“Yeah, I’m coming.”
But it isn’t Mr Krinkle. It’s DS Penney and his partner. They both look very serious.
Penney steps forward. “Isabel Anderson, we’d like to speak to you about a fire at Filbert’s Supercentre. Where were you at twelve noon on Monday 14th December?”
I open my mouth to answer, but Alicia’s voice floats out from behind me.
“She was with me.”
Chapter Nine
I swing round to face Alicia.
What is she doing? But there are no clues in her wide, innocent eyes.
She has the perfect poker face.
“That was the day we went Christmas shopping,” she continues, unprompted. “Don’t you remember, Isabel?”
Penney regards her coolly.
“I suppose you have receipts?”
I shift uncomfortably from one foot to the other.
“I’ll have to check,” I say. “I might have thrown them away.”
“I’ve got receipts,” Alicia says, without missing a beat. “Back at the Beach House. I can show you, if you like.”
I watch incredulously as she slips on her coat and leads them out the door.
Against my better judgement, I follow.
I sit in nervous silence in the back of the police car. Beside me, Alicia yaps on about Christmas shopping and the shops we supposedly visited while I was sitting in Filbert’s car park, watching Bernie’s car go up in smoke. Just what, exactly, is she up to? And why the hell am I going along with it? I think of the till receipts we use at Robertson’s. They have the time and date printed on them. If Alicia set the fires, how could she possibly produce receipts? And if it wasn’t her, then why is she covering for me?
We draw up in front of the Beach House and get out of the car. The little voice inside my head tells me to run but I hold my nerve. Without a hint of urgency, Alicia unlocks the door and we follow her up the stairs to her bedroom.
And there we wait. We wait for a horrendously long time as Alicia performs an elaborate search of the room. Oh god, why did I go along with this? Did I really think she was going to be able to produce those mythical till receipts, like a rabbit from a hat?
The police are getting restless. Penney’s partner keeps sighing and glancing at her watch.
“Would you like a cup of tea?” I offer for the second time.
“No thanks, just the receipts,” she responds curtly.
“I’m sure they’re somewhere around here,” Alicia mutters, digging through her desk drawer. A search of her cupboard, dressing table, and wardrobe has failed to turn up anything besides a hair slide she thought she’d lost. The police glance at each other with exasperation and I wonder, with a sinking feeling if she’s doing all this to taunt me.
I clench and unclench my fists as she pulls an old shoe box out from under her bed and begins rifling through it, with the same lack of urgency as she’s conducted the rest of the search.
“Ah, here they are.”
I look up in surprise. Triumphantly, she pulls something out of the box.
Penney and his partner take a closer look.
“The times and dates look right,” he confirms.
She nods.
“So do I still need to come down the station?”
They look at each other.
“I think we’ll leave it, for the time being.”
I sink back against the bed as their footsteps retreat. I don’t want to stay here in Alicia’s room but neither do I have the strength to get up. I can barely even string a sentence together.
“Don’t worry, it’s going to be OK now,” Alicia tells me, putting the box back in its place.
“But why did you do that?”
She smiles sweetly. “Anything for a friend.”
“But why did you?”
“I didn’t want you to get into trouble.”
“But why did you think I’d get into trouble?”
She flicks some fluff from her jumper.
“I knew you were at Filbert’s that day.”
“How?”
“Oh, come on – you were acting shifty all morning. Where else would you be going? It’s not like anyone else is recruiting – not at this time of year.”
She’s right.
“Well, thanks, I guess.”
I feel more confused than ever.
I don’t sleep very well that night. I wake up at two, and then again at three and four, and end up pacing around the living room with the shopping channel on in the background.
What the hell is going on? Nothing makes sense anymore.
I’m supposed to be driving over to Julio’s in the morning but I’m nervous about leaving Alicia alone with my friends. If only I knew for sure whether I can trust her. Still, there’s no backing out now. Julio’s really looking forward to introducing me to his fiancée. And besides, I have to admit I’m kind of curious. I try to picture Holly, but it’s useless. My brother doesn’t have a type, unless it’s female. Sometimes I wonder what all these women see in him.
Since I’m unable to get back to sleep, I set off early, before the traffic has a chance to build up and I pull up outside Julio’s new house just before lunch-time. It isn’t hard to figure out which house is his. The dismembered body of an old Morris Minor litters the driveway. The poor thing is leaking buckets of oil, and spare parts are splayed out like guts all over the grass. A familiar pair of boots sticks out from under the car.
I’m just considering how to rouse him, when the garage door opens and someone, presumably Holly, teeters out on high heels, carrying a tea tray. She is tall and blonde, with endlessly long legs and rather well-dressed for my dishevelled brother.
“Oh, hello! You must be Isabel!”
“And you must be Holly!”
“I am!” Her smile reveals a slight overbite, which only adds to her appeal. “Julio! Your sister’s here!”
My brother slides out from under the car and makes a futile attempt to dust the dirt off his overalls. He tries to hug me, but I bat him off.
“Not in those clothes!”
“Go and take a shower,” Holly tells him. She’s what my mum would call ‘well spoken’.”
“Come on in, Isabel. I’ve just made some tea.”
The two of us sit in the living room drinking tea and eating Jaffa Cakes. The coffee table is stacked high with bridal magazines and honeymoon brochures. Holly talks enthusiastically about the wedding, which is due to take place in the spring. She seems keen to include me in their plans, which is very sweet, but kind of awkward since it wasn’t so long ago that I was helping Julio plan his wedding to Kate. This would all be so much easier if I could dislike Holly, but so far, I see nothing to dislike.
“It all sounds like a fairytale,” I say, admiring the lavish dress designs she shows me. She nods. “We’re getting married barefoot, down on the beach. I was thinking it might be fun to arrive on horses, but Julio doesn’t have a clue how to ride. Still, I’m sure he can learn in time. And after the ceremony, we’ll have the wedding breakfast in the grounds of Seymour Castle.”
“Sounds lovely.”
“And instead of a disco, we’re going to finish with a candlelit dance. Doesn’t that sound romantic?”
“It does.”
It really does.
I don’t think Kate was that bothered about the details when she married Julio. Theirs was a very simple wedding. She didn’t even wear the traditional white meringue. It just wasn’t her. I’m not sure a big fancy wedding is really Julio either but then, my brother is a chameleon. He twists and changes with every woman he’s with. Sometimes, I’m not sure I know the real Julio at all.
His capriciousness weighs heavily on my conscience. Holly is so excited about this, she’s making so many plans, spending so much money. What if he ditches her just like he ditched Kate and all the others?