‘Martin!’
But Martin didn’t answer. Using the torch to guide her through the brambles and leaves and branches and all the living, breathing parts of the forest, Dee ran faster than she’d ever run before.
Forty-two
‘Karen?’ Louise’s head was swimming and she couldn’t think straight.
‘What?’ Karen said. ‘You think Derek would have been capable of all this?’
‘All what?’
‘You know what.’ Karen leaned down, pushed her face close to Louise’s. ‘You thought you were being so clever. Pretty little Louise with your skinny body and your blond hair. You think I didn’t know? I know everything, you stupid little bitch.’
She grabbed Louise’s arm, fingers digging into the soft flesh of her upper arm as she made her stand up.
‘This way.’
Still holding Louise’s arm, Karen shoved her forward, pushing her through the woods to some unknown destination. She was strong. With her hands tied behind her back, Louise didn’t stand a chance against her.
‘I could turn a blind eye when it was just sex. I didn’t approve, of course. But men are weak creatures and women like you don’t make it easy for them. Flaunting yourselves like prostitutes, opening your legs for any man that gives you a bit of attention. It’s up to us to keep control. But instead of doing what’s right, you go around telling yourselves you can have everything a man can have – a family and a career and sex whenever you want it with whoever you want it, regardless of who gets hurt. When I think of you with him, letting him do whatever he wants to you, even though you’re married to another man… it’s disgusting.
‘And sleeping with my husband wasn’t enough, was it? You wanted to destroy everything else too.’
‘No.’
‘Don’t lie to me!’
Karen shook her, hard.
‘He told me. You’d worked it out and you were going to tell everyone. Because you can’t keep your legs shut and you can’t keep your mouth shut, either. Even though it’s none of your business.’
She was practically screaming by now, her voice loud and angry.
Louise forced herself to breathe, trying to manage her rising panic. Because it was clear to her that Karen was deranged. And dangerous. She scanned the gaps in the trees, searching for Derek, wondering what his role was in all of this. She knew he was here because she’d heard two voices earlier.
‘Why did he do it?’ Louise said. ‘Why kill Kyle’s girlfriend?’
‘She didn’t give us any choice.’
‘What do you mean?’
The longer she kept Karen talking, the more chance she had of staying alive and finding a way to escape.
‘She was like you,’ Karen said. ‘An interfering little bitch who couldn’t keep her nose out of other people’s business.’
They had come to a clearing. Louise could make out some sort of building – a cottage, maybe – the other side of a low stone wall.
‘I don’t understand.’
‘It was an accident.’ Karen pulled Louise towards the stone wall and through an open gate into what looked like a garden. ‘And nobody would have cared, because she wasn’t anybody important. But then your stupid cousin started asking questions and Lauren got involved and we had no choice. We had to control it. She knew, you see. Sneaky little Lauren worked it out.’
‘Worked what out?’
Louise was stalling for time, but Karen didn’t seem to notice. Too busy boasting about what they’d done and how clever they’d been.
‘That foreign tart. It was all her fault. She was drunk and she fell. Hit her head on the corner of the fireplace. Marble fireplaces in all the rooms. Did you know that? That was all it took. One bang to the head and she was dead.’
‘Lauren?’
Karen laughed.
‘Not Lauren. Joana. Derek panicked so, of course, I had to sort the whole mess out. It was quite a task, I can tell you. Do you know how hard it is to remove a body from a hotel without being seen? But we managed it.’
‘Where is he?’ Louise said, when she was able to speak.
‘You broke his nose, you vicious cow. He’s gone to try to clean himself up because of the damage you caused and all the blood. Leaving me to clear up his mess, like he always does.’
‘Why do you stay with him?’
‘He’s my husband,’ Karen said. ‘I made a vow to love, honour and obey him. Unlike you, I take my wedding vows seriously. If more women did the same the world would be a far better place than it is today.’
Karen pushed her forward, too hard. Louise stumbled, lost her balance and fell. She landed hard on her shoulder, crying out with pain as she rolled onto her back.
It was a clear night. Thousands of tiny white stars sprinkled across the black sky. She swung her head left, then right, looking for a way to escape. But all she could see was Karen, towering over her. Something in her hand, a stick or a rifle. Louise couldn’t tell.
‘Tell me,’ Louise said. ‘You’re going to kill me, anyway. Where did you put Joana’s body?’
As slowly as she could, Louise slid her foot along the ground, closer to Karen’s legs.
‘Here. My idea, of course. Derek was useless. Kept crying, if you can believe that. What sort of man cries like a baby when things go a bit wrong?
‘This house belongs to Nigel’s family. They brought us here last year. Showing off their second home. Nigel lording it over us, boasting about the history of the building, and how much land his family own and blah, blah, blah. I didn’t take in most of what he told me. But I remembered what he said about the well. Eight hundred feet deep. A body could stay down there a long time without anyone ever finding it. There’s a heavy stone slab covering it so no one can fall down by accident. But they keep this to lever off the slab if they need to.’ She lifted her arm and now Louise could see she was holding a thick metal bar, flattened at one end.
Louise’s mouth was so dry it was difficult to speak, but she had to understand everything.
‘And Lauren?’
‘Lauren got what she deserved. When she heard Dee was trying to find Joana, Lauren decided to contact her. She told Derek all about it one evening. Bragging to him about how she was going to help solve the mystery of the missing girl. They were alone in the house. I was at church and Kyle hadn’t come home from work. I think Derek was enjoying having her to himself. Until she told him she’d seen Joana at the hotel that night.
‘Luckily, he had the sense to act quickly. He managed to push her into the basement and lock her in. There’s no mobile signal down there, so she wasn’t able to call anyone. After that, it was easy enough. There were two of us and only one of her.
‘Of course, we couldn’t just dump her body and pretend she’d disappeared. That was fine for Joana, but Lauren’s from a powerful family. We had to do something different. The church was my idea. I arrange the flowers there, which means I have my own key. We thought that making her killing look like a copycat murder, it would distract the police. And it worked like a dream.’
‘She was your son’s girlfriend,’ Louise said. ‘How could you do that to him?’
‘He’s better off without her. He was such a good boy until she came along, offering herself up to him on a plate. You want to know the truth? I’m glad she’s dead. I hated her being in my house. Hated what she’d turned him into. I used to lie in bed listening to them. Having sex.’
She spat out the final word like it had a bad taste.
‘Groaning and moaning like a pair of animals. She turned my son into a disgusting pig who went around doing those things with her and making those noises when he should have been saving himself for his wedding night.’
‘You won’t get away with it.’ Louise was so angry she could barely breathe. The arrogance of this woman. The absolute lack of remorse. She was a psychopath. A dangerous psychopath. ‘My husband and family won’t believe I’ve just run off and left them.’
‘Derek’s brother is wil
ling to admit he’s been having an affair with you,’ Karen said. ‘It’s not ideal – he’s not the most reliable of people – but he’ll do it for the money. When your husband finds out you’ve been seeing someone else, he won’t try too hard to find you.’
Vomit rose up Louise’s throat and she had to turn her head to spit the sick onto the ground. She was repulsed. At Karen and Derek, but also at herself. She’d had sex with that animal. She’d betrayed her husband and her family with him. She was beyond forgiveness. She deserved everything that was coming to her.
Except when Karen moved closer and lifted the iron bar, instinct kicked in. Louise’s right foot lashed out and caught itself around Karen’s ankle and she pulled as hard as she could. Karen’s large shape wobbled precariously. For a moment, Louise thought she hadn’t done enough. Then the wobbling got worse and suddenly Karen was tumbling forward and Louise had to roll sideways to avoid Karen landing on top of her.
On the ground beside her, Karen grunted once. Then, too fast, she was already starting to get up. But she didn’t have the iron bar. It had fallen from her hand and now Louise rolled over again so she was lying on top of it, the metal pressing into her stomach and ribs.
A hand grabbed her hair, Karen’s screams in her ear, deafening. Karen’s weight on top of her, too heavy. Louise couldn’t breathe. Mud in her mouth and down her throat. Punches battering the side of her face, her back, her kidneys. And there was nothing she could do to get away from it.
* * *
Dee ran. Tripping and stumbling over branches and the roots of trees, until she was out of the forest. She looked around, trying to get her bearings. She could see the house, and the driveway leading up to it. But Louise’s car was gone. Panicked, she thought she was too late. But then she heard more screams, coming from the other side of the stone wall. She ran through the open gate. They were on the ground. Fighting. One person was on top, punching and hitting whoever was beneath them. Someone cried out. Dee recognised her cousin’s voice and realised Louise was the person being hit.
She threw herself forward, pushing him off Louise. He fell sideways and Dee fell with him, landing beside him on the ground. As he rolled away, she saw his face. It wasn’t Derek. The realisation wasn’t quick enough. Karen was already up and moving away from her. Dee pushed herself off the ground just as Karen swung back around to face her. She had picked something up off the ground and was running towards Dee, her arm raised above her head.
Dee tried to duck out of the way, but Karen was too fast. Something solid smashed into the side of her head. Flashes of white light exploded before her, pain obliterating everything else as she fell into the darkness.
Epilogue
Ed listened to Dee’s voice, asking him to leave his name and number. He hung up without speaking. He’d already left messages. Twice, he’d driven out to her house. Both times, her hire car had been parked outside, but when he’d rung the doorbell – repeatedly – she hadn’t come to the door.
He put his phone down, and was wondering whether or not to drive over there again when his front doorbell rang. Dee, he thought. Finally. But when he opened his front door, it wasn’t Dee he saw.
‘Nigel? What are you doing here?’
‘Can I come in?’ Nigel said. ‘I’d really like to talk.’
Ed hesitated. He’d had time to get used to knowing what Nigel’s mother had done, but he was still angry. At work, he’d started the painfully slow process to get the investigation into Mary’s murder reopened. He’d handed Emma’s diary, along with the letter from David Partridge, in as evidence. Plus, there was the not insignificant fact that Nigel had known the truth and chosen not to tell anyone.
‘Please,’ Nigel said. ‘I owe you an explanation. And an apology.’
In the kitchen, Ed made coffee and gestured for Nigel to sit down.
‘I was there,’ Nigel said. ‘The night your grandmother was killed. She came to our house. I heard them arguing. Emma and my mother. After that, everything gets confused. Over the years I’ve tried to remember it properly but it’s one big blur in my mind. What I remember more than anything is being terrified. I was so young. Sorry. That sounds like self-pity, doesn’t it? I didn’t come here to get you to feel sorry for me.’
‘Milk or sugar?’ Ed asked, putting a mug of coffee on the table in front of Nigel.
‘Black’s fine,’ Nigel said. ‘Thanks.’
Ed pulled out a chair and sat down opposite Nigel, waiting for him to continue.
‘She screamed,’ he said. ‘I don’t think I’ll ever forget the sound of it. This long, terrible scream. And then nothing. I was upstairs in bed, too scared to go down and see what had happened. I thought at first it was Mother, you see. I thought Emma had come to the house to kill her.
‘I don’t know how long I lay there. At some point, Father must have come home.’ Nigel frowned. ‘He’d been working late. Well, I assume that’s where he was. He wasn’t at home very often. It wasn’t a happy marriage. How could it have been? She was a monster.’
He stopped speaking.
‘Are you okay?’ Ed asked.
‘Not really.’ Nigel sighed. ‘But you need to know the truth. I didn’t realise, until that night, that Father was every bit as bad as she was. Because when I eventually worked up the courage to go and see what had happened, he was there. Helping her.’
‘Helping her do what?’
‘They were dragging her out the front door.’ Nigel’s voice wobbled, but he managed to keep going. ‘Father on one side of her body, Mother on the other.’
A tremor ran through Ed’s body. He put his hand out, wanting Nigel to stop.
‘Sorry,’ Nigel said. ‘I thought you’d want to know.’
Ed nodded. He’d wanted to know so badly. But now he knew, it didn’t make things better the way he’d assumed it would. If anything, knowing what had been done to her made him feel worse.
‘They must have driven her to Beachy Head,’ Nigel said. ‘Although I didn’t work that out until much later. At the time, I didn’t know what was happening. It was only later, after I read the diary, that I understood.’
‘How did you get it?’
‘Her handbag,’ Nigel said. ‘She must have dropped it when… you know. My parents would have been panicking. I think they simply missed it. After they left, I stayed where I was, standing at the top of the stairs, and I saw it. I still don’t know why I went and got it, but that’s what I did.
‘I didn’t look inside until weeks later. I was too scared. I kept it hidden in the back of my wardrobe, but eventually I couldn’t bear knowing it was there. So one night, after I’d gone to bed, I took it out and looked through it. That’s when I learned the truth.’
‘And you never told a soul.’
Ed knew he should be angry. Yet, somehow, the rage that had driven him through the last week seemed to have disappeared. Now, all he felt was an unbearable sadness.
‘I was scared,’ Nigel said. ‘I knew if the truth got out, my mother would be sent to prison. I couldn’t bear the thought of that happening. So I hid the diary in the attic of our house and did my best to forget all about it.’
‘Emma’s neighbour saw your mother at Emma’s house that night,’ Ed said. ‘Do you know why she would have gone there?’
‘I assume she wanted to find the letter,’ Nigel said. ‘She must have spent her entire life worrying about it, wondering where Emma had hidden it and when the truth might come out.’
‘Good.’
‘If it’s any consolation,’ Nigel said, ‘the whole incident left me terribly messed up. I’ve done a good job, over the years, pretending I’m okay. If Lauren hadn’t died, maybe I’d have been able to carry on pretending. But that’s not an option any longer.
‘I did my best with Lauren. My single objective as a parent was to try to be the opposite, in every way, to how my own parents had been with me. But in the end, I messed everything up with Lauren as well.’
‘I’m sure that’s not t
rue,’ Ed said. Pointlessly, because didn’t every parent believe that after the death of a child? No matter what sort of parent you’d been, the guilt at letting your child die before you – even when it wasn’t your fault – would be almost impossible to bear.
‘When she first started to write about Mary’s murder, I tried to discourage her, but she wouldn’t listen.’ He smiled. ‘She could be very stubborn when she set her mind on something. But I wasn’t too worried. By then, I’d done an excellent job of putting the diary to the very back of my mind. It never occurred to me Lauren’s research would extend to going through Mother’s belongings. The house had been locked up since her death at the end of last year. Clearing it out was one of the things I was going to do at some point, but hadn’t yet got around to.
‘Lauren only went there to see if she could find something that had belonged to Mary. She’d assumed – wrongly, of course – that Mother might have kept some keepsakes to remind her of her niece. Instead, she found proof that her grandmother was a psychopath.’
‘I’m so sorry, Nigel.’
‘You have nothing to be sorry about,’ Nigel said. ‘Your family suffered unnecessarily because of my mother, and I have to take the blame too. I should have agreed with Lauren we’d go to the police. But I’d spent so long trying to hide the truth, I wasn’t able to do the right thing. I owe it to her to do that now.’
‘Why did you wait until now to tell me this?’
‘I was scared,’ Nigel said. ‘I didn’t want anyone to find the letter. I thought it would be a distraction. I knew Lauren’s death had nothing to do with the story she was writing. How could it? The only person who had anything to lose if the truth came out was me. I knew I hadn’t killed her, which meant she’d been killed for some other reason. I had to make sure the police focused on that.’
‘The police are going to reopen the investigation into Mary’s murder,’ Ed said.
‘Good.’ Nigel nodded. ‘Lauren would have liked that.’
After Nigel left, Ed put on his coat and went out. He needed to walk while he processed everything Nigel had told him. More than anything, he needed to find Dee. Speaking to Nigel had made him realise the importance of telling the people closest to you how much they meant to you while you still had time. Over the last few weeks, he’d lost sight of what was important – focusing on the past instead of the present. Taking Dee for granted when he should have been spending every moment with her.
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