Amongst the debris of smashed tail lights on Daniel’s car had been a tracker. A device no larger than two inches square stuck to the bottom of the rear bumper had triggered an alert on Donna’s phone whenever the vehicle moved. Eric confirmed that as soon as Donna had seen the car was on the motorway, they had jumped into their own vehicle and eventually caught up with them near Manchester and then waited for him to stop. They had known Daniel’s every move thanks to a piece of kit that cost under fifty quid from Amazon.
Eric had been charged with two counts of murder and one count of accessory to murder. He was the one who had stood at the foot of Ashley’s body waiting for her to die.
Donna had been charged with one count of murder and two counts as an accessory. It was unlikely that either of them would ever see freedom again.
Lucinda Butler had eventually been traced to a hotel in Bridgnorth where she had gone to lick her wounds. She had made no contact with anyone for two days. She had been cleared of any involvement and was making plans to join her sister down south.
A huge relief had come with a notification from social services that they were closing the complaint against Daniel. Gloria had been informed that Ava’s natural father was prepared to sign over parental rights, and Daniel would be speaking to a lawyer as soon as he was out of hospital.
Kim’s disciplinary with Woody had been downgraded to a ‘serious chat’ next week, and the reason for her good fortune would be dealt with once she was finished here.
She knocked on the shabbily painted door.
Eventually it was opened by a scowl that was bigger than the person.
‘What yer want, Chief Sow? Ain’t you done e-fuckin-nough?’
Kim was sure the news of her daughter had reached her, and despite her disinterest in her child, it would still be someone else’s fault.
‘I need to speak to you, Martha,’ Kim said. ‘On a subject that is well overdue.’
‘Please yourself,’ she said, walking away from the door.
Kim followed her into the kitchen, bracing herself for the smell. She wasn’t disappointed. Days’ old dishes were piled so high in the sink there was no way to access running water.
‘What else do you want from me? You’ve took everything.’
‘I’ve taken nothing. Your daughter made her own choices, and you’d disowned her anyway.’
‘Yeah, but…’
‘That’s not why I’m here,’ she said. Although she did intend to speak to the woman about her daughter, she had other business first.
‘This curse – when are you gonna let it go?’ she asked, taking a seat.
‘Not while there’s breath in my body. That hex wiped out my ancestors. It’s still working now. Martin won’t see the age of fifty, and William has sworn off marriage cos he ain’t gonna make anyone a widow.’
‘Do you even understand the harm your belief has done?’ she asked.
‘You’ll never understand. It’s been the bane of our life for decades, and it’s real whether you believe it or not.’
‘Tell me about your great-uncle Edmund,’ Kim said.
‘Died aged forty-nine of some disease back in the fifties.’
‘What was he like?’
‘Bit of a bastard, I think. Beat his wife, heavy drinker, in and out the slammer a few times.’
Yes, all of that was true.
‘He died of herpes, Martha. Old uncle Edmund liked to put it about a bit.’
‘Wouldn’t surprise me.’
‘Would it surprise you to learn he had three illegitimate children, two of them boys? One of them died aged sixty-nine and the other is still alive. Got dementia, but he ain’t dead.’
Martha’s mouth hung open, and Kim was happy to press home the point.
