‘What did you do?’ Gabi whispered to her twin. ‘What have you done?’
66
The instant Kate saw the coat in the hallway, all the pieces fell into place. She had already connected it to Madeleine, but she hadn’t known that Gabriella had owned it for the last fifteen years. Kate had found the silver and purple button at the crime scene; it had been worn that night on the common, then left at the house by Gabi, while pretending to be her sister.
Kate could see it now. The shadowy figure on the CCTV Kate had assumed was Thea, then dismissed. Gabi was ambidextrous. She’d fought with Thea with her left hand, and Thea had defended herself with her right. The DNA results from under Thea’s fingernails connected them to Steve, along with Thea’s own genetic profile. But it could have been Gabriella’s. It could have been her identical twin’s.
All that time, focusing on the men in Thea’s life and it had been Gabriella – the very first person they’d interviewed.
Kate had rushed out to the driveway, then cursed as she realised that she had brought her own vehicle rather than a police car – there was no bust box in her boot, no evidence bag to seize the coat. She didn’t want to make the same mistake she’d made with the button, so she jumped into her car. She needed to get back to the house before Thea realised. Before the coat disappeared.
She drew up at the police station with a screech of brakes, where one of the uniforms waited in his car, engine idling. She threw herself into the seat next to him.
‘Do you have evidence bags in the boot?’ she shouted and he nodded. ‘Then just drive.’ He put the car into gear, blue lights flashing as they charged back towards the house.
Normally she relished the thrill of being in a police car, blues and twos blaring. But this time Kate couldn’t enjoy the ride, too nervous about recovering that coat, knowing exactly what it meant for a conviction. Knowing how much she needed it to charge Gabriella Patterson.
The officer called in their movements as they made their way towards the house. But when they got there it was completely dark, windows looking down disapprovingly.
Kate climbed out of the car, blue lights flickering across the brickwork. She felt a sinking feeling as she looked round, peering through the windows at the empty hallway, the deserted living room.
‘Sarge?’ The officer called to her from the car. ‘Are we done here? It’s just there’s another call – all hands on deck on the common.’
Kate turned towards the uniform, a bad feeling washing over her. ‘What’s the call?’
‘Shots fired,’ he said. ‘Ambulance dispatched. Armed Response moving towards scene.’
Kate ran back to the car. ‘Let’s go,’ she shouted. ‘Now.’
67
Thea stared at her sister through the darkness, her eyes cold. Fifteen years on, her resolve was the same.
‘I did what I had to do,’ she said.
‘You killed our mother!’ Gabi shouted.
‘Our mother was a selfish, vain woman who couldn’t accept the fact she wasn’t the most beautiful person in the room any more. She wanted everything for herself. She wanted …’ Thea stopped herself.
‘What?’
‘It doesn’t matter.’ Thea shook her head slowly. She looked down at Harry. His eyes were flickering, his breathing laboured. ‘We couldn’t take the risk she would survive. She would have told the police. All that was important was that Harry didn’t go to prison. Harrison knew that – why don’t you?’
After the gunshots, Thea remembered Gabi and Harry running from the room. She remembered turning towards her mother’s body, surprised to see her mother looking at her, her lips moving. In that moment, despite the heat of summer, Thea felt her body turn cold. The most important thing was the same as it had always been: they were her family, just her and Gabriella and Harry.
She walked quickly towards the kitchen door, turning the key in the lock. She picked up the cushion from one of the chairs. She leaned down to her mother’s face.
‘Gabriella,’ she heard her mother whisper. She was dying. She was looking her daughter right in the eye, and she still couldn’t tell them apart. Thea pushed the cushion onto her face.
She felt her mother struggle, but she didn’t relent. This was how it had to be, she told herself. It was how it should be.
Thea looked back at Gabriella. She could see Gabi’s body shaking, convulsing with sobs. Thea could hear sirens in the distance.
‘You need to get out of here, please,’ Thea pleaded. ‘Go!’ she shouted, and at last Gabi ran. Thea watched her disappear into the darkness, then looked down at Harry. He was silent, his eyes closed, his head turned to one side. She couldn’t tell if he was still breathing. Thea took his face gently in her hands, stroking his cheek, blood from her fingers leaving garish streaks on his skin. She felt the panic take hold, the fear of losing him gripping her tightly, making her heart race. She started to cry.
‘I did what I had to do,’ Thea whispered to Harry, through her tears. ‘I promised you.’
Sunday
68
Gabi stood in the doorway. She remembered the stifling heat from two weeks before, the smell of disinfectant and bleach. She knew she had to go in, but she was afraid. Scared to face him after everything that had happened.
She walked in slowly. Unlike Thea’s ward, this one was full. Some people sat up, gaze fixed on the middle distance, others sleeping, the curtains pulled around them.
The cushion made a soft sigh as she sat down next to the bed. He seemed to be sleeping, his eyelids flickering. His arm was free of the covers and Gabriella saw the line linking him to the array of drips behind him.
He stirred and opened his eyes.
‘Hi Harry,’ she said.
Harry turned in the bed and winced. He reached for a small controller by his side but he didn’t press the button to activate the pain relief, just held it in his broken hand.
‘Does it hurt?’ she asked.
‘Fuck, yes. But the morphine makes me sleepy and I’d like to see you. While you’re here,’ he added.
‘They said you’ll be okay,’ she said and Harry nodded.
The doctor had been there when she’d arrived, and had been quick to reassure her. ‘Your friend was very lucky,’ he’d said. ‘The bullet entered on the left-hand side from a downward angle and lodged in his iliac crest. His hip bone,’ he explained. ‘We had to remove his spleen, so he’ll probably need to be on antibiotics for the rest of his life, but otherwise the prognosis looks good.’
Harry’s skin was grey, his eyes dark and sunken, his lips cracked. But he was alive, and Gabriella had never been so pleased to see him in her entire life.
‘I feel like such an idiot,’ Harry said softly. He stared up at the ceiling. ‘I was so quick to believe it was you. It didn’t even cross my mind it was Thea.’
‘Why would you?’ Gabi took his hand and held it in both of hers. ‘You had no reason to think she would trick you in that way.’
‘She did it before, too,’ Harry said. ‘In her garden. She just looked so much like you, her clothes, her manner.’
‘If it helps, I don’t think she did it out of malice, Harry. She loves you, she thought she was helping.’
He nodded, and winced at the movement.
‘I followed Thea that night,’ he said. ‘When she was attacked. I thought it was you. I knew you were back, and I wanted to see you so I went to the club.’
‘What did you see?’ Gabi asked.
‘Not much. By the time I caught up with Thea on the common, she was lying on the ground. But I didn’t know what to do. I ran. I was scared they’d arrest me. And then they’d go digging and they’d find out …’ Harry stopped himself. ‘I couldn’t face them investigating your parents’ murders again. So I left her there.’ He paused, his face crumpled with pain.
An alarm started ringing on the other side of the ward. Nurses rushed over, curtains were pulled round the bed.
Gabi was distracted by the commo
tion and turned towards the noise. When she turned back, Harry’s blue eyes met hers.
‘Do you think you’ll ever be able to forgive me?’ He closed his eyes again. ‘I wish we’d never found the gun, I wish I’d never picked it up …’ He carried on, and Gabi watched him as he spoke. ‘I was so scared, of losing you both. I thought … I thought that Maddy would take you away and I’d never see you again and I just reacted. I hated her, I hated her so much. She …’ Harry stopped talking, his face collapsing.
‘Harry,’ Gabi said, quietly. She took his hand, preparing to tell him the very worst. ‘I’m sorry, but your dad died last night.’
Harry nodded, his eyes still closed. ‘He shouldn’t have died in there.’ A tear escaped and ran down his cheek. ‘Alone.’
‘I know,’ Gabi whispered. ‘But he loved you, he was protecting you.’ She paused, debating what to do. ‘But that’s it now, Harry. The only people who know what happened that day are you, me and Thea. It’s over, you don’t need to worry any more.’
Harry opened his eyes and looked at her. ‘The police were here. That detective. She knows I had the gun back then. She thinks I had something to do with Madeleine’s death.’
Gabi felt the guilt. This was her fault. She’d pushed the detective; she’d encouraged her to keep looking. And now she was sniffing around Harry.
‘What did you tell her?’
‘Nothing. And that I couldn’t remember anything about last night. That I didn’t know who shot me.’ A small smile crept across his face. ‘I really pissed her off.’
‘Then she can’t prove anything,’ Gabi said. ‘There’s no gun, no evidence …’
‘And what about Thea? What about you, Gabi?’
Six months ago Gabriella had come home to put things right. She’d run, all those years ago, because she’d been afraid – of her sister, of her feelings for the man who had shot her mother – but now? She’d done things she’d previously thought unimaginable. She’d nearly killed her sister. She’d lied to the police; she’d faced what happened on that day, years ago. And she’d disposed of the evidence that any of it had ever happened.
Thea’s pleas had jolted Gabriella and she’d run down the path, back to the car, the gun a heavy weight in her hand.
She’d driven through Portswood and St Denys, parking the car and walking quickly to the water’s edge. She had been nervous; she didn’t want to be seen, but the pavements were empty. Gabriella had stood next to the disused buildings and looked out across the river, the Northam Bridge towering above her on her left, the wind whipping round her coat, the cold now ingrained in her bones. She didn’t think she’d ever be warm again. She looked at the gun in her hand.
Now she had it, she couldn’t remember why finding it had seemed so important. She’d wanted to restore some feeling of control in her life. Somehow she’d thought that if they told the truth about what happened that day, she would feel better, when the reality was that that would never happen. She’d only made things worse.
With a cry, she hurled the gun with all her strength towards the river. She saw it twisting and turning into the darkness until it was gone. For good.
She’d driven back to the house in a daze, falling through the door into Mortimer’s arms. The shock of the evening hit her like a tsunami, an onslaught of images and emotion, stopping her breathing. He’d held her close as she cried, rocking her gently like a child.
After what seemed like an eternity, Mortimer had put his hands either side of her face, gently forcing her to look at him.
‘Gabriella,’ he said, carefully. ‘I don’t understand what happened tonight. I don’t know what happened all those years ago to your parents, or even to Thea two weeks ago. And I don’t need to know. But what I will say is this. I love you. I’ve loved you since the moment I met you, and I will follow you to the ends of this earth. I always knew we were in this together, but I never realised just how much until today.’
Gabriella had nodded, and Mortimer had slowly leaned forward and kissed her.
‘Now, what do you need?’ he’d asked quietly.
‘We have to burn this,’ Gabriella whispered and they both looked at the purple coat. It was time it all came to an end. They had all been through enough.
Gabi squeezed Harry’s hand tighter. ‘You don’t need to worry, Harry. It’s over.’
‘You’re leaving, aren’t you?’ Harry said.
‘Yes.’
‘Where are you going?’
Gabi shrugged. ‘We don’t know at this point. Mortimer can work from anywhere, so we’ll see where we end up.’ She paused. ‘I’ll send you a postcard.’
Harry nodded. His finger twitched over the green button in his hand but he didn’t press it.
‘When you’re better,’ Gabi said, ‘perhaps you could join us?’
‘I’d like that.’
Harry closed his eyes and she saw his finger press the button. The muscles in his face relaxed and he lay back in the bed. His hand let go of hers.
Gabriella leaned over and kissed him on the forehead. Then she walked away to join her husband.
69
The hospital was surrounded. The police were watching her.
Briggs was parked outside the front entrance, Yates in a squad car next to the multi-storey. The hospital was sealed tight. She was not getting away, not this time.
They’d found the black BMW in the car park and saw Mortimer return. Kate had made them all keep their distance, watching the ward. Waiting for Gabriella. Kate knew there was no way Gabi would leave without saying goodbye to Harry.
From the doorway of the ward she carefully kept an eye on Gabi seated at Harry’s bedside, the affection obvious between them.
The night before, when they heard the call, gunshots on the common, Kate had known who it had been. They’d sped to the scene, arriving at the same time as the Armed Response vehicle, by then full of grumpy redundant officers. They hadn’t found a gun, she was told, and the victim had been taken to hospital. Alive.
Kate hovered as Gabi and Harry finished their conversation. Harry had been less than forthcoming about what had happened last night. Amnesia, my ass, Kate thought. And Thea had described an unknown gunman dressed in black in a hoodie. She’d wanted to arrest her but the chief had said no, a warning frown on his face. ‘You have no evidence to the contrary,’ he’d said and she’d been forced to admit that he was right.
But he’d been unable to deny what she’d found out about Madeleine Patterson and the evidence of suffocation. They’d pulled more boxes out of storage and sent the red cushion to the lab. High-priority this time.
‘We’re going to have to raise this to the coroner,’ he muttered, shuffling the paperwork round his desk. ‘They’ll have to open another inquest.’
Since their exchange on Friday, DCI Jennings had been wary, circling Kate like a fat tomcat, bitten on the nose for the first time by a feisty mouse. But he seemed to have accepted defeat; their conversations were short but polite, letting her do what needed to happen on the case.
Kate was relieved. As much as it took over her life, she loved her job, and more than that, she wanted to know what had happened. Determination burned in Kate’s veins. She knew Gabriella was responsible for the attack on Thea, and she’d rallied the team, updating them on everything she’d found on the way to the hospital.
Kate’s phone vibrated in her pocket. She looked towards Harry and Gabriella, still talking, and pulled it out. It was a message from Sam.
I got the paperwork back, thank you, the message said. But can we talk? Tonight? Sxx
Kate frowned, and typed her reply. I thought we were past talking. What’s changed?
She looked up quickly as Gabriella walked away from the bedside and Kate followed her, pushing her phone back in her pocket. They walked towards the main entrance, Gabriella’s pace increasing until they rounded a corner and Kate cursed under her breath – she’d gone. Kate reached for her radio, desperate to call Briggs and Yates for an u
pdate.
‘Stop following me, detective,’ Gabriella said. She stood in front of Kate, determined, her eyes dark.
‘You need to come with me,’ Kate said, taking Gabi’s wrist in her hand. ‘You can come quietly now and not make a scene, or I can put you in handcuffs – it’s up to you.’
‘On what grounds?’ Gabi asked, calmly.
‘You know exactly what – you attacked your sister,’ Kate said. ‘Stop playing games with me, Gabriella.’ She started to give the standard warning but Gabriella cut her off.
‘What evidence do you have, Detective Sergeant Munro?’ Gabi’s voice was slow and measured. ‘Tell me what you have and I’ll admit it, here and now. Save us all a lot of time.’
Kate hesitated. She knew she should take her into the station but Gabi’s arrogance made her blood boil. ‘We know you were wearing the purple coat that night. We know you were walking down London Road …’ she began.
Gabi shrugged. ‘What purple coat?’
‘We’ll search your house, Gabriella. We’ll search Thea’s. We’ll find it.’
‘You can try, DS Munro. Please do. But I think you’ll discover no such coat exists. And as for walking round Southampton at night, well. That’s no crime.’
Kate stopped, her brain scrabbling for the evidence that proved what her instincts knew to be correct. But Gabriella was right. They had none. Gabriella pulled her wrist out of Kate’s grasp.
Without the coat, without the continuity of evidence for the button Kate had found on the common, she couldn’t prove Gabriella had been there. They’d searched the CCTV looking for Gabriella but it was patchy at best, the girl on the screen indistinguishable from her sister or indeed any other woman out there that night.
Ask Me No Questions Page 26