‘Yes, of course. So everything was fine then, at your dad’s?’ he lowers his voice.
‘Yup. And you?’ I nod at the house. ‘All quiet here?’
‘Yeah, although I’ll be honest, I didn’t get much sleep.’
‘I’m not surprised. Thanks for coming back early tonight.’
‘Don’t be daft. There’s no way I would have left you to go in like this on your own… We’re so nearly there, Jess. Two weeks and we’re out of this place.’
‘Let’s talk some more in a minute… Can you have a quick check upstairs as well, please? Right, in you come, you two!’ I call, walking back towards them. ‘Let’s have tea!’
* * *
In the kitchen, I put James in his high chair and give him a drink while he tries to reach round me and grab a too-hot chip. Sandrine pops upstairs to go to the loo and wash her hands. I’m sitting down and Ed is re-emerging from the cupboard, clasping the ketchup, when there is a sudden scream from upstairs. Ed and I glance at each other in horror, before my husband drops the bottle and explodes out of the room. I hear him taking the stairs two at a time up to Sandrine’s room and then another scream. I thought he had checked everywhere…
My hands shaking violently, I undo James’s straps and pull him out of the high chair. He’s gone very quiet, and leans against me as I rush to the bottom of the stairs, and place one hand on the front door.
‘Ed!’ I yell desperately, looking up the stairs as James buries his face in my shoulder. ‘Are you OK?’
There is a muffled thump, then the sound of a door flinging open and bumping off the wall. Sandrine appears, eyes wide with fear. ‘It’s a bird!’ she jabbers. ‘I walk into the room, and it’s in there on my desk, just sitting there! Then it starts to flap, and smash around crazily.’ She shudders. ‘Ed is catching it now.’
James whimpers and reaches for my hair, twisting it round his finger.
‘It’s OK, darling,’ I reassure him. ‘Nothing’s wrong. A bird?’ I repeat, beckoning her down towards me. ‘In your bedroom?’
‘Yes,’ says Ed, appearing at the top of the stairs. ‘A dirty great magpie, cool as you like, just sitting on the desk.’
‘Where is it now?’ I put my spare arm around Sandrine, who is shaking.
‘I put it back out of the window. It’s just a bird, guys. It doesn’t mean anything. It’s my fault – I didn’t check in Sandrine’s room when I should have. Let’s just go and eat our food.’
But before he can say anything else, there is a knock at the front door, right next to me, making me leap with fear.
‘If that’s the magpie again…’ Ed jokes shakily.
‘Should I open it?’ I look up at him worriedly.
‘Of course,’ he says. ‘I’m right here, Jess. In fact, I’ll do it. You three go back into the kitchen.’
We do as we’re told and I’m just slotting a very confused James back into his chair, when Ed appears in the doorway flanked by two uniformed police officers.
He stares at me, utterly terrified, and just for a second, I wonder how on earth he thought he was equipped to send someone round to intimidate Louise Strallen. He has four years minimum written all over his face.
I step forward quickly. ‘Can we help you?’
‘I’m sorry to disturb,’ the older of the two officers nods at the table, and our rapidly cooling food, ‘but we received a call from one of your neighbours about an hour ago, concerned about someone loitering around outside your property, possibly about to break in. They noticed a man standing outside, apparently watching the house, at around half past four. He approached and knocked at the door, peered in at the window and went around the back. They called us, and we sent a squad car down, but he’d gone. They didn’t find anything. You haven’t discovered anything missing? No signs of any attempted breakin? Nothing out of the ordinary?’
A man loitering?
I glance at Ed who implores me silently not to say anything incriminating. I inwardly steel myself and reply carefully. ‘Nothing odd has happened today at all, apart from us coming back to find a magpie in our au pair’s bedroom. Which I guess means we accidentally left the window open.’
‘Perhaps that’s what the man was interested in?’
‘I don’t know’ I shrug. ‘It’s good to know there’s no sign of anyone now though.’
‘OK,’ the police officer says. ‘Well, if you do have any concerns later, just call us again. And maybe make sure your windows are closed and locked before you leave the house.’
‘We will do.’ Leading the way, I open the front door for them. ‘And thank you again for your help.’
Once they’ve gone, with my hand still on the latch, I think about how there is no way Ed would have left a window open.
There was a man outside our house.
It’s hard not to imagine that the magpie was put in Sandrine’s room deliberately.
One for sorrow…
Isn’t that how the nursery rhyme starts? Seeing one magpie is meant to be bad luck – which instantly makes me remember Simon talking earlier about omens.
I walk slowly back into the kitchen. Ed is already on the phone. I go to open my mouth, but he holds a finger up to his lips as he waits for whoever he’s called to pick up.
I glance across at Sandrine who is helping James with his fish and chips, cucumber sticks and diced avocado she’s done for him, and soften. ‘Thank you, Sandrine,’ I say and she gives me a small, tight smile. She’s done so amazingly well to hang on in there like this.
‘Hey, Mum, it’s me,’ Ed cuts in. ‘I’ve got a massive favour to ask you. I’m so, so sorry – but can we come and stay tonight? Yes, all of us. I know – but we’ve had a gas leak… I know, tell me about it! They think it’s fixed, and I might be able to stay put here, but I don’t want to run the risk of something happening again with James in the house, until we’re sure it’s OK. I’ll pop back over once I’ve dropped off the girls and James, just to double-check… OK, thanks. No, we’ve already eaten. We’ll get our stuff together and be there in a bit. No, they’ve been already, and it’s fixed; it’s just like I said, I don’t want to take any chances. OK. See you shortly.’ He hangs up.
‘So this time it’s the gas leak?’
‘Please don’t,’ he says. ‘I just want you safe, that’s all.’
‘Sandrine, could you go and start packing all of your things when you’ve finished your food?’ I turn to her. ‘We’ll leave tomorrow from Ed’s parents’ house, so it needs to be everything. Is that OK?’
‘Of course.’ She stands up immediately.
‘There’s no rush, you can finish eating,’ I assure her.
She shakes her head. ‘It’s OK, I’m not hungry anyway.’
I know what she means; I’ve got no stomach for this either.
As soon as she leaves the room, I turn to Ed. ‘The police didn’t know anything, it was just a routine enquiry.’
‘Shhh!’ he says immediately. ‘You say that, but a bloke was hanging around outside. What if they’d picked him up and he’d spoken to them? After all, I think we can safely assume it was Simon.’
I open my mouth to tell him about Simon kissing me – but there is another knock at the door. ‘For God’s sake!’ I explode, as poor old James says simultaneously ‘What’s that noise?’ and Ed jumps too. We are all so horribly unnerved.
‘Do you think it’s the police back again?’ Ed looks like he’s about to be sick.
‘It’s just someone at the door, darling.’ I stroke James’s hair. ‘It’s nothing to worry about. I’ll go and get it, and you finish your tea, and then we’ll go to Granny’s house for a bath and some stories, shall we?’ I get back up, look at Ed over James’s head and put my finger to my lips. ‘Just calm down. Take a deep breath, OK?’
Taking my own advice, I approach the front door, pause for a moment and then swing the door wide open with a confident smile. ‘Can I – oh my GOD!’
My smile falls away completely, however, because stood right in front of me, clutching a piece of paper tightly in his fist, is Ben.
Chapter Twenty-One