Page 44 of The Psychopath Next Door

‘Yeah? Well, Rose loved it. She was going on about wolves and apex predators. She loves horror movies too. Fiona lets her watch them. She probably enjoyed seeing a dead body.’

‘Dylan! That’s a terrible thing to say.’

He shrugged and left the room.

I made the scrambled eggs on toast and called Rose down, then texted Emma.

Did you know about Rose seeing some guy go into anaphylactic shock in the park on Friday?

The reply came back immediately.WTF? No! What happened?!

The guy died and Rose saw it. She said she forgot to mention it!

Three dots appeared, disappeared, then reappeared again.Sorry, I have to go into a meeting but we can talk to her later.

I went over to the kitchen table, where Rose was sitting. She had put her headphones on and was watching videos on her phone while she ate.

I pointed at my head, gesturing for her to take the headphones off. ‘I’m popping next door to see Fiona.’

I wanted to know why she hadn’t told us about the dead man.

‘She’s not in. She’s gone to see an old friend. Going to be out all day, she said.’

I sat down beside her. ‘Dylan said something about you watching horror movies.’

Her brows furrowed. ‘He’s such a snitch.’ A pause. ‘It was only one.’

‘Rose, you’re too young to watch scary films. Which one was it?’

‘It was ...’ She hesitated. ‘M3GAN. It’s not even a proper horror. It’s for kids.’

‘The one about the robot doll?’

‘Yeah, all my friends have watched it. It’s all over TikTok.’

I looked it up on my phone. ‘Rose, it’s a fifteen. You’re not allowed to watch that.’

‘You told me you watched loads of horror films when you were a kid. You said you sawNightmare on Elm Streetwhen you were twelve.’

‘Yes, and it scared the crap out of me! I didn’t sleep for two weeks. Did Fiona let you watch this movie?’

She pressed her lips together.

‘I don’t want you watching any more horror films, okay? If there’s a movie you want to watch, come and talk to me or Mum and we’ll make a decision.’

She exhaled loudly. ‘Can I go now?’

‘Sure. But Rose – what you saw on Friday in the park. Are you okay? How are you feeling about it?’

She looked me straight in the eye. ‘It was horrible to see and shocking, and I hope I never have to see anything like that again. But I’m fine. You don’t need to worry about me, Dad.’

She got up and left the room, leaving me wondering whether I’d just listened to a prepared speech.

15

Fiona was about to step into the shower, keen to wash the day from her skin – the prison, the train, all the people she’d been around; dust and dead skin – when the doorbell rang.

She checked the Ring app on her phone and, seeing that her caller was Ethan, experienced something rare: a flutter of fear in her belly. What if Rose had told tales? Spilled the beans about the cookies and the visits to Max’s house?

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