She brings the pillow back down. It sags at her side.
She looks up after a moment. Audrey, Teddy and Ivy have all entered the room and are watching her nervously in the dim light.
‘I can’t,’ she whispers. ‘I hate him, but I can’t. I’m just not capable. I keep picturing Tilly and Seb’s faces.’
Ivy nods solemnly. ‘I don’t think we’re cut out for murder, you guys.’
Beneath them on the bed, John stirs, and they glance at each other with panic.
‘Run!’ Audrey squeals, and they do as instructed, thundering down the stairs and towards the front door, the panic turning to squeals of hilarity.
They don’t stop running when they get outside, heading at full pelt down the road towards Pauline’s car, giggling as they go. The fear has turned to hysterical relief and they all pile into Pauline’s car, breathing heavily.
‘Why do so many of our plans end up with us running for our lives?’ Pauline asks, panting hard.
‘Ididonce suggest we could cycle away from our crime scenes . . .’ Audrey points out and they all nod their acknowledgement.
There they all sit for a minute, the adrenaline slowly draining away. From this distance, they watch the peeling front door, waiting for John to appear. Surely he must’ve been woken up by their maniacal exit?
Nothing happens. The door stays shut. Eventually Teddy pipes up from the back seat. ‘Pauline, you can stay at mine until we figure out what to do.’
‘Are you sure?’ Pauline is ridiculously grateful, though that enormous, pink penthouse apartment intimidates her a little.
‘Of course I’m sure,’ Teddy replies.
‘I’d offer,’ Audrey titters from the passenger seat beside her, ‘but the Scottish castle is a bit of a trek.’
Pauline grimaces. ‘I may have to take you up on that if all of this goes to hell. I might need to get as far away from all this as possible.’
They continue to watch the front of the house for a few more minutes. There is still no sign of John.
From the back seat, Ivy suddenly sighs. ‘I know some of us are literally already murderers, but I don’t think we’ve got it in us to be serial killers.’
‘I don’t either,’ says Pauline as Teddy shakes her head sadly.
‘I really thought this was the best way to help people,’ she murmurs, staring out of the window. ‘I thought I was strong enough to do it.’
‘I don’t think it makes us weak that we can’t,’ Audrey replies after a moment. ‘I don’t think we’re bad people because we can’t bring ourselves to kill anyone.’
‘Itisdisappointing though,’ Teddy says. ‘I really did want towantto do it.’
‘And offing John would’ve been such a handy solution to this whole mess,’ says Pauline. They fall silent and eventually she reaches for the ignition. ‘We can’t sit here for ever. We better go.’
They fiddle about with seatbelts, and Audrey reaches down into the footwell to place her handbag. Immediately she knocks it over, spilling the contents everywhere and laughing at her own clumsiness. Pauline reaches across to help her retrieve things, picking up Audrey’s passport first.
The passport.
She remembers that moment at the airport on their way to Saint-Tropez – that glimpse she got of her friend’s photo page. There was something . . .
The name. Was that right? She can’t be sure. But five days later, Pauline’s head feels clearer, and something occurs to her. Something clicks. Something that has been niggling and wriggling at the back of her brain all week.
She opens up the passport and stares at it. She didn’t imagine it. She wasn’t wrong. There it is. The name.
She stares at it for a second or two longer, trying to convince herself she’s wrong. Perhaps – after everything they’ve been through – Pauline’s mind has finally snapped. Maybe she’s seeing things. Because if this means what she thinks it means . . .
No, it can’t be right. Except there it is, laminated right there on the most legal of legal documents.
At last, Pauline looks up from the page, everything she thought she knew shifting. Audrey is staring at her, and Pauline stares right back.
