His words howl in my head, a roar as loud as the sea.
‘She was killed next to her car, in the grounds of her house, just like in your plan,’ says DS Kombothekra. ‘Between 5.20 and 5.30 p.m. Stabbed several times from behind.’
I can’t breathe. Oh my God.Lottie …What have the police told her? What does she think I …
‘And your whereabouts at the relevant time aren’t in doubt, are they, Jemma? You were here. So, I have a few questions for you, as I’m sure you can imagine. Did you arrange for Tom Tulloch to kill Marianne Upton today? Did you plan to use us, the police, as the most unshakeable of all possible alibis? And – maybe I’m being overly imaginative, but … was there another, even cleverer part of your scheme that you haven’t told me about: confessing to your plan and pretending you wanted to prevent yourself from going through with it, at the same time as establishing your alibi?’
Oh, God, oh, God, oh, God. What does this mean? Could he be making it up? I can’t begin to make sense of it, if it’s true. I feel cold all over.
‘If I’m right, then you’re not the only one who needs an alibi, correct?’
Dread clutches at my stomach and my throat. It can’t be true. Marianne can’t have been murdered while I’ve been here. Of course she hasn’t. It must be a trick. The police don’t trust me, so they’re testing me.
‘Tom Tulloch also needs one,’ DS Kombothekra goes on. ‘His brother, as you said? Or anyone but his brother? Yes, I think anyone but.’ His calm demeanour seems chillingly smooth and mechanical now that I’m falling apart inside. ‘That’s what I’d go for, if I wanted it to seem as if I’d decided not to put the plan into action after all.’
11
Monday 30 October 2023, 9 p.m.
SELLERS / GIBBS
Okay, so he wasn’t imagining it. Sellers had been right: Lottie Stelling had him under surveillance. Each time he came up to the top floor, she was there too, only a few seconds behind him. Wasn’t trying to hide it, either. She was in white pyjamas now, with a large white towelling robe over them that obviously belonged to someone larger. Alarmingly, her face seemed to be smeared in what looked like goose fat. Unlikely, thought Sellers, who had encountered no geese in the grounds of Devey House so far.
‘Don’t worry,’ she said. ‘I know it looks gross. I’m slugging.’
Suzanne’s voice travelled up from the landing below, ‘Lotts! Come and do your teeth!’
Lottie gave Sellers a ‘she’s so clueless’ look. She said, ‘I love Suzanne to bits, don’t get me wrong, she’s my godmother and everything, but …’ She shrugged. ‘I don’t know how she thinks I’m going to be able to sleep tonight.’
‘I’m really sorry for your loss,’ said Sellers.
‘Oh.’ Lottie looked surprised. ‘Thanks. I just meant … I’m not going to be able to stop thinking about it all. I mainly still don’t believe it’s happened.’
‘Did you love Marianne to bits?’ Sellers asked her, interested to see where her ‘yes’ would fall on the scale of heartfelt to perfunctory to downright unconvincing. If he’d understood correctly, she’d just tried to tell him that she was more shocked than sad.
‘She loved me.’ Lottie looked away.
Interesting.
‘So, tell me,’ Sellers changed the subject. ‘Is it me, or is it this room?’ He pointed at the open door to Marianne’s empty former study. ‘It’s got to be one or the other. Every time I come up here, you’re tailing me.’
‘Just want to see what you’re doing up here.’ Lottie chewed the inside of her lip. ‘There’s nothing in here, but you keep coming up.’
‘This time it’s because it’s the quietest floor of the house, and I had to take a call.’
‘If you say so.’
‘What do you mean by that?’ asked Sellers.
‘Nothing.’
‘Tell me, Lottie. I won’t mind, whatever it is.’
Her expression was severe. ‘You didn’t need to come up here just because your sergeant rang you. There are loads of quiet rooms on the ground floor, rooms no one ever uses.’
She knew Sam had rung him. Had she eavesdropped, heard the whole conversation? Probably. Sellers’ half, at least.
‘Lottie Nancy Stelling!’ Suzanne yelled again from downstairs. ‘Get yourself down here before I have to come up and drag you down by force!’
