Adrian puts a hand on my knee to steady it. ‘We don’t know anything yet,’ he says calmly.
‘The guests? What will happen to them?’
He squeezes my knee gently, then stands up, flexing his legs. ‘The Greysons are still out, thankfully. Janice and Nathan are in the dining room. He must have gone for a walk in the rain – looks like a drowned rat. I said I’ll make them a strong coffee, but now that I’m going to get Carol, maybe you could do it. I’d ask Nathan but he’s in no fit state.’
‘And Dean?’
His expression becomes even more sombre. ‘There’s no sign of him. I’ll see you later.’ He kisses the top of my head. I watch him cross the room, thankful he’s taking charge. It’s like having the old Adrian back. The one who’d steered me through my busy life, like a human road map. Maybe I’d underestimated him. He seems energized.
Evie shuffles away from me and picks up the TV remote, tucking her legs under her. ‘Can I put the telly on?’ she asks, perkier again at the thought of watchingSofia the First. Oh, to be a six-year-old. Amelia is still sitting in the same upright position. She’s not moved or spoken. She’s just staring at her hands in her lap.
I tell Evie she can watch TV – it’ll be a welcome distraction for her. Then I get up, move to the other side of Amelia and pull her into my arms. She’s unyielding. It’s like hugging a mannequin. ‘Amelia, honey, I know we’ve all had a huge shock but if you want to talk …’
She recoils from me as if I’ve bitten her. ‘I’m fine. I don’t want to talk about it. Can you just leave it?’
I hold my hands up in surrender. ‘Okay. But I’m here if you need me.’
‘I just want to watch TV,’ she mutters, her eyes trained on the screen. My heart breaks for her. For both of them. I want to shield them from the bad things that happen. From death. But here it is, turning up unannounced on our doorstep.
I can feel tears threatening again when I think of Selena. Why had she been upstairs when her bedroom is down here? Had she been meeting Dean? Or someone else?
22
I tell the girls I need to see to the guests and reluctantly leave them in the playroom. As soon as I step into the hallway I’m collared by a uniformed policeman who looks to be in his early twenties. He introduces himself as PC Avebury. Behind him I can see a forensics team and the photographer that Adrian mentioned. He’s kneeling down and taking snaps of the blood on the tiles.
‘Are you the owner of this guesthouse?’ he asks me.
‘One of them. Yes.’
‘We need to look through the victim’s room.’
The victim? Why refer to her like that? Do they suspect something?
I show them to her room. Ruby is asleep on her bed and Julia sits beside her, looking morose. I explain why we’re here and she scoops up Ruby, who stirs and opens her eyes, then leans her head against Julia’s shoulder. ‘You can take her into the playroom, if you want,’ I say. ‘The girls are in there watching TV.’
She nods and smiles sadly.
PC Avebury turns to me. ‘Thank you,’ he says. ‘We’ll let you know when we’ve finished. Can I ask what Mrs Perry was wearing yesterday?’
I point to a pile of clothes in the corner. ‘She was wearing that jumpsuit,’ I say.
‘Okay. Thanks. We’ll let you know when we’ve finished.’
I leave them to it and go to the dining room to make coffee.
Nathan is in the dining room when I enter. He jumps up when he sees me.
‘The police are here?’ he says. He looks wired, like he’s drunk too much coffee.
I nod and explain what they’re doing.
‘Will they ask us questions?’
‘I don’t know, Nathe,’ I say irritably. I’m tired and upset and I haven’t got the energy for Nathan’s odd behaviour.
‘You can’t tell them I was sleeping downstairs. It’ll look weird.’
‘No, it won’t.’
