His hand is splayed across my face and my lungs are bursting. Through the noise of my breath bubbling to the surface, I hear a dulled, drawn-out ring. Douglas’s grip loosens, and I rise up with a yell. He shoves a wet flannel in my mouth to gag me. Water dribbles down the back of my throat, making me choke. Downstairs, Toffee is going crazy.

The bell rings again and again and, after it stops, all I can hear is the sound of my heart pounding. Toffee goes silent and despair sweeps through me, leaving me as weak as a baby. There’s a few seconds of blessed stillness, before Douglas jams the point of the knife clumsily against my wrist. For him, and for Anna, there is no going back. I briefly register the door opening before the sharp pain at my wrist takes over everything, making my vision blur.

ANNA

Friday, 15 June 2018

A BEARDED MAN WAS FRAMED IN THE DOORWAY, backlit by the light streaming through Grace’s bedroom windows. He lingered in that brief moment, as if someone had pressed the pause button. But maybe there was no moment. Maybe it was just in her mind that time stood still, because there was noise all around her: swirling, splashing, barking. And then everything started to move again – arms and legs flailing, water dyed pink with blood sloshing up the sides of the bath.

The stranger, who Anna had concluded was a plain-clothes police officer, grabbed Douglas by the collar and wrenched him away from Grace. Douglas lurched up, holding the knife in front of him, tripped over Toffee, who yelped, and landed on his knees beside the basin, his elegant limbs as graceless and awkward as those of a newborn calf.

Grace pulled the flannel out of her mouth and yelled, scrambling out of the bath and throwing herself at the stranger, her fists connecting with his shoulders as he reached for her. It was the mix of fury and relief that finally made the correct connection in Anna’s mind. This was no stranger, this was Nick. She ought to have recognized him.

‘You died,’ she whispered. ‘I saw you dead.’

She caught his expression when he glanced at her. Disbelief. Dislike. But all she felt was a relief so huge she almost burst out laughing. It was over and whatever happened to her now, whatever people were going to say about her, they wouldn’t be able to call her a killer. It wasn’t too late.