DS Rani pauses, listening to the bark-spiked commotion in the field. When it echoes louder, she turns to me and whistles.
‘Two suspects in one day, huh? Let’s hope you make as good a real-life detective as you do a fictional one, S. K. Atherton.’
With those words, DS Rani pulls me to my feet. I wince as a jolt of pain shoots up my ankle from my fall, but the hurt doesn’t matter. Standing signals that maybe, finally, this might actually be over.
CHAPTER 48
DS Rani supports my limping frame back to Maple Crescent. With Otis no longer here, the crowd has dispersed and the reporters have gone.
‘Peace at last,’ DS Rani comments as I ease myself from her grip. When I grimace at bearing my body weight, her features cloud with concern. ‘Do you need to go to hospital?’
‘No, I need to go home.’
Her sceptical gaze lingers on my injured ankle. ‘Are you sure?’
‘If I’m still in pain later, I’ll ask Kamal to take me there. I promise.’
Even though she doesn’t look reassured, DS Rani nods. ‘Take care of yourself, okay?’
She gives me a smile. It’s one that I’ve seen on DS Rani’s face before. It says that she understands me and my pain. I wonder how many women I’ve met in my life who share that same smile. People who hide their hurt behind important careers, day trips and nights with friends. People who show that life goes on after loss, but that doesn’t mean you forget.
The sound of voices coming from the public footpath makes us turn. Seconds later, Jim appears, cuffed and escorted by two officers.My body locks as our eyes meet, the anger I expected to see in Jim nowhere to be found. Instead, all I see is hurt.
‘Get home safely,’ DS Rani says over her shoulder as she goes to Jim. I’m too numb to reply.
I watch as Jim is bundled into a police car. All the while, he keeps his head low. All the while, I tell myself that he intimidated me. Chased me. Hid the truth from the police. But still, the look in his eyes when he saw me clings on.
When Jim is driven away, DS Rani follows in her car. She waves to me as she passes and I wave back, then I am alone once more.
Wrapping my arms around my waist, I set off towards my car, doing all I can to push the shooting pain in my ankle from my mind. I tell myself to enjoy the stillness after the chaos, but there’s something about the silence that isn’t reassuring after all.
Lifting my head, I look down the street, my gaze hovering on Dorrit’s house. Then it shifts, travelling back up the road until it stops on the Gothic dream home to the side of me.
Out of nowhere, I hear Jim’s words like he’s beside me, whispering in my ear.
‘What about the woman she went for walks with, huh? The nosey neighbour.’
My mouth dries. In all my panic, I’d heard him, but I hadn’t reallyheardhim. Not in the way I should have.
My body moves without being told to, taking me up the long, curved driveway. A variety of plants, shrivelled by autumnal frost, line the route, adding to the mysterious splendour of the place. At the door, I stop. I raise my hand and push the doorbell.
My nerves sizzle as it rings out into the house, but I tell myself to remain calm. Being Alexa Clarke’s next-door neighbour doesn’t mean this is the person Jim was talking about. There are plenty of other people on this street he could’ve meant.
Be calm,I reason.
Inside, I hear the slap of footsteps drawing closer.
I hear the click of a latch being unlocked.
Then, as the door is thrown open, I come face to face with the last person I expected to be on the other side of it.
CHAPTER 49
Katherine blinks when she sees me standing here.
‘Janine,’ she says. ‘This is a lovely surprise!’
My mind shouts, telling me to react like I’m not in shock, but I doubt I pull it off. ‘You… you didn’t tell me you were Alexa’s neighbour,’ I hear myself say.