Page 53 of She Saw What He Did

‘I shouldn’t be late home,’ I say.

‘Don’t worry. We’re going to Fairy Tale Farm after nursery and then Grandad said he would take us for a pizza.’

Sam squeals and claps her hands in glee.

‘I love pizza.’

‘Do I put the alarm on?’ Daphne asks, looking at it nervously.

I shake my head.

‘No, the cleaner is coming today. Anyway, we only put it on at night.’

Even then, I don’t sleep, I think miserably. Jared seems to have no problem. Perhaps we should have had the wine last night. It does seem to help.

‘If anyone knocks …’ I begin.

She nods.

‘Don’t worry. I won’t open the door.’

‘Unless it’s Joe,’ I smile, trying to lighten the mood.

I check the time and grab my handbag and briefcase.

‘Call me if there’s any problem. I’d better go. I’m catching the 9.30 to Truro.’

‘I hope everything goes well.’

‘The car seat is in the hallway,’ I say, kissing Sam. ‘Be good for Nana.’

‘Can I take my treasure box today?’

‘No sweetie, take your dolly today. You wouldn’t want to lose your box.’’

I reluctantly open the front door and force myself not to look back. I don’t want to make Sam anxious. Everything is going to be just fine. If the meeting goes to plan, I may well come home with a contract for three books. It’s been nearly two weeks since the murder. Maybe the killer isn’t coming after us after all.

*

Sparrow followed the 4x4. They crawled through the rush hour traffic. Sparrow reassured himself that with so many cars on the road Abby Miller would not realise she was being followed. His neck was stiff by the time they reached the station. He waited until she had entered before following her in.

She was in the ticket queue. He got into the queue beside her.

‘Return to Truro,’ she said to the man at the ticket office. That gave him loads of time. He fumbled in his pocket as if he had lost something and then stepped out of the queue. In his car he sat chewing his lip. He’d started to doubt he could go through with it but what choice did he have? He’d gone over and over things until he thought he’d go mad.

‘Christ,’ he groaned, banging his hand on the steering wheel. ‘What a fucking mess.’

If only he had the original recording of the murder. It was the only thing that proved he killed Taris that day on the island. They wouldn’t do anything with the tape until the box was delivered, he knew that. It was his trump card but once it was delivered, he knew it would be a race against time.

He’d be buggered if he’d do all the work. If the Millers wanted that box so badly, then they could run all the risks. That would teach them to take what wasn’t theirs. Why the fuck should he do it?

Chapter Thirty-Five

‘Did you have a nice time?’ asked Daphne, taking Sam’s paintings from her.

‘Sam tells us you’re going to Fairy Tale Farm,’ said Chloe, one of the parents.

‘Yes, would you like to join us?’ asked Daphne.

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