think Olivia tried to break it off with him but ended up fucking him in a car park. Bronte was raging about that; she was so upset and angry, said she hated her dad for making them come here and her mum was a slut. She decided to do something about it, said if they were both dead, she’d get the house. Would be able to sell it, take the money and move back to the city far away from here.’
Harrison hadn’t touched his vodka. He pushed it towards her. Morgan picked it up and downed it. She was so shocked. It tasted a bit funny. She looked down at the glass and wondered if she hadn’t cleaned it properly.
‘How did Olivia end up hanging from the tree? The cameras weren’t working that day.’
‘Bronte did something to them, she loosened the wires. She drugged Olivia first, but she gave her too much and she died. She wanted that arsehole Barker to think it was his fault, that Olivia had killed herself because of him. I know they’d been arguing that afternoon because I heard Olivia shouting at him on the phone that it was over and she’d make him pay.
‘So we carried her out and hung her. It was so difficult; she was really heavy. Even in death she looked beautiful. I couldn’t believe it was happening, it was all so weird.
‘I really liked Olivia, she was so pretty and always nice to me. Much nicer than Bronte ever was. Honestly that was why I stayed with her. I liked seeing Olivia; I’d always hoped she’d like me the same way she liked Greg.’
Morgan knew she should get him to the station to give a statement, but she was scared he wouldn’t talk once he was in there and she realised she’d drunk two shots of vodka. The room was beginning to spin a little; Christ, what was she doing drinking on an empty stomach? She needed a clear head for this.
‘Bronte felt bad about her mum once she was dead, but it was too late: there was no going back. I think she hadn’t realised the seriousness of the situation. I mean it’s okay talking about this stuff and watching documentaries but when it’s real… She didn’t care about Bea or Saul, she hated them; she said Saul was far too weak for letting Olivia treat him the way she did. Bea was just an inconvenience; she needed her out of the way for her plan to work.’
Morgan realised that would explain the savageness of the beatings, if she felt no love towards her sibling and father. Bronte had many traits of a psychopath.
‘Wow, I would never have guessed.’ The words came out much slower than usual and she felt as if she was talking through a mouthful of cotton wool. She tried to ask him who had attacked Bronte, but the words didn’t come out.
Harrison pulled a white iPhone out of his pocket and placed it on the breakfast bar. A picture of Saul and his two daughters smiling flashed up on the screen and fear filled her mind. Olivia’s phone: she pushed herself to stand up, but her legs couldn’t hold her weight.
Harrison had stopped eating and was watching her, with a huge smile on his face.
‘Bronte… who?’ she managed to say, before she felt her legs give way underneath her.
As she slumped to the floor in a heap, Harrison was standing over her.
‘Morgan, for a copper you’re so gullible. You remind me of Olivia: she was kind like you. Look where being nice has got you, though. Why did you let a killer in your flat? Who do you think did that to Bronte? Me, I did. I’ll tell you why, I was furious with her. Furious with all of them.
‘I thought Olivia loved me and then I saw her in that car park with him and I knew she had to pay the price. Bronte wouldn’t have the nerve to have killed anyone. She was all talk. She didn’t hate her family so much once she realised they were all dead, that I’d taken that decision out of her hands.’
Morgan was on the verge of passing out. She tried to get her phone out of her pocket, but her fingers wouldn’t do what she wanted them to.
Harrison bent down so he was close to her, and she opened her mouth to scream. But the only noise that came out was an almost silent, ‘Agh.’
Fifty-Six
Ben lay