‘Look, today he even told me he was gay. He’s a liar!’ I snapped. ‘Is he blackmailing you? Is it something to do with drugs?’
Alison looked as if she had been slapped.
‘James must have been desperate to get you off his case; and no wonder, if you’re going to make such ugly, baseless accusations,’ she recovered. ‘Well, I’ve told you all I can. I really must go now.’
Rhally mast go.
I stepped back to let her by, not knowing what to think.
When I got home, I noticed Alison’s Mercedes parked outside the Picky Person’s Pop In. Right, so her urgent appointment had been to buy some bits and bobs. That showed how high you were on her list of priorities, Beth.
I flopped onto the sofa and waited, half-suspecting that I might get a visit from either Flo or DS Devonport.
I’d been dozing for about two hours when they both arrived.
Flo was all sympathetic looks and soft noises, something her round face and equally round eyes seemed built for. What did Jacob see in her?
The detective’s tight lips looked as if they were struggling to keep angry words in. When she finally spoke, her voice was even lower than normal.
‘You need to keep away from James Harvey. You’re impeding the investigation with your actions. I’m sure that’s the last thing you want to do. New information has come to light which we are looking into.’
‘What new information?’ Hope flew like a kite.
‘I’m not in a position to say at the moment. But rest assured, we are following every possible lead in connection with your daughter’s attack.’
‘Well, you’ll forgive me for thinking that sounds like a load of excuses,’ I snapped, as hope crashed and burned.
The front door opened and Jacob called out, ‘Are the police here?’ He walked into the living room and stopped. ‘Have you charged him?’
I closed my eyes. Oh God, he still thought that James Harvey was being held. I hadn’t yet told him otherwise.
The DS seemed quick on the uptake though. She explained everything to him that she had told me earlier – and added in the bit about me visiting James. Jacob didn’t say a word, just looked at me, stunned, eyebrows raised.
‘Well, he’s not made a complaint about me, has he?’ Which was suspicious.
‘No, Mrs Oak. In fact, he has been at great pains to tell us there is nothing to complain about,’ the detective replied. From the way her eyebrows went up, she clearly wasn’t convinced. ‘I can’t stress enough that Mr Harvey’s alibi has now been corroborated.’
DS Devonport spotted my mouth opening to give a retort, and raised her voice slightly to bulldoze over me. ‘Not only by Alison Daughtrey-Drew. Jill Young has come forward to say that apparently she saw Alison dropping him off at 5 a.m., and that they were kissing passionately before he got out of the car. She’d been going into the shop to see to the newspapers at the time.’
I slumped back on the sofa, beaten. If James Harvey was innocent, then who attacked you, Beth?
As I tried to sift through what I had heard, Jacob saw the police out. I wandered to the window and watched him, deep in conversation with Flo as they stood on the drive. Their heads were bowed together as my husband spoke urgently. The young officer’s pudgy hand was on his arm and her mouth crinkled into a line of sympathy. In the evening light they were cupped in the orange of the street lamp. They looked far closer than he and I had been for weeks.
Fifty-One
The crow caught in my trap seemed to know what I was as soon as it saw me. Its intelligent eyes held my gaze for a second, then it gave a deep-throated caw and began to flap and tug desperately.
It was more intelligent than the people who surrounded me every day. It recognised a predator when it saw one.
Take Melanie. My plan was working perfectly, right under her nose, and she had absolutely no idea. What a stupid cow. I was virtually parading before her, and she was too blind to see it. It seemed laughable now that I had, at first, been wary of her.
At one point she had seemed to be trying to pull herself together. Just because your daughter’s in a coma is no excuse to let yourself go. But her good intentions hadn’t lasted. She was a disgrace. Better her daughter died so she couldn’t see the mess her mum was.
She was constantly drunk lately too. In that state no one would take her seriously, no matter what she said. Good. For all my games, the last thing I needed was for Melanie to start putting two and two together.
But in that state, I could make use of her to cover my tracks.
Chuckling at the thought of the fun to come, I took hold of the crow. Killing it would not be the same as snuffing out a human life, but the bloodlust was becoming worryingly difficult to ignore. My kicks needed to be got somehow. I needed my fix.
As I looked deep into the crow’s eyes, I was reminded of my elemental power. It struggled, tried to peck and maim me, but I was too strong for it, fully prepared for its every strike, because I was all-powerful. I drank in its panic and terror. Wonderful.
Eventually, I snapped its neck. But not before entertaining myself.
Fifty-Two
If Jacob’s jaw got any lower he could use his mouth as a flytrap.
‘Have you heard yourself?’ he asked, stunned.
The argument had started almost as soon as he’d come back through the door after his cosy conversation with Flo. A ceasefire had been called long enough for us to get into the car to travel to the hospital for the weekend. But the engine had barely turned over before the bickering began again.
I should have shut up. Of course, I didn’t, Beth.
‘James Harvey has to be the one that did it. I don’t understand why Alison is lying. And somehow she’s got Jill in on the act too. What if it’s something to do with drugs?’
‘You’re losing the plot, Mel,’ Jacob groaned, slumping over the wheel as if he wanted to bang his head against it in despair.
‘No, listen. Who else could it be? James has to be the one! Although I still feel that Aleksy Jachowski knows more than he’s letting on. Maybe it’s worth talking to him again. Maybe he saw Beth and James together, or – oh, I don’t know. But I’ve got to figure out why Alison and Jill would cover for James.’
‘Or maybe they’re telling the truth.’
We sank into sullen silence. I stared out of the passenger window, looking at my own reflection in the darkness. My jaw was set, eyes narrowed, arms folded. Laser beam glare threatening to melt the glass. I couldn’t let it lie.
‘I’m sure Chloe is hiding something too. Which means Ursula is. Maybe I can get to the truth once I corner Davy again…’
‘So now Davy Young is involved in this grand conspiracy? Or did he do it? For goodness’ sake, Melanie, what are you doing? Leave this to the police.’
I tugged at the seat belt and turned to face Jacob again.