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Chapters (55)
  1. TITLE PAGE
  2. COPYRIGHT PAGE
  3. 1
  4. 2
  5. 3
  6. 4
  7. 5
  8. 6
  9. 7
  10. 8
  11. 9
  12. 10
  13. 11
  14. 12
  15. 13
  16. 14
  17. 15
  18. 16
  19. 17
  20. 18
  21. 19
  22. 20
  23. 21
  24. 22
  25. 23
  26. 24
  27. 25
  28. 26
  29. 27
  30. 28
  31. 29
  32. 30
  33. 31
  34. 32
  35. 33
  36. 34
  37. 35
  38. 36
  39. 37
  40. 38
  41. 39
  42. 40
  43. 41
  44. 42
  45. 43
  46. 44
  47. 45
  48. 46
  49. 47
  50. 48
  51. 49
  52. 50
  53. 51
  54. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  55. ABOUT THE AUTHOR

‘So I confronted Joan with it,’ Evelyn said. ‘I accused her of locking Scarlet out. And as soon as the words were out of my mouth, I knew I was right. I could see it written all over her face, first regret but then defiance. “Well, you should have been here,” she said, pushing all the blame on to me. “I couldn’t be doing with all her coming and going. She needed to choose a place and stick to it.” She seemed to think this justified what she had done. I didn’t have anything else to say to her then,’ said Evelyn. ‘That was the end of our relationship. There could be no going back from that.’

Pip was barely breathing, and her mouth hung slack in disbelief. ‘She locked her out of the house?’ she repeated, although Evelyn had been clear enough.

Evelyn nodded. She held her head high, as if she were testifying in court. ‘She did. My sister was responsible for the death of my only child and for that I knew I could never forgive her.’

And so, thought Pip, what happened next? She thought she knew, but she had to hear Evelyn say it. ‘And then . . .’ she prompted, giving Evelyn the opportunity to finish the sentence for her.

Evelyn stared straight into her eyes as if challenging her to argue with her.

‘And then,’ she said, ‘I killed her.’

41

41

Evelyn had done it now. The words were out of her mouth and there was no taking them back. A chill ran down her spine as she watched the expression on Pip’s face change from shock to comprehension.

Had she completely miscalculated? Had she just released her terrible secret to entirely the wrong person? What did she actually know about Pip, anyway? All she had to go on was a gut feeling that she would be on her side, nothing more. How stupid was she, that based on something as arbitrary and flimsy as a feeling, she had thrown herself entirely on to another’s mercy? Until a moment ago, the only threat to her safety had been the diary and she had been planning to leave that for someone to find after her death, by which point it would be too late to do anything about what it contained.

Now she had confessed to a virtual stranger, and it was too late to go back and reclaim it.

‘What do you mean, Evelyn?’ Pip asked, interrupting her train of thought. ‘What do you mean that you killed her?’

Evelyn hung her head. ‘What I said. I was so angry. I screamed at her, she took a step backwards and she fell down the stairs.’