Mona gave a triumphant smile. ‘See? I knew it. I knew you’d come round eventually. I’ve got so much to tell you.’ She put down her glass, reached into her shoulder bag and pulled out a few folded sheets of paper. ‘It’s all here, all the details and there’s a map as well. You’ll have to wait a few weeks of course, perhaps even a month but —’

‘Not now,’ Sadie interrupted, quickly waving away the papers. ‘Not here.’

But Mona, insistent, pushed them into her hand. ‘Go on. You’ll need them.’

Reluctantly, Sadie put them in her own bag. What choice did she have? At the same time she glanced towards the glass partition to make sure they weren’t being observed. ‘We shouldn’t be seen together.’

‘Oh, don’t worry about that. No one’s going to remember me.’

‘They might. It’s too risky. You should go. I think it’s for the best.’

Mona glanced over her shoulder towards the crowd gathered in the living room. ‘But the party’s just getting started.’

‘There’ll be other parties, better ones. Please, just leave.’

Mona gave a sigh. ‘If that’s what you really want.’

‘It is.’

‘We can meet up tomorrow.’

‘No,’ Sadie said. ‘You have to go back to London. You have to go back straight away.’

‘So when will I see you again?’

‘Not for a while.’ Then, before Mona could think of more reasons for staying, Sadie walked determinedly towards the door that led out into the garden. ‘Come on,’ she urged. ‘Quickly!’ And fortunately Mona followed her. They crossed the lawn and went along the path that ran adjacent to the side of the house until they came to the front gate. ‘There’s a taxi rank on the corner, right at the end of the street. You can pick up a cab there.’

‘It’s not far to the hotel. I’ll walk.’

‘Where are you staying?’

‘The Bold.’

Sadie knew the hotel, a large white building on the promenade. She could call the police and get them to arrest her. Did she dare? Mona’s threats were still revolving in her head, a spinning whirl that made her feel almost dizzy. One call could change everything. But if she made the wrong decision…

‘Why don’t you come with me? We could have a drink together.’

Sadie’s fingers tightened around the glass of wine she was holding. ‘I can’t leave the party. Look, I have to go. I’m sorry. Joel will be looking for me.’

‘Okay.’

‘And don’t ring me at the flat again. It isn’t safe.’

‘So how —’

‘I’ll call you,’ Sadie lied. ‘But not right away. We need to wait. We need to wait a while.’

‘If that’s what you want.’

‘It’s for the best.’

‘All right,’ Mona said. She turned to go but stopped again. ‘Oh, I almost forgot. I left something for you at the flat.’

‘What?’

Mona’s lips slid into that familiar smile. ‘It’s a surprise. It’s in the drawer in your bedside table.’ She raised a hand and gave a breezy wave. ‘Bye then.’

Sadie clutched the gatepost as she watched Mona walk away. Despite the cold, she could feel the sweat running down her back. Now she knew for sure who’d killed Eddie, she had to do something about it. The right thing, the moral thing, would be to put aside all thoughts of her own precarious position and go straight to the police. But what if that meant being arrested too? The more she thought about her own story, the less convincing it appeared to be.

Sadie could hear the sounds of the party drifting from the house. She felt removed from it all. She felt like she was standing on quicksand, that the world as she knew it was shifting and changing, that she was being sucked down into a filthy squelch of lies and horror and madness.

24

Wayne Gissing loved his mother, but he loved her more when she was a hundred miles away. Having her around all the time was proving to be a pain in the arse. If she wasn’t on his back about the scrapyard or the hours he spent down the pub, she was nagging about wet towels left on the bathroom floor, dirty mugs or overflowing ashtrays. And then there was the constant sniping between her and Sharon; it was like living in a bloody war zone. He couldn’t wait for the day she packed her bags and cleared off home to Bournemouth.

However, there wasn’t much chance of that happening any time soon. It was only six days since she’d got here but already her feet were well and truly under the table. Of course it was handy having her to look over the books and provide hot meals every day – no one made a better steak and kidney pie than his mother – but the cons still outweighed the pros. He wanted his life back and the only way to achieve that was to sort out Kelly’s problems. His little sister needed to know for sure who’d killed Eddie, and the filth weren’t exactly making progress.

‘It’s been a bleedin’ week already,’ Kelly said. ‘What’s the matter with them? Why isn’t the bitch locked up?’

‘I dunno,’ Wayne mumbled. It was a question she never stopped asking, as if by constant repetition she would eventually get a satisfactory answer. He flicked over the pages of the road atlas until he came to the one he wanted. ‘Here it is: Haverlea. Shit, it’s fuckin’ miles away. It’s up by Liverpool.’

‘So?’ Kelly asked.

‘So it’ll take hours to get there.’

‘Who cares. You got something better to do?’

Wayne had plenty of better things to do, but he didn’t want to piss her off. ‘I’m not saying that, Kel. All I’m thinking is that we don’t know for sure that she’s even there at the moment. We could drive all the way and find she’s cleared off some place else.’

‘I don’t care. I’m sick of sitting here doing sod all. It’s doing me head in.’

‘Maybe he’s right, love,’ Sharon butted in. ‘It’s a long way to go and even if she is there she might not talk to you.’

Kelly’s face grew hard. ‘I’ll make her bleedin’ talk to me.’

Sharon shared a conspiratorial look with her stepson. ‘Maybe there’s a better way of doing it.’

Kelly glanced at her. ‘Like what?’

‘Like saving yourself the bother of driving halfway across the country. Why don’t you get her to come to you instead?’

Kelly slammed her palms down on the table, her face twisting with anger and frustration. ‘And how the hell am I supposed to do that? Give her a bell and ask if she’d like to pop down for a chat?’

‘Not exactly. Didn’t you say that Eddie’s body is going to be released soon?’

‘Yeah, next week probably. What of it?’

‘So then there’ll be the funeral.’

Kelly still didn’t get it. ‘And? She ain’t going to come, is she?’

‘Why not?’ Sharon said. ‘If she’s as innocent as she claims, if she’s got nothing to hide, then why shouldn’t she pay her last respects?’ She gave a small smile. ‘Especially if Eddie’s parents invite her along. Do you reckon they’d do that?’

Kelly, who had been to see Stan and Marcie Wise that morning, thought about it for a moment. ‘I dunno. I suppose they might.’

‘Well then. Why don’t you ask them? After that, all you have to do is wait a while and she’ll be here in London.’

Wayne put his elbows on the table and rubbed his chin. ‘Sounds like a plan, Kel. What do you reckon?’

‘What if she doesn’t turn up?’

‘Then I’ll drive you up there and we’ll have it out with her. She can’t hide for ever.’

Kelly gave a sigh, disappointed at the prospect of not being able to take immediate action, but aware that this was probably a better option. She rose to her feet and shrugged on her jacket. ‘I’m going round to Tina’s for a while. I’ll see you later.’

‘See you, love,’ Sharon said.

Wayne waited until the front door had closed before speaking again. ‘You really think that Sadie bird’s going to show?’

‘Why not? She’s the widow, ain’t she? And if Stan asks her she won’t have much choice. It’d look kind of weird if she refused. No, she’ll be here, you mark my words.’