Chapters (82)
- Cover
- Praise for The House of Whispers
- Title Page
- Note to Readers
- Transcript of interview with Mr Rohan Allerton, husband of Abigail Allerton: 20 December 2019
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Transcript of interview with Mr Rohan Allerton, husband of Abigail Allerton: 20 December 2019
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Transcript of interview with Mr Rohan Allerton, husband of Abigail Allerton: 20 December 2019
- Twelve
- Transcript of interview with Mr Rohan Allerton, husband of Abigail Allerton: 20 December 2019
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Transcript of interview with Mr Rohan Allerton, husband of Abigail Allerton: 20 December 2019
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Transcript of interview with Mr Rohan Allerton, husband of Abigail Allerton: 20 December 2019
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Transcript of interview with Mr Rohan Allerton, husband of Abigail Allerton: 20 December 2019
- Twenty-One
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- Twenty-Four
- Transcript of interview with Mr Rohan Allerton, husband of Abigail Allerton: 20 December 2019
- Twenty-Five
- Transcript of interview with Mr Rohan Allerton, husband of Abigail Allerton: 20 December 2019
- Twenty-Six
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Thirty-Two
- Thirty-Three
- Transcript of interview with Mr Rohan Allerton, husband of Abigail Allerton: 20 December 2019
- Thirty-Four
- Thirty-Five
- Thirty-Six
- Thirty-Seven
- Thirty-Eight
- Transcript of interview with Mr Rohan Allerton, husband of Abigail Allerton: 20 December 2019
- Thirty-Nine
- Forty
- Forty-One
- Transcript of interview with Mr Rohan Allerton, husband of Abigail Allerton: 20 December 2019
- Forty-Two
- Transcript of interview with Mr Rohan Allerton, husband of Abigail Allerton: 20 December 2019
- Forty-Three
- Forty-Four
- Forty-Five
- Forty-Six
- Forty-Seven
- Transcript of interview with Mr Rohan Allerton, husband of Abigail Allerton: 20 December 2019
- Forty-Eight
- Transcript of interview with Mr Rohan Allerton, husband of Abigail Allerton: 20 December 2019
- Forty-Nine
- Fifty
- Fifty-One
- Fifty-Two
- Fifty-Three
- Fifty-Four
- Fifty-Five
- Fifty-Six
- Fifty-Seven
- Fifty-Eight
- Fifty-Nine
- Sixty
- Priory Hospital North London: 20 December 2019
- Acknowledgements
- About the Publisher
‘If I knew how this worked, I’d bottle the idea, sell it and be a millionaire by now.’ I smiled, trying to navigate us to safer ground. ‘Look, I know the house gets a bit chaotic when I’m painting, but I really am in another world. It’s like I forget everything. There’s nothing more to it than that. Once I finish the series, everything will get back to normal. You’ll get your wife back. And Grace will be gone I promise.’ My smile was weak.
Rohan sighed and rubbed his beard. ‘I suppose when you put it like that, the state of the house for a few weeks really isn’t so important.’
Transcript of interview with Mr Rohan Allerton, husband of Abigail Allerton: 20 December 2019
‘How did you feel when you saw Abigail’s paintings for the first time?’
‘Wow. Well. Absolutely staggered, to be honest. I knew she had something dark inside her, but… they were really something.’
‘Were they not what you’d been expecting? Given her last series?’
‘How do you ever expect something like that? I thought they were macabre and beautiful. Haunting.’
‘Did she tell you at that point who they were of?’
‘No. No, she didn’t.’
‘Would it have worried you, had you known they were, in fact, of Grace?’
‘Of course it would!’
‘You mentioned to me earlier that she’d used blood in them? Did that surprise or shock you?’
[Sighs] ‘Look. I knew Abi had had some issues with self-harming in the past. She has the scars. But she assured me it was a long time ago and that the issues that caused her to do it were resolved, and I kept an eye on her. She hasn’t done it at all since I’ve known her – I never saw fresh cuts – so I think she was telling the truth. So, yes, I was… worried… when I saw she’d used blood in the pictures, and that she’d cut herself to get it. But she’s an artist and, if she wanted blood in the picture… who was I to tell her what to do?’
Forty-Eight
After I’d shown Rohan the paintings, I did my ‘rounds’ downstairs, checking all the doors and windows, and turning off the appliances and, when I came up, Rohan was waiting naked in bed. He snuggled up to me and whispered, ‘Let’s try’ – and, well, having felt a disconnect for much of the day, I was relieved things were still okay – but I guess the result was that, as we lay together afterwards, he forgot to put in his earplugs.