by JANICE FROST
She went downstairs. The kitchen door was ajar, the light on. She had closed the door and turned the light off herself. Laura hesitated. Was it David or Rhona? Her raging thirst propelled her on.
Rhona looked up and smiled when she entered the kitchen. “Thirsty? Fancy a cup of tea? Don’t worry about making a noise, my lot would sleep through a hurricane.”
Nevertheless, Laura closed the door softly behind her. “Ewan was practically an insomniac.”
Rhona didn’t comment. Laura was becoming used to the idea that any mention of her late husband was met with silence. Right at that moment she didn’t feel like confronting Rhona over it.
“Here you go.” As well as a cup of tea, Rhona handed over a couple of paracetamol and a glass of water. She took a couple of pills too, saying, “How sad are we? We used to be able to drink the lads under the table.”
But Rhona did not seem to want to linger. The awkwardness between them was back. They took their drinks upstairs and parted on the landing. Before going to her room, Laura tiptoed over to the girls’ room and peeked inside. The room was bathed in the soft orange glow of a night light and she could hear the children’s rhythmic breathing. Rowan stirred suddenly and muttered something in her sleep. Laura thought she caught the words ‘ghost’ and ‘murder.’
* * *
David hardly spoke at breakfast. He ate his toast and drank his tea half-concealed behind the Times newspaper, while Rowan and Holly darted about preparing for school. Rhona and the baby were not yet awake. Holly insisted on making tea and toast for Laura.
At eight fifteen, David said, “Excuse me, Laura. I have to drop the kids at school, then I’ve an important meeting with a client at nine thirty. Make yourself a decent cup of tea, no need to drink Holly’s dishwater. Rhona should be down shortly.”
“Holly’s tea is fine.” His abruptness and ill humour irritated Laura. Was this all down to his embarrassment at seeing her naked at the window the day before? Laura remembered the way David’s eyes had travelled downwards, lingering, and the sudden illicit pleasure that she had experienced at being appreciated by a man again. She smiled, enjoying his discomfort.
David had enjoyed being with her once. In their second year at university in Edinburgh, Rhona and she had shared a flat above a newsagent. One weekend Rhona was away visiting her parents in Glasgow and Ewan was in Stromford. On the Friday, David had turned up unexpectedly and he and Laura went to a Chinese restaurant on Lothian Road. The house wine was cheap, and afterwards they drank too much in a pub in the Grassmarket and were in high spirits by the time they made their way back to Forrest Road. David had a crazy notion about climbing Salisbury Crags, but he settled for climbing the stairs to the flat and having sex with Laura. They had sex a few more times that weekend until David was struck by a fit of conscience. He told her that he was head over heels in love with Rhona, and begged Laura not to tell her.
Laura made some tea and took a cup upstairs for Rhona. She knocked softly on the bedroom door, wary of waking the baby, and left the tea on Rhona’s bedside table. She could hear the shower running in the en suite. Rhona was singing. Shaun was asleep in a cot next to the king-sized bed. Laura watched him for a few moments, marvelling at the sight of his tiny, perfect fingers. A faint whiff of ammonia came from under the covers. Laura tiptoed out and crossed the landing. She passed the door to another room, which stood ajar. Curious, Laura looked inside. She saw a ruffled duvet, as though someone had slept on top of the covers. A pair of worn leather brogues that David had been wearing when he picked Laura up from the station, were lying upturned on the floor at the foot of the bed, as though they had been kicked off carelessly.
Laura felt embarrassed. She had a feeling that Rhona wouldn’t wish her to know that she and David had slept in separate bedrooms. Closing the door behind her, Laura went back downstairs to the kitchen. She made another drink, coffee this time, and looked at the crossword in the paper. It was a beautiful morning, sunny, frosty, and sharp. Compared to her own house in Marchmont, it seemed very quiet. Unaccustomed to such silence she turned the radio on and fiddled with the settings until she found a station playing music she liked.
Time ticked by. Rhona finally appeared, holding a gurgling, smiling Shaun. Rhona handed her son over and Laura kissed the baby’s velvety crown.
“I’m sorry . . .” she began.
“Don’t be. I don’t mind what time you get up.”
Laura looked up.
“I heard you earlier. I know what you’re thinking, but it’s not the case. We don’t often sleep in separate rooms. Sometimes we bed-hop so one of us can get a decent night’s sleep — not easy with a baby in the house.”
“It’s none of my business, Rhona.” Laura suddenly remembered the peculiar word her friend had used to describe her present life, her perfect family. Was sleeping apart from her husband part of her ‘atonement’ too?
Rhona suggested a shopping trip to Stromford. She and David had been invited to a birthday party in the village hall, for someone called Hammond Bell, who was married to a friend of Rhona’s. Rhona wanted something to wear and she had decided that Laura should get something new and come to the party. As practically the whole village was going, one more would not be noticed. And, she insisted, it would help lift Laura’s mood. Laura thought it a bit insensitive of Rhona to put it like that, as though Laura had not been bereaved but merely needed a bit of cheering up.
Rhona drove them into Stromford and parked in a multi-storey car park in the city’s main shopping area. As they drove past the historic Uphill part of town where the cathedral dominated the view, Laura wished she could go there instead of to the shops. She had no religious leanings but she wanted the peace she imagined she might find in the cathedral’s ancient cloisters.
With a complete lack of tact, Rhona began telling Laura that a man had fallen to his death from the cathedral roof just before Christmas. “Actually, it turned out it was murder.” Then she stopped. “I’m so sorry, Laura. I keep saying the wrong thing, don’t I?”
Yes, you do, Laura thought, but all she said was, “Don’t worry about it. I can’t expect everyone to treat me with kid gloves.”
Laura really wasn’t in the mood for shopping. She pushed Shaun in his buggy and waited patiently while Rhona spent ages in various changing rooms trying on an array of dresses. Unable to generate any enthusiasm for her own outfit, she let Rhona select a modest shift dress for her, bottle green, of a soft, clingy material. Looking at herself in the mirror, Laura was surprised to see the dress bring a spark into her eyes. She bought the dress, ignoring Rhona’s smug smile. And because she was suddenly grateful to Rhona for lifting her spirits after all, she insisted on buying Rowan and Holly a book each, and a teddy bear for Shaun.
Later, though, wearing the green dress and some jewellery borrowed from Rhona, she felt her mood begin to deflate. “Maybe I won’t come after all. I’ll only spoil things for you two if I am miserable. Ewan hasn’t been dead a week yet. It seems somehow inappropriate to be going to a party and I really don’t feel much like it.”
Rhona dismissed her fears. “Come anyway. It’s not such a long way to the village hall. You could always come back early if you’re feeling overwhelmed.”
Laura caved.
* * *
She felt out of place at the party. Rhona was thoughtful at first, introducing her to her friends and drawing her into conversations, but after a few glasses of wine she became less attentive, and Laura found herself alone. She sat at one of the tables, listening to the music, watching people dance and thinking about Ewan. She didn’t notice the man who sat down next to her until he spoke.
“I saw you come in with David and Rhona Pine. Are you a friend of theirs?” Laura twisted round. His smile seemed genuine but Laura sensed that he was nervous. “I’m Gabe North, I’m an architect. I did some work for Ham and Rosie Bell.”
“The eco house? Rhona told me about it. I thought they were doing it all themselves.”
“They consulted me for some advice on the plans. I have a particular interest in environmentally-friendly projects.”
“I’m Laura Cameron. I’m staying with David and Rhona.” And my husband’s just been murdered. Should she tell him? How?
But there was no need to wait. Gabe North said, “I’m sorry. Your surname . . . I should have realised. I’m so sorry about your husband.”
Laura nodded and there was an awkward silence. The music in the background had been popular when she and Ewan started dating at school. She felt her eyes well up, her throat constrict, and she turned away from Gabe North. She felt Ewan’s loss most keenly when she thought of those early days.
“It must be hard for David too,” North said. “As I remember, he and your husband were inseparable at college.”
“You knew Ewan?”
“I didn’t really know him or David well. We moved in different circles and were studying different courses. Occasionally our paths would cross, at social events, mostly, like tonight. Ham and Rosie invited me, Rhona is friendly with Rosie, that sort of thing.”
“Actually, my husband and David hadn’t spoken for years, since college in fact. They had a falling out. You didn’t like them, did you?”
North looked at her in surprise. “What makes you say that?”
Laura didn’t answer. The truth was she didn’t know. It had been a sudden intuition. But then, Ewan hadn’t been particularly likeable. She shrugged. “Ewan could be arrogant. Not everyone took to him.”
“You’re right,” North said. “I won’t lie. I didn’t particularly like them.” His honesty was unexpected, and Laura wasn’t sure whether she liked it.
“Any particular reason?” she asked.
North fidgeted with his beer glass and looked around as though checking that no one was within earshot. “There was a girl, Stephanie Woodson. I’d been seeing her for a couple of weeks and she told me she was doing some life modelling for a student at the art college. She wouldn’t tell me who it was. Steph was a single parent with a nine-year-old daughter, and she needed all the extra money she could get. Then, one day I saw her with Ewan Cameron and I just knew.”
Laura tried to think if she had ever heard Ewan or David mention a woman called Steph. Most of the time they had talked freely about the people they were seeing, but Laura couldn’t recall a Steph. “So you disliked Ewan because he might have been seeing your girlfriend of a couple of weeks?” Laura could not keep a mocking tone from her voice.
Gabe’s expression darkened. “I didn’t give a shit about that.”
“Why then?”
Gabe cast a furtive look over his shoulder. He leaned towards her and, keeping his voice low, said, “Steph disappeared.”
“Disappeared?”
“She went missing.”
“With her daughter?”
“No. I was babysitting for her the night she disappeared. Steph went out, telling me she was going to a friend’s hen night. I never saw her again.”
“Oh.” It took a moment for the penny to drop. “Hold on a minute. Are you saying you think Ewan, or David — or both of them — had something to do with this Steph’s disappearance?”
“Maybe. I don’t know.” North seemed suddenly edgy. He nibbled at a fingernail, then hid his hand under the table. “Your husband never mentioned anyone called Steph?”
“Not that I remember.”
“Did he tell you he was questioned by the police about her disappearance? He and David both were.”
“No. Is that really true?”
“Yes. They denied knowing Steph, and they gave each other an alibi. David’s wife claimed she’d been with them the evening Steph disappeared. They all claimed they’d been at David and Ewan’s flat, drinking and watching movies.”
“Well, they probably were. You don’t believe that though, obviously.” Laura felt suddenly angered by North’s insinuations. A thought occurred to her. “Were you questioned?”
“Yes, I was questioned. Despite the fact that I spent the night looking after Steph’s daughter.”
“Did she turn up, or did the police find her eventually?”
“No.”
Laura shivered. “What happened to her daughter?”
“I don’t know. She went to live with relatives, I think. I didn’t keep in touch. No one would have wanted me to, given that I was a suspect in her mother’s disappearance.” North’s tone was understandably bitter. Understandable, that is, if he were innocent.
Watching his nervous mannerisms and sensing his unease, Laura couldn’t help wondering. She was suddenly suspicious. “Why are you telling me this?” North stared at his bitten-down nails. “You knew exactly who I was when you approached me, didn’t you?”
His face said it all. Suddenly it was all too much for her. “You’re crazy!” Laura stood up abruptly, and swayed slightly from the wine she’d drunk earlier. North reached out an arm to steady her, but she shrugged him off. She moved quickly away from him, back to the throng of partygoers.
She looked around for Rhona, but it was David who found her. He gripped her by the arm. “Where’s Rhona?” Laura yelled above the din of music and voices. David shrugged, gripping her arm so tightly that Laura imagined blood vessels exploding under his touch. “David! Let go. You’re hurting me.”
“Sorry. Come on, let’s dance.”
“No, I don’t want to.” But David pushed her onto the dance floor and, afraid of attracting attention, Laura began to jiggle.
“Did you enjoy your conversation with Mr North?”
“Who?”
“Gabriel North. Looked like you two were having a nice, cosy chat. What did he say to you?”
Laura pretended she was drunker than she was. “Nothing much. We talked about Edinburgh mostly. He knows the city quite well.”
“Looked like your discussion got a bit heated. Was he bothering you?”
“Oh no. It was just a . . . difference of opinion.”
David nodded. Laura had the impression he wanted to say more, but the music slowed and couples moved together. They stepped apart. Rhona appeared from nowhere and David took her in his arms. Laura edged away but she was aware of David’s gaze following her across the hall as she escaped to the Ladies.
A barmaid followed her out. “Scuse me. You know that man you was talking to before? He left this for you.” It was a folded sheet of paper with Gabe North’s contact details written in red ink. The barmaid gave her a wink. “Reckon you’re in with a chance there, duck. Lucky you. He’s hot — for an older bloke.”
Was he? Laura told herself she hadn’t noticed, but, back in the hall, gazing over at the table where she and North had been, now occupied by another couple, she felt a sense of loss.
David and Rhona’s babysitter phoned to say that Holly had had another nightmare and wouldn’t settle. David left the party, encouraging Laura and Rhona to stay. After midnight, they returned to the house to find it in darkness. Laura was relieved not to have to face David again that night.
* * *
The following day she couldn’t get Gabe North out of her mind. She hadn’t thought she had paid much attention to what he looked like, but now she found that she could recall his features in some detail. He wasn’t particularly tall but was broad, evidently someone who worked out regularly and he had close-cropped, almost spiky fair hair. Nothing at all like Ewan, who had been tall and unhealthily thin, weedy almost, with thick, brown hair and hooded eyelids.
She had crushed North’s note into her purse, and now looked at it as she sipped a cup of coffee in the kitchen after breakfast. David and the girls had left. Rhona and Shaun were still asleep. She picked up her phone and was about to call Gabe when the kitchen door creaked. David walked over to the island and raked in a drawer, extracting a plastic card. “Forgot my parking pass. Were you about to phone someone? Don’t mind me.”
“Oh, no, I was just wondering whether to make an appointment at a hairdresser’s in Stromford. The number’s engaged. I’
ll try later.”
“See you later,” David said, slipping the card into his pocket. Laura watched from the window. He pointed his keys at his car and the headlights flashed a silent greeting. Laura watched him hesitate a moment by the door before he opened it. Laura remembered how he had looked at her, standing naked at the bedroom window the day she arrived, and how she had lingered, appreciating his gaze. She shuddered. This time the memory gave her no pleasure.
Chapter 9
Rowan Pine spotted Zak Darby waiting outside the village hall and pedalled vigorously across the car park to join him. It was Saturday morning. At school the day before, she had whispered in his ear, “We need to talk somewhere private. It’s about you know what.” So they’d arranged to meet in the village. They could tell their parents they were going to the mobile library that parked at the village hall once a fortnight. Since the murder, kids in the area had been put on a tighter rein.
Rowan skidded to a stop next to Zak and they pushed their bikes into the small playground adjacent to the village hall. It was for little kids really, but it was too cold a day for parents to be out with toddlers, so they sat on the swings.
“You’ll never believe what’s happened,” Rowan said. “The dead man. His name’s Ewan Cameron and his wife is staying at our house!”
Zak went pale, and stared at her. “What are you talking about, Rowan?”
“It’s true. She was a friend of Mum’s and Dad’s years ago, and the murdered man was too.”
Zak clutched at his throat.
“What’s wrong, Zak? Is it your asthma?”
Zak whipped out his new inhaler and took a puff. When his breathing had steadied he looked at Rowan. “Are you kidding me?”
“No, it’s true. Come round and meet her. Her name’s Laura. She’s nice.”
“No,” Zak said quickly. “I don’t want to meet her.”
Rowan shrugged. “Up to you. Weird, though, isn’t it?”
