Page 72 of She Saw What He Did

‘Oh, okay,’ said Ellen.

‘Might as well see something of the sights while we’re here,’ he said smiling at her.

Ellen couldn’t get Abby Miller’s face out of her mind. What could she be hiding and why?

*

Abby

I close the door and lean against it. I’m finding it hard to breathe. For Sam’s sake I fight down the hysteria within me. The urge to run out and call to Sergeant Burden consumes me. We need her help but I daren’t ask for it. Fear of the killer paralyses me. As soon as their car disappears around the corner, I grab my mobile to phone Jared.

‘It’s okay,’ I say as soon as he answers. ‘Sergeant Burden came with a detective. They’ve just left. They’re suspicious of the fact that we were so close to Maria’s house last night.’

He’s at work. I can’t imagine the agonies he’s going through. We have to keep everything normal, he’d said. How can I ever be normal again?

‘You didn’t tell them about the box?’

‘No,’ I reply, fingering the small box that sits safely in the pocket of my dress.

‘Surely he’ll be in touch soon,’ says Jared, his voice strained.

‘Yes,’ I say.

The fear that the others will come looking for us sets off the feeling of panic again and I fill a glass with water and sip it slowly.

‘I’m scared,’ I say.

‘Keep all the doors locked and windows closed.’

But I need air. I’m suffocating in here. I need to be with Sam. I need to be with my daughter. I hang up and drop my head into my hands. My head thumps and I swallow some painkillers with the water and make an effort to calm down. I don’t deserve this. I didn’t have the affair. At this moment I hate Jared with an intensity I never thought possible.

Chapter Forty-Four

Peter finished his pint with a grateful sigh.

‘I needed that.’

‘Another?’ asked Graham the landlord.

‘Yeah. Why not?’

‘So,’ began Graham, pulling the pint. ‘Ellen gone to Porthaven again has she?’

Peter refrained from rolling his eyes but couldn’t fight back his sigh.

‘Yeah, she has,’ he said.

‘I reckon they’re going to catch the killer, don’t you? Ellen’s pretty determined alright.’

‘Ellen’s sure on it,’ said Roy, joining them.

‘Is that beer coming or what?’ asked Peter impatiently.

‘Sure thing,’ said Graham.

‘I worry, you know, that every person I serve could be the killer,’ said Cheryl anxiously. ‘And there I am chatting away merrily.’

‘Tell you what,’ said Peter, standing up. ‘Forget that pint.’

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