by Anita Waller
Anna shook her head. ‘This is mental, Jenny. He’s a big man, and you’re a slight woman.’
‘He’ll be drunk.’ She grinned.
‘And where does Lissy come into this?’
‘As soon as I get back here, I need you to go and knock at Lissy’s door and ask her for some of the cough medication or honey you told me she had last week when she was ill. I’m going to be very sniffly, and cough all night just to convince her I’m really feeling quite poorly.’
‘And Lissy being Lissy will call around tomorrow morning to check you’re okay because she’s that type of person. And you’ll make sure she sees you still coughing and spluttering.’
‘That’s right. Now, I need to get out of these flats without going through the front foyer, because there are CCTV cameras there. Is there another way out?’
Anna nodded. ‘Yes. Take the lift down to the -1 level. It’s where we take our rubbish. The door to the outside is locked to keep strangers out, but you can get out of it by turning the Yale lock. The bin men have a key for when they need to get in from the outside, but the tenants don’t, so I suggest if you want to get back in the same way, you ring me as you arrive, and I’ll go down there and let you in.’
And that made Anna complicit. Those final words had implicated her, just as much as Jenny, and she comprehended that fact as soon as she spoke the words.
‘And your car? How will you get around that?’
‘That’s the weak link. I will park it in the back and hope it’s not caught on camera. But, to be honest, Anna, why would they suspect me? I have very little to do with Ray, we don’t live close by to him, I’m here with you, Mark is in Derby, the children, along with my parents, are in Withernsea – there is no real connection.’
Anna knew she was right, but was so wound up by the whole thing she just wanted to go to bed and sleep for a week. The ostrich syndrome again. Instead, she made another pot of tea, and they sat and ate buns and biscuits.
During the afternoon, she knocked at Lissy’s door and invited her round for drinks and desserts later that evening. Lissy checked with Jon to see he hadn’t anything planned and then grinned.
‘Sounds lovely. I’d like to meet your daughter-in-law. What time?’
‘About seven? And bring some of your work. I want to order a dress for Grace, but I need Jenny to say which style and colour.’
Anna went back to her apartment and held up her thumb to Jenny. She smiled and nodded in acknowledgment.
‘I’ll go and move my car.’ She stood and brushed past her. Anna touched her on the arm, and she stopped.
‘Think about it, Jenny,’ she pleaded.
‘I have,’ she said, and walked out of the door.
*****
Lissy came to Anna’s just before seven. Anna had bought several types of buns, cakes, and desserts, and they looked impressive on the coffee table.
‘Oh, wow,’ she said, her eyes lighting up. She turned to Jenny. ‘And you must be Jenny with the lovely Grace?’
Jenny sneezed and held her tissue to her nose. ‘Oh, sorry. Head cold. Yes, I am. And we need to talk dresses, I understand.’
‘You’re not very well?’ Lissy looked concerned. ‘I should go...’
‘Not on your life,’ Anna said with a laugh. ‘For heaven’s sake, don’t leave us to eat this lot. Come around here, park yourself, and take Jenny through what you do. I’ll make some drinks.’
Jenny’s voice had become really nasal, and Anna just hoped she would remember to keep it up all night. She put on the kettle and the percolator and busied herself in the kitchen. She could hear them talking, and Jenny’s exclamations of delight followed by sneezing and coughing. She merited an Oscar.
They settled on a grey and lemon dress for Grace, very floaty, very girly, and definitely one of a kind. Jenny said she would love it, and then had a dreadful coughing attack which seemed to go on forever.
At just before eleven o’clock, Lissy said she was going.
‘I can’t watch you suffer any longer, Jenny,’ she said with a laugh. ‘Go to bed and get some sleep, if you can. If it’s any consolation, it only lasts for about two days when it reaches this stage, but there’s only sleep that helps. I’ll go home and draw up the design for the dress – I’ll show it to you tomorrow before you leave.’
Within two minutes of Lissy leaving, Jenny left. She had checked out the bin area earlier so she knew exactly what she was doing, and Anna sat on her own and prayed for her.
Chapter 22
Friday, 10 April 2015
Day Thirty-Three
Jenny chose to go by the slightly more circuitous route to Lincoln, taking the A46 out of Newark. She needed to avoid the toll bridge at Dunham; she suspected there would be cameras on the bridge.
She parked about half a mile away from Lindum Lodge in a car park at the back of a play area. She had dressed entirely in black, and had pulled the knitted black hat down over her forehead to conceal any trace of her blonde hair. Everything she needed she carried in a drawstring, black sports bag on her back, leaving her hands free.
Jenny ran the short distance back to Anna and Ray’s home, trusting if anyone saw her, they would assume she was a runner out for a late night jog. She paused at the gates of the large detached house and looked around. It was deserted. She slipped through into the garden and knelt down behind the laurel hedge surrounding the front garden. She stayed immobile for fifteen minutes and then assumed she was safe. If anyone had rung the police to say they had seen someone entering through the gates, the police would have been there pretty fast, especially in this prestigious neighbourhood. Shearwater boasted many upper class homes like Lindum Lodge; she had no doubt the cavalry, in the form of a police car, would gallop to the rescue at the mere whiff of a burglar.
Jenny began to stand from her crouched position and then froze, before dropping back to her original position. She had heard a car engine. She considered trying to move further around the garden, but then decided to flatten herself, sliding under the base of the hedge.
Jenny was shocked to the core to hear Ray’s voice. It was now 12.30am, and she had presumed she would have to enter the house to kill him.
She could hear his words were slurred. ‘Keep the change,’ he said, and Jenny knew he must have arrived home in a taxi.
‘Thank you, pal,’ the taxi driver responded. ‘You need any help getting in?’
‘Nah, I’m bloody great. I can manage.’
She heard the driver laugh, and the car door slam; the taxi pulled away, and Ray came through the gate. She remained perfectly still, watching. He walked a few feet up the long path leading to the front door, and then tried to negotiate the step; one of three he would have to go up before reaching his home. Ray managed the first one, walked another twenty feet or so, and stumbled. His balance gone, he catapulted on to the grass at the side of the path, and lay there, without moving, face down.
Jenny waited. He stayed where he was for about three minutes, and then she heard an intake of breath from him; she knew he was falling asleep, too drunk to get up.
She moved smoothly, holding the knife in her right hand, the bag in her left. The night was deathly quiet and she felt as though the very air was wrapping itself around her. Soundlessly, she approached his inert figure and then brought the knife down into the back of his neck without any hesitation. There was a small sound from him, almost like a cough and sneeze combined. She twisted the knife and then pulled it out.
Jenny felt anger, frustration, loathing; it engulfed her, and she heard herself give a small cry. All the years of waiting for this moment were now as nothing; it was her time to take the revenge she had promised herself that afternoon as she lay broken and bloodied on the floor of the lounge. She wanted to take the knife again, and slash and slash and slash, rip him to pieces; she couldn’t do that. This murder had to seem like the other murders. This one couldn’t stand out because it was more ferocious with multiple stab wounds. One had to suffice.
Jenny sobbed as she knelt back under the hedge. She put her bag on her back once more and stood by the gate, listening. She could hear nothing, and so slipped out of the gate and turned left, heading back in the direction she had travelled earlier. She had only been running for about a hundred yards when she saw a man walking some distance in front of her, using a stick to help him walk.
She stifled a sob, and increased her pace to catch him up. As she ran past him, Jenny shoved with her elbow and he staggered on to a border of flowers; a stone wall separated them from the garden. His head hit the stone wall and the crack made her wince. He turned over with a groan. He looked up at her, his tired old eyes not really comprehending what was happening to him, and she brought down the knife, her own eyes closing as she did so. She heard the gurgle, and then felt his hand grasp her wrist. Her eyes opened in shock, and she twisted the knife. His hand relaxed instantly and fell to the ground. Jenny was sobbing openly as she completed her tasks. Again the coppery smell was there; why hadn’t she noticed it in Hartsholme Park? She left him in the flower bed with his hands and feet secured, and the plastic bag taped around his neck.
Jenny picked up her bag and ran, keeping to a jogger’s pace until she was in sight of her car. She stripped off her blood spattered sweatshirt and put on a fresh black one. She packed everything in a bin liner and stored it under the passenger seat; if she did happen to be stopped for a police check, she figured they would check the boot. Any stray blood on her would be concealed by the fresh sweatshirt; she had to hope she could get away with it.
In the end, Jenny’s precautions were irrelevant. She took the same route back to Sheffield; there was very little traffic about, and she was back behind Anna’s apartment building by 1.45am. She rang Anna when she was five minutes away who went down, opened the basement door, and left it slightly ajar before returning to her apartment.
It had been a long three hours.
Chapter 23
Late Friday, 10 April 2015
Days Thirty-Three to Thirty-Four
‘He’s dead, Anna.’
Jenny said the words Anna had been dreading as she came through the door, just before two o’clock.
‘Now go to Lissy, and see if she’s still awake. I’ll put my dressing gown on, in case she comes back with you. Quickly, go.’ Jenny ran into the smaller bedroom, carrying the black bin liner with her.
Anna tapped quietly on Lissy’s door and waited. She heard the slight squeak of her wheels on the wood flooring and whispered, ‘Lissy, it’s me.’
She quickly opened the door and said, ‘Is she worse?’
Anna nodded. ‘Her cough is draining her. Do you still have any medication left, or even some honey?’
‘I’m sure I have. You go back to her; I’ll bring it across in two minutes.’
Anna returned to her own apartment. Jenny had on her dressing gown, and was struggling out of her leggings. She quickly slipped on her pyjama trousers, and was just sitting on the settee, when Lissy knocked on the door.
Anna let Lissy in and they both looked at a desperately ill Jenny –that woman could act.
She started to cough, and Anna held on to her to give her support.
Lissy wheeled herself into the kitchen area and placed a bottle of medication on the side, along with a jar of honey.
‘Thank you,’ Anna whispered. ‘Now go back home and go to bed! Stop designing! And please, apologise to Jon if we’ve woken him.’
‘He’s still awake. Been working on some difficult issues tonight, and it’s wound him up a bit. He said to give him a shout, if we needed him.’
So now they had two witnesses providing alibis.
Anna went back to Lissy’s door with her, kissed her cheek, and thanked her.
She locked the door and turned to Jenny.
She looked dreadful. This wasn’t acting.
‘He’s dead.’ The words came out as a whisper. ‘I can’t talk about it. I need to put it in a letter anyway, so can the details wait? The less you know, the better, because tomorrow the police will be here to tell you he’s been murdered. I’m guessing it will be Mark they contact, because they can’t contact you on a silenced phone. This all depends on when he is found. Do you have any missed calls from a strange number?’ Anna looked at her phone and then looked at Jenny.
‘There’s nothing yet. Maybe I should take it off silent.’
‘No!’ Jenny was adamant. ‘No, don’t do anything out of the ordinary. Keep it on silent. They will probably try to contact you first, but then they’ll try Mark. He will then ring me. Let’s follow that order, and assume I’m right.’
Jenny had tucked her hands into the sleeves of her dressing gown while Lissy was with them; Anna had presumed it was to keep up the appearance of illness. She now slowly removed them. They were covered in blood.
Anna took over. ‘I’ll run you a bath. Have a shower first, and hand me your clothes. We need to wash them.’
Jenny trembled as she slowly took everything off. Anna handed her a towel, and she shook her head.
‘Wait until I’ve washed it all off. Then, I’ll use the towel. Just wash everything, including this.’ She held up the dressing gown.
Totally naked, she walked towards the bathroom, and Anna put all her clothes on a hot wash.
It was twenty minutes later when Jenny called for the towel. She was raw from scrubbing at herself; she took the towel and folded herself into it.
‘Come on,’ Anna said gently and led her to the settee. ‘Do you want a drink?’
She nodded. ‘Brandy, a very large one.’
Anna opened the new bottle and poured her a hefty measure. She took a couple of sips and placed the glass on the coffee table. ‘Sit down, Anna. I’ve thought about this all the way back, and I’m not going to give you any details until you see them in my letter. There’s a chance you could slip up when the police come calling, and believe me, that wouldn’t be good.’
Anna nodded. She was so relieved to see her back that details were almost irrelevant. Ostrich syndrome again.
They talked about anything, and everything, for a good half hour, avoiding all mention of Jenny’s actions; Anna treated her as a child and tucked her up in bed, kissing her on the forehead before going to her own room.
She didn’t sleep, but she did hear Jenny’s phone ring just after four o’clock. The ringtone stopped immediately, and she knew Jenny was just as awake as she was. She heard her muted voice, and then the bedroom door opened.
‘Anna, it’s Mark. He has to have your address. He has to, Anna, and he has to come to see you. It’s something serious, he says. Will you speak to him?’
The horror must have shown on her face, because Jenny crossed the room and hugged her.
‘Be strong,’ she whispered and passed the phone to Anna.
‘Mark? What’s wrong?’ Anna felt the quiver in her voice and hoped Mark didn’t sense it.
‘I need to see you, Mum. Now. I need your address. Thank goodness Jenny has made contact with you.’
‘I can’t give you my address, Mark. Your father...’
‘Mum!’ There was anguish in his tone. ‘Your address! Now!’
‘I need a promise...’
‘You don’t. Just tell me the address, and I’ll be with you as soon as I can. And make sure Jenny stays with you.’
Anna paused and then gave him the address.
‘But...’
‘No buts, Mum. I’m in Lincoln; I’ll be with you in about an hour. I’ll be on my own,’ he added. ‘Or at least, Dad won’t be with me.’
; She disconnected and stared at Jenny.
‘Don’t tell me anything at all,’ she said shakily. ‘I can’t act as well as you. And don’t forget to continue to be ill. The alibi is useless if you’re not ill.’
Jenny reached across to Anna and held her hand. ‘Look at your phone. Have you got missed calls?’
Anna opened her phone case and said, ‘Two. And a voicemail.’
‘Don’t open it. Leave everything just as it is at the moment. That way, you know nothing. We can just pretend you were too wound up by Mark’s call to bother with looking at your own phone.’
Anna nodded and looked at her daughter-in-law. ‘I’m so scared, Jenny. So scared.’
‘Anna, you’re free. I’m free. Don’t be frightened any more. Now, remember, Mark won’t be on his own. The police will be with him. We were here all night; I was too ill to go out, so we stayed in with Lissy until about eleven o’clock. No need to mention we asked Lissy for medication about two o’clock unless it crops up. That’s our back-up alibi. We went to bed as soon as Lissy went home. Have you got that?’
Anna nodded miserably, and Jenny tried to smile as she stood to leave her side.
‘I’ll put some coffee on. We need to freshen ourselves up. Did you sleep?’
‘No. You?’
‘Not a wink. I expected the call earlier than this, and I was on edge waiting for it. The drive back from Lincoln was pretty worrying as well, because I had to be so careful. It wouldn’t have done to be stopped at any point of the journey by the police. I was so wound up when I went to bed; I knew sleep wasn’t going to happen.’