BooksBarbecue
Back The House of Whispers Save as PDF
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

I struggled to get up but slumped back down as nausea hit me again. In slow motion I watched as Rohan peered at the folder. He was still dressed in the jeans and blazer he’d have worn on the flight. He looked handsome, the man I love, and my heart ached for what we could have been, the two of us and a child. He turned a couple of pages. I couldn’t let him. Next to me on the floor was my palette knife. I reached for it and curled my fingers around the handle.

‘What is this?’ Rohan asked. ‘Tributes?’ He looked up. ‘To who?’

‘Don’t!’ I cried as I struggled to get up. ‘Stop!’

But he tilted his head as he looked from the folder to the canvas that still remained, and back again, realization slowly dawning.

‘Oh, so you do know who you were painting. It’s her, isn’t it?’ His face softened. ‘This girl. What happened to her? Was it someone you knew?’

‘Stop it!’ I cried again. ‘Put it down!’

But Rohan looked back at the folder and flicked the pages backwards until he reached the newspaper article at the front. His face creased with concern.

‘“Girl dies in hit-and-run”? Oh no… Abs. How awful.’

‘Don’t do this! Rohan!’ I tried to rise but fell back down.

‘Was she a friend?’ His face was open with curiosity. He wanted to know; he genuinely wanted to help.

‘Stop!’ I leaned heavily on the wall as I pulled myself to my feet. The room spun and I lurched toward the desk.

‘Put it down!’ I shouted but Rohan continued reading. I watched his eyes widen.

‘Her name was Grace, too?’ he exclaimed. ‘Grace Shaw? But isn’t that your friend who’s staying…?’ His brow furrowed and his head tilted sideways again. ‘What’s going on? How…’

‘No!’ I screamed. ‘Noooo!’

I raised my arm and brought it down against Rohan’s shoulder with all my strength. We stayed frozen in that tableau for a moment, our eyes locked, then I felt the warm wetness of his blood under my hand and Rohan’s head turned slowly to take in the red stain that was seeping through his shirt.

I pulled the knife out and stabbed it into his shoulder again and again, weaker each time, until the folder finally fell out of his hand and he crumpled onto the floor. I looked at my husband lying next to the folder.

‘Sorry,’ I whispered. ‘I can’t do this anymore.’ Then I took a deep breath and plunged the knife against my own chest.

Priory Hospital North London: 20 December 2019