Suddenly aware she was very close to passing out, Beverly stumbled away from the tree and began to run back to the house, her face wet with tears.

CHAPTER

4

“THIS PLACE WAS always a shit hole.”

Heather settled the two glasses on the table and dropped three packets of chips next to them. Nikki picked up a packet of salt and vinegar and peered at it critically.

“You chose it,” Nikki pointed out mildly. She looked, annoyingly, much as she always had. Her hair was in neat black braids and her glasses were slimmer, more fashionable versions of those she had worn in school. She was even wearing a chunky knitted navy jumper, reminding Heather inevitably of their old school uniform. “I know Balesford isn’t heaving with trendy spots, but I suspect we could have managed better than Wetherspoons.”

“Oh, for old time’s sake.” Heather took a sip of her drink and grimaced. Once at the bar she had fallen back into old habits and ended up with a dark rum and coke—the drink she most associated with school. Nikki had ordered a white-wine spritzer, although she seemed more interested in the chips. “I’m sorry I didn’t let you know earlier that I was back in the area, but … everything has been such a mess. How did you know I was back, anyway? Do you have spies watching the house? Are you with MI5 now, is that it?”

Nikki shook her head, smiling. “My auntie lives on your road, you know that. And she basically is the MI5 of Balesford. They were all waiting for you to turn up, once Mr. Ramsey had told everyone you didn’t so much as have a set of your mum’s keys.” Nikki’s smile faltered. “I’m sorry, Hev. Really sorry. How bloody awful. Are you all right?”

Heather shrugged and popped open a packet of chips, not quite meeting her friend’s eyes. Nikki had always been the nice one, the kind one, and having to look at real sympathy on another human’s face was too much to handle at that moment, especially after her wobble at the house. Organic material.

“I’m as well as can be expected, I guess. Looking around the house earlier, I half expected her to still be there, you know? Like it was all some sort of, I don’t know, clerical error. It’s …” Something moved in her chest, and the room felt unstable, as though the floor were about to drop away. “It’s been a while since I’ve been back to the old place. And, well, you know she wasn’t a huge fan of mine, anyway.”

“That’s not really the point.”

“Yeah, I know.” Heather took a sip of the rum and coke, blinking as the burn hit her throat. A headache that had been brewing fizzled away, and some of the tension left her shoulders. “Why would she kill herself, Nikki? I can’t get my head round it. There’s something … it doesn’t feel right. It doesn’t make sense.”