle.’

  ‘Why would I do that? I didn’t like her, but that’s not a reason for murder, and I told you once I wouldn’t kill Renelle for taking Mitch.’

  ‘But you’d do it for your best friend.’ Again, a statement, not a question.

  Eden bowed her head as if inspecting the hospital sheets. After a moment she straightened, staring at Lexie, gauging whether Lexie knew or it was a guess. She reached her decision.

  ‘Yes, I did. And I’d do it again in a heartbeat.’

  After Eden’s stark statement, Lexie wasn’t eager to interrupt the moment of silence. She knew most of it. Eden pulled her legs closer to her body, rested her head on her knees. The hospital bed creaked a little at the movement. Lexie shifted on the uncomfortable chair, rousing Eden from her thoughts.

  It was doubtful she felt the need of a confession sort of moment, but for whatever reason, Eden started talking.

  ‘At the stone circles, Madelaine told me she was sleeping with Kurt, as I told you, but she also mentioned an affair with someone in Bristol while we were at university. That was all she managed to tell me as she panicked then at a noise, thinking someone was listening to us. You know the rest of what happened that night.’

  ‘You didn’t know about the affair before that, or who it was?’

  ‘That’s right. Back in London, I went to see her but even then she didn’t tell me. I assumed it was one of the theatre lecturers. Madelaine was confused about what she felt for Gareth. She didn’t know if someone had told Gareth about Kurt, but she was also upset at hurting him.’ Eden clenched the white sheet in her fists. ‘For the first time, I got frustrated with her. Told her she needed to make a decision and either finish with Gareth or finish the affair with Kurt. I wasn’t that clear-headed myself, what with finding Mitch and Renelle. I wasn’t in love with him, but it still hurt. When Madelaine died I blamed myself at first, thinking that she might have done it because I wasn’t a good enough friend at the time she needed me.’ Eden took a deep breath, letting it out as a long sigh. ‘I never discovered how Renelle worked it out.’

  ‘She overheard your conversation at the stone circles, Helen saw her.’ Lexie paused and then added, ‘I worked out what happened with the letter.’

  ‘You are full of surprises, and, I have to admit, smarter than I gave you credit for.’

  To stop herself rising to Eden’s comment, Lexie thought about Renelle. She could imagine Renelle’s pain, the one person she thought she could rely on. The person she thought was her friend. Madelaine was the orchestrator of her downfall at university. What must have tipped the balance for Renelle was the cover-up. The folded sticker on the back of the note wasn’t intentional, but Madelaine never admitted to being the author of the note. Instead Madelaine commiserated with Renelle and helped her look for other courses. Renelle must have hated Madelaine in the moment she realised – not when she first heard, concealed in the trees close to the stone circles, but later talking to Blaise when she suddenly understood what the overheard conversation meant to her.

  Renelle and Madelaine were friends. It was easy for Renelle to visit, proffering a bottle of Madelaine’s favourite vodka as a gift to ease the evening along. Easy to crush the pills and add them to Madelaine’s drinks, get her drunk enough to talk about Damien and confirm Renelle’s suspicions, then topping up her glass again and again, pretending to drink along until Madelaine no longer knew what she was doing. She may even have taken the letter with her to show Madelaine.

  ‘When did you realise it was Renelle?’ asked Lexie.

  ‘To begin with I thought it might be Kurt, that perhaps he and Madelaine had argued. I went to see him before coming here. But, like the police, I considered Gareth the most likely suspect if he’d found out about Madelaine cheating.’

  ‘Which is why you spent so much time here even though you said you wanted to catch up with all your friends.’

  ‘And in the end, Renelle gave herself away. To you.’

  ‘During our conversation by the stone circles.’

  ‘Yes. You mentioned watching the film and Renelle said that Madelaine looked the same in death as she had in the film. She could only have known that if she’d seen Madelaine and she could only have seen Madelaine if she was the one who killed her. Gareth found Madelaine and rang me. I arrived just before the police. He and I were the only ones from the group who saw Madelaine. We never told anyone about her wearing the dress.’

  Other than Gareth telling her when she visited him in his office. ‘And you killed Renelle in a similar way.’

  ‘Why not? It was retribution for what she did to Madelaine. I followed her from work and pretended to bump into her, said we should have a drink together and that what was in the past should stay there. I can be very persuasive. I simply did to her what she did to Madelaine, except I also used a drug I acquired overseas. I needed her to confirm that I was right and she’d killed Madelaine, but I also wanted to take her to Little Stillford. It wasn’t a necessity, but if at all possible I wanted the last place she saw to be the one that should have been the start of Madelaine’s success.’

  Eden sounded so matter of fact that Lexie found it hard to believe they were talking about murder.

  ‘And that’s why you changed the hire car. No doubt you had it valet cleaned after Renelle had been in it and then took it back to the hire company to exchange it. You were planning that before we left Little Stillford.’

  ‘Absolutely. Revenge was long overdue,’ said Eden. ‘What are you going to do now?’

  ‘I can’t let Mitch be arrested for a crime he didn’t commit. Even if the police don’t charge him, it’s not fair for him to have that suspicion overshadowing his life. Until recently, Gareth’s managed to remove himself from that, but the not knowing has had a terrible effect on him and Helen.’

  Until Eden asked her question, Lexie had felt certain of her course of action. She was taping the conversation to have proof to offer the police, as well as the things she’d discovered. But would Mitch agree with her decision? He loved Renelle, but he had also had a relationship with Eden.

  Eden must have sensed her momentary indecision. ‘Perhaps I can offer you a solution. You asked me once why I came back now. You stressed that word. I told you I needed to find out who killed Madelaine as I never bought into it being suicide or an accident. But why now specifically? I’m dying. In simple terms, I have a brain tumour.’

  Lexie’s glance shot upwards from her bag. She studied Eden’s face, looking for evidence of a lie. Was this how Eden thought she was going to escape justice?

  ‘I can tell you don’t believe me,’ said Eden. ‘Ask the doctor when he comes in. He’s requested the medical records from my doctor and I’ll give him permission to divulge my condition to you. Basically, I’ve got six months, give or take. The headaches are getting worse and more frequent and that’s only the start of it. The last two months won’t be pleasant and I don’t intend to hang around waiting for them.’

  Lexie couldn’t force her gaze away from Eden. If this were anyone else, she’d be feeling such sympathy for them, but Eden? Her feelings were too complex to be decided so quickly. She picked up on Eden’s opening comment to this news. ‘You said you had a solution.’ That final word felt unpalatable on her tongue.

  ‘I want to go back to Africa, to the refugee camps. I want to do one last
big report on them and then I’ll arrange a quick death there which will add weight to the report and force governments to do something.’

  ‘You want me to keep quiet for you despite what I’ve just said about how it could affect Mitch.’

  ‘Only for a while. Mitch loved Renelle far more than he ever loved me. He needs to know why she died, although I think he may have an idea. But I’d prefer not to see him look at me with hate in his eyes.’

  It was a bit late for Eden to think of that now. Lexie went to comment but Eden talked over her.

  ‘I’ll write a confession and leave it with you. When I’m dead you can give it to Mitch and show it to Helen and Gareth. I’d prefer it wasn’t given to the police so it won’t harm whatever can be done from my final broadcasts, but I’ll leave that up to you.’

  ‘And what about Mitch?’ Lexie found it difficult to keep her voice even partially civil. ‘He’ll have the police suspicion hanging over him.’

  Eden waved her arm. ‘If they get too intense then he can show them the letter from me.’

  Two nurses came in at that moment, much to Lexie’s relief. She shouldn’t be surprised by Eden’s egotism, but she was.

  ‘I want to talk to your doctor before I go.’

  Eden asked one of the nurses to tell Dr Collins that he had her permission to answer all Lexie’s questions about her condition. One of the nurses nodded and went to find him, the other looked pointedly at Lexie until she picked up her bag and left.

  Her mind was a mess by the time she met Nathan and she longed to get the overpowering antiseptic odour out of her nostrils. ‘Can we go for a walk before we head for home?’ she asked.

  Nathan drove them to the river near Leyton Waters on the eastern side of Nettleford. They wandered along the track in the shade as the fast-flowing waters rushed past. The trees clung together near the waterfall and they scrambled down the steep slopes to the part of the river the local teenagers used for swimming. Lexie stood on the worn dirt edges of the swimming hole and watched the water pound down from the top of the waterfall. The depths were dark, with hidden reeds waiting to snare and trap the unwary. Rather like people.

  What was the worst lie? Spike and Eden had hidden a crime that consumed Cathy Doyle’s parents and led Hunter and Xena to commit murder. Discovering Madelaine’s deception steered Renelle along the same path. And Eden, needing to know why her friend had died, and then taking retribution. So much pain and suffering. Even Helen and Gareth had lied to her, and to each other, by omission if not explicitly.

  Some of these actions Lexie could understand, but she couldn’t comprehend Eden’s arrogance. Yes, she could grasp her hot anger when she discovered that Renelle had killed her best friend. What she couldn’t fathom was Eden’s self-absorption in what she wanted to do and her lack of conscience about how it affected Mitch. Certainly all dispossessed people needed help and a voice to get that help, but Eden wasn’t the only one who could accomplish something.

  They sat away from the dark, flowing river and Lexie told Nathan about Eden’s solution, not bothering to keep the disgust out of her voice.

  They rang Mitch and met him outside the hospital. At first he wouldn’t believe that Renelle had killed Madelaine. Lexie played him the recording from her phone. He slumped against the wall, barely able to stand, his skin pale under the tan.

  ‘I can’t believe it.’ He shook his head as Lexie went to speak. ‘Logically, I know what you’re saying, but Renelle–’ He rubbed his face, his hands shaking.

  ‘I know this is difficult. Hell, I didn’t want to tell you, but this whole thing’s going to unravel and they’ll find out about Eden, and about Renelle. We need to talk to Eden.’

  Mitch nodded his agreement, disbelief and shock still showing on his face. Lexie hurried along the hospital corridors with Nathan, Mitch following. She turned into the ward and stopped at the nurse’s station.

  ‘We’re here to see Eden Sandiford.’

  ‘That’ll be difficult. She discharged herself.’

  ‘Discharged herself?’

  The nurse nodded. ‘The doctor was none too thrilled and tried to talk her out of it.’ She straightened, perhaps considering her comment a little informal. ‘The doctor discussed it with her fully and advised her against leaving just yet, but Ms Sandiford is a competent adult and was therefore free to leave.’

  Lexie stared at her unbelievingly. ‘My name’s Lexie Wyatt. Did she leave a message for me, or for Mitch Bentley?’

  The nurse turned to the desk and checked through the files. ‘There’s nothing here for you.’

  So much for Eden promising to leave a confession. It was a good thing her journalistic instincts had prevailed and she’d made the recording.

  They walked back through the corridors.

  ‘We need to go to the police,’ said Lexie.

  ‘She was wrong,’ said Mitch. ‘I never guessed Renelle had anything to do with Madelaine’s death. I’m not sure what I’d have done. Renelle meant the world to me, but until I found the letter in her belongings, I never realised how much she still suffered that hurt of being sent down from university. I loved Eden when we were together, but it was nothing compared to what I felt for Renelle.’ He shook his head in bewilderment. ‘Both of them killed people.’

  Lexie reached out and squeezed his hand, desperately hoping some measure of how she felt transferred itself in the touch. ‘The police station?’

  ‘Yes.’

  26

  Eden Sandiford

  2018

  Eden still felt woozy. Whether from the alcohol and drugs Hunter had forced down her or from the hospital treatment, she wasn’t sure, but one thing was guaranteed – Lexie would be back soon and most likely with the police. She’d given Lexie a choice but was certain Lexie would view this only in shades of black and white. Whatever she was going to do, she didn’t have long.

  Her clothes were folded and lying on a tiny Formica-topped set of drawers. Someone’s oversight, her advantage.

  Outside the hospital, she located the taxi rank and got into the first one. Where to go? The hire car was back at the house, but the police might still be there. Even if they weren’t, she couldn’t chance going there as it was close to Lexie and Nathan’s place and they might see her. The only thing she felt confident of was that Hunter would be miles away by now, thinking that she was dead. Sitting in the back seat of the taxi, she silently cursed her folly. He had deceived her more than anyone ever had.

  ‘Where to, love?’

  From the taxi driver’s tone, she guessed he’d asked the question at least once before.

  ‘Sorry, just had some bad news about a relative,’ she lied, to give herself a moment to think. She couldn't go to a car hire company as she didn’t have her driving licence with her, but that would be too easy for the police to follow up, and she needed more time before she could trust herself driving. ‘The railway station, please.’

  She’d checked the pockets of her clothes in hospital. There was nothing in the jacket that the police must have pulled off the back of a chair at the house to cover her, but she’d gone out to buy a takeaway the evening before and had stuffed her credit card and some money in the back pocket of her jeans. For the first time she thanked the memory lapses that had been irritating her so much, relieved she’d forgotten to put the card back in her purse and that she’d pulled on her jeans rather than something else that morning, before Hunter had unexpectedly appeared in the kitchen.

  The taxi pulled in at the station. As much as possible, she needed to hide her movements, but some things just couldn’t be helped. She used her credit card for the taxi fare. The police would easily track the journey from the hospital to the station so no point in hiding that.

  Inside the station, she found a cash machine and withdrew the maximum amount. Using her credit card again, she bought a ticket for a destination as far north as she could. It didn’t matter to her where it was headed; she’d leave the train before that and disappear. />
  Eden slept for a while, lulled by the movement and the sound of the train on the tracks. When she woke, she got off at the next station and made her way into the high street.

  Using her cash, she bought a cheap jacket and from another shop a baseball style cap to hide her face as much as possible. Her jeans were ubiquitous enough not to need changing.

  Back at the station, now wearing the new hat and jacket, with the collar pulled up, she bought a ticket with her cash and boarded another train. Although she felt sure she was still ahead of the police, she glanced up and down the platform.

  Further along a family with young children struggled with cases and a buggy. Beyond them, a man in a suit with a laptop bag and mobile phone boarded. In the gap between the family and the businessman, she noticed a woman wearing a wide-brimmed hat step into a carriage. Eden didn’t think she knew the woman but still, there was something about her. She hurried off the train as if she’d forgotten something and waited on the platform. Doors banged shut but no one got off the train. Just as it was about to leave, Eden climbed back on. She walked along the carriages, studying faces as she passed, but didn’t see anyone she recognised or wearing the hat. Eden swore under her breath as she sat down; was it just nerves getting the better of her or had she recognised the woman. Before today, she’d never been bothered by anxiety or stress even in the most dangerous situations. Now, however, she needed to get away to ensure she could film her last report. From her vantage point in the corner of a carriage, she scrutinised anyone who passed.

  This time she was too on edge to sleep. When they reached London, she was one of the first off the train, hurrying to merge with the crowd on the platform. She strode into the station, glancing into shop windows to check if she could see the woman again, or if anyone was taking too much of an interest in her. A woman stopped at the sandwich stall opposite and scrutinised the offerings, taking no notice of her. This one wore a denim jacket and a baseball cap. Her nerves were shot if she was suspecting everyone.