“No.”
Maybe, suggests a tiny voice at the back of my mind, maybe they’ve realised their mistake? Maybe they’re going to let me go?
But the minute I see Penney, any hope I had evaporates. He has a look I can’t quite place – self-righteous, smug. He knows something. He thinks he’s solved the whole crime. Never mind that the truth doesn’t fit.
“It seems your brother reported Holly missing first thing this morning,” he tells me.
“So she’s still missing?”
Those awful words still ring in my ears,
“You have till four AM, or Holly burns.”
“No – we found her half an hour ago.”
“You found her!” I resist the urge to throw my arms around him.
“Oh, thank you! Thank you!”
I look round at the sombre faces at the table, troubled that no one appears to share my elation. “Is she… OK?”
Penney looks me straight in the eye.
“You tell me. She was found in your garage.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
“Is she all right? You have to tell me!”
“She’s in a critical condition in hospital.”
“Oh god! What…”
“The garage was locked and there were no signs of a break-in. Whoever did this had a key.”
“It wasn’t me!”
My garage is just a repository for all my junk. I hardly ever go in there. I never even park the car in there. Alicia – or Jody, must have taken the key from my key ring. Is that what Jody was doing on the night of the concert, when she stole my bag and gave it back to me?
I turn to my lawyer for help, but he is busily scribbling notes on the pad in front of him.
“It must have been Jody and Alicia,” I insist. “Just ask Holly – she’ll tell you.”
DCI Millrose folds her arms in front of her.
“Holly’s in no position to tell us anything right now. She’s sustained a severe head injury.”
“Oh, poor Holly!”
“Poor Holly, indeed. We’re looking at a very serious assault here, Isabel. Maybe even attempted murder.”
I shake my head. “I can’t believe they did this just to get at me!”
“So you’re saying you had nothing to do with it?”
I stare at Millrose.
“Why would I hurt Holly, let alone try to kill her? She was trying to help me! And she’s my brother’s fiancée, for heaven’s sake.”
Millrose curls her lip. “Didn’t your brother used to be married to your best friend, Kate?”
“Yes, but… you can’t think Kate has anything to do with this!”
“How did you feel when he left Kate for Holly?”
“Well… I…”
“Were you happy about it?”
“Of course not!”
“So how did you feel – annoyed, let down?”
“I felt… sad, for Kate.”
And maybe a little guilty, too. He’s my brother, after all. I should have known that he’s incapable of being faithful and that it was never going to last.
“And what were your feelings towards your brother?”
“Well, of course I was angry, at first.”
“Isn’t it true you refused to speak to him for several months?”
“Well… yes, but I forgave him eventually. I couldn’t stay angry with him forever.”
“What made you change your mind?”
“I don’t know – he came to see me and I just couldn’t stay angry with him anymore. Not when I was faced with him in person. It was one thing to ignore his texts and emails, but I couldn’t ignore him when he turned up on my doorstep. I missed him.”
“Would you say you get on well with Holly?”
I colour slightly, thinking of the recent past. “I really like Holly. She’s great.”
“Hmm. But isn’t it true that with Holly out of the way, there’d be a chance your brother might get back with Kate?”
“I don’t think so.”
“But there’s a chance?”
“I really don’t…”
“Did Kate help you, or were you acting alone?”
“Kate had nothing to do with this!”
“So you were acting alone?”
“No! I wasn’t acting… I wasn’t… didn’t do anything.”
I cling to the edge of the table like a limpet.
How do I stop all this craziness?
They’re twisting everything I say, everything I’ve done.
“Please… just talk to Julio. He’ll tell you all this is nonsense. He knows I’ve got no reason to hurt Holly. And he knows what’s been happening with Alicia and Jody. He’ll back me up.”
“Are you OK, Isabel?” My lawyer butts in. “You’re awfully pale.”
He looks pointedly at Millrose. “I think my client needs a break.”
Millrose looks a bit irritated, but she doesn’t refuse.
Penney and Millrose get up. As the door shuts behind them, I stare at the cold, blank walls.
“What happens next? When will all this be over?”
My lawyer scratches his beard. “In all likelihood, they’ll have to interview Alicia and Jody to get their side of the story.”
This news should cheer me up but it doesn’t. Alicia is a very, very convincing liar. What if she implicates me further?
My lawyer has no such qualms.
“If they’re lying, Millrose will get to the bottom of it. That’s what she’s trained to do.”
I wish I had his confidence.
“In the meantime, it would really help if you could try to figure out why they started this vendetta. Without motive, it’s hard to prove.”
“I’m trying.” I drain the rest of my drink and scrunch up my paper cup.
I’m sure there’s something – stuck in the recesses of my mind, just waiting to be dislodged. If only I could remember. I stare blankly at the wall but it doesn’t come to me. My mind’s all clogged up with worry and anger and fear.
Some time later, the door opens to admit Penney and Millrose.
“Are you ready?”
Reluctantly, I nod.
Millrose switches the tape back on.
“We’ve just spoken to your brother. He says you’ve been harassing Holly for weeks now. Ringing in the middle of the night and showing up at their house uninvited.”
“What?”
“He thinks you need help.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“Here’s his statement. Read it for yourself.”
I scan the document, reading with disbelief how my own brother has disowned and renounced me. One particular sentence jumps out at me:
‘In my opinion, my sister, Isabel Anderson is the one responsible for Holly’s assault. Her recent actions have been both bizarre and incongruous. She is clearly in desperate need of professional help.’
“Incongruous?” I snort. “My brother doesn’t talk like that! I bet he doesn’t even know what it means! Someone’s put words in his mouth.”
Millrose sits back in her chair. “I can assure you the only people present at his interview were DS Penney and myself.”
This makes no sense…
Julio should be on my side. When he saw that picture of Jody, he took me seriously. He and Holly were going to help me figure all this out. They believed me. They both believed me. What changed his mind? Or should I say, who?
“He’s been coached,” I insist. “Blackmailed. They’ve got to him.”
Millrose opens a brown envelope and pulls out two glossy photographs, which she sets on the table in front of me.
“Take a look at these pictures. Take a good look.”
It’s Holly. Her eyes are closed, her face ashen. She is covered in bandages and hooked up to all kinds of machines. I can’t believe how awful she looks, how tortured.
Oh Holly, what have they done to you?
“She was hit over the head with a heavy object – probably the stone statue we found in your garage.”