‘I wanted to see what she knew about you,’ adds Kathryn. ‘Because I realized it couldn’t be a coincidence that you’d decided to take a job at your grandmother’s house.’
‘But when I picked up the phone I was scared because I’d seen a man lurking outside my flat,’ says Courtney.
‘So I drove straight round there,’ adds Kathryn.
‘I’d gone to see Courtney too,’ says Vince. It’s the first thing he’s said so far this evening and his male voice sounds abrasive in this small flat. It reminds me of Arlo. ‘It was silly, but I knew she was leaving the flat and I wanted to … say goodbye to it. Goodbye to Una.’
‘I think Vince interrupted the intruder because as he was walking towards my flat the man suddenly pushed past him, got into his van and sped away,’ says Courtney.
‘And when I turned into the road, I saw the van speeding towards me,’ says Kathryn. ‘I recognized it as Lewis’s. I didn’t think much of it. Until Courtney told me what had happened.’
I fidget in my seat. ‘So Arlo was Lewis?’
‘Yes.’
‘Which means he’s dating Daisy. Who works with you.’
Kathryn purses her lips. ‘I guessed that. Someone’s been fiddling the books in the gallery. But that’s another story.’
I flop back against the headrest. My mind is aching. ‘I just don’t understand.’
‘There’s a lot I don’t understand, either,’ agrees Kathryn. ‘But Lewis – sorry, Arlo – took a job with my mother because he wanted to get in with her. He must have known that she’d disinherited Viola. I don’t know how. And thought it was a way in. But when he realized my mother was having none of it –’
I’m puzzled. ‘Wait! Your mother knew who he was?’
Kathryn shakes her head. ‘No. He never told her. He had a better plan. He wanted to install you in the job. It’s obvious when you think about it. He knew my mother would take to you.’ She looks embarrassed. ‘Anyone can see my mother gets infatuated with pretty young blonde girls.’
‘So – what? He murdered the others so that I could get the job?’
‘I think he planned for you to get the job after Matilde.That was when he started working with us. And when she died, my mother gave the job to Jemima pretty swiftly.’
‘But when Jemima took the job last October I was travelling. I only got back after Christmas.’
‘I think he killed Jemima hoping you’d get the job, but my mother employed Una before he had the chance to show you the advertisement. So he must have felt he had no choice but to kill Una as well,’ explains Kathryn.
I swallow a lump in my throat. My brother has killed three people. Needlessly. And for what? Money?
‘I just … I can’t get my head around this.’
Courtney sits forward. ‘I’m so sorry, Willow. When Kathryn was at mine, I had a phone call from Peter. The police had contacted him to say they had located a signal for Una’s phone at an address in Weston-super-Mare. Because of what Kathryn had found out about you being Viola’s daughter we thought … We came here thinking it might have been you.’
I stare at her, like she’s grown an extra head. ‘What do you mean? That you thought I might have killed those girls?’
‘Only for a minute. When we pulled up outside the flat and saw the white van, we guessed it must be your brother.’
‘I knew the police were on their way,’ Kathryn adds. ‘That’s why I was brave enough to come inside.’ She touches her throat. ‘Although for a moment there I thought he’d kill me too.’
‘I’m so sorry,’ I say, tears forming again.
‘I’m sorry, too,’ says Kathryn. ‘For being so awful to you. And to Jemima and Una. Even Matilde. If I’d only reported Jemima missing earlier the police might have – Idon’t know – found Arlo sooner. Una might not have died.’
‘Why did you hide Jemima’s passport?’ asks Courtney, sharply.
Kathryn looks shame-faced. ‘I’m not proud of what I did. Money. It does strange things to you. Ed and I, we were struggling. I was worried that my mother would become so infatuated with one of the Viola-lookalikes that she’d push me out into the cold. She’s harsh like that. She cut off Viola for good because she didn’t approve of her boyfriend. When Matilde joined, Mother changed her will. She was going to leave a huge lump sum to her. To a girl she’d known five minutes!’ Her voice rises and, as though conscious of this, she lowers it again. ‘Anyway, I argued with Jemima. I didn’t trust her. Rightly or wrongly, I don’t know. When she flounced off with her bag but without her passport I thought she might be back. But when she didn’t appear, I was relieved. I hoped she’d just taken off, maybe moved in with that mystery man of hers – who, I think now, must have been Arlo – so I took it from her room and told my mother she’d resigned. I forgot all about the passport. And then when she died I was scared to throw it away, in case it was found and somehow traced back to me and looked suspicious. So I hid it. I panicked.’
‘And the necklace?’ I ask. ‘Was it Jemima’s?’
Kathryn shakes her head. ‘No. It was my mother’s. The photo inside was of Viola. I found it in the bin after Viola left. I fished it out and kept it. I’d forgotten all about it until you found it.’
