Rosie kisses first the little boy and then the small girl on their heads. Kind of squeezes their shoulders.
There is blood all over my chest and stomach.
She bends to pick up Fluffy and walks by me to leave.
I am in such pain.
I imagine Rosie walking across the fields with Fluffy under her arm. Disappearing into the distance. Vanishing forever. I wonder whether she has some cash or my bank card tucked into her pocket. To keep her going for a while.
I slump suddenly onto my side.
Widow Woman crouches down and leans forward. Her face is close to mine. She has a stunned expression. As if she cannot take it all in. I hear her jagged breath. Feel it on my face.
The pain is unbearable.
The little boy and the small girl stand there, still crying and shaking. He reaches for her hand. She takes it. She cannot take her eyes off me. Transfixed by the horror.
I roll onto my back.
“You have to hold on,” Widow Woman says, “for as long as you can. Until the ambulance arrives. And the police. They won’t be long. They’re on their way.”
I am holding my breath. Because I know, when I let it go, it will all be over.
I want to explain. To say I am sorry.
To Laura. And Lucy. I should have been there for you. Freya, Nicole and Emily. I should have saved you. And to Andrew and Rosie and Luke. For what I have ruined. And to Angela and Conor and Bella. For what might have been between us. A happy family. Please forgive me.
I open my mouth.
But it is too late. I am dying.
I let my last breath go.
THE END
About the Author
Did you enjoy The Girl Downstairs? If you could spend a moment to write an honest review, no matter how short, we would be extremely grateful. They really do help readers discover new authors.
Leave a Review
Iain Maitland is the author of three previous psych thrillers, The Scribbler (2020), Mr Todd’s Reckoning (2019) and Sweet William (2017), all published by Contraband, an imprint of Saraband. Mr Todd’s Reckoning is coming to the big screen in 2023.
Iain is also the author of two memoirs, Dear Michael, Love Dad (Hodder, 2016), a book of letters written to his eldest son who experienced depression and anorexia, and (co-authored with Michael) Out Of The Madhouse (Jessica Kingsley, 2018).
He is also an Ambassador for Stem4, the teenage mental health charity. He talks regularly about mental health issues in schools and colleges and workplaces.
Find out more about Iain at www.iainmaitland.net
Author’s Notes
The Girl Downstairs is my fourth psych thriller and, with the previous three, readers have often asked me similar questions – “Where did the story come from?” etc – via email and Twitter and at book launches and other events.
So I thought I’d write a few notes about how the book came to be.
I should probably state that if you’ve somehow come to these notes before you’ve finished the book, or even started it, you may wish to look away now. I’ll not be too spoiler-ish though just in case you keep reading.
My best-known book, Mr Todd’s Reckoning, which is coming out as a movie in 2023, features a sad and angry, middle-aged man, Malcolm Todd, living with his grown-up son, Adrian, in a cramped bungalow in Ipswich in Suffolk during the hottest summer since records began.
The basic story – two people trapped together with tensions rising and some terrible event seeming inevitable – really appealed to me and I wanted to do something similar to it again; albeit with a little twist and turn.
So I had the idea of Mr Adams, a kind of cousin to Mr Todd, who lives alone in a house down a lonely lane in woodlands on the edge of Felixstowe in Suffolk. And he comes across a homeless young woman, Rosie, by Felixstowe Pier and, eventually, with the snow falling hard and endlessly, she makes her way to his home – her possible sanctuary - at 3 Bluebell Lane.
I live in Felixstowe in Suffolk and I set all my thrillers hereabouts.
Felixstowe is a good place for creepy goings-on. To some, with the pier and fun and games on the seafront, it’s a jolly family resort. To others, with its woodlands and fields and the docks and that cold dark sea, it can be something more than that.
And I like to see the settings in my head – it just makes it all feel real.
So Mr Adams has Rosie in his house – his ‘cosy cottage’ – and it looks as though we are heading into a standard psych thriller with a creepy middle-aged man and a young woman in the cellar. You know the sort of thing. At the end, she stabs him and runs away to safety.
I wanted the book to subvert expectations especially for those who have read Mr Todd’s Reckoning and would think ‘Here we go again.’ Mr Adams’ past has brought him to where he is today and his motives are largely driven by his former experiences. So too is Rosie – Alice Beech – and, yes, there are shades of Mary Bell in here.
Those who have read my memoirs, Dear Michael, Love Dad and Out Of The Madhouse (with my eldest son Michael) will know much of my family background and related mental health issues. Mr Adams is not me but his back story and its consequences are very familiar to me from amongst wider family and friends.
I wanted the first part of the book to swing one way.
The middle part – with the Lump – puts the two main characters in a finely balanced equilibrium.
The third part of the book swings the other way.
And so, the ending - which will, I think, trigger the most questions. It would, I suspect, have been a nice poetic ending if I had stopped the book just before the epilogue with the prospect of a happy Christmas and a bright New Year ahead.
But I didn’t. When I write books, and I really get into the writing and my mind is racing ahead of me and I cannot keep up on my keyboard, the story takes on a life of its own. And that’s what happened here.
I had planned to end the story without the epilogue. But, as I came towards the ending, I saw all the characters in my head, felt I was in that setting and I suddenly heard all those noises ahead of me. And that’s what took me into the cottage … and the denouement.
Some readers will love it. Others will hate it. I like it. I hope you do too. Let me know…
Best Wishes
Iain
Inkubator Newsletter
Sign up to the Inkubator newsletter (Iain’s publisher) to learn when his latest book is out. You’ll also get news of our other great mystery and suspense books and hear about special offers.
Sign up at bit.ly/3G1mdXA
Author’s Acknowledgements
I’d like to thank …
Brian and Garret at Inkubator Books for publishing The Girl Downstairs.
Dee Dee - I love your cover.
Barbara Nadel for the cover quote – thank you so much for your ongoing support.
My MS readers who double-checked various facts for me. Any errors, artistic licence aside, are mine and mine alone.
Mentioning artistic licence, I should state that Bluebell Lane does not exist – at least not in Felixstowe anyway. In my head, for those who know the town, it is Grimston Lane in Trimley St Martin but relocated beyond The Grove and Abbey Grove Woodland in Felixstowe.
All of the characters – Mr Adams, Rosie, the Lump, The Man in the Suit, Widow Woman etc – are figments of my imagination … although Fluffy, to be fair, is the spit of my lovely old Jack Russell pal, Bernard (2004 - 2018).
Jodi Compton for copy-editing my MS – you made it a better read and I thank you for it.
Pauline Nolet for reading and correcting the proofs – thank you too.
And finally, my family – Tracey, children, partners and grandchildren. You are always in everything I do.
with friends
The Girl Downstairs Page 27