The Dead Ex(96)

Shit. Mum was already rushing ahead, leaping on the return train. At every station we watched to see if she was getting off. But she stayed put. All the way back to Paddington again. ‘Stick with me,’ Mum instructed. ‘We can’t let her out of our sight.’

It was when Vicki Goudman took the Wimbledon-bound Tube and then changed that I suspected where she was going. ‘Kingston,’ I whispered. ‘David talked about that. It’s where he lived with Tanya when he wasn’t in central London.’

Mum was good at tailing. We stayed close enough not to lose our quarry but sufficiently far away so as not to be noticed. Eventually, Vicki turned down a pretty tree-lined side road and then headed for a house on the right behind a tall hedge.

‘Bloody hell,’ breathed Mum as we peeped round.

I did a double-take too. David and Tanya lived in the poshest place I’d ever seen, with a sports car parked outside a triple garage. There was an alarm box on the front, large diamond-paned windows. Vicki was just walking through a gate at the side of the house, which looked as though it led to a back garden.

‘What do you think she’s doing here?’ I asked.

‘We won’t know if we just stay here, will we?’

‘But they’ll see us.’

‘Don’t you get it? This is a heaven-sent opportunity. We can tell this Tanya that her husband’s got you up the spout at the same time. Maybe she’ll give us some money even if he won’t.’

‘But what about Vicki …’

Too late. Mum had gone on ahead.

Round the back, there were big open patio doors leading to a conservatory. I could see Vicki and Tanya inside. Next to this cool sunbed. Quickly, we hid behind a bush.

‘If we get into trouble, do a runner through there,’ Mum whispered, indicating a wooden gate at the end of the garden.

‘Let’s leave now. Please.’

But she was peeping round. I did the same.

They were arguing fiercely. I could hear the anger, though not the actual words. Then suddenly they flew at each other.

Oh my God. Vicki and Tanya were wrestling. There was a hollow crack as Tanya’s head hit a table.

‘Go!’ Mum gave me a push. ‘Quick.’

Through the gate. Past the phone box. Back to the main road. Heart racing. Round the corner. Hide behind a skip.

I finally dared to look back. Where was Mum? For a second I was terrified she’d been caught. Then she finally came into sight, puffing.

‘Fuck. I haven’t run in years.’ Mum grinned. ‘Had to stop a few times to catch my breath. You won’t believe what happened. Looks like Governor Goudman isn’t so good after all.’





57



Vicki


I’m back on the stand, bracing myself for what is to come. My solicitor has admitted to me that she’d told the prosecution about baby Patrick even though I’d asked her not to. ‘I had to, Vicki. I hoped it would get the jury on side.’

I could make a fuss about this but maybe it’s for the best after all.

I could also have asked for a longer adjournment or even a retrial after David’s appearance but I just wanted to get the whole thing done with.

Instead I was recalled to be examined by the defence and now by the prosecution on ‘matters arising’ out of my ex’s evidence.

‘You were seen by a neighbour coming out of Tanya’s house on the day that she was murdered,’ says the prosecution barrister. ‘In addition, another neighbour who declined to be named, made an emergency call from a public phone box. Was this indeed you?’

I am feeling dizzy. There’s a humming in my ears which isn’t good. Please don’t say I’m having a seizure. I need to get this trial over with. ‘I wanted to ask if she knew where David was.’

‘Don’t you think she would have said if she did know?’

‘I thought she was covering up for him. When my husband and I split up and we were sorting out our various possessions, I found some deeds in his study showing that she was a co-signatory to a house which had cost millions – rather like the deed which my husband had tried to make me sign towards the end of our marriage. That made me believe she was part of some kind of money-laundering scheme and that she knew he was lying low somewhere. But when I told her that, she flew at me.’

‘I see. What did you do next?’

‘I think I probably went into self-defence mode.’

‘You think?’

The dizziness is getting worse. ‘It’s hard to recall. Like I said, my medication can affect my memory.’

‘How very convenient.’

‘I object to that, My Lord.’

The judge bent his head as if in agreement. ‘Please keep sarcasm out of my court.’

The barrister apologizes.

‘What exactly did you mean when you said you went into self-defence mode?’

I know this isn’t going to sound good. But it’s the truth. ‘I learned how to look after myself when I was training to be a prison officer.’

‘Did you hurt her?’

‘Not directly.’

‘Please be clearer than that.’

‘She … well, she hit her head on a table when I pushed her away.’

I feel too guilty to look at Penny. I should have told her about this earlier. But I’d hoped to get away without talking about it.