Page 48 of Perfect Wives
From across the kitchen, Georgie’s hands fly to her mouth. Her eyes widen with horror as they lock on to mine. ‘Oh my God,’ she whispers, gaze flicking from my phone to me to Tasha. ‘How did she get that?’
I force out the words I’m sure the others are thinking. ‘She must’ve been recording us that night.’ My pulse is thudding against my ribs. My phone shakes from the tremor of my hand and the recording that keeps playing from that night and our reckless, awful words.
‘I’d sneak up on him,’Georgie says.‘Bill and Jean have a key to Jonny’s house from when the Gallaghers used to live there. I’ve got a key to Bill and Jean’s. I’d sneak into theirs, get the key, then sneak into Jonny’s and bam!’
Tasha’s voice follows, slurred from the wine but unmistakable.‘I would use sleeping pills. These are my dad’s prescription tablets. They’d knock Jonny out so he couldn’t overpower me. And then?—’
I look up and catch Tasha’s eye. Tears slide down her face. Her mouth is open, tension knotting her brow.
My voice is next, sounding alarmingly calculated.‘Stabbing is messy. Suffocation would be better. A pillow over his face while he’s knocked out from the pills.’
The recording ends. The kitchen falls silent. Fear scurries over my skin as I stare at my friends. Their eyes are wide with shock and fear. We joked about killing Jonny, but there’s no humour in our voices. We sound deadly serious.
‘Keira.’ I say her name on a rushed breath. ‘I can’t believe she recorded us.’
We’ve been avoiding her all week, fearing she could tell someone what we talked about. Scared for how bad it looked. But this is so much worse.
Tasha lets out a strangled sound – somewhere between a sob and a gasp. ‘Why would she do that?’
‘She’s cut the recording,’ Georgie says. ‘She’s cut out the parts where she was pushing us to say more. Right?’ Her eyes land on me. ‘I know I drank a lot that night, but I’m not imagining it, am I, Beth?’
I shake my head. ‘You’re right. She’s cut herself out of the recording. It’s like she wasn’t there at all.’
‘Like it was just us,’ Georgie repeats.
Our eyes lock, and we share in a moment of horror.
‘If people hear that recording,’ Tasha chokes out, putting a voice to our fears. ‘If the police—’ She breaks completely.
Georgie rakes a hand through her hair. ‘I know,’ she says. ‘If this gets out, everyone – our husbands, the neighbours, the police – everyone will think this recording is us planningJonny’s murder. They’ll think we went through with it.’ There’s a tremor to her voice I’ve never heard from her before. Georgie doesn’t panic. Georgie doesn’t lose control, and yet the cracks are showing.
It’s up to you to take control.
That’s what I’m doing.
‘But we didn’t kill Jonny,’ I say. ‘We should go to Detective Sató with this and tell her the truth.’ But deep down, the doubt gnaws at me. Would Sató see it that way? Or would she hear us all talking about murdering Jonny and draw her own conclusions?
I push the thought aside. ‘We’ve done nothing wrong, and we have alibis,’ I add, as much for my benefit as Georgie and Tasha’s.
Georgie’s head snaps up, her gaze on me sharp. ‘Do we though? The time of death was between eight and eleven. The quiz ended at nine. Everyone left soon after. The only people left were us.’
‘That still gives us an alibi,’ Tasha whispers. ‘It’s like Keira said in the pub. We just have to stick to our story. As long as we don’t say anything to the police, we’ll be OK.’
Georgie is already shaking her head. ‘If DS Sató hears this recording, she’ll assume we’re all guilty,’ Georgie explains. ‘She’ll think we planned it together and one of us snuck out and killed him, just like Keira suggested we could. If the police hear this, they’ll think we’re covering for each other and our alibi won’t mean anything.’
A sob catches in Tasha’s throat. ‘Everyone in Magnolia Close already thinks it was me.’
‘We all had our reasons,’ Georgie whispers.
I watch my friend then. Georgie, who laughed off the school mum who called her ‘too much’ and mocked her behind her back. Georgie, with her mantras and her positive outlook. Sheisn’t someone who holds a grudge. But she never forgave him for making a pass at her during the welcome street party last year. And suddenly I’m wondering if there’s more to it.
You think you’re the only one hiding something?
‘We can’t go to the police,’ Georgie says, and suddenly she’s the old Georgie again. The one making the decisions we follow without thinking. But this isn’t a fundraiser or a Magnolia Close event. I can’t allow Georgie to take over and drag us further into trouble.
‘It isn’t just about whether DS Sató will believe us,’ Georgie continues. ‘If Nate hears it, he’ll never forgive me. He and Jonny were friends, and I’m talking about how I’ll kill him.’ Georgie looks like she might say more but pins her lips shut.
Tasha nods, freeing more tears that spill onto her cheeks. ‘No one in the close will believe we didn’t do it. We can’t go to the police. We can’t tell anyone.’
