The Dead Ex(34)

‘Not much,’ I say tightly.

‘David has a daughter from a previous relationship,’ perseveres the policewoman. ‘Right? In her early twenties?’

They’ve clearly done their homework in that department, even if they haven’t rumbled me. Surely they must be aware of my past by now? Then again, it wouldn’t be the first time I’d discovered a lack of communication in the police or failure to follow things up. So perhaps they didn’t know. Our justice system has more failings than people realize.

I swallow the hard lump which has suddenly sprung up in my throat. ‘That’s right.’

Nicole never cared for me, even though I had nothing to do with her parents splitting up. They’d been so young that they’d barely been together. Nicole’s grandmother had brought her up so her own daughter could finish her education. David had only become interested in his child’s welfare when she was older. Yet he’d been excited enough about the baby.

Patrick …

A mental image of a pram flashes into my head. ‘Will you excuse me?’ I blurt out.

Without waiting for a reply, I go into my bedroom and close the door of the en-suite behind me. Then I reach for the bottles at the back of the cabinet. Lavender. And two other essential ingredients too. That’s better.

I return to the sitting room. DI Vine is back with a white box. The silver ribbon that was around it has been untied.

‘Your wedding album, I presume,’ he says.

Oh no.

Without waiting for a reply, he opens the first page. There’s a picture of David kissing me on the steps of the register office. I’ve blacked out his face with a thick felt tip. In fact, I’ve done the same in all the other pictures too.

‘So?’ I say defensively. ‘I bet lots of women deface their wedding albums after they get divorced.’

‘Why not chuck it?’

Because then it would be gone for ever. And I’m not ready for that. I’m not ready to admit this either, so I just shrug. That’s when the policewoman comes in. She is holding a small black book. My heart sinks as she holds certain pages out for her boss’s inspection. His face darkens.

So they’ve looked behind the radiator (the one that’s turned off). And I thought I’d been so clever.

‘Victoria Goudman, I am arresting you … do not have to … on in court. Anything you do say …’

I don’t hear the rest of it. I smell burning. Feel dizzy. I need to get under a table. Quickly.

Voices come in and out.

‘What’s wrong with her?’

‘She’s faking it.’

‘I don’t think so, sir.’

‘Catch her, Sergeant.’





16



Scarlet


‘Sure you didn’t grass us up?’ Dawn had demanded after the police brought her back.

Scarlet made a sign on her chest. ‘Cross my heart and hope to die.’

Mum used to do that when she was at something called a ‘convent school’. It was one of the few things she’d told her about her childhood. It upset her too much to say more, especially when Scarlet asked why she didn’t have grandparents like some of the others in class. So she’d learned to keep quiet.

Once, though, she’d found a photograph in Mum’s bag. It showed a little girl in a red spotty dress and blonde hair in a bouncy ponytail. A smiley man stood on one side and a woman with curly yellow hair stood on the other. A black-and-white dog sat next to them. There was nothing on the back.

‘Is that you?’ she’d asked.

‘Yes.’ Mum’s voice had been quick and hard, the way it was when she pretended to say something that didn’t matter but did.

‘I like the dog.’

Mum’s voice melted. ‘He was called Charlie. We used to go everywhere together.’

‘Who are the other people?’

‘No one.’

This was the quick, hard voice again.

‘But how can someone be no one?’

‘They’re nothing to do with you or me. OK? It’s not important. Just leave it.’

If it wasn’t important, why did the photograph go everywhere with Mum in her red velvet bag? But Scarlet kept that question in her head because she was a good girl. It’s what she did best.

Scarlet had kept quiet after the prison visit too. She just didn’t feel like talking in the car on the way back to the house. So Camilla with the shaggy fringe did it instead.

‘Don’t be too upset by your mum. It’s not easy for her, being away from you. Just as I know it’s not easy for you either, love. But the Walters are good people. They’ll look after you.’

That isn’t true, Scarlet wanted to say. She almost told her then about the two fridges and the shouting and the having to leave the house early so Mrs Walters could get rid of them. But if she did that, she might get into even more trouble.

‘Just make sure you stay on the right side of the law from now on,’ added Camilla. ‘There are still things they can do even if you’re under ten. They might put a child curfew order on you. Do you know what that means?’

Scarlet shook her head.

‘You can’t be in a public place between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. unless you’re with an adult. Or you might get placed under the supervision of a youth offending team.’