‘I know, but these seem personal.’
‘Personal?’ He frowns. ‘In what way?’
I hesitate, unsure about going on. But I’ve started now. ‘It’s as if they know who I am,’ I say.
‘Why, do they say your name?’
‘No. They don’t say anything, that’s the problem.’
‘So it’s a heavy breather?’
‘Except that they don’t breathe.’
‘So what do they do?’
‘Nothing. But I know there’s someone there.’
‘How?’
‘I can sense him.’
Now he looks confused. ‘They don’t know who you are, Cass. You’re just a number on a very long list of numbers. All he wants is to ask questions for a survey
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or sell you a kitchen. Anyway, how do you know it’s a man?’
Startled, I look at him. ‘What?’
‘You said you could sense him. So how do you know it’s a man? It could be a woman.’
‘No, it’s definitely a man.’
‘But if they don’t say anything, how do you know?’
‘I just do. Would we be able to trace where a call is coming from, even if the number is withheld?’
‘Possibly. But you don’t really think it’s personal, do you? I mean, why would it be?’
It’s hard to voice my fear. ‘There’s a murderer somewhere out there.’
‘What’s that got to do with it?’
‘I don’t know.’
He furrows his brow, trying to work it out. ‘Do you mean that you think the murderer is behind the calls?’
he asks, trying not to sound incredulous.
‘No, not really,’ I say half-heartedly.
‘Sweetheart, I can understand why you’re frightened, anybody would be, especially when the murder happened so close to here and the murderer is still at large. But if the calls are coming in on the house phone, then they’re not targeting you specifically, are they?’
He thinks for a bit. ‘How about if I work from home Thursday and Friday? Would it help if I was here for a few days?’
Relief floods through me. ‘Yes, it really would.’
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127
‘It’ll be nice to have a few days off for my birthday,’
he goes on, and I nod, wondering how I could have forgotten it was coming up.
‘Anyway,’ Matthew says, ‘From what I heard on the radio earlier, the police are beginning to think that Jane knew her killer.’
‘Maybe she did but I don’t believe he was her lover,’
I say. ‘She just wasn’t the type.’
‘Yes, but how well did you really know her? You only met her twice.’
‘I could see that she loved her husband,’ I say stub-bornly. ‘She wouldn’t have cheated on him.’
‘Well, if she did know the person who killed her – and the police think that she did – he’s hardly likely to come after anyone else. Even less phone them up.’
Put like that, I can only agree. ‘You’re right.’
‘Promise you won’t worry anymore?’
‘I promise,’ I say. And I wish it could be that simple.
WEDNESDAY AUGUST 5th
It’s while I’m sitting on the bench under the damson tree the next day, looking down towards the end of the garden that I come up with the perfect present for Matthew. A shed. I’ve lost count of the number of times he’s said he’d love one. If I order it today, I can probably get it delivered by the end of the week and he’ll be able to put it up over the weekend.
The call comes as I’m on my way back into the house to look for a shed on the computer. It doesn’t matter that I’ve been half expecting it, it stops me in my tracks and glues me to the spot, poised halfway between house and garden, halfway between flight and fight. Anger wins and running into the hall, I snatch up the phone.
‘Leave me alone!’ I cry. ‘If you ever phone me again, I’ll go to the police!’
I regret the words as soon as they’re out. Shocked, I draw in my breath, hardly able to believe I’ve just Title: The Breakdown ARC, Format: 126x198, v1, Output date:08/11/16
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threatened him with the very thing he must fear the most, because now he’ll think that I really did see him that night. I want to tell him that it isn’t what I meant, that there’s nothing I could possibly tell the police, that all I want is for him to stop phoning me. But fear has robbed me of my voice.
‘Cass?’ The confirmation that he knows who I am paralyses me. ‘Cass, is everything all right?’ The voice comes down the line again. ‘It’s John.’
My legs go weak. ‘John.’ I give a shaky laugh. ‘Sorry, I thought you were someone else.’
‘Are you OK?’
‘I am now.’ I fight for control. ‘It’s just that I’ve had one of those call companies pestering me and I thought they were calling me again.’
He laughs softly. ‘They’re a real nuisance, aren’t they?
But don’t worry, if you shout at them like you just did, there’s no way they’ll call you back! Although if you don’t mind me saying so,’ he goes on, amused, ‘threatening them with the police does seems a little harsh.’