Girl A

by Dan Scottow

  He dressed without showering, folded the note up, placing it into his pocket, and headed quickly out to his car.

  8

  The words from the note kept circling through Charlie’s mind during the entire drive home. He drove angrily, dangerously at times. Usually an exemplary motorist, tonight he didn’t care. Wanting, instead, to get home as quickly as possible to speak to Beth about the note.

  As he walked in through the door, he heard the familiar sound of the telly blaring out from the lounge. He stepped into the room, pulling off his leather jacket, and slung it onto the armchair. Beth looked up. Charlie picked up the remote and turned off the TV.

  ‘Oi, I was watching that!’ Beth protested.

  ‘Where are the kids?’

  ‘Peter’s out with Zoe. I told him to be home by ten. Daisy’s in bed.’

  Charlie pulled the note out of his pocket, fiddling with it between his thumb and fingers. He didn’t take his eyes off Beth. He threw the note at her.

  ‘Charlie, what the hell are you doing?’

  ‘Read it.’

  Beth leaned forward from her armchair, picking the piece of paper up from the floor. She unfolded it and read the words. Charlie regarded her intently. He watched her face change, a fleeting look of… what was it? Fear, panic maybe? Whatever it was, was replaced quickly by anger.

  ‘What’s this?’ she asked.

  ‘I was hoping you could tell me that.’

  Beth frowned. ‘I haven’t got a clue.’ She passed the note back to him.

  ‘Bullshit, Beth.’

  Charlie read the words aloud.

  ‘How well do you know your wife? Seems like a fairly straightforward question to me.’

  ‘Where did this come from?’

  Charlie sat down on the sofa, letting out a long breath before answering. ‘Somebody left it for me at work this evening.’

  ‘What? What do you mean?’

  ‘I was jogging, and someone came into the gym and left that on the floor.’

  ‘How do you know it was meant for you?’

  ‘Because it was in a pretty little gift box with my name written on it!’ Charlie bellowed.

  Beth stood up, crossing to the living room door, closing it softly. ‘Shh, you’ll wake Daisy!’ she hissed.

  ‘Right now I don’t actually give a shit, Beth! I want to know what the hell is going on.’

  ‘How do you mean?’

  ‘Something weird is happening here. It started on Friday night with that note through the door. I thought nothing of it at first. But then with what happened to Daisy, and now this… I think there’s more to it, and it seems apparent that it’s something to do with you. You’ve been acting strangely since that first note, and I think you know more than you’re letting on.’

  Beth laughed, a loud, almost hysterical laugh. ‘Charlie, calm down. You’re letting your imagination run away with you. I agree, this situation is odd, but I can assure you I honestly don’t have a clue what it’s all about.’

  Charlie stared into Beth’s eyes.

  ‘Swear,’ Charlie said through gritted teeth.

  ‘Excuse me?’

  ‘Swear. On your parents’ graves.’

  She didn’t flinch. She didn’t blink. ‘I swear. On my parents’ graves. Okay?’

  Nobody said anything for a while. Charlie sat fidgeting, staring down at his hands. Beth stood up and crossed to the settee, sitting down next to Charlie, and lacing her fingers into his.

  ‘Charlie, I get that you are spooked by all this. I admit, it’s a worry, but we should stick together. Are you going to doubt me over some random note left for you by God-knows-who in the gym? We can’t turn on each other right now. There’s obviously something going on. We need to figure it out. Together.’

  ‘Why would somebody write that? And the other one. It’s all so strange. I think we should talk to the police.’

  ‘And tell them what exactly? Some weirdo has been leaving us notes? Charlie, they would laugh at us.’

  ‘No, they wouldn’t. This seems a little sinister to me. And if you factor in what happened to Daisy–’

  ‘That’s assuming the two things are connected.’

  ‘Even if they aren’t, I still think we should tell someone.’

  Charlie took the note from his wife’s hands and focused on the words.

  How well do you know your wife?

  Something told Charlie there was more to this than Beth was making out, but he didn’t want to fight with her. She was right in one respect, they needed to stick together.

  ‘Give me that,’ Beth said, reaching for the paper in Charlie’s hands. ‘I’ll put it in the bin.’

  Charlie snatched his hand back, shaking his head. ‘No. We should keep it. Where’s the other one?’

  ‘I threw it away.’

  Charlie jumped up from the couch and rushed out to the kitchen. ‘What the hell did you do that for?’

  Beth followed behind him. ‘I thought it was a prank. Why wouldn’t I?’

  Charlie started riffling through the bin, pulling rubbish out onto the tiles around his feet. Beth placed a hand on his back. ‘The bin’s been emptied, love. I wouldn’t bother.’

  Charlie sat down on the floor, surrounded by empty cans and food packets. ‘We should have kept it. What if–’

  Beth sat next to him, pushing a stinking, half-empty packet of bacon out of the way with her toe first. She draped an arm around his shoulder, and stroked the back of his neck, fiddling with his hair between her fingers.

  ‘But we didn’t. What’s done is done. We have the new one. Let’s not worry about it for now. Cuppa?’

  Charlie nodded. ‘I’ll make them. You go and sit down.’

  Beth heaved herself up from the floor, and traipsed out of the kitchen, into the lounge. Charlie stood up, filled the kettle and flicked it on. He took two mugs from the cupboard, opening a drawer to get a teaspoon. As he went to shut the drawer, he noticed something peeking out from beneath the plastic divider. A small scrap of white.

  Charlie reached down, lifting out the tray and fished the folded piece of paper from underneath.

  He knew in his gut what it was immediately, but he unfolded it anyway.

  FOUND YOU.

  Friday night’s note. Where this all began.

  The one Beth had, moments earlier, repeatedly said she had thrown away. And yet here it was, tucked into a drawer, hidden.

  So why would she lie?

  9

  Charlie opened his eyes. The bedroom was pitch black. For a moment he didn’t know where he was. He resisted the urge to look at the clock beside the bed, in case it was almost time to get up. He wanted to relish this time, before the reality of having to prepare for work hit home. But it didn’t feel like the morning. It felt like the middle of the night. He gave in and looked. It was 2am.

  He rolled over, but found Beth wasn’t beside him. He reached his arm across the covers, as if his eyes were deceiving him, but the mattress was cold. Sitting up, he glanced around the room. His vision had not adjusted to the darkness, and he couldn’t see much. He flung back the duvet from his legs, slowly stepping onto the carpet. The light in the en suite wasn’t on. He whispered Beth’s name through the door to be sure. No reply. He made his way to the landing. The entire house lay in darkness. He stood at the top of the stairs, listening.

  Not a sound. No movement. Nothing.

  Making his way down the stairs, he felt apprehensive, but he didn’t know why. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but something niggled at him. He inched along the hallway, stubbing his toe on the hairpin legs of a narrow console table against the wall. Swearing under his breath, he continued towards the kitchen. Cooper leapt up and excitedly scurried across the floor towards Charlie. Circling repeatedly in front of him.

  ‘No, Cooper, back to bed, it’s not time yet,’ he hissed at the dog. Cooper continued to wag his tail and look at Charlie expectantly. Charlie tried the back door, which was firmly locked, with the ke
y in it. So Beth couldn’t have gone into the garden. He flicked the light switch on the wall next to the door anyway. The lights came on, but the garden appeared empty.

  Charlie patrolled the rest of the ground floor, but Beth wasn’t in the house. He opened the front door. It was unlocked, suggesting that Beth had gone out this way. Standing on the doorstep, he stared out into the darkness. The cars were both in the driveway, so she hadn’t driven anywhere. But there was no sign of her outside. He stepped out onto the path, wincing as his bare feet touched the gravel. The security light clicked on, illuminating the Range Rover and glinting off the roof of his Audi beside it. As the light dissipated in the distance, it scarcely highlighted the tips of the hedgerows beyond, before fading into black. Charlie retreated into the comfort of the farmhouse, brushing some loose stones from the soles of his feet.

  His sense of unease was growing. Why on earth would Beth leave the house in the middle of the night?

  He returned to the bedroom, retrieving his mobile phone. He dialled Beth’s number, and immediately it started to vibrate from her bedside table. Ending the call, he climbed into bed, pulling the duvet up around his shoulders. He lay on his side, staring at the glowing red numbers on the clock radio.

  Wide awake.

  Eventually at 2.45, Charlie heard the front door quietly open. He listened as Beth tiptoed up the stairs and into the bedroom. He closed his eyes, pretending to be asleep, as she undressed silently, folding her clothes over the back of a chair where they had been before. She climbed into bed, turning her back to him.

  Charlie lay with his eyes wide open, listening to the sound of Beth’s breathing.

  He could tell she was awake.

  He resisted the urge to speak to her, to ask her where she had been. This was not the time for that conversation.

  He would wait until the morning.

  Beth’s behaviour was odd. Worrying even. And as Charlie lay drifting off to sleep, one sentence ran through his mind on loop.

  How well do you know your wife?

  10

  The following morning, Beth left for work before Charlie had a chance to talk to her. So he had to wait until they were both home in the evening, after Daisy had gone to bed. As usual, Peter had shut himself away in his room with his video games and phone, so there was no fear of him interrupting them.

  Beth was standing at the kitchen sink, cleaning the dishes after dinner. Scrubbing baked-on lasagne from a Pyrex dish. Charlie sat himself down at the island unit, drumming his fingers on the worktop. Beth didn’t turn around. She just stood with her back to him, humming a familiar tune that Charlie couldn’t place.

  ‘I spoke to the security officer at work today. He checked the footage to see who left that note.’

  Beth paused for a second, then continued to clean the dish. ‘Oh. And?’ she said, inquisitively.

  ‘Nothing. He was wearing bike leathers, helmet and all. Couldn’t see the guy’s face. He didn’t lift his visor up.’

  ‘Right,’ Beth muttered. ‘Oh well.’ She sounded disappointed.

  ‘Funny thing is, the entire building is locked down. You can’t get through a single door without a staff card.’

  ‘Same as our place. How did he get in, then?’

  ‘They checked the security log. He swiped a visitor pass. Sure enough, when they counted the passes at reception, there was one missing. So basically it could have been anyone. No way of knowing.’ Charlie let out a long breath and ran both his hands through his thinning hair. Beth carried on with the dishes without a word. She simply shrugged.

  ‘Where did you go last night?’ Charlie asked casually. Beth froze.

  ‘What do you mean? I was here with you all night,’ she said assertively.

  ‘No. I woke up. You weren’t in bed. Try again.’

  Beth stopped washing up and peeled off her bright yellow Marigolds, slinging them into the sink with a satisfying wet slap. She turned to face Charlie.

  ‘I couldn’t sleep. I came down and made a drink. Sat on the sofa, read for a few hours, then when I finally felt tired, came back to bed.’

  Charlie slammed his fists down on the worktop so hard that Beth flinched.

  ‘No, Beth, you didn’t. I looked round the entire house for you. You weren’t here. And the front door was unlocked. The cars were in the driveway. So I’ll ask you again. Where did you go?’

  Beth’s face coloured, and a panicked expression flashed across it, but only fleetingly.

  ‘I went for a walk, okay?’ She stormed past Charlie obstinately, towards the kitchen door.

  ‘Then why lie about it?’

  ‘Sorry?’

  ‘Why lie? You told me you came down for a drink and to read, which was an outright lie. I don’t understand why you wouldn’t just say you went for a walk, if that’s what you were doing.’

  Beth stopped in the doorway and turned back towards Charlie. ‘I was embarrassed. It’s not exactly normal behaviour to go walking in the middle of the night. And on top of what happened when I freaked out with Daisy at the weekend, I didn’t want people judging me. I’m aware that my son already thinks I’m a total psycho, I don’t need to add fuel to that fire.’

  Charlie stood up. ‘But you’re not talking to your son! You’re talking to me. And I would hope that you know me well enough to realise that I would never judge you. And while we’re at it, why did you lie about the note?’

  Beth frowned, confused.

  ‘What do you mean? How did I lie about the note?’

  ‘You told me you threw it away. But I found it in there.’ Charlie tilted his head towards the drawer opposite him.’

  ‘Oh for Christ’s sake, Charlie, I didn’t lie. I was mistaken. I thought I had thrown the note away. It was late, and I was tired, and I thought I threw it in the bin, okay? But obviously I didn’t. Obviously, I put it in the kitchen drawer, and I made a mistake when you asked me. Like the time you lost your car keys, and you said I had tidied them away somewhere. You were adamant that you had put them in the bowl on the kitchen side. And then where did you find them?’

  Charlie didn’t say a word.

  ‘Well?’ Beth bellowed.

  ‘I found them in my jacket pocket, hanging in the hall cupboard,’ Charlie replied quietly.

  ‘Exactly. Because when we are tired and we have had a hard day, and it’s late, we sometimes misremember things. But because you’ve received some mysterious fucking note saying you don’t know me, you think that I’m lying to you. That’s right, isn’t it? That stupid note has spooked you. It’s made you doubt me.’ Tears welled up in the corners of Beth’s eyes.

  Charlie’s face sank. Angry, and wrapped up in what the note had said, he had jumped to conclusions. Beth was right. He had doubted her. The one person he should never doubt. He nodded, afraid to look her in the eye.

  ‘That hurts, Charlie. I have never lied to you. I’ve always got your back. I will always fight your corner. And I deserve the same level of loyalty from you.’

  Charlie took a step towards his wife and reached his hand out to her arm. She shrugged it off.

  ‘Don’t!’ she snapped.

  ‘I’m sorry. Beth, I’m so, so sorry. You’re right. I owe you more than that, and I apologise. I’m such a dick.’

  ‘Yeah, you are,’ she said churlishly.

  In that moment, Charlie felt an overwhelming surge of affection for his wife, and he hated himself for upsetting her.

  ‘Can we draw a line under this?’ he pleaded softly. Beth stood with her arms folded.

  ‘Come here.’ Beth didn’t budge, so Charlie took another step towards her, wrapping his arms around her. She tried to push him away at first, but eventually she relaxed into the hug.

  They walked into the living room, and Beth flicked on the telly. As she sat surfing through the channels trying to find something to watch, Charlie stared at her. He was able to count on one hand the number of times he had seen his wife cry. She rarely showed this level of emotion.

 
; ‘Beth, are you okay?’ Charlie asked.

  She continued to flick, pointing the remote at the telly. ‘I’m annoyed. I don’t understand why we are receiving these notes. It’s screwing with my life, and I don’t like it. This has been an odd week.’

  Beth muted the telly for a moment, turning towards Charlie.

  ‘I want things back to normal. It’s been one thing after another since Friday night, and I’m exhausted. I’ve got loads of submissions to get through at work before the weekend, and I’ve fallen behind. I should be working late, but I don’t have the energy. On top of all this, I’ve hardly spoken to my kids this week. I’m sure Peter hates me.’

  ‘He’ll get over it. Let’s face it, he’s a teenager. He talks to us as little as possible anyway.’ Charlie smiled. Beth didn’t smile back. She unmuted the telly and continued searching for something to watch.

  Charlie sat observing his wife. He trusted her, he always had. She’d never given him any reason not to, and so he should have believed her when she said she had made an honest mistake.

  So why was there still a niggling doubt in his mind?

  11

  The smell of strong coffee filled Beth’s nostrils as Margot topped up her cafetière with boiling water from the tap.

  ‘I simply couldn’t face any more of that free instant rubbish they give you here, darling,’ she was saying. ‘I remembered I had this little thing in a cupboard somewhere at home, so I thought I may as well put it to some use.’ She placed the lid onto the cafetière, picked up two cups and trotted back towards her office. Beth followed, trying to avoid the disturbingly intense stare from Vicky as she passed her desk. Vicky smiled, waving. Margot lifted the hand holding the mugs and wiggled it around. Beth was worried Vicky might take it as an invitation and closed the door to Margot’s office firmly behind her as she entered.

  Margot sat down on a plush, grey fabric sofa, placing the coffee and the cups down on the small table, motioning for Beth to sit in the chair opposite. She sank down, letting out an audible sigh. As Margot pushed the plunger on the coffee, Beth eyed her.