The Sixth Window

by Rachel Abbott

  ‘Quite. Well I suggest you keep DS Sims on your team for now. Clear it with division and put him on this. The SIO on the investigation has retired since Sergeant Gray was killed, so a fresh pair of eyes would be useful. But I don’t want you diverted on to what may well be a straightforward case. Just keep an eye on Sims, and get Becky to make sure he has everything covered. Sergeant Gray was one of ours, and we need to be sure there are no loopholes. This man has to go down for manslaughter at least.’

  6

  Natalie had no memory of getting in the car and driving to Alison’s, but somehow she found herself sitting outside her friend’s lovely little cottage behind a skip full of rubble from the ongoing renovation and a white van that she guessed belonged to the builders.

  Scarlett was huddled against the passenger door, as far away from her mother as she could get. She had been unable to pack for crying, and was still sobbing quietly. Natalie had been shaking so much that it had taken her a couple of traumatic hours to bundle together whatever they might need to get them through the next few weeks. Ed had stood quietly by, an expression of such devastation on his face that Natalie couldn’t bear to look at him. His silence made it all the more difficult to stay firm. She’d had to keep reminding herself of what she had seen and what she suspected.

  She had left with the sound of Ed’s quiet words ringing in her ears.

  ‘Don’t go, Natalie. Please, darling. You’ve got nowhere to go. Where are you going to stay? Can I at least help you to find somewhere so I know you’re safe? I can make some calls for you.’

  She had ignored him, but he was right about one thing. She hadn’t any idea where they were going to sleep.

  There hadn’t been a chance to let Alison know they were coming, and as Natalie turned towards her daughter in an attempt to comfort her, she saw the unmistakable slender figure of her friend standing in the timber-framed porch of her cottage, arms folded, a frown of concern on her face.

  ‘Come on, sweetheart. Let’s get inside and we can talk,’ Natalie said to Scarlett, clearing her throat of unshed tears.

  ‘No.’ Scarlett’s tone was emphatic.

  ‘You can’t sit out here forever, love.’ She glanced out of the window and saw that Alison had left the porch and was walking towards them – she could see the top of her friend’s short auburn hair above the skip. She opened her door and wearily climbed out.

  ‘Nat? What are you doing here? You didn’t call me back earlier and I was getting worried. Are you okay?’ Alison asked, giving Natalie a tight hug.

  She felt so insubstantial to Natalie, who instantly thought of Ed’s strong arms and broad chest. She tried to say, ‘I’ve left him,’ but couldn’t get the words out.

  ‘What’s up with Scarlett?’ Alison asked, bending down to peer through the car window. Dressed in tight emerald-green jeans and a white top, Alison looked even thinner than usual to Natalie, who had been worried for some time about her friend’s obsession with her weight.

  ‘She won’t come in,’ Natalie responded.

  ‘Why not give her a bit of space, then?’

  Natalie hated to leave Scarlett right now, but the more pressure she put on her daughter to come inside, the more obstinate she would become. She made one last plea, but it fell on deaf ears, so Natalie reluctantly followed her friend into the cottage.

  Alison lifted a curtain of plastic sheeting and opened the door to the one inhabitable room in the house, apologising for the mess and the buzz of a drill from upstairs. Natalie barely heard her as she headed to a chair by the window so she could keep an eye on her daughter while Alison clattered around in a makeshift kitchen area in the far corner of the room, muttering about dust from the building work.

  Natalie hadn’t realised she was crying until tears splashed onto her clasped hands. She had tried so hard to hide how she was feeling for Scarlett’s sake, but now there was only Alison here, and nobody had seen her cry more often over the years than her friend.

  ‘Hey,’ Alison said as she set down a cup of coffee next to Natalie’s chair. ‘What’s up, honey? Is it Ed?’

  She pushed a tissue into Natalie’s hand, knelt down and pulled her into a hug.

  ‘I can’t tell you, Ali. Not even you. It’s too awful.’ She couldn’t hold herself together any longer, and Alison held her, rocking her slowly until the shuddering sobs subsided.

  ‘Remember when we were kids,’ Alison said softly. ‘We were probably about fourteen and we used to lie on the bed at your house and talk about men – well, boys then, I suppose. We said we were never going to let them mess us about. We were invincible.’

  Natalie almost smiled through her tears. She and Alison had been inseparable, and like all kids they had thought the life they were leading would never change.

  ‘It was because those boys in year ten were horrible to us, wasn’t it?’ Natalie said.

  ‘Yes, to start with. But the more we talked about it, the more we convinced ourselves that it was always going to be you and me against the world.’

  Natalie sniffed. Alison was right. She had always been a great planner and had mapped out their future together. Natalie had gone along with the dream, but neither of them had taken into account the charms of a young man called Bernie Gray, who had swept Natalie off her feet.

  Alison pulled her a bit tighter. ‘What we said then still stands. I don’t know what Ed’s done, but you don’t need him. You’ve got Scarlett, and you’ve got me. You’re not alone.’

  ‘But I’ve got nowhere to go, Ali. I suppose I could go and stay with my parents, but Scarlett wouldn’t be too impressed.’

  Natalie’s parents had retired to inland Spain, but their home was in the middle of nowhere, and on Scarlett’s last visit she had been bored rigid after the first two days. There would be an uproar if Scarlett thought she had to stay there for a month, and Natalie couldn’t possibly take that much time off work.

  ‘I’m going to have to look for a short-term let until I can get my house back from the tenants. I don’t have any other choice.’

  Natalie wiped her cheeks with the soggy tissue. She had to get a hold on herself. Scarlett couldn’t see her like this, and she needed to check if her daughter was okay.

  Alison’s eyes were filled with concern. ‘I wish I could put you up, Nat, but I can’t. And short-term places are usually expensive.’ She stood up and dusted her knees. ‘Look, you drink your coffee and I’ll go out to the studio and print you a list of letting agents. Are you going to be okay now?’

  Natalie nodded and smiled her thanks, reaching out to squeeze Alison’s hand.

  ‘I’ll be as quick as I can,’ Alison said as she disappeared towards the garden shed that she rather grandly referred to as her studio.

  Natalie stood up and stared out of the window, worrying about Scarlett and jumping every time a car came down the lane, wondering if it could be Ed, following her to explain everything, coming to take them home.

  She was relieved when Alison returned after five minutes with several sheets of paper. At least calling some agents would take her mind off everything.

  ‘Here’s the list. It’s a long one, so I’m sure you’ll find something. Is it okay if I disappear for a while? I’ve got a few things I need to do online, so I’ll leave you in peace. But give me a shout if you need anything, won’t you?’

  Natalie took the papers from her friend and stared at the top sheet. What was she doing? How had she managed to get them in this mess? She really didn’t know, but it was her job to get them out of it, so with a sigh she began the laborious task of making the calls. It didn’t take her long to realise that nobody had any short-term lets in her price range, but she left her name and mobile number with all of them, just in case something affordable turned up.

  She popped out twice to try to talk to Scarlett. The car was heating up in the midday sun, and it had to be horribly uncomfortable. She had finally persuaded her daughter to at least get out of the car, if not come into the cottage, when her mobi
le rang.

  ‘Mrs Gray?’ a voice said.

  Natalie didn’t recognise the number, so said a hesitant, ‘Yes.’

  ‘Don’t panic – I’m not trying to sell you cheaper electricity or anything.’ The young-sounding man at the other end of the line laughed as if he had said something funny. ‘I understand you’re looking for somewhere to rent for about a month?’

  ‘How do you know that?’ Natalie asked, unable to hide her suspicions. She didn’t trust anyone right now.

  ‘Well, I got back from a viewing five minutes ago and there was a note on my desk to call you. My name’s Peter Green – from Sheppard’s estate agents. Are you still looking, or have you already found somewhere?’

  Natalie forced herself to relax and confirmed that she was indeed looking for an apartment. She listened as he talked her through the details. Thank goodness it was something she could afford.

  ‘If you’re interested, the keys will be with the caretaker any time after six this evening,’ he said. ‘Check the place over, and if you like it you can leave your deposit cheque with him. If you don’t, no harm done.’

  With a sigh of relief that they might have somewhere to go, she put her arm around her daughter’s stiff shoulders and steered her into Alison’s cottage.

  7

  It was late by the time Natalie and Scarlett arrived in central Manchester, but still just about light enough to see where they were. They had spent the rest of the day at Alison’s. In spite of Scarlett finally agreeing to go into the cottage, each time Alison tried to engage her in conversation her responses had been monosyllabic, and Natalie hadn’t really wanted to chat either. She felt confused and miserable, and only the cheerful racket of the builders singing along loudly to every song on their radio had covered the awkward silences.

  Alison had finally excused herself to seek refuge in her studio again and, exhausted by emotion, Scarlett had fallen asleep on the sofa. Natalie sat watching her for hours, her horror at what might have been happening to her beautiful girl under her own eyes hitting her afresh every few minutes. She hoped and prayed she had spotted the signs in time, but she couldn’t help feeling an aching sadness at what she had lost.

  Scarlett had slept for a long time, and Natalie had only woken her when she realised how late it was.

  But now they had arrived at their destination, and as her tyres crunched over the black cinders of an almost empty car park, Natalie gazed out at the narrow streets and dark red-brick buildings that surrounded this small patch of levelled wasteland. The hot sun earlier in the day had given way to thick, heavy cloud, and the sultry atmosphere didn’t offer a breath of air. The acrid stink of a combination of overused oil and pungent spices wafted through her open window from a nearby Indian restaurant, a sharp contrast to the cleaner air of the rural village they had so recently left behind.

  ‘Why are we here, Mum?’ Scarlett had refused to speak since they left Alison’s and had turned to stare out of the window, occasional sniffs letting Natalie know that she was crying again. Now, as they both looked out at a place they had never seen before, her unhappy voice was tinged with more than a little apprehension.

  Natalie’s own hand was shaking as she reached out to turn the ignition off, so she returned her fingers to the steering wheel and gripped it tightly. Was she wrong about all this? Had she turned their lives upside down for nothing? Scarlett had been so happy at Ed’s. Then the dreadful thought hit Natalie that maybe she had never been the one that Ed had wanted in his home. What if it had been Scarlett all along?

  She couldn’t think like that. She would not allow herself to believe the man she had known for so many years was that devious – Machiavellian, even.

  But how well did she know him? Who was he really?

  She turned towards Scarlett and did her best to put on a reassuring smile, but inside she felt as if a solid ball had settled somewhere in her chest, and it was difficult to breathe.

  ‘I know you don’t understand, Scarlett, but we had to leave. Ed and I had a row. I’ll talk to you about it properly later, but for now let’s get inside, shall we?’

  ‘Get inside where? I don’t know why we’re here, wherever here is. Why can’t we go home to Ed’s?’ There was a slight note of panic now in Scarlett’s voice, and Natalie needed to calm her down.

  ‘Listen, love, I know this is difficult for you, and if we could have gone back to our own house, we would have. But you know I’ve rented it out, and we couldn’t stay at Alison’s because she only has one bedroom while the cottage is being renovated.’

  ‘Well thank goodness for small mercies,’ Scarlett said, mimicking one of Natalie’s frequently used phrases.

  ‘What do you mean?’ Natalie asked.

  Her daughter gave her one of those looks that meant Duh but didn’t actually say it.

  Natalie didn’t understand what Scarlett’s problem was with Alison. She had been off with her for a while now and had been quite rude to her today. But knowing how upset Scarlett was, Natalie had said nothing.

  ‘Alison’s my best friend, and she loves you.’

  ‘Yeah, right.’

  She looked at her daughter’s pinched mouth and wished she could make her understand how important Alison was to her. But now wasn’t the time for that conversation.

  Natalie stared at the building facing them. It wasn’t what she had been expecting. All she had been told was that the available apartment was in a four-storey block and it had been empty for ages because the owner couldn’t be bothered with tenants. With the property market booming in Manchester, the flat had been bought as an investment.

  It was an unusual building, and undoubtedly old. The entrance was through an arch supported on either side by brick pillars, through which she could see a long narrow courtyard with apartments on three sides.

  ‘Come on, grab your bag. Let’s go and explore.’

  Natalie earned herself another scathing look from her daughter. She couldn’t really expect anything else, given the events of the day. Scarlett must be bewildered by it all. Her confidence had diminished after Bernie’s death, and more than anything she needed security. But the nauseating thought that Ed might have been grooming her wouldn’t go away.

  Bernie had told her how clever sexual predators could be – that they targeted people who were emotionally vulnerable – and there was no doubt in Natalie’s mind that Scarlett missed her father’s love. Would that make her more likely to trust someone like Ed, who was so attentive, so affectionate, so keen to fill the huge gap left by her dad? And he was always buying her things; wasn’t that another sign?

  Scarlett wouldn’t be able to see the danger she was in, and Natalie was sure that no amount of reasoning would make her see Ed as anything other than a man she had grown to rely on.

  A horrific thought struck her. Had Ed changed his shifts so that he could be alone with Scarlett during the day when Natalie was at work?

  She couldn’t bear the thought of what could have happened, and right now her priority was to make sure Scarlett was safe. Somehow she had to help her through the next few weeks, so she forced herself to smile and jumped out of the car with a degree of enthusiasm that wouldn’t have fooled anyone.

  ‘If we don’t like the apartment we’ll go and stay in a hotel for tonight. Okay? I haven’t committed us to this, but let’s be positive and take our bags to save us traipsing back here later if it looks all right.’

  Dragging their suitcases from the boot, she passed one to Scarlett and tried to give her daughter’s rigid body a quick hug. Maybe she felt a slight easing of her shoulders, but she couldn’t be sure.

  Locking the car door and double-checking it, they picked up their cases and made their way across the cinders towards the archway. As they passed beneath it, Natalie could see two steel staircases, one to the right and one to the left. Above the right-hand flight was a metal replica of the main arch and a sign: NORTH WING. Predictably, the one to the left said SOUTH WING.

  ‘The keys
are with the caretaker. His office is in the south wing, but I think the apartment’s in the north. Do you want to wait here and keep an eye on the bags?’

  ‘Okay,’ Scarlett mumbled, staring at the ground and showing no interest in her surroundings.

  *

  Scarlett watched as her mum made her way up the stairs, her feet clanging on the metal treads. She didn’t want to be here, but she didn’t know how to persuade her mum to take them home – back to Ed’s.

  She still didn’t understand why her mum had been so angry, but somehow Scarlett felt certain it was her fault. Maybe she shouldn’t have told Ed how much she missed her dad.

  Through the deepening gloom, she looked around her at the place that she was probably going to be forced to call home. The courtyard could have been pretty, but there were no plants, and grey paving slabs covered the whole area. There were lights on in some of the windows, but not many, and it didn’t seem at all welcoming to Scarlett.

  She heard the sound of footsteps again and looked up at the staircase. Her mum was coming down with a tall black guy.

  ‘Scarlett,’ she said, ‘this is Mr Solaja. He’s the caretaker.’

  ‘Hello,’ he said to Scarlett with a beaming smile. ‘Call me Cliff – everyone does. Let me take that heavy case, and I’ll show you both to your apartment.’

  As they walked up the stairs to the north wing, Cliff tried to carry on a conversation, but it was hard to hear him over the clatter of feet on metal. He seemed to be talking about the history of the building but Scarlett gave up trying to catch what he was saying.

  ‘Okay,’ he said, stopping outside a door. ‘There’s a bell for your apartment here, and you can buzz people through.’ He typed a code into a keypad, pulled open the door and followed them into a lobby. ‘Here’s the lift. You’re up on the second floor.’

  ‘Sorry, Cliff,’ her mum said. ‘When we were coming up the stairs you said something about the previous tenants, but I couldn’t quite hear you.’