one with the picture of the Statue of Liberty on it?
You said you bought one for yourself too.’ She nods.
‘Who else did you give one to?’
‘No one,’ she says.
‘You must have done,’ I insist. ‘It’s really important that you remember because it will prove Matthew’s innocence.’
‘What do you mean?’
I take a deep breath. ‘When I found the knife this afternoon it was wrapped in a Statue of Liberty tea-towel, and when the police asked me if I recognised it, I had to say yes, that it was ours. I felt terrible because it made Matthew look even guiltier. But after the police left, I found my tea towel in the cupboard – which means that whoever killed Jane is someone who has the same tea towel. So think, Rachel, because it will prove that Matthew is innocent.’
I can see her mind racing, looking for a way out. ‘I don’t remember,’ she mumbles.
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‘You bought one for yourself, didn’t you? Are you
sure you didn’t give it away to someone?’
‘I don’t remember,’ she says again.
I sigh. ‘It would make the police’s life easier if you could remember but don’t worry, they’ll get there in the end. They’re going to test the knife for fingerprints and DNA – they said there’s bound to be some. So Matthew will be in the clear because they won’t find any of his.
But it might take a couple of days and, apparently, they can keep him in for twenty-four hours, and if they really suspect him of being involved in Jane’s murder, it can be for longer.’ I let tears fill my eyes. ‘I can’t bear the thought of him sitting there in a prison cell being treated like a criminal.’
She takes her car keys from her pocket. ‘I’d better go.’
I watch her face. ‘Don’t you want to stay for a cup of tea?’
‘No, I can’t.’
I go to the door with her.
‘By the way, did you find your friend’s phone, you know the one you lost in the Spotted Cow?’
‘No,’ she says, flustered.
‘Well, you never know, it might still turn up. Someone might have handed it into the police by now.’
‘Look, I’ve really got to go. Bye, Cass.’
She hurries to her car and gets in. I wait until she’s started the engine then go over and knock on the window. She winds it down.
The Breakdown
397
‘I forgot to tell you – the police asked me if I knew
Jane and I said I’d first met her at that leaving party you took me to. So they asked me if you knew her and I said no, but that you’d had an argument with her over a parking space on the day she died but that was all. But they didn’t seem to believe it was over a parking space. So try and remember about the tea towel, won’t you? When I phoned them earlier to tell them that I’d found mine in the cupboard, so it couldn’t be the one the knife was wrapped in, I said that the only other one I knew of was yours.’ I pause for effect. ‘You know what they’re like, they’ll use every little thing against you if they can.’
It feels good to see her eyes dart around, looking for somewhere to run. She rams her car into gear and tears out of the gate.
‘Bye, Rachel,’ I say softly as her car disappears down the road.
Back inside, I phone the police to tell them that the tea towel the knife was wrapped in isn’t mine because I’ve just found it in the cupboard. I remind them that it was Rachel who bought it for me and that she also bought one for herself. I ask about Matthew and pretend to be distressed at the news that they’re keeping him in overnight. And once I’ve hung up, I go to the fridge, take out the bottle of champagne we always keep there for unexpected guests and pour myself a glass.
And then I have another.
THURSDAY OCTOBER 1st
The next morning, when I see that it’s the first of October, it seems like a good omen, the right day to make a fresh start. The first thing I do is check the news and when I hear that a man and woman are helping the police with their inquiries in relation to the Jane Walters murders, I can’t help feeling a grim satisfaction that Rachel too has been arrested.
I never thought I was a vindictive person but I hope she spent a terrifying few hours being grilled by the police about her relationship with Matthew, about the row she had with Jane and about the tea towel containing the knife. She must be dreading them finding her fingerprints on the knife. Of course, once I hand in her secret mobile both she and Matthew will be released because the police will realise that neither of them killed Jane, that the knife they have is simply a knife Rachel bought in London to scare me with, not the murder weapon.
Title: The Breakdown ARC, Format: 126x198, v1, Output date:08/11/16
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And then what? They’ll live together happily ever after?
It doesn’t seem right, and it certainly doesn’t seem fair.