Page 43 of After the Accident
That’s when she turned to me and asked if I’d seen an envelope when I’d been in the room.
The way Daniel turned to me is something I’ll never forget. People talk about the penny dropping and I think that was the first time I ever actually saw it. Imagine teaching a toddler that two plus two is four and then – one day – you see that dawning realisation in their eyes that they finally get it.
That’s how Daniel looked at me that day.
I told him I’d not seen an envelope, but it was obvious he didn’t believe me and, to be honest, I couldn’t care less what he thought.
That’s when Mum said that she needed to get ready to go to visit Dad – and she asked Daniel how Dad had seemed that morning.
I think I knew then.
I’d suspected before, but that was the confirmation. Daniel had visited Dad at the hospital – who’d told him to get the envelope from his case.
Daniel:Nonsense. Geoff was ill in hospital. Do you really think we were discussing such trivial things as packing issues? He is one of my oldest friends and I was concerned for his welfare.
Emma:I left after that, partly because Mum wanted us to go, but mainly because I knew it would annoy Daniel.
He was as predictable as you’d expect and followed me outside. Before I could get there, he stood in front of the door to my cottage, stopping me from going inside.
Daniel:That didn’t happen.
Emma:He said: ‘Did you take something from your parents’ room?’ I shrugged and replied: ‘Like what?’
I was enjoying watching his face turn redder. Then he replied: ‘I think you know.’
It took everything I had not to laugh in his face because we both knew we were playing a game. He knew I had that envelope and I knew why he wanted it.
I thought quite carefully about how to reply, more so than usual. I told him that, if I did have something from my parents’ room, perhaps I’d be better talking to the police about what I’d found.
Daniel:I told her some home truths that day. Some things that she was long overdue hearing.
Emma:I don’t remember exactly what he said.
Daniel:I told her she was a disappointment to her parents and that she should be ashamed of herself. Her father worked hard to give her the best life he could – and look what she did with it. She killed her own son and disgraced her parents’ good name in the process. Even when she was released, her dad offered her a way back by returning to the business – but what did she do? She ended up wasting her life in some clothes shop.
Emma:I think he might have said something about the clothes shop, but Daniel doesn’t understand anything artistic. He sees value only in money and things that can make him money.
What he doesn’t realise is that, when Dad offered me a job back with the business, I was never going to take it. Prison gave me a lot of time to think about my life and who I was going to be.
Now I think about it, I do remember how I replied to him that day. I told Daniel I never wanted to go back to work with him and Dad because, if I did, I’d never be able to sleep again.
I couldn’t handle the way they fobbed off tenants. These were people whose homes were leaking and they’d be told it was their fault for drying clothes indoors. They would charge tenants hundreds of pounds for a thirty-quid carpet. They would never return a full deposit because they’d always find something they claimed could be charged against it.
It happened over and over in the time Ididwork for them – and I couldn’t go back to it.
Daniel:She doesn’t know what she’s talking about. She’s a child-killer. Her opinion has no worth.
Emma:When it comes to me, Daniel will always take things back to the car crash, but that’s the difference between us. I did a terrible thing and I paid for it. He does terrible things every day and carries on as if it was nothing. If he evicts a single mother, it won’t even cross his mind that she’s a real person who will then struggle for somewhere to live. He only sees that her house is a number on a spreadsheet.
I think he expected me to fold and, when I didn’t, he had nowhere to go. He snapped: ‘I want that envelope,’ as if I would suddenly bend to his will.
I said: ‘That’s the problem with men like you. People don’t tell you “no” often enough.’
He stared at me and I think he was genuinely perplexed by everything. If bullying and intimidation didn’t work, then he had no plan B.
Daniel had already taken a step away when I finally came out with it. I said: ‘Did you push Dad off the cliff?’
He stopped at that moment and looked back to me. I couldn’t read anything in his face and he opened his mouth as if he was about to say something… except he didn’t for a second or two. Then he said: ‘You’re the one with a history for killing people,’ because that’s the only argument he has.
