The Watchful Neighbour - Debbie Viggiano Page 0,41

side of the wall, Dee Parker froze.

‘FUCK YOU, YOU BASTARD!’

Charming. Not. Dee moved closer to the wall that separated her property from Jade’s.

‘YOU THINK I DON’T KNOW YOUR GAME, BUT I DO. YOU’RE PATHETIC. AN ABSOLUTE TOSSER. WANKER. TWAT.’

Dee stiffened. Good God. Jade Ferguson certainly had an extensive vocabulary when it came to swear words. Next came an almighty crash. What on earth was the girl doing now? It sounded like she’d picked up a chair and was thumping it against a wall. Dee hesitated. Perhaps she should be a good neighbour and knock on the young woman’s door?

‘YOU THINK YOU’RE SO CLEVER, DON’T YOU? BUT ACTUALLY, YOU’RE NOT. YOU’RE JUST A GIT WHO HAS NOTHING BETTER TO DO. YOU CAN TAKE YOUR STUPID MIND GAMES AND STICK THEM UP YOUR BACKSIDE.’

Dee tutted. Dear oh dear. What a truly unpleasant girl Jade Ferguson was. She now assumed the verbal abuse and temper tantrum was aimed at Greg Good. Dee had noticed her neighbour’s body language with the guy on the day of the attempted break-in. Everyone had been gathered in Jade’s back garden along with the two police officers. Only a blind person would have failed to observe that Jade couldn’t stand her neighbour.

The poor man. It was terrible that he was on the receiving end of such vitriol. Dee knew for a fact that Greg had been mostly out today. He’d been at the hospital visiting his mother. The old lady was seriously ill.

Dee had spent the day working from home and attending personal paperwork. She’d sat in her lounge alongside the large bay window, occasionally glancing up from her papers to glimpse the world outside.

Thanks to the screen provided by her net curtains, she’d been invisible to passers-by. She’d got quite a thrill out of watching the comings and goings in Gresham Terrace. No wonder Greg Good liked doing it so much.

A taxi had arrived, seemingly with a By Hand parcel for Jade. Knocking on the door, the driver had discovered Jade wasn’t at home. Fortunately, Greg had come out of his house at that precise moment.

Dee had heard Greg express surprise at a package being delivered by a taxi. The driver had shrugged, said a fare was a fare, and that he was simply doing what he’d been asked. Greg had taken the parcel inside his house. Seconds later the cabbie had driven off and Greg had then locked up Number 2 before heading off to the bus stop. Dee had presumed her neighbour was off to the hospital to visit his mother. He was such a caring chap. Unlike the man she’d had in her life. But all that was in the past. Dee no longer lived with her husband.

Dee had then turned her attention back to the Divorce Petition set out before her. She’d been working on it all afternoon.

Her husband wasn’t replying to her solicitor’s letters. Dee wasn’t particularly surprised, but her solicitor was finding it infuriating. Dee could understand the exasperation. Once she’d felt similarly. Her personal circumstances had been challenging, but thankfully she’d got through it. Started afresh. Now it was time to deal with the legal side of things. Dot the I’s and cross the T’s, so to speak.

On the other side of the wall came another terrible crash. Enough was enough. She couldn’t put up with this din for another second.

Sighing heavily, Dee went to the shoe cupboard under the stairs and selected a pair of easy slip-ons. Grabbing her keys, she rammed her feet into the loafers.

It was time to pay Jade Ferguson a visit.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Dee leant against Jade’s doorbell. On the other side of the door, everything suddenly went quiet. The bell’s summons went unanswered.

Out of the corner of her eye, Dee saw the net curtain twitch within Number 2’s bay window. Moments later, Greg Good appeared on his doorstep.

‘Hello, Miss Parker.’ He looked visibly upset. ‘I don’t think it’s a good time to knock on Miss Ferguson’s door. She seems’ – he hesitated – ‘unhappy. I heard her through the wall.’

‘Me too.’

‘She’s not herself right now.’

‘That’s putting it politely,’ said Dee wryly. ‘If you ask me’ – she lowered her voice – ‘I think the girl is totally obnoxious.’

‘Her language isn’t the politest,’ Greg acknowledged, looking mortified. It was obvious that he knew his immediate neighbour’s vile tirade had been directed at him.

Dee could tell that Greg was far too meek for confrontation. It simply wasn’t in his nature. How unfair that this mild-mannered man was having