A Good Girl's Guide to Murder(98)

Pip looked up to try to push her tears back in. There was no time to tell him how wrong he was.

‘And then as more days passed,’ Elliot cried, ‘I realized what a grave mistake I’d made. If Andie had died somewhere from her head injury, they would have found her by now. And then her car turns up and they find blood in the boot; she must have been well enough to drive somewhere after leaving mine. I’d panicked and thought it was fatal when it wasn’t. But it was too late. Sal was already dead and I’d made him the killer. They closed the case and everything settled down.’

‘So how do we get from there to you imprisoning Andie in this house?’

He flinched at the anger behind her words.

‘It was the end of July. I was driving home and I just saw her. Andie was walking on the side of the main road from Wycombe, heading towards Kilton. I pulled over and it was obvious she’d got herself messed up in drugs . . . that she’d been sleeping rough. She was so skinny and dishevelled. That’s how it happened. I couldn’t let her return home because if she did, everyone would know Sal had been murdered. Andie was high and disoriented but I pulled over and got her in the car. I explained to her why I couldn’t let her go home but that I would take care of her. I’d just put this place up for sale, so I brought her here and took it off the market.’

‘Where had she been all those months? What happened to her the night she went missing?’ Pip pressed, feeling the minutes escaping from her.

‘She doesn’t remember all the details; I think she was concussed. She says she just wanted to get away from everything. She went to a friend of hers who was involved in drugs and he took her to stay with some people he knew. But she didn’t feel safe there, so she ran away to come home. She doesn’t like talking about that time.’

‘Howie Bowers,’ Pip thought aloud. ‘Where is she, Elliot?’

‘In the loft.’ He looked over at the small key on the counter. ‘We made it nice up there for her. I insulated it, put in plywood walls and proper flooring. She picked out the wallpaper. There aren’t any windows but we put in lots of lamps. I know you must think I’m a monster, Pip, but I’ve never touched her, not since that last time at the Ivy House. It’s not like that. And she’s not like she was before. She’s a different person; she’s calm and grateful. She has food up there but I come round to cook for her three times during the week, once at the weekend, and let her down to shower. And then we just sit together in her loft, watching TV for a while. She’s never bored.’

‘She’s locked up there and that’s the key?’ Pip pointed to it.

Elliot nodded.

And then they heard the sound of wheels crackling on the road outside.

‘When the police interrogate you,’ Pip said, hurrying now, ‘do not tell them about the hit-and-run, about taking Sal’s alibi away. He doesn’t need one when you’ve confessed. And Cara does not deserve to lose her entire family, to be all alone. I’m going to protect Naomi and Cara now.’

The sound of car doors slamming.

‘Maybe I can understand why you did it,’ she said. ‘But you will never be forgiven. You took Sal’s life from him to save your own. You destroyed his family.’

A shout of, ‘Hello, police,’ came from the open front door.

‘The Bells have grieved for five whole years. You threatened me and my family; you broke into my house to scare me.’

‘I’m sorry.’

Heavy footsteps down the hallway.

‘You killed Barney.’

Elliot’s face crumpled. ‘Pip, I don’t know what you’re talking about. I didn’t –’

‘Police,’ the officer said, stepping into the kitchen. The skylights glittered against the rim on his hat. His partner walked in behind, her eyes darting from Elliot to Pip and back, her tightly scraped ponytail flicking as she did.

‘Right, what’s going on here?’ she said.

Pip looked over at Elliot and their eyes met. He straightened up and held out his wrists.

‘You’re here to arrest me for the abduction and false imprisonment of Andie Bell,’ he said, not taking his eyes off her.

‘And the murder of Sal Singh,’ said Pip.

The officers looked at each other for a long moment and one of them nodded. The woman started towards Elliot and the man pressed something on the radio strapped to his shoulder. He moved back out to the hallway to speak into it.

With both their backs turned Pip darted forward and snatched the key from the counter. She ran out into the hall and bounded up the stairs.

‘Hey!’ the male officer shouted after her.

At the top she saw the small white loft hatch in the ceiling. A large padlock was fitted through the catch and a metal ring that was screwed into the wooden frame. A small two-step ladder was placed beneath it.

Pip stepped up and reached, slotting the key into the padlock and letting it fall, clattering loudly to the floor. The policeman was coming up the stairs after her. She twisted the catch and ducked to let the reinforced hatch swing down and open.

Yellow light filled the hole above her. And sounds: dramatic music, explosions and people shouting in American accents. Pip grabbed the loft ladder and pulled it down to the floor just as the officer thundered up the last few steps.

‘Wait,’ he shouted.