Page 83 of The Psychopath Next Door

Rose’s voice was hushed. Awestruck. ‘She sacrificed herself. For you.’

Maisie had saved Fiona from a much longer prison term with her fake confession, which she had done not out of the goodness of her heart but because she enjoyed getting one over on the authorities, and Dinah had been so addled and confused that she didn’t know who had been cooking her meals; she just remembered bothwomen being in the house at various points. The CPS decided to go for the easy conviction: Fiona pleaded guilty to will fraud and was given three years, serving two of them.

Fiona had heard that line before, about Maisie sacrificing herself. But she didn’t agree. Maisie had taken the coward’s way out. She had abandoned Fiona, left her all alone in the world. Maisie hadn’t even managed to conjure any emotions about her own life, making the cold, rational decision that she would rather be dead than in jail. Lucy, when Fiona had told her what happened, had put it best:She was a quitter. A weak, pathetic quitter.

‘But,’ Rose said, ‘you wanted revenge for her death?’

‘It’s complicated. This is about being beaten. About having all my dreams snatched away from me, having to literally start again from scratch. I don’t like losing, Rose. Max’s incompetence and Patrick’s sticky beak ...’

Rose looked confused.

‘Sticking his oar in. Interfering. If Max hadn’t told us to plead guilty, that we stood little chance of acquittal, perhaps Maisie would have chosen to fight. Between the two of them – and the last person left on my shitlist – Max and Patrick destroyed all the work we’d done. I’m not going to let anyone get away with that.’

Rose started to ask something but Fiona talked over her. ‘I was furious with Maisie too, even if she wrote that letter to absolve me. She left me on my own. Abandoned me.’

The one good thing Maisie had left Fiona was money. There was nothing in the law to stop Fiona inheriting Maisie’s flat and her possessions. It had sat in a bank account until she’d got out of prison and had eventually allowed her to buy her new home here.

It was almost two years since she’d left prison. She’d had eighteen months of having to see a probation officer, of biding her time, and then she had moved here, free at last, and begun her mission. Max and Patrick were dead now. Dinah had died too, of naturalcauses, while Fiona was inside. Verity had inherited everything, including that Andy Warhol sketch. Fiona wished she’d ripped it up and eaten it, just like she’d eaten Maisie’s letter.

‘I’m thirsty,’ Rose said.

‘Me too. Let’s get a drink.’

They passed Dylan’s room and Fiona paused at the door. She could hear the low rumble of his voice. Talking to his new girlfriend? Or chatting with his gamer pals?

Downstairs, Fiona said, ‘Can you grab me a Diet Coke? I need the loo.’ She went into the toilet, which was right by the front door. As she sat down, the doorbell rang.

She heard Rose come into the hallway and call out, ‘Hello?’

‘Rose? It’s me. Iris from across the road.’

Fiona listened as the front door opened, picturing the scene: the older woman standing there on the doorstep, street lights glowing behind her.

‘Is your dad here?’ Iris asked.

‘They’ve gone out.’

‘Oh ... Damn. Can you give a message to him as soon as he gets home and ask him to come and see me? I have a taxi picking me up at one in the morning to take me to the airport, so any time before that is fine.’

‘What shall I say it’s about?’

In the toilet, Fiona was enrapt, waiting for the reply.

‘Tell him I’ve remembered where I know Fiona from. She’s not ...’ She didn’t finish the sentence.Not what?‘Don’t talk to Fiona, Rose, not until after I’ve talked to your dad. Do you promise me?’

‘Sure.’

‘Don’t forget, Rose.’

The door closed, and Fiona flushed the toilet before emerging.

‘Did you hear that?’ Rose asked. ‘She remembers you. Do you knowher?’

Fiona shook her head, impatient, thrumming with stress. But if Iris knewher... This was bad. This could mess everything up.

She looked out through the front window and watched Iris cross back to her house. She glanced up the stairs. There was no sign of Dylan emerging from his room. Iris went inside and Fiona made an instant decision, speaking in a soft voice to give Rose instructions.

Putting the front door on the latch, she gestured for Rose to follow her across the street. It was fully dark now, all the street lights on. Quiet. Looking back over her shoulder, she could see a green-tinted flicker coming from Dylan’s bedroom.

---