‘What happened in the cellar, Cassandra? Are you able to tell us?’
She gave a slight nod. ‘I… I got a message on my phone.’ She closed her eyes and swallowed. ‘I thought Kerry wanted me to go over. When I got there, I got a message from Kerry telling me she was in the cellar. Then I heard the kitchen door close behind me and I panicked and ran to the cellar. That’s when I saw Mrs Reed bound to a chair and he hit me.’ She flinched.
‘Mrs Reed was bound to a chair?’
‘Mr Reed had her tied up in the cellar. It’s all a sick game. They were getting off on it.’ Her bottom lip began to quiver and she buried the side of her face in the pillow.
‘It’s okay, Cassandra, you’re safe now.’
She wiped her eyes on the crisp white sheet, bloodying it with the streaks of tear-mingled blood from her cheek. ‘When I came around, they were both there, all turned on, hands all over each other. I had to pretend not to be looking. I thought they were going to kill me. That’s when I heard them talking about the airport.’ Her voice had almost gone.
Gina poured her a glass of water and held it under the woman’s cracked lip and tilted it. Cassandra brought her trembling hand from under the sheet and sipped the water, almost spilling it down her chin.
‘He strangled me and I remained still, hoping that he’d think I was dead. The chair tipped and my face hurt. I can’t remember much after that. I remember you being there, only for a few seconds and then I remember being in the ambulance.’
Gina pulled the chair a little closer as Jacob remained standing by the curtain. ‘You’ve been really helpful. Is there anyone I can call to be with you?’
The woman shook her head, her curls sticking to her face, her stare fixed on the glass of water she’d placed on the metal table.
‘Hello.’ Robin Dawkins peered around the curtain. ‘Cass, oh my God!’ He hurried over to her side and took her hand. Gina stepped back, allowing him to sit. She felt a pang of sadness. Cassandra had no one apart from Robin and he had let her down. He had a record he’d failed to mention to her and he’d been bailed that day for dealing drugs.
He went to place his hand over hers. She pulled away and looked down. ‘You lied to me.’
He ran his fingers through his hair and hunched over. ‘Cass, I understand if you never want to see me again. I did something stupid when I was at school and I know it was wrong and I hurt someone. I’ve changed and not a day goes by when I don’t think about the hurt I caused. I’ve been so, so, stupid.’ He placed his head in his hands.
‘I don’t know if I can ever forgive you. You made me feel horrible about myself and look at me. Look at the wreck I’ve become. You hurt me. You always make me feel like I’m not good enough.’
Gina stepped outside the curtain and listened as Robin Dawkins continued to plead how sorry he was.
‘Just post your key through my letterbox when you’ve packed your things.’
He stormed out of the bay without glancing back at Gina and Jacob. Gina hurried back as Cass began to sob.
‘I don’t want all this any more. I can do this on my own and I don’t need him. It’s funny, for the first time in my life, I feel free.’ A smile spread across her face.
‘I’ll come back to speak to you later when you’ve had a bit more time to recover. Are you sure there’s no one I can call?’
She shook her head and paused. ‘I have something to tell you, something I should have said when I came to the station.’ Gina sat back in the plastic chair.
Chapter Seventy-One
Gina sat opposite Alison Reed. Several minutes had passed and she’d refused to speak, just like her husband had. The cracks were beginning to show. It was as if the longer they all sat there, the more she was itching to say something. Her solicitor whispered a few words to her. She pushed him away. ‘I know what I’m doing.’ The solicitor rolled his eyes and leaned back on the creaky chair, throwing his pad and pen to the table.
‘Mr Reed had a lot to tell us.’ That was a bluff but one she was willing to go with. Despite all the messages on Holly’s tablet and phone that they found in his hand luggage, he still wouldn’t say a word. They didn’t need him to talk. The search of his house had produced the size nine work shoes. The pink tablet and the phone that Holly had used, both of which had been paid for by one of their companies, had been found in his hand luggage along with all the messages between Trevor and Holly. Gina had read them all through and the passionate messages had turned dismissive at the mention of a baby. Trevor hadn’t wanted a child. Gina almost wanted to let out a small disbelieving laugh. After all that, the baby’s father was Trevor’s very own cheating son-in-law.
With faded make-up Alison Reed’s complexion took on a grey tone. Her honey-streaked hair stuck to the side of her face and her lipstick had been smudged away with only the faintest of lines remaining around the Cupid’s bow.
‘I’ll ask you again, did you go anywhere near Holly Long’s room on the night of her murder?’ Gina could feel the weight of her own stare bearing down on Alison Reed. Her knees were shaking a little.Come on, Alison, you know you want to tell.
‘I didn’t want to hurt her. I just wanted to tell her to keep the hell away from my husband. I read the messages on his phone. She was pregnant and I couldn’t have it, he didn’t want a baby either. I couldn’t let her ruin what we had. I had to help him.’
‘So you killed her?’
She nodded and a tear streamed down her face. ‘It was just like the games we play. I wanted to feel the power he had.’ She undid the top button of her shirt and revealed her bruised neck. ‘I wanted her to pay for everything. The rage, everything, I couldn’t control it.’
‘We know about your games. Cassandra Wilson is going to make a full recovery. She told us what happened in the cellar. We also saw the messages you sent from your daughter’s phone, telling Cassandra to come over. You both planned for her to come and find you in the cellar when you found Kerry’s phone, the one she accidentally left at your house. It was a part of your little game, then the tables turned. You thought she’d die and you’d be living in Dubai before any of this came out.’
She shrugged her shoulders and looked away.
