Page 34 of She Saw What He Did

‘That’s disgraceful,’ says Joe. ‘You barely drink.’

‘You believe us, don’t you,’ I ask.

Daphne leans over and squeezes my knee.

‘Of course we do. Jared said you’d spoken to the local police. Surely they can do something?’

I shake my head.

‘Apparently, there’s nothing they can do. We can’t prove anything, only that there were two men on the beach and it’s not a crime to be on the same beach. We can’t prove there was a murder.’

Daphne puts down her glass and lowering her voice says.

‘Joe and I have been talking and we want you all to come and stay with us.’

Jared immediately shakes his head.

‘No Mum.’

‘Our house is huge. We’d barely know you were there.’

‘I don’t want to upset Sam’s routine,’ says Jared. ‘Besides I don’t want to put you and Dad at risk.’

‘You’re our only son, Jared. We have the money, we can help,’ says Joe.

‘Let us pay for private security then,’ offers Daphne.

I lift my head.

‘Daphne, it will cost a fortune.’

‘Money isn’t an issue,’ says Daphne.

‘How long are you prepared to do it?’ says Jared, rubbing his eyes. ‘We can’t have private security forever.’

Jared’s right.

‘What’s the point of having money if we can’t help?’ says Joe, frowning.

‘Well after a time, hopefully, he’ll give up and …’ adds Daphne.

It’s naïve thinking and she knows it.

‘We have to try and forget it,’ Jared says, looking at me. ‘For Sam’s sake we have to carry on as normal. We don’t want her to feel anxious. The police said to report anything we think is suspicious. That’s all we can do. Private security will only frighten her.’

‘Perhaps when he realises you aren’t going to name him …’ begins Joe.

‘Exactly,’ says Jared.

I stay silent.

‘You’ll keep the door locked when you’re working won’t you?’ asks Daphne.

‘Of course,’ I say.

I have a pile of editing to get through by the end of the month. I need to focus. It was going to be hard because I didn’t for one minute think the killer had forgotten us.

Chapter Twenty-Two

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