Page 6 of Her Deadly Promise

‘Yes, present to myself.’

As Meera’s son ran through, Meera stepped further into the echoey tiled hallway.

‘Have you seen Billie?’ Nadia had to ask.

Meera pressed her lips together and scrunched her brows. ‘I’m not sure she’s coming. All her curtains were shut when I left, and Kayden was playing in our garden. I wonder if she’s having one of her migraines. I should have offered to bring him.’

Nadia bit her bottom lip knowing that Billie wouldn’t come. ‘Don’t worry. She might still turn up. Go through. We have so much to discuss, like cakes and hook-a-bottle. Damn that teacher, she had the nerve to bring in a cute guinea pig today and now William is pestering me for one of those crazy-haired rats.’

Meera laughed. ‘But they are so cute.’

Nadia led her friend past the staircase, through the long, open-plan kitchen with its table for eight, couches and bifold doors, out to where Candice was sipping a glass of wine. Nadia felt saddened knowing that their group of three friends should have been four. She missed being close to Billie but too much had happened. As Nadia grabbed a jug of juice off the worktop, she heard Meera’s phone ring. ‘Hello. Say that again but slower this time.’

Nadia watched as Meera’s smile turned into a deep-lined frown. Her hand flew up to her mouth as she gasped.

‘That can’t be right. Kayden was playing with my son only an hour ago. She was in the house. She wasn’t well.’ A few moments later, Meera ended the call.

‘Meera, what is it?’ Candice put her glass down, came over and placed a caring arm around her friend’s shoulder.

‘I-I—’

‘Here, sit down.’ Candice led her over to the table and sat her down.

‘Meera, has something happened to Kayden?’ Nadia felt her heart booming as she waited for her friend to speak.

‘It’s Billie. She’s been murdered.’

Meera began to sob, and Candice frowned with an open mouth.

‘That can’t be right, no.’ Nadia shook her head. A tear trickled down her cheek. Her friend was dead. All their shared memories flashed through her mind. Their children’s birthdays, playgroups, boozy fun-filled nights. Gone forever.

How many people knew Billie’s deepest darkest secret? Her stomach churned with guilt, and she almost lost her footing. It was all her fault.

FIVE

Gina and Wyre were walked back by Bernard through the alley and away from the scene. ‘Right, I’ll crack on. Those photos should be with you very soon.’

‘Thanks, Bernard.’

Gina and Wyre nodded to Kapoor who would mark their exit on the log. O’Connor approached, dabbing his balmy forehead as he spoke. ‘Mrs Pearlman is okay to talk now. The paramedics offered her something to help but she refused. She’s much better. Her husband has made her a cuppa and the lad is still watching telly in their lounge.’

‘Thanks, O’Connor. Can you organise and collate any information from the door-to-doors? Gather the officers. We need bins, alleyways and pathways searching. The murder weapon must be somewhere. If anyone has CCTV, secure it.’ She glanced up and down. ‘I can’t see any cameras, but you never know.’

‘I’ll get onto that now. Thankfully the traffic is beginning to thin out as well and we have a team of PCs heading here.’

‘Any luck in locating the boy’s father or a family member?’

‘An officer is on their way over to his grandparents’ house, that’s the victim’s parents. As soon as they’ve broken the news, we’re hoping that they will look after him.’

Gina shook her head. ‘I don’t envy them.’

PC Smith came out of the house, two doors down from Billie Reeves’s. ‘Mrs Pearlman is waiting in the kitchen. I said you’d like to speak to her. Also, we tried the neighbour but there’s no one in.’

Wyre pushed the gate open, and they passed PC Smith. As they walked through the Pearlmans’ door, Gina felt a lump in her throat as she watched the little boy sitting on the couch transfixed by PAW Patrol. A mature man with glasses and a grey rim of hair around his head sat on the chair. ‘I’m Pete, Joanna’s husband. She’s through there.’

Gina followed Wyre into the kitchen. ‘Mrs Pearlman. I’m DI Harte and this is DC Wyre, are you okay to talk to us now?’

The woman nodded as the little dog on her lap licked the salty tears from her cheek. ‘So horrible,’ she muttered as she wiped the crumpled hanky under her creased eyelids. ‘I can’t get her out of my mind. That poor woman; the blood. I’ve never seen anything like it.’ She paused. ‘I was about to go in there and give her a piece of my mind for leaving Kayden out by the road all on his own and I saw her. She must have known what was going to happen or that she was in some danger. I thought it wasn’t like her. She’s such a good mum, I can’t believe I was going to have a go at her, then…’

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