Charlie Hearst said, ‘Not for us to confirm or deny, but you have permission to feel the warmth of completeness as you put the story together.’
Smug git.
Hubert added: ‘You will have a choice between syringe and cliff in just a moment, so we don’t mind you narrating our little history here. We’d quite like to know what you think.’
From behind them, Wendy said: ‘We don’t have time for this. I’ll get you quickly to the end. It began with fine intentions—’
‘It still has thefinest!’ cried Charlie Hearst.
‘It had, has, the finest intentions,’ Wendy agreed. She was still not visible to Edward. ‘They see cancer patients and others in the most hideous pain. No doctor is even allowed to administer fatal morphine—’
‘The rules are bizarre. We were showing kindness,’ said Hubert.
‘—meanwhile the government makes promises and does nothing. My friends here found a way of repurposing some of the isotope used in radiography. I didn’t follow the science like they do, but it will kill you in a week and leave no trace. The first patient they offered it to had bone cancer. Imagine the pain of the bone of your skull becoming perforated, looking like an Aero bar? He took a dose and was beautifully comatose within three days. No coroner found the cause because the isotope is so unstable it evaporates—’
‘Isotopes don’t evaporate, but I’ll let you have that,’ Charlie Hearst told Wendy. ‘And that’s all we did. Offer a service.But you see, we needed funds, and so there had to be a charge. And let’s leave it there.’
There was a moment of silence. The sea churned its infinite symphony below them.
‘It’s about money,’ said Kim. ‘Your husband died because of dirty, filthy money.’
‘I need to explain,’ said Wendy, still standing behind her.
‘By explain you mean justify,’ said Hubert.
Edward put in, ‘If we’re going to die, we should know. I want to know why Wendy killed her husband.’
‘I was IN THE CINEMA,’ she shouted behind him.
‘So who did it?’ asked Edward.
‘Tell him, Hubert,’ said Charlie.
‘Why should I? Why does he need to know?’
‘Because this is on you, Hubert. You were so efficient and so clever until you decided to remove the crossbow.’
‘I told you a hundred times, I cut myself on it. Imagine the forensic trove for the police.’
‘You cut yourself on it,’ his brother repeated mockingly, as if to increase the humiliation.
Wendy said: ‘And that left the mystery, and the suspicion on me, and there we are, Edward and Kim, you have your story.’
‘So why did you bring me in?’ asked Edward.
‘You want to know?’
‘Not really. I have a suspicion.’
‘I’ll explain,’ Charlie broke in. ‘We don’t have time to go around the houses. My brother messed it all up, so the police were never going to go for suicide. The mystery left Wendy under suspicion. And although the police investigation had long since stalled, she just couldn’tbearto live with the ostracization.’ This last was said with such contempt that Edward and Kim both winced.
Behind them, Wendy gave a tut of outrage. ‘It wasn’tjustthe ostracization, Charlie. It waseverything. My phone line mightas well have been cut. Nobody called. No one said hello. The church group took me off the bloody volunteer email lists, I was oh-so-very-politely told not to bother coming back to whist club, and the school basically barred me from doing reading time with the children any more.’ Her voice got higher and higher with each perceived insult. ‘I was being cold-shouldered in the street. Ignored by former friends. And as for the lunches—’
‘Oh my God,’ Kim snorted suddenly. ‘As for the lunches?You were so piqued because no one would go for lunch with you any more? And there’s me, such a fool, feeling sorry for you, thinkingIwould take you for lunch when all of this was over.’ She was laughing now. ‘You blew your life up, brought us in and blew this whole thing apart because ofwhist and lunches?’ Kim’s chair creaked under her as she bent forward, trying to catch her breath through gales of forced laughter, as Edward stared in amazement.
‘You fuckingbitch.’ Wendy stormed around to stand beside Kim. ‘It wasn’t just the lunches – I used to be someone, and now thanks to bloody Hubert and the bloody crossbow, I’m a nobody. A NOBODY! Think how you’d like it if someone took away your flashy Porsche and your bloody business and wouldn’t even sit down with you for a fucking sandwich any more – you wouldn’t be so smug, you cow.’ She gave Kim’s chair a hard thrust and it wobbled on two legs before settling back, ending Kim’s laughter abruptly.
Charlie stepped forward and warded Wendy away. ‘Don’t knock her over, Wendy, for God’s sake. You’ve done enough harm with all of this already, she doesn’t need some extra bruises before she takes the injection, does she? Go over there and calm down.’ He nudged her away, back towards the house. ‘Go on, go.’ He turned back to Edward and Kim, both now sober once more.
