And so can the police: DS Middleton and Rachel sit up straighter and Rachel crosses her legs. A pose that tells me she means business. ‘You were seen, Nancy,’ she says simply.
It’s enough to make Nancy cave. Her eyes droop at the corners in dismay. She picks at a loose thread on her leggings. I’m staring at her in shock, wondering why she’d go to such lengths to type Selena’s name over and over again on Adrian’s computer and print it out numerous times. Does that mean she had something to do with Selena’s death?
‘It wasn’t my idea,’ she cries, ‘but we were so pissed off. We just wanted to make them see.’
We?
I can feel the blood draining from my face. She’s going to admit it. But it doesn’t add up. Dean killed Selena. It has to have been him. He was blackmailing her and probably threatening her. And now he’s run off.
Adrian’s beside me on the sofa. He takes my hand and we exchange quick, worried glances.
‘Nancy?’
A voice in the doorway makes us all look up. Janice is standing there with Horace in her arms. I remember seeing her and Nancy talking – was it only yesterday?
Nancy stands up, looking desperate. She’s got to be in her mid-forties but there’s something childlike about her. Sian told me she still lives at home with her mother and has never married or had children. ‘Aunty Janice!’ she wails.
Aunty Janice!
‘What’s going on?’ My gaze whips from Nancy to Janice. ‘She’s your niece?’
I can tell that Janice is gripped by indecision as she hovers in the hallway. Rachel stands up too. ‘I think you should come in and have a chat with us,’ she says, her voice formal. DS Middleton doesn’t move.
Janice scuttles in and joins Nancy on the opposite sofa. I notice that she clutches the younger woman’s hand tightly, as if they’re both on a ship that’s about to sink.
‘I want to know what the hell is going on,’ says Adrian. His voice is full of command and authority. He’s the old Adrian, lawyer Adrian, who would bark orders on the phone.
‘It was me,’ says Nancy, before breaking down in sobs. Janice pats her back.
‘You killed Selena?’ I say, my legs feeling weak. ‘But why?’
She shakes her head. Her tears are black-streaked with eyeliner. ‘No. I don’t know anything about that. I wrote the note on Adrian’s computer. It was me that did the noose. Put the dead flowers on your doorstep. Moved your inhaler.’ She sniffs loudly, the sound reverberating around the room. She hid my inhaler? So it was she who had taken it out of the dresser that time.
DS Middleton stands up. ‘I think we might have to carry on with this down at the station.’
I don’t want them to leave. I need to know more. I stand up too. ‘But why?’ I blurt out. ‘Why?’
Janice’s usual jolly face has paled, making the spot of blusher on each cheek stand out. ‘It was my fault too. I helped Nancy with the noose. We were doing it for my sister. For Nancy’s mum.’
‘Who’s Nancy’s mum?’ I ask.
‘Clara Gummage. From the pharmacy,’ replies Janice.
Of course.
‘But why would she want you and Nancy to do this kind of stuff?’
‘We don’t want you here,’ cries Nancy, spittle flying out of her mouth. ‘Nobody wants you here.’
‘You mean Lydia?’
‘She’s got nothing to do with it,’ insists Nancy, glaring at me.
‘You’re friends. And she’s made it clear she can’t stand us. Is that down to you?’
She crosses her arms across her chest but doesn’t answer.
I turn to Janice, my voice pleading. ‘Please, what’s going on?’
