The Silent Ones: An absolutely gripping psychological thriller(65)

‘We just skipped along to her house. It’s right at the end of the street. We went in the gate and round the back because that’s the door Bessie uses.’

‘I see. And did you knock?’

Brianna hesitated. ‘We… just walked in. Bessie can’t hear you knock unless she’s in the kitchen, because she’s deaf.’

‘And did you call out to tell her you were in the house?’

‘She’s deaf,’ Brianna repeated as if Neary suffered from the same condition. ‘We went through to the living room and she was asleep.’

‘Did you wake her up?’ Neary asked.

Brianna’s face paled. She looked at her mother, then down at her hands.

‘Brianna? What did you do when you saw Bessie was asleep?’

Dana watched as the girl twisted her fingers together and shifted in her seat.

‘I can’t remember.’

‘I think you can remember and I need you to tell us what happened next.’

‘I can’t remember, Mum.’ Brianna looked up at Chloe with wide, brimming eyes.

‘Think, Bree,’ Chloe urged her. ‘When you saw Bessie was asleep, what did you do next? What did Maddy do?’

‘She shouted loudly in her ear and Bessie woke up and fell out of the chair,’ Brianna said in one long breath.

‘And what did you do?’ March prompted.

‘I didn’t do anything wrong! I stood near the door and then I went to the bathroom.’

‘Did you help Bessie get up from the floor?’ Neary asked.

‘It wasn’t me! I didn’t do anything wrong. It was Maddy. She was the one who hurt Bessie and she was the one who stole her ring.’





Forty-Nine





2003





Ray stood at the bottom of the stairs and leaned heavily against the faded banister.

He could hear both his daughters moving around in their bedroom and he listened for a few more moments. They didn’t know it yet, but what he had to tell them would colour their lives forever. Juliet’s especially.

It was all he could do not to walk away and grant them a few more hours of peace.

But it had to be done. He couldn’t put it off any longer.

He shouted for them to come downstairs. Seconds later, he heard their door open and footsteps padded along the landing.

He walked back into the living room and sat next to Joan. She held a tissue up to her face, but he knew that underneath it, her eyes were bone dry.

Sometimes he really struggled to understand how the woman he loved was put together, even after all the years they’d been a couple. He knew she loved him, but she could turn instantly cold if he put a foot wrong.

And she ruled the kids with a rod of iron. There were times the girls crept around her as if they were treading on eggshells.

Little Corey never did, though. Joan’s moods went straight over his head.

The lad might have been a handful, but Ray’s heart squeezed when he thought of his young son’s joie de vivre, his constant curiosity and enthusiasm. Often for the most ordinary of things.

‘What’s up, Dad?’ Chloe was first through the door, followed by Juliet.

‘Sit down,’ Ray said quietly. ‘We’ve something to tell you both.’

Juliet looked cautiously at Joan. ‘You OK, Mum?’

Joan glared from behind her tissue. She never looked at her daughter any other way now since the accident, but Juliet couldn’t leave it there. The heaviness on her chest wouldn’t let her.

‘This isn’t… it’s not about Corey, is it?’

‘Of course it’s about Corey, you idiot child,’ Joan screeched, dropping her tissue and pressing both her temples. ‘It’s all been about Corey ever since you mucked everything up.’

‘Joan.’ Ray held his hands up. ‘We agreed I’d tell them.’

‘Tell us what?’ Juliet said faintly.

‘Get on with it then,’ Joan growled, snatching up her tissue again.

‘There’s no easy way to say this, so I’m just going to jump in with both feet.’ Ray paused, his bottom lip trembling. ‘I’m sorry, girls… your brother died in hospital this morning.’

‘No!’ Juliet wailed and stood up, raking her hands through her hair.

‘The bleed on his brain, the aneurysm, it got bigger and he fell into a coma.’ Ray looked at his hands. In this moment, he felt as if he were a hundred years old. ‘There was nothing they could do for him.’

He looked at Juliet and saw she was motionless now and staring into space. He’d seen shock before and it looked just like this.

‘Chloe, fetch your sister a glass of water, love.’

‘But this is all her fault,’ Chloe snarled, halfway between tears and fury. ‘She should never have taken him to the warren if she wasn’t feeling well.’

‘Precisely,’ Joan said under her breath.

‘This isn’t the time for pointing fingers,’ Ray chided gently. ‘We’ve all got to stick together. We’ve got to keep it together. Me and your mother have talked about this at length, and I tell you now, what happened to Corey must not be discussed outside this house. Is that understood?’