Our Kind of Cruelty(72)

‘And what did he say about Mrs Metcalf?’ Petra asked, looking over at V herself.

Kaitlyn bit her bottom lip. ‘He was very protective over her. I could tell something was up between them but he didn’t admit it for ages.’

‘What do you mean by something was up?’

‘Well, she was never around for a start and he was always making excuses about where she was and stuff.’ Kaitlyn looked at me again and I could tell she was sorry for what she was saying.

‘So you were under the impression that Mr Hayes and Verity were a couple?’ Petra asked, but I could tell in her tone this was rehearsed and I dreaded the answer.

‘Oh yes. He referred to her as his girlfriend the first time we went out after work. I bumped into him once in a deli near to where we live and he said he was buying supper for them both.’

‘He specifically said that?’

‘Yes. He bought steaks because he said they were Verity’s favourite. I felt sorry for him because he seemed so agonised by the decision; it felt painful.’

‘But Verity wasn’t there?’

‘Not in the shop, no.’

‘Nor at home?’

‘I presume not.’

‘But he gave you the impression that they lived together at Windsor Terrace?’

‘Yes.’

‘Did Mr Hayes ever confide in you about his relationship with Mrs Metcalf?’

‘Yes.’

I felt a wash of shame run through me when Kaitlyn answered; my whole body cringed at V knowing I had ever discussed her with anyone else. ‘After I’d known him for a few months he told me that she’d moved out, but he gave the impression it was just so they could sort out their differences.’

‘Which were?’

‘I think he said they disagreed about how they should live.’

Petra raised her eyebrows and let out a stream of air. ‘So I take it you had no idea about Verity’s marriage?’

Kaitlyn shook her head. ‘None at all. In fact I bumped into Mike on what I now know was the morning of the wedding and he told me it was Verity’s sister who was getting married.’

‘And you never had cause to doubt him?’

‘None at all. I felt sorry for him. If I’m honest I thought it sounded like Verity was playing him a bit, but he was too in love with her to do anything about it.’

‘But I believe this wedding was how you began to uncover the extent of Mr Hayes’s lies just before the murder.’

‘Yes,’ Kaitlyn said and I sat up straighter, as if called to attention. ‘I knew Mike was hiding something and I had tried googling him and Verity, but he is virtually non-existent online and I didn’t know Verity’s surname, so I didn’t really come up with anything. But one night, about a week before the murder, I was scrolling through Facebook, you know the way you do when you’re bored, looking at photos of friends of friends without really knowing why you’re doing it. Anyway, I came across an album of photos of an acquaintance who’d been to Angus Metcalf’s wedding. I’d read about it in The Standard so I started looking. I’d seen a photo of Verity at Mike’s house and suddenly I’m looking at her in all the pictures and I realised she was the bride.’

I could feel my breath high in my throat, like a trapped bird.

‘What did you do with the information?’ Petra asked.

‘I confided in Lottie, but we didn’t really know what to do.’ Kaitlyn paused for a second. ‘It made me realise that he’d built this whole fantasy around Verity and I was worried about what he might do.’ Kaitlyn glanced up at me and her translucent skin coloured slightly. ‘I know it sounds ridiculous after everything’s that happened but I still think Mike is a genuinely nice guy and I think he believes the lies he tells. I don’t think he’s trying to deceive anyone more than himself. And he’s very convincing. Like I said, when I first met him I really thought Verity was playing him, I wanted to help him get out of what I thought was a damaging relationship.’ She shook her head.

My seat felt too small for me. I couldn’t remember if what Kaitlyn was saying was true or not. It felt like there were only versions of the truth and nothing was absolute. Something was opening beneath me, a hole which threatened to swallow me and a feeling of inescapable terror washed through me. ‘It’s OK,’ I said under my breath, ‘V and I are in love and that’s the only truth worth knowing.’

Petra nodded sagely. ‘I believe you were staying at Lottie’s house, next door to Mr Hayes, on the night of the murder.’

‘That’s correct.’

‘Perhaps you could tell us what you saw.’

Kaitlyn shifted her weight. ‘I’d been worried about Mike that evening anyway because I bumped into him on the way home from work and he said he was on his way to see Verity. He was incredibly agitated and wasn’t really making sense. He said something about her needing him, but it didn’t ring true, especially considering what I knew by then about the wedding. He’d called in sick to work that day and he looked feverish. I tried to stop him, but he wasn’t paying any attention and was a bit rude, if I’m honest. Lottie and I discussed it all evening and decided I would talk to Mike the next day and, if that didn’t work, we’d maybe try to talk to the company doctor or someone about him.’ She paused for a moment. ‘We went to bed around midnight, but were woken at about two twenty a.m. by shouting outside. We got up and looked out of the bedroom window and saw a man I now know to be Angus Metcalf banging on Mike’s door. We talked about going down but he seemed drunk and angry and we didn’t know what to do. After about ten minutes Mike opened the door and the shouting intensified. We couldn’t see anything because they’d gone just inside the house, but it was pretty obvious they were fighting, so I called the police.’