A Great Deliverance - By Elizabeth George Page 0,112

it, can't see it, won't be hot enough to make me clean, clean, clean! Soap and brushes, soap and brushes. Rub hard, hard, hard. Slip and slither, slip and slither.

Make me clean, clean, clean!

"It's either that or call for help. Is that what you want? The whole bloody police force breaking down the door?"

"Shut up! Look at what you've done to her! Nell!"

Bless me father. I have sinned. Understand and forgive. Brushes digging, brushes digging, brushes dig to make me clean.

"You don't have any choice! This is a police matter, not some marital squabble, Mr. Clarence."

"What are you doing? Damn you, stay away from that phone!"

Pounding, pounding.

"Nell!"

Reader, I married him a quiet wedding we had: he and I, the parson and clerk, were alone present when we got back from church I went into the kitchen of the manor house where Mary was cooking the dinner and John cleaning the knives and I said Mary I have been married to Mr. Rochester this morning.

"Then you have exactly two minutes to get her out of there or you're going to have more police than you've ever laid eyes on crawling through this place. Is that clear?"

You are some little cat. Not again! Not so soon! God, Gilly, God!

Gilly's dead, Gilly's dead. But Nell is clean, clean, clean, Scrub her hard, dig in deep, make her clean, clean, clean!

"I've got to come in, Nell. Do you hear me? I'm going to break the lock. Don't be frightened."

Come on, Gilly girl. I want nothing serious tonight. Let's laugh and be wild and be absolutely mad. We'll have drinks, dance till dawn. We'll find men and go to Whitby. We'll take wine. We'll take food. We'll dance nude on the abbey walls. They can try to catch us, Gilly.

We'll be absolutely wild.

Pounding louder now. Pounding hard, hard, hard! Bursting ears, bursting heart. Rub her skin all clean.

"That's not going to work, Mr. Clarence. I'm going to have to - "

"No! Shut up, damn you!"

Late at night. I said goodbye. Did you hear me? Did you see me? Did you find it where I left it? Bobby, did you find it? Did you finditfinditfindit?

Shrieking wood, splintering wood. Never safe anymore. One last chance before Lot finds me. One last chance to make me clean.

"Oh God! Oh my God, Nell."

"I'm going to phone for an ambulance."

"No! Just leave us alone!"

Hands gripping. Hands sliding. Water pink and rich with blood. Arms holding. Someone crying. Wrapping warm and holding near.

"Nellie. Oh God. Nell."

Pressed against him. Hear him sobbing. Is it over? Am I clean?

"Bring her out here, Mr. Clarence."

"Go away! Leave us alone!"

"I can't do that. She's accessory in a murder. You know that as well as I. If nothing else, her reaction to all this should have - "

"She isn't! She couldn't be! I was with her!"

"You don't expect me to believe that, do you?"

"Nell! I won't let them. I won't let them!"

Weeping, weeping. Aching tears. Body racked with pain and sorrow. Make it end. Make it end. "Jonah - "

"Yes, darling. What is it?"

"Nell's dead."

"So he broke down the door," Havers said.

Lynley rubbed his throbbing forehead. The last three hours had given him an appalling headache. The conversation with Havers was making it worse. "And?"

There was a pause.

"Havers?" he demanded. He knew that his voice was abrupt, that it would sound like anger instead of the fatigue that it was. He heard her catch her breath. Was she crying?

"It was...She had..." She cleared her throat. "It was a bath."

"She'd taken a bath?" He wondered if Havers was aware of the fact that she was making no sense. Good God, what had happened?

"Yes. Except...she'd used brushes on herself. They were metal brushes. She was bleeding."

"God in heaven," he muttered. "Where is she, Havers? Is she all right?"

"I wanted to phone for an ambulance."

"Why didn't you, for God's sake?"

"Her husband...he was...It was my fault, Inspector. I thought that I should be tough with her. I...It was my fault." Her voice broke.

"Havers, for God's sake. Pull yourself together."

"There was blood. She'd used the brushes all over her body. He wrapped her up. He wouldn't let go of her. He was crying. She said she was dead."

"Christ," he whispered.

"I went to the phone. He came after me. He - "

"Are you all right? Are you hurt?"

"He pushed me outside. I fell. I'm all right. I...It was my fault. She came out of the bedroom. I remembered everything we'd said about her. It seemed best to be firm with her. I