At Your Door

by J. P. Carter

  ‘I loved that girl with all my being,’ she said. ‘I didn’t ask her to come here that night. She should have stayed at home.’

  Freya lifted her head and looked at Anna. Tears were now running down her face, and streaks of phlegm had gathered at the corners of her mouth.

  ‘I told him that it was stupid to think we could get away with it,’ she continued. ‘But he wouldn’t listen. He said that nobody would believe us.’

  ‘Are you talking about your husband?’ Anna asked.

  She gave a slight nod. ‘He means well. He thought he was protecting me. But the guilt has been weighing me down. I’ve found it hard to talk about Holly and to look my sister in the eye. And I know it can only get worse. That’s why I’ve been drinking. It’s how I get through the days.’

  Anna felt a sudden wave of compassion for the woman. She was being eaten up from within by something she couldn’t control. She looked pathetic, diminished, like she was standing on the edge of a precipice preparing to jump.

  ‘So what happened on that night?’ Anna said. ‘You’ll feel better once you tell us.’

  Freya shook her head. ‘I doubt that. I know I won’t need to pretend any more, but I will have to face the consequences. And the harshest punishment will be having to accept that Rebecca will never want to speak to me again.’

  Freya reached for the vodka bottle and poured some more into the glass. She grimaced as it burned a track down her throat.

  ‘I suggest you start by telling us why Holly came here,’ Anna said. ‘We know she had an argument with her mother over selling her story to the Sunday Mirror. She went straight home afterwards, but only stayed in her flat for about fifteen minutes before leaving again and coming here.’

  Freya wiped her eyes with the backs of her fingers and took a deep breath.

  ‘When she turned up we were watching television and thinking about going to bed,’ she said. ‘We weren’t expecting her, but it was typical of my niece. She would often arrive unannounced and at all times of the day or night.’

  ‘So why did she come so late?’

  ‘She was upset and didn’t want to spend the night at home by herself. I made her a cup of tea while she told us what had caused the argument with Rebecca and Theo. She fully expected us to support her. But I told her that seeking to get her own back on Nathan Wolf was stupid and would cause enormous collateral damage, especially to her mother’s chances of becoming Mayor of London. She threw a tantrum then and got really angry. She threatened to tell Rebecca that I had known about her affair with the MP.’

  ‘So how did you react to that?’ Anna asked her.

  ‘I was furious. I couldn’t believe she was behaving so badly, and so out of character. She was clearly obsessed with taking revenge against Wolf and nothing else mattered to her. I told her that she needed to calm down, but she became even more aggressive. She started screaming and said she finally realised that Wolf had treated her like a prostitute for the past year and she wasn’t going to let him get away with it.

  ‘She didn’t understand why her mother and I weren’t as keen as she was to see him brought down. Robert tried to persuade her that going to the papers wasn’t the way to do it, but she got hysterical and swore at him. And when he went to put an arm around her she became even more distressed. She threw her cup on the floor and started yelling that if she couldn’t make Wolf suffer then she didn’t want to go on living.’

  Freya suddenly choked on her words and had a coughing fit. Anna grabbed the glass she’d been drinking the vodka from and went to the sink to fill it with water. But by the time she put it on the table in front of her, Freya had stopped coughing.

  ‘What happened next neither of us saw coming,’ Freya went on. ‘It was so quick and I—’

  She stopped suddenly in response to the front door being slammed shut. It was loud enough to make Anna jump, and it made the partition walls around them shake.

  Seconds later Robert Gregory came storming into the kitchen. When he saw his wife a shadow of disbelief flashed across his face.

  ‘Oh, fuck, what have you told them?’ he yelled.

  ‘I’m so sorry,’ Freya managed before bursting into tears.

  Robert snapped his gaze towards Anna, his expression belligerent. ‘I told her not to answer your questions until I got here. Can’t you see she’s drunk? She doesn’t know what the hell she’s saying.’

  ‘I accept that she’s had a drink, Mr Gregory,’ Anna said calmly. ‘But she’s still sober. And so far she’s explained how your niece came here on Tuesday night and started kicking off. Before you so rudely interrupted us she was about to reveal how and why Holly ended up dead.’

  Robert looked from Anna to Freya and his face creased up, as though in reaction to a sharp, unbearable pain.

  Then he closed his eyes, his shoulders dropped and he slumped against the doorframe.

  ‘It was no one’s fault,’ he said, his voice suddenly low and brittle. ‘You really have to believe that.’

  CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE

  Sophie was staring at her phone, willing it to ring. It lay on the kitchen table in front of her, moisture from her own hand glistening on the screen.

  Bruno had told her that he would call back within the hour to set up a meeting.

  ‘I’ll tell you then what I have planned for you and the girl,’ he’d said.

  As she waited, Sophie’s heart hammered against her ribcage, and she felt a cold terror in her chest.

  She did not want to imagine how far Bruno would go in his bid to exact revenge against her. But she knew he wouldn’t pull any punches. He had waited a long time for her to be at his mercy, and he probably couldn’t believe his luck that he’d been able to snatch Alice. She was now his leverage, his key to making Sophie do whatever he wanted her to do.

  In hindsight it had been stupid to allow her to go out by herself. He must have been watching the flat, either alone or with an accomplice, waiting for the right moment to strike. And suddenly there she was. All alone. A naïve, unsuspecting twelve-year-old.

  Sophie wondered how Bruno had abducted her. Was it along the street or did he wait until he saw her walk into Gloria’s flats? And was she dragged into a car or van, or did he somehow manage to entice her in even though she had been told many times never to go off with strangers?

  In London child abductions in broad daylight had increased alarmingly in recent years. But even some of those that were witnessed were not reported by passers-by. The kidnappers were often mistaken for the parents, and sometimes people just turned a blind eye because for whatever reason they did not want to get involved.

  Sophie desperately wanted to call the police, but she didn’t dare. She was convinced that Bruno hadn’t been bluffing when he’d warned her that if she did she would never see Alice again.

  The man was a monster who was as dangerous now as he was ten years ago. And she had no doubt that he was just as slippery. He would have made sure of two things before coming anywhere near her flat – that he had a solid alibi for today proving that he was elsewhere, and that he could not be identified on any CCTV footage within miles of Shoreditch.

  Sophie couldn’t help conjuring up images in her mind of Alice and Bruno together. It was all too easy to believe that he had already harmed her. Perhaps she’d been beaten or sexually assaulted.

  Or maybe he had even raped her!

  She closed her eyes, squeezed out more tears, felt the adrenalin fizzing through her body.

  The waiting was becoming too much to bear. She picked up her phone and called Alice’s number. But it didn’t go through. Her phone was switched off again.

  Oh, please God, don’t let the bastard hurt her.

  Another five minutes passed.

  Then ten.

  Twenty.

  Thirty.

  The phone finally rang, and anxiety trembled in Anna’s throat when she answered it.

  ‘Is that you, Bruno?’

  ‘Are you still alone?’

&n
bsp; ‘Yes, but let me talk to Alice. Please. I want to know that she’s all right.’

  ‘All in good time,’ he said. ‘I take it you’re ready to meet.’

  ‘I am. Where do you want me to go?’

  ‘There’s a taxi waiting for you downstairs. The driver has been told to take you to Shoreditch Park, the entrance where Bridport Place meets Grange Street. Remember what I said about the girl. If anyone follows you then you’ll never see her again.’

  CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX

  Robert pushed himself away from the doorframe and entered the kitchen. He crossed to the table where he pulled out a chair and sat down next to his wife, who had managed to stop sobbing and was trying to compose herself.

  He put an arm around her shoulders, leaned close, whispered in her ear. In response, she shook her head and said out loud, ‘No, I won’t let you take the blame. It’s time now to tell the truth.’

  Freya then turned to Anna. ‘What happened to Holly was a terrible accident. After she told us she didn’t want to go on living if she couldn’t get her own back on Wolf, she became hysterical. She grabbed one of the carving knives from the block on the worktop, then held out her left arm and went to cut her wrist.’

  As Freya spoke, she gestured towards the knife block on the worktop, and Anna saw that one of the knives was missing.

  ‘But the only wound she suffered was to her throat,’ Anna said.

  Freya nodded. ‘That was because I rushed forward and tried to take the knife away from her. But she wouldn’t let go of it. She yelled for me to let her die and acted like she was possessed. We struggled and then she fell forward onto the floor just behind where I’m sitting and … and …’

  Freya couldn’t continue. Her chin dropped onto her chest and the tears came again.

  ‘Holly fell on the knife,’ Robert said matter-of-factly. ‘Neither of us realised this until we saw the blood pooling on the floor. I turned her over and saw the knife was embedded in her throat. It was awful. Freya started to scream and I pulled the knife out and tried to stem the blood.

  ‘I didn’t know she was dead for about a minute. And that was when I looked up and saw that my wife was on the house phone. She said she was calling for an ambulance, so I rushed over and stopped her. I told her that Holly was gone and that there was nothing anyone could do for her. I also explained how bad it looked for us and that I didn’t think anyone – including Rebecca and Theo – would believe our account of what had happened.

  ‘So I convinced Freya that we had to cover it up. If we didn’t there was a chance we could both be charged with murder and go to prison. It was my idea and I take full responsibility.’

  Anna threw a glance at Walker and was glad to see that he was still recording the conversation on his phone. Then, to Robert, she said, ‘What happened next?’

  Before replying, he took a hanky from his pocket and gave it to his wife, who used it to soak up the tears on her face.

  ‘I told Freya that we had to dispose of Holly’s body and make sure that no one found out that she’d come here,’ he said. ‘It was me who came up with the plan because my wife was too upset to do anything. I suppose it’s fair to say that the survival instinct kicked in. I had to do what I could to save us, no matter how extreme.’

  ‘So tell me what you did exactly,’ Anna said.

  ‘I made Freya go upstairs to the bedroom while I took Holly’s clothes off,’ he said. ‘It was a nasty business but it had to be done because I knew we’d have left traces of us all over them. I put the clothes into a bin sack along with her bag. I then wrapped the body in more bin sacks and carried it out to my car, the Toyota, and placed it in the boot. Once that was done I went back into the house and cleared the blood off the floor with paper towels. I gave it a proper clean the following day.’

  ‘Did you go straight to Barnes Common?’ Anna asked.

  He nodded. ‘I know the area well because I drive past it on the way to and from the office. I chose the spot opposite the old cemetery because I knew I’d be able to carry the body into the woods without being seen from the road.’

  ‘What did you do with her stuff?’

  ‘When I drove away from the common I stopped next to a number of street bins and dropped her clothes, bag and phone into them.’

  ‘What about the knife?’

  ‘That went in as well.’

  ‘But you kept Holly’s driving licence.’

  ‘That’s right. I came across it while I was checking her purse and it suddenly occurred to me that I might be able to use it to incriminate Wolf, who I knew would be suspected of killing her. After all, it was his fault that Holly came to our house. So I used a tissue to flick some of Holly’s blood on it. I decided I would visit him in his home or office and plant it there. As it turned out it was much easier than I expected it to be. I just slipped it into his jacket pocket as I walked out along the hallway. I know it was wrong, and I don’t feel good about it, but I hated him for the way he had treated Holly. As far as I was concerned the bastard was responsible for everything.’

  It was a lot for Anna to take in, and it certainly wasn’t how she had expected the case to end. She was inclined to believe that what she’d been told was the truth – that Holly had died as the result of a tragic accident.

  But the pair would need to be formally interviewed again under caution, and the house, along with Robert’s car, would be subjected to a rigorous forensic examination.

  The decision on what charges to bring would be up to DCS Nash and the CPS. The Gregorys had admitted perverting the course of justice and withholding and planting evidence. But there was every chance that if their story was believed they would not be charged with murder or manslaughter.

  Anna told Walker to call the office and tell the team what had happened, and to arrange for uniforms and forensic officers to come straight to the house. Then she read the couple their rights and told them she was arresting them in connection with the death of their niece.

  CHAPTER FIFTY-SEVEN

  Sophie was familiar with Shoreditch Park. It was only a twenty-minute walk from the flat, and she had taken Alice there a number of times over the past three years.

  The private hire cab was waiting on the paved area in front of the block. Panic filled her lungs as she got in. The driver glanced at her in the rear-view mirror and confirmed their destination as the junction of Bridport Place and Grange Street. He didn’t speak again until they got there just under ten minutes later. She paid him the fare and climbed out.

  She was left standing outside an entrance to the park she had never used before. Behind her, vehicles were parked along both sides of Bridport Place and ahead of her, beyond the railings, was a large expanse of grass dotted with planted trees and criss-crossed by pathways. In the distance a skyline of high-rise flats and office buildings.

  There were few people about. Sophie saw a couple of dog walkers in the distance and a woman pushing a pram along one of the paths. It wasn’t until she stepped through the open gate that she spotted Bruno. He was sitting on a bench to her left and looking right at her.

  And he was alone. There was no sign of Alice.

  He stood up as she approached him. He was wearing a black hooded sweatshirt over jeans, and his hair was shaved close to his scalp. He had lost weight since she saw him three years ago when he’d followed her to the bar in Puerto de Mazarron. But he was still an imposing figure, with broad shoulders and solid arms.

  His lips curled into a thin smile when Sophie got up close.

  ‘You need to show me what’s in your bag and pockets,’ he said. ‘I want to make sure you’re not carrying any kind of recording device.’

  ‘Are you serious?’

  ‘I’m cautious.’

  He held out his hand for her bag. She gave it to him and watched him rifle through the contents. He made a point of switching off her phone before he got her to empty her pockets.

  Finally he patted her down and his hands on her body made her blood freeze.


  ‘Tell me where Alice is, Bruno,’ she said. ‘I need to know.’

  He sat back down on the bench and invited her to sit next to him, but she remained standing.

  ‘Why are you so worried about the girl anyway?’ he said. ‘It’s not like she’s your kid. She belonged to that tosser you were shacked up with while I was in prison, the one who thought he could scare me off when he saw me following him in Southampton.’

  ‘I adopted Alice after you killed her father,’ Sophie said, and it took a lot of will power not to lunge at the bastard and scratch his eyes out. ‘She’s got no one else, and I love her like she’s my own.’

  His gaze drilled into her, steady and unflinching, his eyes filled with malice. It made her wonder yet again how on earth she had ever fallen for him.

  ‘Sit down, Sophie,’ he said, his tone harsher. ‘There are things I want you to know.’

  ‘All I want to know is where Alice is,’ she said.

  He nodded. ‘First you’ll hear me out. I’ve waited ten fucking years to get a load off my chest.’

  She sat down, but as far away from him on the bench as possible.

  ‘That’s better,’ he said. ‘Now we won’t attract attention. We look like any other married couple enjoying a summer’s day in the park.’

  ‘Get to the point, Bruno,’ she said.

  He licked his lips. ‘First I want to know if you remember what I told you when you came to see me in prison.’

  ‘How could I forget? You said you were going to make me suffer for not providing you with an alibi.’

  ‘That’s correct. And I really meant it. It’s why I haven’t stopped looking for you. I swore to myself that one day I would pay you back.’

  ‘Can’t you just forget me and get on with your life? I’m sorry I did what I did, but at the time it felt like I never had a choice. I needed to get away from you because I was being bullied and suffocated. I saw an opportunity and took it. You got your revenge when you forced us to move from Spain and then killed James.’