The Dead Ex(40)

Would she feel like this if she knew about my past? ‘So you believe me?’

‘Yes. I do.’

I’m changing my mind about this woman. ‘Will you represent me?’

‘As long as you don’t do anything daft.’

‘Such as?’

‘Well,’ she says slowly, ‘if it was me, I would want to find out what happened to my ex. Please resist that temptation. It could do more harm than good.’

‘I know what it looks like,’ I protest. ‘He cheated and lied to me, and now he’s dead, but …’

‘What makes you think he’s dead?’ says my solicitor sharply.

‘I don’t know.’ I want to curl up in a hole. ‘I’ve just got a bad feeling about this. And I’m scared.’

‘Are you sure there’s nothing else you want to tell me?’ she asks.

I curse myself for my stupid outburst which has – let’s face it – made me look guilty.

‘No,’ I say firmly. ‘I’ve told you everything.’

‘You’re sure?’

I go red again, the way I always do when accused of something. It’s a childhood habit. ‘Quite sure.’

If my instincts are right, there’s only one person who might throw some light on all this.

Tanya. I’d been going to see her before the police had arrived.

Now it’s even more important. I just have to summon up the courage.





18



Scarlet

1 April 2007


What was that funny smell? Scarlet began to sneeze. The new social worker, noticing, wound up the car window on the side nearest to her.

‘Oilseed rape,’ she said brightly. ‘Makes your nose tickle. They get a lot of it out here. Not far now. You’re going to love it. Dee and Robert are super. They’ve got horses and cows and sheep. You’ll be able to describe all this to your mum when you write to her.’

But writing wasn’t the same as seeing. All she wanted, thought Scarlet miserably, was to feel Mum’s arms around her and her soft face against hers.

The car swung round a bend, lurching Scarlet into the door. ‘Sorry about that. These lanes can be a bit narrow.’

Another left and then a right past a sign that said S–T–A–T–I–O–N. At her last two schools, loads of them hadn’t known their lefts from their rights, but Mum had taught her when she was really little.

‘What do you think, then?’

Scarlet gazed at the house in front of her. It was white with a strange brown roof that looked all bristly like a hairbrush. Yellow flowers were growing up the walls, and there was a dog running around the car, making horrible growling noises.

‘Let’s get out then, shall we?’

‘I can’t,’ whispered Scarlet’s thoughts. ‘It might bite me.’

‘No need to shrink back like that. He’s really friendly.’

A man was walking across towards them, wearing green boots with something round his neck.

‘Hello,’ he said, opening the car door. ‘You must be Scarlet. Get down, Aztec.’

Scarlet’s scream rang in her ears.

‘Don’t be afraid,’ said the man again. ‘He’s just saying hello in his own way. Look, he’s licking your hand.’

‘Scarlet!’ The social worker’s voice was cross. ‘Don’t hit the poor thing like that.’

But it was going to bite her!

‘Robert!’ A woman was running out of the big door by the roses. ‘I told you not to let him out. The child looks terrified.’ Then she put her hands to her mouth and whistled.

To her amazement Scarlet watched the dog turn around and slink back into the house. The woman walked over and knelt down beside her. She wore her hair in a ponytail that swung from side to side and she smelled of roses. Once, Scarlet had taken a bunch from the cemetery for Mum’s birthday. She didn’t let on where they’d come from. Sometimes she still felt guilty about it.

‘I was scared of dogs when I was little too. But you’ll get used to him soon. Just as you’ll get used to us.’ She waved her hand around. ‘All this must be rather different for you.’

Scarlet nodded, but the ‘yes’ stayed stuck in her mouth.

‘Tell you what, why don’t we go inside and I’ll show you your bedroom. I’m Dee, by the way, although I expect they’ve told you that already.’

Silently, she followed. To her relief, the man didn’t come too. The ground made her feet slide from one side to another.

‘Cobblestones,’ said Dee. ‘They’re really old. Just like the house.’

Old was bad. Mum used to say that. It’s why their boiler kept breaking down, although the bloody council should have fixed it.

‘We’ve been here for years. The farm used to belong to my husband’s parents. It’s too big for us, so when we couldn’t … when we decided the time was right, we decided to open up our home to children who needed somewhere to live.’

Scarlet put her hand on the staircase. It felt smooth. There were funny pictures carved into the wood. A lion’s face. An apple.

‘We don’t have any other children staying with us at the moment, so you can have the big bedroom. It’s rather pretty, with a fantastic view over the river. Look!’