shrugs. That’s progress – at least she’s responding.
‘Was it someone in your class? Or one of the older children? You know you can tell me. Even if they said you mustn’t tell, you can always tell Mummy and Daddy anything – you know that, don’t you?’ Something else occurs to me. ‘Or was it a teacher? Did a grown-up say something to you? Did they tell you off?’
She shakes her head, and I relax a little.
‘Was it one of the older children?’
She shrugs.
I think we’re getting closer to the truth now. It’s probably just some little bully. I’m determined to find out exactly who said what. And if she’s being picked on, the school damn well better do something about it.
‘Rosie, what did they say?’
Tears begin to stream down her cheeks, and she gives a few noisy gulps. I call ahead to Leo to stay where he is while I crouch down and give my little girl a hug. ‘It’s okay, it’s okay. What happened, darling?’ I smooth a few loose curls away from her face and fix her with a gentle gaze.
‘Mummy…’ Her voice wobbles.
‘Yes? What is it? What happened?’
‘Mummy, why did you kill someone?’
For a moment I think I’ve heard incorrectly. ‘Why did I…? What did you say?’
My daughter’s voice steadies. ‘Why did you kill somebody? Were they not very nice? You’re not supposed to hurt people, but you killed him.’ Her eyes meet mine and she seems almost afraid.
‘I… Rosie, who told you that?’
‘A boy at school. And another boy too. They said you killed him. They called you a murdiner.’
‘They said what?!’ I snap.
Rosie flinches at my tone and I’m instantly contrite. ‘Sorry, darling, I’m not cross with you. I’m cross with those silly boys for telling lies.’
‘But they said it was true. They said—’
‘Listen to me, Rosie. Sometimes people make things up. They tell lies. So when they do that, we should ignore them.’
‘But everyone else said it too. They said, “Your mum killed someone so she’s a murdiner and she has to go to prison.” You’re not going to prison, are you, Mummy?’ Her eyes fill with tears again.
‘Hey, hey, it’s okay. No one’s going to prison, and no one’s a murderer. Those boys are just making up silly stories and I’m going to speak to their teacher and tell them to stop talking rubbish, okay?’
Rosie’s lip wobbles, but she nods her head.
‘So can I get a cuddle now?’ I tap her nose with my forefinger, and she smiles shyly before launching herself into my arms so hard we bump heads. We laugh, but I don’t feel as happy as I’m pretending to be. Despite the warmth of the afternoon, my skin feels clammy and my stomach is still fluttering. What the hell were those boys talking about? Why would they have told Rosie those things about me? And where did they hear it from? Bad memories echo through my bones, pulling at my sinews and pulsing along my veins, but I damp them down. This can’t be anything to do with that. Can it?
Two
FIONA
I look up from the conference table at my twenty-two-year-old assistant, hovering in the doorway. ‘Molly, can you bring us a tea and two black coffees, no sugar?’
Molly sighs, nods and walks back into the showroom, her sleek blonde ponytail swinging as she goes. I’m well aware that she’s already becoming disillusioned with the job. I employed her just over two years ago and I’m sure she hoped her role might be a little more creative. I own Salinger’s, an interior design business in the centre of town and, while we’re usually pretty busy, Molly is the one who gets all the mundane tasks. I did warn her at the start that the job wasn’t as glamorous as it might sound, but she had that hopeful glow of optimism back then, which has since worn down to a patchy veneer now verging on rudeness.
I can’t worry about Molly right now. Instead, I try to focus all my attention on my clients, Belinda and Harry Carmichael, a super-rich couple in their early forties that I’ve been working with for several weeks. They’ve just bought the old mill house which sits up near the waterfall. It’s a property with lots of history and plenty of interesting features, so I was excited when they approached me to help them with it. They spend most of their time in the city, but they plan to come up to Ashridge Falls for weekends and holidays