the past. Snatching up my phone, I switch it off, then block the number before she can call again. How does she have my number? And why is she calling me now, of all times? She’s the last person in the world I want to speak to. There really is nothing to say to her.
She doesn’t belong in my life. It has to stay that way. But unsettled, that night I lie awake, scrolling through faces from the past on my closed eyelids as unwanted memories come flooding back, trying to work out why she’d want to talk to me. There can be only one reason, one I can’t tell the police. And apart from me, she’s the only person who knows.
Chapter Sixteen
It’s early, the trees silvery in the mist. After a sleepless night, I watch from an upstairs window as the police car pulls up and PC Page gets out. This morning she’s in uniform, her shoulder-length hair clipped back. Then I notice she isn’t alone – she’s with an older uniformed officer I haven’t seen before. My heart lurches as I try to imagine why they’ve come here, dreading the worst kind of news.
I must have been right about her call last night. She was setting the scene, preparing the ground for whatever it is they’ve come here to tell me. By the time I reach the bottom of the stairs, there’s a knock at the front door. I’m shaking as I open it, filled with dread.
‘Amy. This is DI Lacey.’ PC Page holds my gaze. As she introduces her colleague, her air of formality disconcerts me. I’ve shared so much with this woman, her brusqueness takes me aback.
‘May we come in?’
Standing back, I let them in, a hollow feeling churning inside me as I close the door behind them – my nerves on edge, my instincts sharp. Whatever the reason they’ve come here, I sense it isn’t good. Even before I turn around, I feel their eyes on me.
Looking from one to the other, I falter. ‘It’s Matt, isn’t it?’ My voice is husky. ‘Oh my God. You’ve found him.’ I’m lightheaded, my legs weak, as I turn towards the kitchen, my heart hammering in my chest. But before they can answer, I hear another car pull up out on the road. Glancing behind me, through the window beside the front door, I catch sight of several officers getting out of a police van. I turn to PC Page, suddenly cold. ‘What’s going on?’
The gate through to the garden clicks open, distracting me, and I walk towards the kitchen. Pulling back the curtains, through the glass doors the garden is clearly visible, the early sun cutting through the mist, as several figures slowly make their way across the garden. In what seems like a nightmare, I watch as one of them tramples across a bed of herbs. ‘NO …’ My hands cover my mouth, the words out before I can stop them. My plants are my livelihood. It’s too much to watch an ignorant stranger trampling them. Hearing footsteps come up behind me, I spin around. ‘They’re killing my plants. You have to stop them.’
But my cries go unheard. As DI Lacey goes outside to join them, PC Page’s silent. Then she says, ‘What really happened that night, Amy? When Matt came back late and told you he was leaving you?’
My eyes widen as I gasp in shock. ‘I’ve told you. He didn’t come back that night. The last time I saw him was before he went to work.’
Her eyes don’t leave mine. ‘I think he did come back and you had an argument. One that escalated when your temper got the better of you. You couldn’t bear that your dream wedding wasn’t going to happen, that he was leaving you for someone else. You lost control and then you attacked him.’ She glances through the window towards the police officers walking across the garden. ‘They’re looking for the murder weapon. They have metal detectors – they know what they’re doing. But you could save us all from wasting our time and tell us where it’s hidden.’
As she speaks, I’m dizzy. She doesn’t believe me. She doesn’t believe a single word I’ve said to her. ‘I could never have hurt Matt. I’m not that kind of person. I’m a healer, you know I am. I’m not a killer …’ My voice desperate, urgent, willing her to think again.
‘What about the messages you bombarded Matt with? They were