I . . . I’m so, so sorry, love. I was one of the first to turn against your mum. He told us God sent him to us. He told us we was chosen.’
‘More fool you, then,’ replied Leona coolly.
Martha nodded. ‘Yes . . . yes, he did fool us.’ She stepped closer until she was standing shoulder to shoulder with Leona, looking down the remaining fifty feet of walkway.
‘He lied to us!’ she shouted towards Alice and Howard and the others. ‘Valérie lied to us!’
Alice was about to shout something back, but Leona saw Howard hush her.
‘Valérie is a bad man. He did the . . . he was the one who killed Natasha! It wasn’t Walter!’
There was a ripple of response amongst those at the end of the walkway, dark ‘o’s appearing on their faces.
‘And . . .’ Martha hesitated a moment, unsure whether to continue. She glanced at Leona’s set face. ‘And I think he was the one who killed Hannah!’
‘It was an accident.’ Leona turned to her. ‘Wasn’t it?’
Martha shook her head. ‘We don’t know for sure, love,’ she replied quietly. ‘But I found things in his pockets, things he kept.’
‘What things?’
Alice Harton had heard enough. ‘Martha! You bitch! You fucking traitor!’
Martha turned back towards the others. ‘I found things, Alice! I found things amongst Valérie’s clothes! Things that belonged to the girls!’
There was another ripple of consternation. Howard’s gun dipped slightly.
‘Yeah? Oh . . . just now? That’s bloody convenient!’ replied Alice.
‘No.’ Martha shook her head, ashamed. ‘No, it was days ago!’
‘You never said anything. You’re a liar!’
‘I was afraid!’ replied Martha. Her voice wobbled. ‘I was afraid! I didn’t want to believe it was him . . . and not Walter! I didn’t want—’
‘What things did you find?’ called out Howard.
Martha’s voice quavered and broke. ‘Hannah’s hair!’ she sobbed. ‘Natasha’s pants!’
Leona saw Howard’s eyes widen, his bushy white eyebrows locked angrily. ‘Her underwear?’
Martha nodded. ‘He kept them . . . like a trophy.’
Howard stared at her in silence, the gun trembling, slowly lowering.
‘And there was blood on them!’ she continued, her words broken up by sobs and her breath hitching. ‘He hurt her, he killed her! And then he blamed Walter!’
‘You can’t believe her!’ snapped Alice. ‘It’s not true! She’s making this up!’
‘Fuck this!’ shouted Howard. He turned round, pushed past Alice, and disappeared into the crowd.
Leona grasped one of Martha’s heaving shoulders. ‘You just said he had Hannah’s hair on him?’
She nodded. ‘A . . . a lock . . . and . . . and one of her ribbons.’
‘Are you saying he killed my Hannah? He killed her?’
‘I . . . I don’t know, love. I . . . I just don’t know.’
‘What? Is he a . . . is he a child molester? Is that what he is?’
She looked at Leona through streaming eyes. ‘I . . . I think we let a monster in.’ Her lips quivered and she heaved in a shaky breath. ‘An’ . . . an’ he made us think it was . . . it was p-poor Walter.’
The walkway was ringing with footsteps. Leona felt Adam’s hand press the small of her back.
‘Looks like they’re folding over there. Let’s take advantage of that and go get this fella.’
She nodded, leading the way across. As they approached the far side, Leona could see the uncertainty in Alice’s eyes. She came to a halt in front of the woman. ‘You’ve always been a vicious bitch, haven’t you?’ whispered Leona. ‘Always the one moaning, bitching, causing trouble.’
Alice’s mouth hung half open.
‘What, not saying anything this time?’
Her mouth still hung open, her eyes seemed to be searching the far off horizon for inspiration.
‘Let me guess, you were hoping you could spread your legs for Latoc? Become the queen to his king? Become the queen bee here? Was that it?’
Alice looked at Martha. ‘I . . . I . . . just wanted . . . what was best for us all. That’s all I ever—’
‘Yeah, right.’
‘It was for the children’s sake, Leona. For Hannah’s sake that I . . . that I thought Walt—’
Leona slapped her face hard. The crack of palm on cheek echoed between the platforms like a brittle gunshot.
‘Don’t you dare,’ Leona whispered through clenched teeth. ‘Don’t you fucking dare say another word.’ She pushed past her and finally stepped onto the firm footing of the compression platform’s main deck. There was a commotion up ahead through the crowd. She saw Howard and William strong-arming Valérie Latoc