by Edina Davis
“She definitely won’t find out from me!” Carolyn replied.
CHAPTER 65
On Sunday, Carina already stood in front of Carolyn’s door at ten to five. Her hair was pinned back skilfully, and she wore a dark dress that was simple by her standards, but very elegant. Her make-up was subtle so that she looked the epitome of a respectable young woman with excellent background.
“So, here I am, my dear sis. I hope you don’t mind if I leave my luggage in your hallway until tomorrow?”
Carolyn took a quick look at the luggage in front of the door. “No, no problem.”
“I came by taxi, you know. I sold my car last week,” Carina said cheerfully, while she entered and put down her travel bag. “I can buy a new one anytime after all, right? Be a dear and bring my remaining luggage inside, Lynn, would you?” she cooed sugar-sweet.
Carolyn wanted to object, then thought it over and started carrying the countless pieces of luggage into the house. When she was finally finished, she forced herself to show a friendly smile and stretched her hand out to Carina.
“Nice that you came. Please …” She pointed in the direction of the living room.
Carina walked in front of her with swaying hips and looked around, her eyebrows raised mockingly.
“Nice and suburban,” she smirked smugly. “Just as I pictured it.”
“Please, have a seat,” Carolyn ignored the snide remark. “Would you like to drink something?”
“Not now, my dear. For now, I’m just curious to hear why you wanted to talk to me so urgently. I’ll tell you my reason later. So, fire away.”
“I’ve been contemplating a great deal and I think that we should talk things out after all these years. Maybe it’s still possible to make peace with one another. We’re twin sisters after all.” Carolyn had spoken very quietly and had avoided her sister’s eyes.
For a short moment, Carina looked genuinely surprised. Then she burst out laughing.
“Don’t fool me, Lynn. Maybe you talked yourself into believing it until you eventually did. But now it’s time to be frank! So, come out with it!”
“Very well, you’re right. Why beat around the bush? To be honest, I want to talk to you about Alex first. What happened between the two of you that made him walk so headless along the cliffs alone at such an unusual hour?”
Carina’s face instantly turned red with rage. “What do you think you’re doing?” she countered. “Why is it any of your business what happened between me and my husband?” Her voice rose sharply. “Oh yes, I forgot. He wanted to come back to you, didn’t he? At least that’s what he led you to believe. And of course, my little, naive sis was as keen as mustard right away.” She let out an ugly laugh. “Which brings us to the point. That was exactly the matter I wanted to clarify with you before my departure. Yes, your beloved Alex … You didn’t mind throwing your moral values overboard and becoming an adulteress in that case, did you! You’d have liked that, wouldn’t you?”
Carina’s voice had become shrill and her eyes glistened with hatred. But she had herself under control again right away. “Oh, my dear Lynn, don’t look at me like that. I know you would never have slept with Alex until he’d been divorced from me. But it didn’t come to that, did it? Instead, I’m now a rather wealthy and respectable widow, with an unborn child under her heart. Isn’t that tragic?”
Carolyn had turned pale. What had Carina just said? She was pregnant? But it wasn’t possible. Alex had convincingly assured her that there had been no physical contact between the couple for years. Then the scales fell from her eyes. Of course … Kevin was the father! She said it to Carina’s face.
“How sweet you are, sis. Of course, it wouldn’t have been Alex’s child! You and I know that! But I would have been satisfied if everybody else would have believed the opposite. And why Kevin? Do you think he was the only one?
“My God, Lynn, don’t look so horrified! The child was a joke! I just wanted to shock you a little, and your first reaction was just divine! You know how much I enjoy these things, don’t you?” She laughed gleefully. “You don’t seriously think I’d be so stupid as to get pregnant?! Me and a constantly whining brat!?” She screwed up her face in disgust. “I’ve many plans for my life, you know.” Once more she laughed complacently.
“But now back to the relevant issue. Regardless of the situation between me and Alex, I won’t allow any man to dump me, my dear. But I knew how to prevent that, didn’t I?”
Carolyn was shocked. “What did you do?” she asked, her voice toneless.
“Well, what do you think I did? I showed dear Alex that no one leaves a woman like me and gets away with it. Or do you think I’d allow anyone to humiliate me like that, especially for someone like you? That’s what your Ben had to learn, too. That fool also believed that it was you who’d asked to meet him. My God, how he came running! You should’ve seen his face when he realized with whom he was really meeting at Beachy Head. And then the horror in his eyes when I gave him a little push. Oh boy, that was fun!”
Carolyn had turned paler with every word. She stared at Carina as if she was a ghost.
The latter continued unimpressed: “Actually, you should be grateful to me, as you would also have loved to kill that bastard yourself, admit it! But while you were content with thinking about it, I took action.” She cast a sly glance at Carolyn before she took the next swing with unconcealed pleasure. “It’s funny that both your dream men had the same favourite spot, isn’t it?” she continued in a conversational tone, her eyes glistening dangerously. “That’s why they both, unfortunately, met the same fate, as your beloved Alex also thought you had invited him to a romantic walk at Lovers’ Leap. The fool thought you had moved your date forward because you longed for him so badly. You surely remember how well I can imitate your handwriting. Good old Alex received a soppy love message, signed with Yours, Carry; Carry with a y, not to forget! The rest was child’s play.”
Carolyn couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She struggled to breathe.
“And do you remember that newspaper article, some months after your hasty trip to Las Vegas? The article mentioning a certain Edmund Miller. Oh boy, sweet Eddie. He also thought he could just get away unpunished after we’d had plenty of fun with each other. Just imagine, he rushed back into the arms of that boring provincial mouse! Well, I put a spoke in his wheel as well as in his girlfriend’s, that Gabriel girl, didn’t I? Sweet little Alyssa disappeared without a trace, and he unfortunately killed himself.
“Well, my dear Lynn, now you know what happens to people who spoil my fun!”
CHAPTER 66
Carolyn stared at her sister in horror. She vaguely remembered some newspaper articles from that time. Edmund Miller, the son of a wealthy building contractor, had allegedly been involved in a drug deal. It was said that he had made his girlfriend addicted to drugs, too. One day he was found dead from an overdose. There were no trace of his girlfriend, and the police assumed he had killed her in a drug frenzy and had then buried her somewhere. However, the girl’s body had never been found and the case never solved.
Now it turned out that Carina … Oh, my God, how gruesome! As mean and vicious as she was, Carolyn would never have suspected that she was a cold-blooded murderess who killed four innocent people, including her own husband!
Carolyn expected to hear her sister’s mocking laugh any second, to hear her say that she had just made a joke to shock her. That would be just like Carina, after all!
“Now I surprised you, didn’t I?” she heard her sister’s icy cold voice. “I’m just telling you all this so that in the future you’ll know where your place is, and you know what happens to people who try to get in my way. Until now, you were lucky, after all you’re still my sister. But I won’t take that into account for ever. I can change my plans very quickly if it’s necessary, keep that in mind! And if you’re toying with the idea of go
ing to the police, forget it. They have absolutely no evidence against me. On the contrary, all evidence would lead to you, I took care of that. So, you’d only harm yourself.
“And that matter in the USA … there’s not the slightest trace leading in my direction either. I was very clever, you know. Besides, you should keep in mind that you’d break our parents’ hearts with any allegations against me, especially our mother’s.”
When she saw Carolyn’s expression, she laughed and winked at her mischievously, so that one would think she had been joking the whole time. But her ice-cold eyes revealed that everything she had said in the past few minutes was the whole truth.
“Oh, come on, Lynn, let’s finally make peace. That was your alleged reason for seeing me, wasn’t it? Oh, I forgot … the real reason was a different one. You wanted to hear from me what happened to your beloved and I told you, which was my reason to come here. So, we both got our money’s worth, isn’t that funny?”
Carolyn couldn’t reply, the shock of what she had just heard sat too deep. It began to throb heavily behind her forehead and lights flashed up and down in front of her eyes … the unmistakeable sign for an approaching migraine attack.
What she had just heard changed absolutely everything. Not only was Carina indirectly responsible for Alex’s death, but she had murdered him with her own hands. Besides, she had killed Ben and two other people and was at least morally to blame for the death of Carolyn’s unborn baby. She didn’t deserve being the widow of a respectable doctor and bearing his name.
“Oh, Lynn, what’s the matter? You used to be so inscrutable! Now I can read your face like a book, and I don’t like what I’m reading. You don’t want peace, but that’s your problem. I will be far away from here by tomorrow and will lead a wonderful life. Everything I need is in this small handbag here.” She lifted her brown handbag. “I sold the house with the surgery and will start from scratch, in another country with other people. The old Carpenters made a big fuss, life’s work and all that, but they couldn’t prevent it. After all they signed everything over to Alex three years ago, and I’m his heiress.” Carina’s mouth twisted into a cynical grin.
“Well, in the end they were just jolly glad to get rid of me, as you can imagine. You were always their real daughter-in-law, my dear. They constantly mentioned you as the shining example, it always made me want to vomit! As you see, I burned all bridges behind me.”
As Carolyn remained silent, she continued: “The teary farewell with our parents already took place as well. You can surely imagine the fuss Mum made, can’t you?”
She flung her hands in front of her face theatrically and imitated their mother’s squeaky voice: “Oh, Carrie, you can’t do that to me! What will I do without you? Please, think it over.” She mimicked her mother’s sobs with surprising realism and then laughed out loud. “If our mother only knew how ridiculous I find her and her fuss! But, of course, I don’t let that show but sob with her like mad.” Again, she laughed mockingly.
Oh, how Carolyn hated that laugh! Disgusted, she looked into her sister’s eyes for several seconds before she finally broke her silence.
“I don’t know about you, but I could really use a drink now,” she said, struggling to make her voice sound controlled. “Then I’ll show you the guest room.” She walked slowly, with strangely stiff steps, to the bar, and opened a bottle of single malt whisky. She filled one glass and emptied it in one go.
“Well, how about you … In the mood for a twenty-year-old scotch?”
“Absolutely, I could also use one, you know! Especially when it’s such a noble drop!” Carina’s deep voice sounded behind her back. “Besides, my mouth is all dry from the long monologues I had to do here. I thought my anecdotes had left you permanently speechless once and for all.”
Carolyn filled two glasses mechanically, handed one of them to her sister and dropped into the armchair opposite. The flickering in front of her eyes had subsided and behind her forehead it began to pound terribly. She hastily took a large sip from her glass before she put it back on the table.
Carina turned her glass indecisively in her hands. “I always have my whisky with some water, Lynn. I prefer Highland Spring. Please, be a dear,” she murmured, gracefully crossing her legs and leaning back comfortably in the upholstery.
The sight of her sister with her smug smile and her vulgar voice made Carolyn feel sick, and suddenly the horrific voices rose up again.
She got up slowly, went back to the bar and got a small carafe out of the bar cabinet. She opened the fridge, took out a bottle and poured the contents into the carafe. She pulled a drawer open, as if in trance, and took out a box. Once more she had the feeling of being outside of her body. She watched each of her movements with fascination.
“What’s taking you so long?” Carina called out impatiently. “If you don’t have Highland Spring, mineral water will do!”
“No, no problem, Carina. Of course, you’ll get what you need! I’m just taking a headache pill,” was the quiet reply.
Shortly after, Carolyn put the carafe on the table in front of Carina with stiff movements and sat down opposite her.
“Many thanks, my dear,” Carina said with a gracious smile. When Carolyn once again didn’t answer, she became furious. Her eyes showed pure hatred when she hissed: “You self-righteous little bitch, you. Who do you think you are? You’re no angel yourself! And I’m the only one who knows that you have two faces, my dear, one you show the world and one you hide deep inside. Do you even know of your other self?”
She gave her sister a challenging look. “I’m still convinced that you slipped me something back then. I was just damned lucky that my appendix happened to be acutely inflamed and that I puked my guts out. Otherwise, that stuff would have killed me!”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about!” Carolyn had turned white as a sheet. She took her glass from the table with a trembling hand and emptied it in one go.
“Oh, I know very well, my dear. For that reason alone, I have a score to settle with you! In addition, our good Alex would still be alive if you hadn’t gotten in my way again. You remember our motto, don’t you? You disregarded it, again and again! Don’t you think you deserve to be punished for that?” She looked at Carolyn slyly.
The latter didn’t respond to the last sentence. “Yes, live and let live, as long as everybody dances to your tune!” she said, her voice bitter.
“You summed that up perfectly, sis. But just too late! Dear Alex is dead and it’s your fault! I was always a step ahead of you, wasn’t I, my dear Lynn?” She poured some water into her whisky. “Actually, it’s a pity that this is the way it must end with us, don’t you think? Our parents would have been delighted about a reconciliation, but you had to snub them and badmouth me to our mother! You could at least have consoled them over the fact that I will be abroad again for an awfully long time, maybe even for ever. Even though you’d have been little comfort to them, right?” She took her glass with an arrogant smile and toasted Carolyn. “Now, don’t look so sour again, Lynn! It’s all over soon, I’ll be gone, and you’ll have eternal peace.”
There was a strange glow in her eyes.
CHAPTER 67
Laura tried hard to reach her friend by phone all weekend, but to no avail. Carolyn either wasn’t at home or didn’t answer. That had happened occasionally in the past, always when she had her migraine, from which she had been suffering since early youth.
A few weeks ago, it had looked as if there was finally a man in her life again. She had appeared so happy and her eyes had had this shine again … just like when Alex Carpenter had entered her life. Even though Carolyn hadn’t mentioned anything of the kind, Johnny and she had assumed that she had finally fallen in love again. Laura knew her friend and was aware that she needed to be patient. Carolyn couldn’t stand it if she were pestered with questions too early. But Laura had been certain that she
would share her news at some point. However, nothing had happened, and so Laura and Johnny were now convinced that they had been wrong. In addition, there was the sad news of Alexander Carpenter’s death on the cliffs and Carolyn’s reaction to it.
Since Alex’s death, Carolyn had become increasingly quieter and sadder and so Laura was once again very worried about her friend. There was reason to assume that Carolyn had never really overcome her love for Alex and that this had caused another deep depression.
Three weeks ago, she had even withdrawn from the joint practice, stating that she needed a break. That would have been fine if it hadn’t happened so suddenly. Laura and Johnny had constantly tried to convince her to finally take a real holiday and she had always waved it off with a smile and the comment that work was good for her. She had then only taken some days off to spend them at home, gardening.
And then, suddenly, she announced that she needed at least a four week vacation, and didn’t want to be disturbed by anything and anybody during that time. Laura had so far respected this wish, but after three weeks … My God, Carolyn couldn’t blame her for wanting to check on her. She could quickly stop by there right now. Johnny had gone to bed early because he had an important court appointment tomorrow. He was probably already fast asleep and wouldn’t even notice if she weren’t home for a short while.
Laura spontaneously put a light jacket over her shoulders and walked the short distance to Carolyn’s house. When she arrived there, it was already dark, but no light was on in any of the windows. Carolyn either wasn’t at home or had gone to bed early.
Laura was just about to turn around when she suddenly heard a slight scratching noise, as if wood were scraping over a floor. She instinctively held her breath and listened intently. No, there was nothing, everything was quiet again. Maybe it had been a cat sharpening its claws on a tree in the garden.