‘He tricked me, Anthony.’ The breaking tear-soaked voice returned. She sounded like a six-year-old stamping her feet in the playground because the other children wouldn’t play to her rules. ‘He told me that everyone knew.’
‘Who tricked you, darling?’
‘Justin.’ She stepped backwards pulling Tara with her to indicate the bleeding man cowering on the ground.
‘Kingsley?’
‘Yes, bloody Kingsley,’ she yelled.
‘Why don’t you tell them what happened, Georgina?’ Tara said.
‘You shut-up. I don’t take orders from you.’ Georgina pulled her arm tighter around Tara’s neck. Tara cried out as the knife cut at her bare shoulder. She saw confusion and frustration pull at Callum’s face. Trying to figure it all out. He should have been looking at Kingsley threatening with the knife. Not Georgina. He’d come face to face with the person who killed his wife and daughter, but it wasn’t Justin Kingsley.
‘Justin told me they all knew, Anthony. They were going to ruin me if I didn’t pay him.’
‘Tilly helped you,’ said Kingsley. ‘You would have died out here, but for her.’
Callum backed away, disappearing in the gloom of the trees. Tara’s heart sank. Somehow she hoped he would be the one to save her. Instead he’d run off to deal with the news in his head that the woman he admired, the woman who promised him a fresh start was the person who had taken away what he loved most. Georgina had brought him so much grief and had utterly destroyed him inside as a man.
‘I couldn’t take the risk,’ said Georgina.
She addressed the words pleadingly to the onlookers rather than the wounded Kingsley.
‘When he blackmailed me, I couldn’t take the risk that Tilly wouldn’t talk. Justin told me they knew, and they would go to the police if I didn’t pay him.’
‘I needed money, Georgina. That was all. You ruined my life that night, here on this very spot. But it didn’t stop you; you became rich and a big success. You didn’t stop to look back. The least you could do was pay for destroying my future. No one had to die. Especially not Tilly.’
Her nervous laugh sprayed over the stricken Kingsley.
‘You think?’ she said. ‘Tilly was the easiest. Yes, she knew my secret; she helped me, but she also had Callum.’ She looked around her, but Callum was gone. ‘Callum! Do you hear me? She took you from me, Callum. You were always my Belfast Boy.’
Tara watched the face of Egerton-Hyde in case he gave himself away. Surely he had to know Georgina’s story for him to have killed Zhou Jian.
‘Why didn’t you stop this after Tilly?’ Tara asked. Georgina wrenched hard at her with every word. ‘Three more people died, Justin? Because of your blackmail three more innocent people died.’ She tried to shout the words, hoping that Callum, wherever he’d got to, might still be in earshot.
‘I didn’t realise…,’ Kingsley said, his voice trailing off.
There were sounds of car doors closing, a blue flashing light reflected off a building next to Folly Bridge. Georgina edged further from the onlookers and closer to the stricken Kingsley. His voice resumed, breaking Georgina’s attention upon the imminent arrival of the police. ‘At first I thought Tilly died in an accident,’ he said. ‘Never believed Georgina was capable of murder. I needed more money from her, and she paid every time. But when I heard that Peter was dead and then Zhou Jian, I realised it was Georgina. She was out of control. I tried to stop her. I tried to warn Charlotte, but she wouldn’t listen.’
‘They were going to ruin us, Anthony,’ said Georgina.
‘None of them knew, Georgina. I never told them.’ Kingsley winced as he drew breath.
‘But Peter still had the power to ruin us. He and Anthony…’
‘That’s enough, Georgina,’ Egerton-Hyde called out, panic shrouding his usually calm voice.
‘Why Zhou Jian?’ said Tara.
Georgina swung around to face Kingsley. As her heels sank in the ground, Tara’s body twisted but she managed to adjust her stance. Georgina’s grip on her had not weakened.
‘You told me he heard us talking, Justin. In Austria. You told me he heard everything.’
Tara recalled something Callum had mentioned. Zhou Jian once asked him if Justin had a child. It seemed the Chinese scientist had stumbled upon a conversation between Justin and Georgina. The mention of a baby. He’d known little else. He’d overheard a snippet of a quarrel, and it lead to his death.
‘Did you kill Charlotte?’ Egerton-Hyde asked his wife. He spoke forsakenly in the voice of a man who sees his life and career lying in tatters before him.
‘She had to die, Anthony. Don’t pretend you weren’t relieved. She could have ruined you, too, remember.’
Two police constables, one male and the other female, came into view from the darkness of the path. It didn’t take long for the girl to realise they needed back-up, and she spoke into her radio. Their arrival sparked greater panic in Georgina.
‘Stay back. I’ll kill her.’ She wrestled Tara, tightening her grasp around her throat, with the knife now jabbing at her side.
‘They’ve come to help you, Georgina,’ said Tara, grimacing as the woman’s fingernails squeezed into the bare flesh of her shoulder.
‘Too late for help,’ she cried, her trembling body fusing with Tara’s.
‘Talk to us, Georgina,’ said the female constable. ‘We can sort this out. No one needs to get hurt. Let the girl go.’
Her well-meaning words had the opposite effect. The blade cut at Tara’s dress opening the wound made earlier by Kingsley. Tara screamed in pain.
‘Please, Georgina,’ she said, her vision blurring from tears. ‘Tell us about the baby.’
Georgina seemed to re-analyse her situation, glancing from one anxious face to the next. Stephanie had a firm hold of Ollie’s arm. Beside them Katrina stood in tears, hands clutched to her cheeks. Egerton-Hyde looked forlorn, arms hanging to his sides, eyes fixed on the figure of his wife desperately locked in a place from where she would never emerge unscathed. The police officers mumbled words to each other, but seemed resigned to the stand-off, awaiting those more expert in handling this kind of incident.
‘I didn’t know I was pregnant,’ Georgina wept. ‘You have to believe me; I had no idea. Just a terrible pain. We were out here, walking in the darkness. It all happened so quickly.’
The bystanders looked on, their faces suddenly swept by fear. Callum crept silently from the trees behind Georgina and Tara.
He paused on the grass, waiting for his moment. Kairos, the right and opportune moment to free the woman he’d come to love. Never thought he would feel love again after Tilly. Now he had a new life calling him. He hovered on the threshold between paradise and disaster. He must save her.
‘I didn’t know what to do,’ Georgina continued. ‘A baby? I couldn’t be a mother. Not then. I had plans.’
‘You killed our baby, Georgina.’ Kingsley tried to raise himself onto one arm. ‘You gave birth to our son, and then you squeezed the life from him.’ Pain coursed through him, and he cried out. Georgina’s scream met with his. A terrifying harmony released to the night. Callum edged closer.
‘It was the wrong time. Don’t you see? Now I could be a mother, but not then. I wasn’t ready. I had so many things to do.’
Callum took another step. He could almost reach out and touch her.
‘I could have raised him, Georgina,’ Kingsley wept. ‘I wouldn’t have left you. We had a child together…’
Georgina screamed again, a horrible mocking laughter filled the night as yet more flashing lights bleached the darkness, and sirens came in answer to the madness.
‘Your child? It wasn’t yours, Justin.’ Georgina laughed hysterically. ‘Isn’t that the great irony? All this time you believed I had your baby.’
Kingsley’s face, wracked with pain, fought with something so much more than he could bear. His life destroyed all those years ago, and now the realisation that it need not h
ave happened this way.
‘Where are you, Belfast Boy?’ Georgina howled in the air. Tara sensed time was running out for her. ‘Callum? Do you hear me?’
‘I hear you, Georgina.’ Startled, she turned her head to face him, and her voice softened, dropping to a whisper.
‘Callum, my darling. I’m so sorry. I didn’t know what to do. Our baby. I couldn’t keep it. You understand, don’t you?’
‘Listen to yourself, Georgina. How could you do that to your own child? You killed your best friend, my wife and daughter. Did we mean nothing to you?’
‘I loved you, Callum. I loved Tilly and Emily, but I was so scared. It would have been fine if Justin hadn’t come back. He tricked me.’
Kingsley gave a loud groan. Georgina flinched, squeezing Tara closer. Her hand was shaking, trying to keep the knife pressed at Tara’s neck.
‘Let Tara go, Georgina.’
‘I can’t.’
‘Please, Georgina. I love her. Please don’t take her away from me. I couldn’t bare it.’
‘Callum,’ Tara cried.
‘I’m so sorry for getting you into this, Tara.’
Kingsley raised a trembling hand and caught the hem of Georgina’s dress. She looked down and tried to pull away. Kingsley held firmly, crying in pain. Tara felt the grip loosen around her neck. Suddenly free, she pulled away, falling to the ground. Georgina slashed with the knife at Kingsley’s outstretched arm, the blade slicing into his wrist as he struggled to keep hold of her dress. Kairos. Callum seized his moment. He rushed at her. His arms swung out for the tackle. The knife came up; Kingsley lost his grip on the dress and flopped to the ground. Callum caught Georgina. Took her at the waist. He pushed on through as the knife pierced his stomach. His legs pounded on the pathway. Georgina tumbled backwards, crying out, fighting desperately to stay on her feet. Callum pushed on. The path ended by the water’s edge. They splashed into the dark river.
‘Callum,’ Tara cried out. She regained her feet and ran to the river.
‘Callum!’
The police sprang to action, but when they reached the river bank, there was nothing to see. Seconds passed. Something, fifteen yards downstream broke the surface. The head and shoulders of Georgina. A gasp for air to feed her scream. She fought, splashing wildly to stay on the surface, but something more than the flowing waters of the Isis finally claimed her.
Tara dropped to her knees and wept.
‘Callum! Please! Don’t leave me, Callum.’
There was nothing to see in the blackness of the night. He was gone from her life. Broken hearted in Oxford for a second time.
Epilogue
Ripples of nerves fluttered across her tummy. Her hand trembled as she sat on the edge of the bath holding the plastic stick in front of her, her eyes fixed on its digital display. One minute from now she would know the answer. Her best friends sat in her kitchen drinking coffee, munching biscuits. They would be the first to know. And why not? They were her best friends. They’d been together since first form. Everything, fun, laughter and occasional tears, shared between them. Her rising joy was tempered with trepidation at what the next few months might bring. Her life changed for ever. It was only the briefest of moments, but she closed her eyes and drew a long slow breath before letting go. Then she saw the display and smiled contentedly before tears rolled down her cheeks. Hurrying from the bathroom, she raced along the hall into the kitchen.
‘Well?’ said Aisling.
‘I’m pregnant!’ Kate sang, hoisting the little stick in the air as if it were a trophy.
Tara, Aisling and Kate rushed together for a group hug.
‘Congratulations, luv,’ said Tara. ‘You’d better call Adam and let him know he’s going to be a Dad.’
‘Sure his part is over,’ said Aisling.
‘Don’t you even think it,’ Kate snapped, reaching for her phone on the worktop. She left the room to share her news with her partner, and Aisling went to use the bathroom.
*
Tara sat alone in the kitchen, feeling pleased for Kate, but so easily these days her mind didn’t have far to stray in order to see Callum. He was there in everything. Her waking, driving, working, and when at times he slipped from her consciousness, she would meet him in her dreams and awaken to feel the reminders in the pit of her stomach.
She’d spoken the story a dozen times or more. Each new occasion as painful as the last. She’d told it to the police in Oxford, to DI Iain Barclay in Canterbury, to Superintendent Tweedy and to Assistant Chief Muetzel in Lucerne. She spent those first few painful weeks on the road explaining how each murder fitted with the story of Georgina Maitland striving to conceal her terrible secret that late at night, beneath a tree, she had killed her son within seconds of his birth. That Justin Kingsley, as he was about to fetch help, saw Georgina cover her son’s mouth and nose with her hand, denying him all but those first few breaths. He’d looked on in horror as Georgina callously scraped away the earth beneath the tree and laid the child in a grave six inches deep. Beside him she placed the afterbirth, covered the hole with soil and scattered crisp leaves over the grave. Afterwards, they’d told Tilly that the baby was still-born. Georgina swore her to secrecy as Tilly nursed her back to health.
Justin Kingsley, recovering slowly in hospital from his wounds, related the events of that night to Tara, a night that irreversibly altered the lives of so many people. Trying to avoid bringing scandal to his family, Justin could no longer share his life with someone capable of murdering their new born child. At his first opportunity he’d walked away from everything. It was only the need for money, at first, and later his greed that brought him to blackmail Georgina. He had a girlfriend and two children to support in Greece. It wasn’t right that Georgina should live a life of riches and glamour without having to pay, at least to him, some penalty for what she’d done. The trouble was he’d done too good a job in convincing her that all of the alumni friends knew her secret and were prepared to report her to the police if she didn’t give in to Justin’s demands.
Tara’s long held suspicion that Anthony Egerton-Hyde had murdered Zhou Jian proved unfounded when Muetzel confirmed that Georgina Maitland, though not a delegate at the food safety conference, had accompanied her husband on that particular trip, presumably after discovering that Zhou Jian was to give a presentation. By then, Justin had realised, Georgina was out of control and was intent on removing anyone who might be aware of her ghastly secret.
Without a murderer in custody to bring charges against and to put away for life, it wasn’t the most satisfactory conclusion to a murder inquiry for any of the police forces involved.
It was when she travelled to Lucerne to meet with Assistant Chief Muetzel that Tara had begun to feel unwell. She passed it off as a tummy bug, hurried through her meetings as best she could and jumped on a plane for home. It was never the conclusion that she had envisaged. She took time to visit Tim and Jenny Reason to help bring some closure to the death of their daughter, grandchild and now their son-in-law. They buried Callum next to Tilly and Emily.
Kate and Aisling re-entered the kitchen together. Tears and smiles all round.
‘How did Adam take the news?’ Tara asked.
‘I think he was in tears,’ Kate replied before breaking down again.
‘Hey, come on, Kate,’ said Aisling, her arm around her friend. ‘This is supposed to be a happy time.’
‘I am happy. That’s why I’m crying.’ Aisling looked at Tara and rolled her eyes. Tara braved a smile despite feeling inside a deep loneliness and a longing for different circumstances. She would cope. She had coped so far. She had her parents, and she had Kate and Aisling.
‘And what am I supposed to do now?’ said Aisling.
‘You need to find a man,’ Kate replied. ‘And then…’
‘I know what to do after that, thank you very much.’
The quip brought laughter to Tara’s face. She loved her friends dearly. And Callum would never leave her. She woul
d always have him around, wherever she was, wherever she looked. She moved a hand to her swollen stomach and stroked it gently. Her baby kicked again.
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