The Vow - Debbie Howells Page 0,75
takes it outside.
Pulling out one of the chairs, I sit down, before running through the well-rehearsed mantra in my head. You are confident. You have done nothing wrong. You’ve got this.
The door opens again and PC Page comes back in, with DI Lacey just behind her.
‘Good morning, Ms Rose.’ He nods briefly, before sitting down opposite me. ‘Thank you for coming in. We’ve received some new information I’m hoping you can shed some light on.’
I hold his gaze. ‘I’ll do my best.’
Not expecting our conversation to be recorded, when she starts the tape and records the official preamble, I’m taken aback. As PC Page sits next to the DI, she puts down the papers she’s holding. ‘We’ve received an anonymous letter. Normally, they’re a complete waste of police time, but this one is potentially rather interesting. It refers to the death of a teenage girl that happened twenty-three years ago. It was described as a tragic accident. The writer of the letter suggests that the truth has intentionally been hidden, then goes on to name you, specifically, as someone who might know what actually happened. As well as your name, they’ve given us your address. It doesn’t say much more than that, other than the address where the accident took place and the date.’
As she speaks, my blood runs cold, a rushing sound filling my ears. It’s as if I’ve been transported back to that house, the garden; a summer that lasted forever until it was abruptly cut short. As PC Page goes on, I try to concentrate. ‘It’s quite a coincidence, wouldn’t you say? That you knew the house Amy shared with Mr Roche?’
Poised, I wait for their questions, already knowing I have to watch each word, every nuance; how imperative it is that they believe me.
The DI frowns. ‘So you’ll know the woman who owned the house was a Ruth Preston?’
I pause for a moment. It would be so much easier to tell them that it’s Amy they should be talking to, but it could just as easily work against me. I have to take this step by step, so that the police can work it out for themselves. ‘It belonged to the grandmother of a friend of mine. I only knew her as Gran.’ Then because he’s going to ask, I add, ‘My friend’s name was Emily Preston – so in answer to your question, I guess the answer is yes.’
He doesn’t miss a beat. ‘And it was her sister, Kimberley Preston, who died?’
I nod calmly. ‘That’s correct.’ But my brain is racing. ‘Why would someone send a letter like this now?’
The DI doesn’t answer. ‘Can you tell me what happened that day?’
Sitting up straighter, I try to wrestle back some control. ‘Should I be asking for a lawyer?’
‘I’m sure that’s not necessary.’ The DI leans back in his chair. ‘How old were you when it happened?’
‘I was fifteen. It was terrible.’ My voice lowers. ‘Kimberley was older – seventeen, I think. She didn’t really hang out with us – she had her own set of friends. We all loved being at Kimberley and Emily’s gran’s house. She let us run wild. The garden was a wilderness and the lane led straight onto the Downs. We used to go off on our own for hours.’ I break off for a moment, thinking back. ‘Their gran used to make home remedies from the plants she grew. Now and then, we’d sneak in and try them. That’s what Kimberley did, but unfortunately she consumed something poisonous. It hit her really fast. One minute she was running outside, the next, she was hit by a van.’ An image comes back to me, of Kimberley unsteady on her feet, her eyes huge, her pupils dilated as she lurched into the road, before collapsing as the van hit her.
‘There is one thing.’ The DI looks puzzled. ‘We looked the case up. Records mention Kimberley and her sister, Emily, and a third teenager called Alison Macklin. There’s no mention of a Fiona Rose.’
‘That’s because I changed my name, Detective Inspector.’ I regard him coolly. ‘You can hardly blame me. I didn’t want to forever be linked to what happened to Kimberley. Fiona’s my second name. Rose came from my ex-husband.’
‘I see.’ While PC Page makes notes, the DI looks unfazed. ‘It really was rather tragic, wasn’t it? An accident, though the grandmother took responsibility. It’s noted that she said her remedies had only ever been created for beneficial use, never for harm.’ He