The Darkest Lies: A gripping psychological thriller with a shocking twist

by Barbara Copperthwaite

  The air was knocked out of me.

  ‘I’m… I’m not! I’m…’ The protestations were too embarrassed to come out of my mouth, knowing they were lies.

  ‘Come on, Mel. I’m not as green as I am cabbage-looking, and I’ve seen how you’re never there. If you’re going to have a go at people, you need to look in the mirror first. Get your priorities straight. Be there for Beth.’

  She turned her back on me and picked up the sign again. I wanted to run at her. Pelt her back with blows. Scream at the injustice of her words. Instead I stood there, fish-mouthed.

  I was furious, too furious to go home. Stalked back across to the pub, ignoring the confused looks Wiggins threw my way as we retraced our steps.

  A dribble of wine trickled down my chin. I wiped at it, hoping Glenn wouldn’t notice.

  ‘Old cow.’

  He nodded sagely.

  ‘But, right, I keep think… thinking about when Jill got narky with me,’ I slurred. ‘It was when I implied she was covering something else up. Something besides, besides… her son’s affair with a married woman.’

  Glenn raised his eyebrows quizzically.

  ‘It was when I’d asked her who the lookout was.’

  ‘Lookout for what?’

  ‘That’s the million-dollar question.’

  I stared across the half-empty pub. Realised I was once again drinking on a Monday evening. I barely drank before your attack, Beth, remember?

  ‘Thing is, I’ve b-been thinking,’ I hiccuped. ‘Did she mean a person, or did she mean the, the, er, the old RAF lookout tower? Hey, did I tell you about Alison Daughtrey-Drew and the pills?’

  He whistled as I related what I’d seen.

  ‘Right, well, it happened outside the shop. What if she bought them off Jill?’

  ‘Jill? A drug dealer?’ He raised an eyebrow and we both sniggered at the ridiculousness of it. ‘But I’ve had a thought myself.’

  ‘Uh-oh, here comes the dreaded pink pad.’

  He ignored me and opened up the notebook. ‘Right, yes,’ he said, finding his place. ‘I think we should look closer at Aleksy.’

  ‘Oh, Glenn. That was just racist nonsense.’

  ‘Yes, the mob’s racial slurs were ridiculous, but I can’t help wondering. No smoke without fire, and all that. We only abandoned Aleksy as a suspect because of James Harvey.’

  He had a point. I conceded with a wobble of my head.

  ‘So many people to consider,’ I murmured, picking up my glass to take another glug.

  Someone grabbed the stem, lifting it away from my lips.

  ‘Hey!’ I flailed after it as it floated beyond my reach. Then focused behind it. ‘Jacob! What are you doing here? Ooh, you look kind of frowny… Cheer up, might never happen.’ I giggled, but Jacob didn’t seem to get the joke.

  ‘You’re coming home, Mel. It’s six o’clock; I’ve been waiting for you so we can go to the hospital.’

  Cold voice. Barely controlled anger in his blue eyes. I didn’t want to go home with that. So I turned away. Tried to catch Dale’s eye to order another drink. Jacob’s hand on my shoulder pulled me, trying to turn me.

  ‘Get off!’ I was louder than I wanted to be. But so what? ‘I’m not a kid. I’ll come home when I’m good and ready.’

  ‘Come on, mate, you’re only going to make things worse.’ Glenn had leaned over from his bar stool to address your dad.

  Uh-oh, that was not going to turn Jacob’s frown upside down. He flexed his hands, opening and closing them into fists, as if fighting an urge.

  ‘You’re the one making things worse. Keep away from my wife, understand?’ His face pushed towards Glenn’s.

  Glenn stood with glacial speed, but didn’t move his face away. He hunched over Jacob, staring right into his eyes, unblinking. His chubby cheeks and boyish grin had taken on an unfamiliar look.

  ‘When Melanie tells me to stay away, I will.’

  Then he straightened and sat back down again, still looking right at my husband. Deliberately, he let his eyes slide over to mine.

  ‘Do you want to go home, Melanie?’ he asked.

  Suddenly I felt a lot more sober. ‘Think I better had,’ I replied quietly.

  Jacob put his arm around me. It looked loving, but there was no wriggling from it, no denying the inexorable force he exerted that kept me by his side and propelled me across the room.

  The darn step caught me out as we got outside, and I stumbled slightly.

  ‘Look at the state of you. You’re wrecked.’

  ‘So what?’

  ‘So, we’re meant to be seeing Beth tonight. I’ll have to call my parents, get them to go instead.’

  ‘There’s no need—’

  ‘There’s every need, Mel.’

  He shoved the key in the door with more force than necessary. As soon as I was inside, he slammed it shut.

  ‘Ooh, Wiggins…’ I remembered, pointing back towards the pub.

  ‘Wiggins is here, look.’

  Oh, yes. Jacob let him off his lead. Maybe I was more drunk than I’d thought. It was all Jill Young’s fault, the old battleaxe, having a go at me for no reason.

  Jacob settled me on the sofa and handed me a glass of water.

  ‘I wish you’d stop drinking so much,’ he began.

  ‘I don’t drink that much…’

  ‘You do since you started spending time with Glenn Baker. He’s a bad influence. Drinking, being paranoid, falling out with neighbours and family friends. You’ve been different since you started hanging around with him.’

  ‘It’s not him that’s changed me, it’s the fact that our daughter is never going to wake up.’

  My hands flew to cover my mouth, to try to shove back the words I’d said. Your dad’s jaw clenched, the muscles flexing. Neither of us could believe the betrayal of my words.

  ‘Beth’s going to get better,’ said Jacob. Stiff. Staring at his hands, fingers knitted together in front of him, rather than at me.

  ‘Of course, of course. But…’

  There it was, the terrible thought I’d been running from for all these weeks. The fear I’d been hiding away from. The reason why I avoided visiting you, Beth. The reason why I drank to forget. I made myself whisper the words, hoping that might soften the blow.

  ‘But what if she doesn’t, Jacob?’

  ‘You think you’re the only one struggling? The only one hurting? I can’t talk to you when you’re like this.’

  Flinging up his arms in despair, he walked out, slamming the door. It was such an un-Jacob-like thing to do, I was shocked. Wiggins whined uncomfortably at the atmosphere, the sudden shouting, then the absence of sound.

  ‘It’s all right,’ I whispered.

  I reached for him but misjudged and toppled off the sofa onto all fours. He scurried away, into his bed, and looked at me with his ears back. Wouldn’t be coaxed out.

  Not even my own dog recognised me any more. What had I become, Beth?

  Fifty-Nine

  BETH

  FRIDAY 22 JANUARY

  Some people grew up wanting a fairy-tale ending, but Beth had grown up looking at her parents – and she wanted a marriage like theirs. Her mum and dad were so happy together. Laughing and chatting and enjoying each other’s company. They even walked down the street together holding hands, still. Beth’s mates were seriously disturbed by the sight; they didn’t know anyone else’s parents who were like it.

  Beth felt sure she had found a soulmate in James Harvey. He was kind, sensitive, intelligent. His eyes didn’t glaze over when she talked about wildlife; in fact, he was passionate about saving the environment too. He read loads of books, played guitar beautifully and got on well with her parents. He was the full package, right down to how well groomed he looked.

  As they kissed, his hands slid onto Beth’s shoulders. For a moment everything was wonderful. Perfect.

  Then it all went wrong.

  Like dominoes falling, once that first thing had gone awry, it starte
d a chain reaction.

  Sixty

  Even with my eyes closed, the sunlight burned brightly on my retinas. I groaned and, with some effort, managed to turn my head away. It gave an extra-hard pound that felt like my eyes might explode from the pressure until I rested it back on the pillow as gently as I could.

  Why had I got so drunk again? It was idiotic. Memories from last night kept punching me in the kidneys, kicking me in the head. I’d let everyone down, including you. Poor Jacob, having to deal with me falling apart, on top of everything else.

  I couldn’t seem to think straight. A hair of the dog, that would sort me out. After several minutes, I managed to get out of bed. Downstairs, I had the tiniest nip of vodka, then drank loads of water and necked some painkillers. Hey presto! The world was a marginally better place.

  There was a text waiting for me. From Glenn. Saying he’d meet me at the RAF lookout tower at 11 a.m., as arranged. I didn’t remember arranging anything. And was already ten minutes late.

  ‘Stay, Wiggins,’ I ordered, hurrying to the car. I was unsure of what I’d find at the tower, so thought it was best not to take him.

  The tower had its own dedicated turn-off from the main road, created by the RAF. It was still only a single lane, though, and as straight as the other route that I generally took to the marsh.

  At the end, I pulled over behind Glenn’s van, careful not to go too far over onto the soft verge for fear of getting stuck. Unlike the lane that we usually came down, there was no car park here apart from the lookout tower’s, and that was fenced off.

  As soon as I stepped from the car, calm enveloped me. The marsh was more of a home these days than the house. I felt closer to you here, Beth. The wind whistled around me as if greeting an old friend, as if you were with it.

  Glenn jumped from his van and did up his coat. His solid frame and open face were a sight for sore – and probably very red – eyes.

  ‘You look perkier than I expected,’ he grinned.

  ‘I don’t feel it,’ I laughed, elbowing him.

  We walked over to the seven-foot-high, sturdy chain-link fence that ran around the building and the car park. The chain-link gates were padlocked shut.

  ‘Climb over?’ Glenn suggested.

  My mouth gaped. ‘Er, no, I don’t think that’s feasible.’

  But he went a couple of paces back and took a running jump. He easily grasped the top of the gate, pulled himself up and swung a leg over.

  ‘Blimey, you’re more agile than I gave you credit for.’

  He sat on top of the fence and held a hand out to me. ‘Want help?’

  ‘What if I make it in, but can’t get back out?’

  He motioned with his foot to the strutting on the back of the gate. ‘You can use this for a leg-up. It’ll be easier coming out than getting in.’

  I wasn’t sure, but didn’t want to appear a complete wimp and, ultimately, we were doing this for you, Beth. I should be the one to go in there more than Glenn, really. So, shaking my head at the prospect, I did what he’d done: backed up a couple of paces, then a couple more and took a running jump, flinging up my hands. He caught hold of one hand and pulled me up while I grabbed hold of the top and pulled myself up with the other. Somehow I wedged the top of the gate under one armpit while cocking my leg in an ungainly fashion. Glenn hauled at the back of my jacket.

  When we both sat straddling the top of the fence, we laughed. I panted like nobody’s business and my head pounded, but not as badly as I’d feared, the painkillers working a treat.

  Abruptly, Glenn swung a leg over, jumped down and held both hands up to me, inviting me to jump into his arms.

  The thought made me feel momentarily uncomfortable. Guilty. I mimicked his movement, but hooked my tiptoes onto the strut then jumped from halfway down the fence.

  ‘Right, let’s have a look around.’

  We wandered about aimlessly, trying to look businesslike.

  ‘There’s quite a lot of muddy tyre tracks.’

  ‘I was surprised by that too. Cars, motorbikes and bicycles. Seems like it’s been busy,’ he replied.

  We wandered around the car park area, first looking down, then gazing up, neither sure what we were looking for. There was an air of recent use about it. A pile of beer bottle tops made me realise: of course, Jill must be getting her lads to start doing the place up for her. Clearly they had been at it for a while, judging by the amount of bottle tops.

  ‘I’m going to see if there’s a door open anywhere, or maybe even a window we can squeeze through.’

  Glenn disappeared round the corner. He was out of sight for no more than a few seconds when he called out to me. I ran, and there he was, pointing at the ground.

  ‘Does that strike you as a bit odd?’ he frowned.

  Lying on the ground was a pair of what looked like expensive wireless headphones; the good kind that were noise-cancelling.

  ‘Well… It doesn’t seem the sort of thing Jill would use, but it’s hardly a clue. Maybe one of her lads uses them while he’s doing building work here, and forgot them.’

  Glenn shrugged. ‘True. It just seems a bit, I don’t know, out of place.’

  It wasn’t the only thing that was out of place. In the corner was a huge stack of empty water bottles. Building was thirsty work, but not that thirsty.

  I peered into a window. The place was totally empty, as expected. No cobwebs, though. Turning away, I noticed the thick, heavy blackout curtains; they must have been a leftover from the military.

  ‘Clues are pretty thin on the ground. Non-existent, in fact. Maybe Jill did mean a person when she referred to “lookout”. If she did, how the hell are we going to find out who they were and what they were looking out for?’ I said.

  ‘What else could the lookout tower be used for?’ Glenn wrinkled his brow. ‘Could it be a base for smugglers? Just thinking of your theory of Jill as the world’s unlikeliest drugs baron.’

  I stuck my tongue out. ‘Some of the creeks are deep enough and wide enough for a shallow boat, maybe, but it would be a squeeze. Maybe… hey, maybe Beth had a clandestine meeting at the tower with James Harvey, or Aleksy Jachowski, or, I don’t know, someone else. Look how easy we found it to break in.’ A thought occurred, making me gasp. ‘What about Davy? His mum owns this place, so it’d be simple for him to get the key; he’s got a car, so could meet Beth and drive her here easily enough, for a date; and his involvement would explain Jill’s paranoia over me knowing about the lookout tower. You said yourself that he’s quite childlike, so…’

  ‘Wouldn’t he have his hands full with Ursula?’

  ‘Well, they’re not full-time, are they? I wonder how often they manage to hook up? If he was seeing Beth, it would explain him watching me now – he’s not looking out for me, he’s checking up on me.’

  I liked Davy, didn’t want to be suspicious of him. But this theory made sense.

  ‘Yeah, you’re right, I don’t know what’s going on and I’m not sure we’re getting any closer to the truth. But we’ve got to treat everyone with suspicion,’ Glenn agreed.

  We were both floundering in the dark. But I couldn’t give up – not when I was convinced that if I stumbled around for long enough, I’d come across the metaphorical light switch.

  ‘You look at Davy. I’m going to have a look at Aleksy,’ decided Glenn.

  ‘And how are you going to do that? The Jachowskis won’t talk to anyone in the village after that mob the other day.’ My eyebrows must have been right beneath my hairline, I was so sceptical.

  ‘I’ll find out something, somehow, don’t you worry. Best if it’s only me, though. If you try to talk to anyone in the Jachowski family they’ll probably clam up.’

  ‘Good plan. Now then… let’s see if we can find out anything else.’

  I pushed at the bottom of the window, trying to force it open. Glenn did the same on the neighbouring pane. I moved onto the next window. Fingertips exploring the underside, sides, corners, tops. There had t
o be a way in; burglars broke into far more secure houses than this every day. But I couldn’t manage it. Glenn and I went from window to window, working in opposite directions until we met again.

  ‘I could get something and smash a pane?’ he suggested.

  I hesitated, then realised I was actually contemplating breaking and entering. Trespassing was one thing, but that was a bridge too far when we only had hunches leading us on.

  ‘Better not,’ I decided hurriedly. ‘I’m the law-abiding type.’

  Glenn kicked gently at the bottom of the wooden door. ‘Probably wouldn’t take that much to kick it open…’

  ‘Love your enthusiasm, and it’s really tempting.’ I went on tiptoes again, cupping my hands around my eyes, the better to see inside. ‘But I can’t see anything in there that would make it worth getting a criminal record for.’

  Disappointment sank through me. Another lead gone, another dead end. Would talking to Davy again be yet another wild goose chase? Probably, but I had to keep going – just in case.

  ‘Right, how are we going to get back over that bloody fence?’ I asked, forcing myself to brighten up.

  It was actually easier going back. Glenn gave me a boost in his cupped hands. From there, I stepped fairly easily up to the strut across the middle and pulled myself over the fence. This time when I jumped down, though, I landed awkwardly, lurching forward and going down heavily onto my knees and skinning my palms.

  ‘Should have let me catch you,’ observed Glenn from the top of the fence, leaping down beside me.

  ‘Smart-arse.’

  I hesitated, wondering if it was the right time to speak to him about his imaginary daughter. But didn’t have the heart. I needed to think of how exactly to tackle it because it could blow up in my face. If Glenn felt embarrassed, he might just turn his back on me. And that was something I couldn’t face at the moment.

  We said our farewells, then drove off in single file, me following behind Glenn. I couldn’t help once again thanking my lucky stars that he had come into my life. Off we went, chasing up yet another half-baked idea. I ignored the helplessness and doubts stifling me, told myself that each failure must bring me closer to the right track eventually. I was probably fooling myself, I thought, but it was better than giving up.