Ruth’s ankles and pulls. She’s as light as a feather and barely makes a sound, her heart stopping in an instant, although she gets a small contusion from the tap. But instead of leaving her in the bath and making the whole thing look like an accident, Heather is forced to drain out the water, because the police will realize that Ruth couldn’t have turned the tap off by herself. What if she’s not dead? How can you tell these things? Ruth is naked in the drained bath, her head beneath the taps, so Heather turns on the cold water and forces open her mouth, just to make sure.
‘But now something odd happens. The rains have begun, and under the street Tate is testing his conduits, opening valves and sluices. As if summoned by the Water House itself, diverted river water thunders under the bathroom. It is sucked up through fine cracks in the brickwork, blossoming in damp patches. It comes up the overflow of the bath and out of the water pipes in a blast of green scum, to be ingested by Ruth Singh. But at least there’s no doubt now that she’s dead.’
‘So Finch was right in his summation,’ said May. ‘Credit where it’s due.’
Bryant harrumphed and chewed his pipe stem. ‘Heather has seized her opportunity, but won’t be able to buy the property because she has no money. She’ll worry about that later. Meanwhile, she dries and dresses the old lady to throw the police off the scent, not realizing that her throat is still full of water. It’s like taking care of a doll. Then she climbs over the back wall into her own house.
‘But she’s seen by someone: Tate, who is emerging from the drain in the alley. Luckily he’s just a crazy old tramp. No one will ever pay attention to him. She’s quick to point that out to Kallie.’
Bryant stood behind Kallie’s chair in what he fancied was a dramatic posture. Outside, a police siren seesawed into the night.
‘Which brings us to your timely arrival, Kallie. You’re her old schoolfriend: innocent, susceptible, liked by everyone, and clearly in awe of Heather. It’s a more roundabout route, but one which should work just as well. Heather will persuade you to buy the house. Afterwards, it will be a simple matter to put you off the place, make you desperate to sell it. Heather will have sold her own property by then, and will be able to offer a reasonable price.
‘And this time it all goes according to plan. You and Paul move in, and duly grow disillusioned. There are strange noises, and even stranger occurrences as the river rises and falls. Now Heather starts to get nervous. What if the rain doesn’t stop? The forecast is bad. The area is prone to flooding; what if the basement is soaked and the art is ruined? She must act quickly. The best way to do this is to get rid of Paul, who already has itchy feet and is looking for an excuse to escape his responsibilities. Heather drips poison in his ears, telling him that you deliberately tried to get pregnant in order to keep him, and the tactic pays off. Paul leaves in order to “get his head together”—and not before time, because Jake Avery has been seen talking to him in the local pub. Jake, who saw Heather on the doorstep of number 5 the night before Ruth Singh died. Without Paul you’re alone and more vulnerable than ever. Heather manipulates you shamelessly.
‘She also realizes that the consequences of her one big mistake are still with her, because she sees drunk old Elliot Copeland the builder—the only other person apart from Tate who saw the mural in the Air House, talking to Jake at the Wiltons’ party. For all she knows, Jake could have told Paul when they went out drinking together. Men talk too much when they’ve had a few, and even now Elliot might be telling everyone how he’s noticed something strange about the houses in the street.
‘Heather has to do something. If she leaves things as they are, the truth about the Water House will surface. She’s a woman prone to subterfuge—she already took Garrett’s old coat to the Wiltons’ party rather than her own—it’s always a good idea to spread blame and confusion around, as she knows when she later phones Kayla Ayson, posing as you, to suggest that her husband is having an affair. Meanwhile, there are two