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Back The House of Whispers
Chapters (82)
  1. Cover
  2. Praise for The House of Whispers
  3. Title Page
  4. Note to Readers
  5. Transcript of interview with Mr Rohan Allerton, husband of Abigail Allerton: 20 December 2019
  6. One
  7. Two
  8. Three
  9. Four
  10. Five
  11. Six
  12. Transcript of interview with Mr Rohan Allerton, husband of Abigail Allerton: 20 December 2019
  13. Seven
  14. Eight
  15. Nine
  16. Ten
  17. Eleven
  18. Transcript of interview with Mr Rohan Allerton, husband of Abigail Allerton: 20 December 2019
  19. Twelve
  20. Transcript of interview with Mr Rohan Allerton, husband of Abigail Allerton: 20 December 2019
  21. Thirteen
  22. Fourteen
  23. Fifteen
  24. Transcript of interview with Mr Rohan Allerton, husband of Abigail Allerton: 20 December 2019
  25. Sixteen
  26. Seventeen
  27. Transcript of interview with Mr Rohan Allerton, husband of Abigail Allerton: 20 December 2019
  28. Eighteen
  29. Nineteen
  30. Twenty
  31. Transcript of interview with Mr Rohan Allerton, husband of Abigail Allerton: 20 December 2019
  32. Twenty-One
  33. Twenty-Two
  34. Twenty-Three
  35. Twenty-Four
  36. Transcript of interview with Mr Rohan Allerton, husband of Abigail Allerton: 20 December 2019
  37. Twenty-Five
  38. Transcript of interview with Mr Rohan Allerton, husband of Abigail Allerton: 20 December 2019
  39. Twenty-Six
  40. Twenty-Seven
  41. Twenty-Eight
  42. Twenty-Nine
  43. Thirty
  44. Thirty-One
  45. Thirty-Two
  46. Thirty-Three
  47. Transcript of interview with Mr Rohan Allerton, husband of Abigail Allerton: 20 December 2019
  48. Thirty-Four
  49. Thirty-Five
  50. Thirty-Six
  51. Thirty-Seven
  52. Thirty-Eight
  53. Transcript of interview with Mr Rohan Allerton, husband of Abigail Allerton: 20 December 2019
  54. Thirty-Nine
  55. Forty
  56. Forty-One
  57. Transcript of interview with Mr Rohan Allerton, husband of Abigail Allerton: 20 December 2019
  58. Forty-Two
  59. Transcript of interview with Mr Rohan Allerton, husband of Abigail Allerton: 20 December 2019
  60. Forty-Three
  61. Forty-Four
  62. Forty-Five
  63. Forty-Six
  64. Forty-Seven
  65. Transcript of interview with Mr Rohan Allerton, husband of Abigail Allerton: 20 December 2019
  66. Forty-Eight
  67. Transcript of interview with Mr Rohan Allerton, husband of Abigail Allerton: 20 December 2019
  68. Forty-Nine
  69. Fifty
  70. Fifty-One
  71. Fifty-Two
  72. Fifty-Three
  73. Fifty-Four
  74. Fifty-Five
  75. Fifty-Six
  76. Fifty-Seven
  77. Fifty-Eight
  78. Fifty-Nine
  79. Sixty
  80. Priory Hospital North London: 20 December 2019
  81. Acknowledgements
  82. About the Publisher

When I was done sorting out Alfie, I stole a glance at Meena. Her face was serious.

‘Abigail, sit down,’ she said, pulling out a chair for me and my legs folded gratefully. Meena looked at me and I held her eyes until mine burned and I squirmed. ‘Tell me,’ she said, looking at me as if she could see the organs and sinews, the flesh and blood inside me. ‘What’s going on?’

‘What do you mean, “what’s going on”?’ I said.

‘I mean exactly that. Drinking. Smoking. Locking up the cat. Not hearing the door. What’s going on with you, Abigail?’

I closed my eyes. Meena wouldn’t go until she was satisfied. I had to play along. ‘I’m sorry. My friend Grace’s staying. I’ll tell her not to smoke in the house. We’ve stayed up a few nights talking.’ I looked at the empty bottles on the counter. ‘Alfie must have got locked in the bathroom by accident. As for me, I’m painting a series for a gallery exhibition,’ I said slowly. ‘That’s what’s going on. I’m sorry I forget things and don’t hear the door.’ I gave her a weak smile.

Meena sighed. ‘This isn’t about the dinner you missed. I haven’t come here to tell you off.’ She sighed again and pushed her hair back. ‘I’m worried about you.’ Her eyes moved to the empty vodka and wine bottles I’d chucked into a box on the floor – I hadn’t got around to recycling them yet. I hadn’t taken the rubbish out either. Now I noticed, the bin was overflowing, with cigarette packets poking out from a lid that wouldn’t close, and piles of dirty glasses and food-encrusted dishes lay not only in the sink but on the draining board as well, along with some olives, well past their prime.

‘Grace’s here,’ I said. ‘It’s not just me.’

Meena’s lips were a flat line. ‘Is everything all right with your friend?’

‘Of course.’

‘What then, Abigail? I sense something isn’t right.’ She closed her eyes, her palms facing up on the table and breathed in and out as if she were a medium, trying to feel something that patently wasn’t there.

‘Everything’s good,’ I said. ‘I’m just busy. And tired.’

We stared at each other and then she picked up her phone. ‘Tell you what, why don’t you tell your husband that because he’s been beside himself trying to call you today to wish you a happy birthday.’

‘Really? I didn’t see any missed calls,’ but as I said it, I realized that my phone was here on the kitchen counter, and had been all night.

‘Eight times he tried,’ Meena said, pressing a button on her phone. ‘Plus the messages. Here, speak to him.’ She thrust her phone at me and I put it to my ear.