by Issy Brooke
Mostly.
She felt slightly sick as she took her place on a plastic chair in a plain-walled room. There were no windows, and just a table between her and the officers. They started the tape, ran through the preliminaries, and then began to ask her questions which she could not answer.
Throughout the whole of the journey up to the police station, she had not been able to come up with a convincing story. And she knew that the most effective lies were the ones closest to the truth. But how could she explain any of it without incriminating Ariadne, and drawing more attention to her sister?
She took a chance and went for the minimalist approach. After all, she reasoned, the police would need hard evidence to charge her with anything certain. She clung to the faith that the British bobby was a solid, reliable and incorruptible paragon of virtue who sought only evidence, proof and truth. But even she could hear a hint of sarcasm shadowing her thoughts.
“Tell us why you were walking towards the woods with a bottle of bleach,” they asked. One leaned forward, and the other had a pad of paper resting on his knees so she could not read what he wrote.
“I was going for a walk,” she said. “I often walk that way.”
“Why were you carrying a bottle of bleach?”
“I’d picked it up earlier. I was going to take it home.”
“Where did you get it?”
She hesitated. The truth, she thought. “I brought it from home.”
They glanced at one another. The one without the paper said, “Why would you take a bottle of bleach from home, out on a walk, on your own, and then bring it back home again?”
“I don’t know,” she said. “I get confused. I do mad things. Haven’t you ever put your phone in the fridge and tried to stir your tea with a pen?”
One officer nodded slightly but the other glared at him.
And so it went on, the questions circling and going nowhere. As the police grew more frustrated with her, she felt more confident. If they had anything definite to pin on her, they would not have been so impatient to get to the facts.
Eventually she was led to a cell and told to wait.
“How long for?”
“As long as we need to take,” was the unhelpful answer.
She knew she had rattled them.
She settled down on the low mattress. Her phone had been taken from her and she had nothing to do or read.
It was going to be a tedious wait.
* * * *
When Inspector Bill Travis swung the cell door open an hour later, she suddenly decided she preferred the tedious waiting. He did not look happy. His beetle-black brows were like angrily-drawn marker slashes on his fleshy face.
“You’ve given my constables the run around,” he said without preamble. “Do you care to explain anything to me?”
She got to her feet and wound her hands together awkwardly. “I don’t have anything to explain,” she said. “There’s been a mix-up. I was out for a walk.”
“With bleach?”
She shrugged. “It’s odd but it’s not a crime.”
He rolled his eyes to the ceiling and let out a long, heavy sigh. “I have to warn you not to meddle in the Julie Rose case, Penny.”
“Why would you think I was meddling? I was out for a walk. It was totally unconnected.” She bristled.
He glared at her. “I know you. And I am serious. If you do anything that might impede the investigation, I will have you charged.”
“I know,” she said. “I am sure you guys are working really hard and I trust you to find the killer. I’m just…”
“What?”
“I’m simply concerned for my sister,” she said with a heavy sigh. She knew that saying that meant she was almost acknowledging that she was meddling. “Is she still a suspect?”
“She’s on our list,” he said. “Not at the top, but you’ll understand that in light of her past, we have to keep her on our radars.”
“What do you mean?”
“Obviously, anyone with –” Travis stopped and cocked his head. “Anyway. I’ve called for Drew to come and collect you. That’s more than you deserve, frankly. You’re free to go. Come through with me to the custody desk, and we’ll sort out your belongings.”
She followed him, badgering him with questions. “What do you know about Ariadne that I don’t?”
“You tell me,” he said. “What do you know about her that we ought to know?”
That was too close to the truth. She clammed up, signed for her possessions, and was sent to wait outside on the steps.
* * * *
“What is going on?” Drew demanded when he rolled up, half an hour later.
“Let’s drive,” she said, leaping into the passenger seat and slamming her hand on the dashboard like she was in an exciting getaway scene in a film.
He shook his head, half-smiled, and pulled away from the kerb at a reasonable and sedate pace. “Okay, so I am driving. Now, what is going on?”
“I haven’t been arrested,” she said.
“Good. I’ll ask again … what’s going on?”
“I don’t know where to start.”
“You mean, you don’t know how much to tell me,” he said shirtily.
Penny felt the sting of that remark. It was too true. She felt guilty that he had driven all the way up to Lincoln in the middle of the night, so she found herself telling him everything, including about the key.
He almost laughed.
“You are crazy. You are both crazy. Seriously, just leave the key where it is now. Do you believe her, though?”
“What, about the key? Yes. However…” and Penny went on to tell him about Inspector Travis’s strange remarks.
“What do you think he means?” Drew asked when she had finished.
“I don’t like to think.”
“You do think something though…”
“Yeah,” she said. “I need to talk to her first. I don’t know as much about her as I ought to do. I mean, I went to university when she was at primary school. I was starting my career while she was at secondary school and we really didn’t have any contact at all. I lost touch with my mum and dad a bit, too. I regret that, now, but at the time, my career was the most important thing to me. And then she got married to that man and you know the rest.”
“I am sure that you’ll find a way through all this,” Drew said. “But you have both got to be honest with each other.”
“She finds it hard to trust people,” Penny said. She rested her head on the cool glass of the window and watched the lights of Glenfield zip past. Drew turned down her side street and pulled up outside her house.
“Be patient and make sure you are worthy of her trust,” he said.
“I know. You’re right. Thank you for coming to get me. I will make it up to you, I promise.”
She put her hand on the door to open it, but he reached out, and surprised her by lightly touching her other hand, resting on her bag. She was so taken aback that she stopped and stared at him.
It was hard to read his face in the shadows. He said, “And you’re definitely coming to the bonfire?”
“Yes. I’m going to take photos.”
He cleared his throat. “Do you have to take photos?”
“Well, no, it’s just something I’m doing for the website.” For the second time that night, her heart began to hammer in anticipation.
“Good. Perhaps … perhaps I’ll see you there?”
“Yes.”
“Like, um, well, I’ll meet you in the car park about half past six?”
“Of course. I’d like to go with you.”
Drew was still struggling. “You, I mean, me, I mean, we can go together?”
“Yes, Drew, we can go together. Me and you. Together. I would like that very much.”
Even in the gloom, she saw his sudden, wide grin and flash of white teeth. “Fantastic! I am such a doofus,” he said. “I am basically asking you out.”
“Yes, I know.”
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“Good. I didn’t want to give off any mixed signals. You can say no, you know.”
“I know! It’s fine. It’s great. I am looking forward to it.”
There was another strange pause. Was this when he was going to lean forward and kiss her?
He took his hand from hers, and placed it back on the steering wheel.
“Thanks again for the lift,” she said, and slid out of the car.
Chapter Fifteen
On Thursday morning, Penny went straight around to Ariadne’s house.
Her euphoria over Drew having finally declared his hand had quickly died. In fact, she had brooded all night about being at the police station, and by the time that daylight dawned, she had worked herself up into quite a fit of frustrated fury.
She hammered on the front door, and tried the handle, but it was locked. Didn’t Ariadne know she was living in the countryside now, Penny thought. We don’t have crime here.
Apart from the constant murdering, obviously. Other than that, it’s a fairly low-crime area.
Ariadne was up and dressed, and finishing breakfast with the kids in the kitchen. She looked surprised when she answered the door, and let Penny follow her back through the house.
“Tea? Coffee?” Ariadne said as she flicked the radio off.
“Explanations,” Penny replied darkly.
Destiny and Wolf looked at one another, and comically alarmed expressions showed on their faces, especially Wolf who still had a child’s lack of subtlety. They stood up, dropped their cups and bowls in the sink, and left the room quickly.
Ariadne folded her arms and stayed by the kettle. “Have a seat,” she said.
Penny did not sit. She, too, folded her arms. Then she realised they were both adopting exactly the same position their mother used to do when they were kids.
Nothing changes, she thought. It’s funny what you inherit beyond blood.
“It’s about that key you dumped on me,” Penny said.
“You said you could help. What’s happened?”
“I got picked up by the police last night when I was trying to help you, that’s what.”
Ariadne paled. “What did you do?”
“I dropped it in the woods. Then I thought I’d better get the fingerprints off it, so I went back out with a bottle of bleach, and I was reported by some busybody for being suspicious, and taken up to the police station to be questioned.”
“Why on earth didn’t you take the fingerprints off it first?” Ariadne demanded angrily. “How stupid! Didn’t you wear gloves?”
“Hang on a minute!” Penny said. “Don’t you be calling me stupid. I was doing you a favour, remember?”
“What did you tell the police?”
“Nothing,” she said. “Even though I was locked in a cell and then had a taped interview. Though if this is your attitude, maybe I should have told them everything.”
There was a silence.
Penny stared as Ariadne’s eyes filled with tears. Ariadne tipped up her head and stared at the ceiling. Isn’t it awful, Penny thought, the way we can say such hurtful things to our family members – indeed, the people we love most – that we would not dream of saying to a stranger.
Ariadne spoke huskily. “You don’t know everything,” she said at last.
“I am starting to realise that,” Penny said. “What do the police know about you that I do not?”
Ariadne shrugged. She half-turned away and started to fill the sink with hot water.
“Ari,” Penny said insistently. “What happened to you when I went away to university?”
“I can’t believe you don’t know,” Ariadne said. “Or maybe I can, actually. It’s not like you cared much, then.”
“I had my own life to get on with.”
“Yeah, you did, and off you went.”
“What, do you think I should have stayed at home?”
Ariadne was fully turned away from her now. She turned the tap off, and gripped the edge of the sink. Her shoulders jutted up, and her head was sunk forwards, mostly out of sight. She was the picture of dejection. “No,” she muttered. “Of course not. I am sorry. I’m looking for someone else to blame but I know that it’s only my fault. Totally my fault. Only ever my fault.”
Penny waited.
Ariadne said, unexpectedly, “Criminal damage.”
Penny stopped herself blurting out “What?” She held her tongue, physically biting on it.
Ariadne had to talk to fill the silence. “Criminal damage,” she repeated. “That was one of my crimes. And then, minor assault.”
Penny made a strangled sound.
Ariadne turned. “Yes, me. I fell in with a crowd of girls who were my age, and one or two were a year older than me. They had rules to be in their gang and they were so, so cool. I was never cool. They seemed to like me. They treated me like a pet, maybe like a mascot. And I wanted them to admire me, and I was scared they would stop liking me.”
“How old were you?”
Ariadne smiled thinly. “Fifteen, when I first met them. They got me to do things to prove I was worthy of being part of their gang. It happened slowly but once you’ve broken the law the first time, it gets easier.”
Penny could see the repeated patterns in the personality that had made Ariadne’s life so difficult. She wanted to shake her and tell her to be more assertive. Order her to take no one’s orders. Force her to be forceful.
“So you’ve got a criminal record?” Penny said.
“It’s all considered to be spent convictions now,” she said. “And yet, though they say the slate can be wiped clean, it’s not. It never really is. They say that you can start over again. You can’t. It follows you, always. My thoughts, my dreams. Everything gets contaminated by it.”
“Only if you let it!” Penny said. “I know of lots of folks who haven’t let their criminal record affect their achievements.”
“You know of them … but you probably don’t really know anyone in real life. You have just read inspiring stories in magazines. For every tale of success, there are a hundred examples of failure that no one likes to admit to.”
Penny remembered another case, where one woman’s past had had tragic consequences for her employment in a shop. Even though she had turned her life around, things had caught up with her. She took a deep breath. “You should have told me, Ari. If not then, you should have told me now.”
“I am telling you now.”
“I mean earlier than now. You should have told me when you first became a suspect in this case.”
Ariadne flared up. “What, so you could suspect me, just like the police do?”
“No, no! I never would.” She remembered adding her sister’s name to the list on the mind map, and she hoped that the shame did not make her blush.
“Yeah, right.” Ariadne flapped her hands in the air, letting her arms fall heavily against her sides. She twisted her head from left to right. “I can’t stand this. I can’t do this. Now you know … you know about me. You know why I can’t succeed. Ever. You know why Destiny is like she is. She’s probably inherited my criminal gene and she’s going to prison and that’s my fault, you see! Again. He was right about me, you know, that man.”
Penny knew she referred to her late husband. “No, Ari! Never. You cannot say that. He was always wrong.”
“What would you know about being wrong?” Ariadne was shouting now. “Get out. Get out! I can’t stand it anymore! I need some peace. I need to be alone. You know the truth – that’s all you need – now get out!”
“We can talk about–”
Ariadne advanced on her. “No, we cannot. We’ve talked. Now go.”
“I can’t leave you in this state.”
“So are you going to bully me so that you can stay?” Ariadne said in a low hiss. “Or can I make my own decisions about what is right for me in my own house?”
It was close to what Penny had been thinking that Ariadne needed to do. “I am sorry. You know where I am if you
need me,” she said.
“Fat lot of help you have been so far,” Ariadne said. “Go!”
Penny felt deeply uneasy but she left.
* * * *
Penny went out to walk Kali later that morning. She needed to clear her head. Her thoughts had just been a whirl of pointless recriminations.
Ugh, she thought. Families.
She headed south, along the main road that ran through the town, and then over the small stone bridge. From here she could see open fields up ahead. To the right were some very large, fancy fine houses. On the left, there was the slipe, the meadow that was used as common land for the people of the town. There was a place to park cars, and a small children’s playground.
And the increasingly large pile of wood that would, in two days’ time, become the bonfire to celebrate Guy Fawkes’s Night.
At first her heart sank when she spied the two familiar figures of Destiny and Wolf. But Wolf spotted her and waved, and she had to go and talk to them.
She was reluctant, and that came out of sheer cowardice. She wondered if the kids had overheard the argument, and now knew about their mother’s past. She was particularly worried about Destiny, because of Ariadne’s declaration that she was “going to end up in prison”. It had been a cruel thing to say, though understandable in the heat of the argument.
Even so; it was not something you ever wanted a child to hear about themselves.
But the pair of them seemed perfectly happy as they bounded over. Wolf was bundled up in sensible clothing but Destiny wore only a hooded top over her short skirt and long boots.
“Aren’t you cold?” Penny said, eyeing her legs.
“Thermals,” Destiny said. “I’m wearing a base layer made of merino wool. Drew says it’s the best way to stay warm.”
“Oh, does he now?”
“Yeah,” she said. “And he also says not to have your shoes on too tight.”
“Really?”
“He knows a lot of stuff. I like Drew. He doesn’t talk down to me. He knows everything.”
“Yes, he probably does,” Penny said. “Um … this morning, when I was talking to your mum, did you guys … I mean, I hope you both weren’t upset or anything.”