The Breakdown(85)
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
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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
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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.
He comes into the bedroom and it takes all of my
willpower not to leap from the bed and spray hairspray into his eyes, to attack before I’m attacked. My finger, poised on the nozzle, is shaking so much I doubt I’d be able to aim properly and it’s only the thought of not being able to disable him before he overpowers me that keeps me where I am. I hear the rustle of his clothes as he undresses and force myself to breath evenly, like someone in a deep sleep. If he gets into bed and finds me trembling like a leaf, he’ll be suspicious. And tonight, my life depends on staying calm.
WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 30th
When morning comes, I can hardly believe that I’m
still alive. It seems to take Matthew an agonisingly long time to leave for work and, once he has, I dress hurriedly and go down to the kitchen, waiting for his call to come in, acutely aware that today of all days I need to play it just right. Today, more than ever, I need to be who he wants me to be.
I thought I might not feel scared, now that I know who he is, my silent caller. But knowing what he is capable of makes me more frightened, which serves me well when the phone starts ringing around nine. Because I actually spoke to him yesterday, when I asked him who he was, I know I’m going to have to say something again today or he’ll wonder why my new-found confidence has disappeared overnight. So again, I ask him who he is and then, just before hanging up, I ask him to leave Title: The Breakdown ARC, Format: 126x198, v1, Output date:08/11/16
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me alone with what I hope is the right amount of fear in my voice.
I have a lot to do today if I’m to unravel their web of lies and deceit so I drive straight to Hannah’s house, hoping she won’t have gone out. Fortunately, her car’s in the drive.
She seems surprised to see me so it’s only when,