Total 15
+ 2 already in bloodstream
Should be enough
21 Sep 23.34
You mean it’s real y going to happen?
21 Sep 23.34
Too good a chance to miss
It’s now or never
21 Sep 23.34
Will it work?
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21 Sep 23.35
I can attest to row we had
You can say she was depressed when you saw her yesterday afternoon Say she told you about pil s in drawer but you never thought she’d use them 21 Sep 23.36
15 pills won’t kill her will they?
21 Sep 23.36
No, just make her il
I’ll go home at lunch time, pretend I want to make up Hopefully will find her unconscious and will call ambulance
*
22 Sep 08.08
Have done it
Leaving for work but will go back in couple of hours 22 Sep 08.09
What if she doesn’t drink juice?
22 Sep 08.09
She will make another suicide attempt 22 Sep 11.54
The Breakdown
327
Just got call from hospital
On way there now
22 Sep 11.54
Does that mean it worked?
22 Sep 11.55
Looks like it. She phoned ambulance herself Will let you know I suddenly realise that the shower hasn’t been turned on, that Matthew isn’t in the bathroom. My heart races with fear. Where is he? In the dark silence I strain my ears and hear the low murmur of his voice coming from the front bedroom. He and Rachel must be terrified that the phone will somehow find its way into the hands of the police and that their game will be up. Are they in enough of a panic to kill me? Or at the very least force-feed me enough pills to make it look as if I’ve made another suicide attempt, except that this time it succeeds? As I lie in bed waiting for him to come back, my hand still clutching the can, I feel more frightened than I ever have. Especially now that I know about the knife.
08 Aug 23.44
Went like a dream at doctors today 08 Aug 23.44
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Medication?
08 Aug 23.44
Yes but says she won’t take it Need to get her to change her mind 08 Aug 23.45
I think I may have just the thing 08 Aug 23.45
What?
08 Aug 23.45
A great big kitchen knife
Just like the one used in the murder 08 Aug 23.46
??? Where did you get it?
08 Aug 23.46
London
Thought I could plant it somewhere for her to find Give her a scare 08 Aug 23.46
Not a good idea, she’ll phone the police And what about fingerprints Don’t think it will work
The Breakdown
329
08 Aug 23.47
It will if we plan properly
08 Aug 23.47
Will think about it
*
09 Aug 00.15
Have thought about it
09 Aug 00.17
You there?
09 Aug 00.20
I am now! You have a plan?
09 Aug 00.20
Yes but too difficult to explain by text Will phone you 09 Aug 00.20
Thought we agreed phoning too risky?
09 Aug 00.21
Desperate times desperate measures and al that 09 Aug 20.32
Have left back door open
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Stick to what we agreed and make sure you get the hell out of it quick Hope we’re not making a mistake 09 Aug 20.33
Trust me, it will be fine ?
09 Aug 23.49
Hi
09 Aug 23.49
Thank God! Heard her screaming, have been dying to know what happened!
09 Aug 23.50
Can’t actual y believe it worked, she was hysterical 09 Aug 23.50
Glad police didn’t come
09 Aug 23.51
Managed to persuade her she was seeing things 09 Aug 23.51
Told you
Had to leave knife in shed, hope that’s ok 09 Aug 23.52
The Breakdown
331
No problem – you never know, we might need it again
one day
What if, at this very moment, Rachel is persuading Matthew to go down to the shed, take the knife and use it to kill me? If he were to slit my throat, people would think that Jane’s murderer had struck again. Matthew would attest to the silent calls I’d been getting and wring his hands that he hadn’t believed me when I’d told him the murderer was after me. Rachel would give him an alibi for tonight, saying she had asked him to go round because after seeing me earlier in the pub, she’d been worried about me. The knife used to kill me would never be found, just as the knife used to kill Jane has never been found. And I would become known as Cass Anderson, the second victim of the woods murderer.
The door to the spare bedroom clicks open. I hold
my breath, waiting to hear which way he’ll go, down the stairs and out to the garden or along the landing towards me. If he goes downstairs, will I have enough time to run to the sitting room, take Rachel’s mobile from under the orchid and leave the house before he comes back? Should I leave on foot or take the car? If I take the car, the noise of the engine starting will bring him running. If I leave on foot, how far would I get before he notices I’m no longer in bed? When I hear his footsteps padding down the landing towards the bedroom, I’m weak with relief that I don’t have to make
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any decisions. Unless he already has the knife, unless he took it from the shed before coming in.