‘You have to tell me, Mum,’ he says, his sentence broken by his sobs.
‘I don’t have to tell you anything.’ Quinn is slurring. There’s a bang and I think my heart stopped for a second. Diggerty barks but not at me, at them.
Harry speaks. ‘I know what I saw and I’m not stupid.’
It’s a relief that they’re both still okay.
‘You saw a stupid letter. It’s nothing.’
‘Why were you hiding it from me, Mum?’
‘I was not hiding it.’
‘You were and it mentions Jasmine. I know who Jasmine is.’
‘Why were you snooping through my things?’
‘It was the post. I was looking to see if I had anything.’
‘Who sends post to you, Harry? When have you ever had post? You were looking to see if there was a letter, weren’t you? Please don’t ever look at my things again.’
Again, silence fills the air. My hair is getting damp from the light snowflakes that keep landing in it and melting.
Someone slams a door, and I jump.
‘Mum,’ Harry calls. ‘I’m not dropping this and I want to know why you have a notebook that belonged to Dorette. Why has it got your characters in it, in her writing? Did Klara belong to Dorette? This new contract of yours, is it Dorette’s work? Did you steal it?’
I heard Mum talking to Dad about Dorette’s book series being cancelled. Mum wondered if she might have thrown herself off the balcony because she loved her work so much, but now I know: Quinn stole Great-Aunt Dorette’s work. I realise I can’t be here because Harry and Quinn will know I heard them.
Rustling comes from the other side of Quinn’s hedge. I hold my breath for a few seconds. I’m expecting someone to jump out at any moment, so I run until I reach the end of Quinn and Harry’s drive. I slip on the lane as I go to make the turn towards Zoe’s. There’s a prickle at the nape of my neck. It’s like I can feel someone’s gaze on me. I can’t see anyone around. That’s when I look across to see that the front door to Clover House has blown wide open in the breeze. I locked it. Zoe was with me when I locked it, so she could back me up. I don’t want to go there on my own but it’s our house and I should at least close the door. I’m shaking and not because I’m cold.
Hurrying over, I see fresh footprints coming from Clover House to the path, then they vanish when the path meets the slushy lane. My gaze darts everywhere. There are footprints on the path, some going up, some going down, some looking like the owner of the prints crossed the lane in three different places.
Tessa reverses her car from her drive onto the lane. I step back so I don’t get splashed with slush as she speeds past me. She was outside. It must have been her lurking around. She was probably listening to the argument at Quinn’s house.
I look up to see Ray back at his bedroom window, standing there with his main light on, and he’s wearing his coat and I wonder if he’s just come from our house.
Ruby steps out onto the road all dressed up in a long, shiny coat. She was having a go at my mum earlier. She barely even acknowledges me as she starts walking towards the main road where the bus stop is. Did she break into our house before heading out for the night? As she nears the bend in the road, Ruby turns and looks over her shoulder at me. Her stare bores into me so I turn away from her. Come on, Detective Morgan – think. What’s going on here?
Did Quinn go to ours earlier? I picture her rummaging through Dorette’s office, trying to get rid of any trace of the character she stole. I realise I’ve been turning around in circles, gazing across at all the houses trying to figure this all out, and now I’m dizzy.
I creep towards Clover House. The main door creaks as I step into the hallway. I go to turn the light on but then I remember, there’s no electric in the house apart from that in the apartment. ‘Who’s there? I’ve called the police.’ Fat chance. I wish I could make a phone call. I check my phone. I don’t even have a signal, which is super pants as I think calls to the police go through even if a person has no credit. ‘Who’s there?’ I say again, secretly hoping that maybe some kids come out.
No one answers which sends my neck prickling again. All I see is darkness ahead. There is no end to it and I feel giddy looking into the black abyss as I visualise an axe murderer running at me. Then a worse thought strikes. What if the axe murderer comes from behind and pushes me into the house, closing me in? My parents might not be back for hours. Zoe would miss me but she thinks I’m at Harry’s.
I turn around and dart out of the house, slamming the door behind me. That’s when I see the note pinned to the door.
DEAREST NEIGHBOUR. NO MORE GAMES. THERE IS NO HIDING, THERE IS NO RUNNING AND THE BURDEN OF YOUR PAST WILL ALMOST CERTAINLY MURDER YOUR FUTURE, THAT’S IF IT ISN’T ALREADY DOING SO. ONLY THE TRUTH CAN SET YOU FREE. LOVE FROM JASMINE.
Jasmine isn’t missing at all, she’s alive and she’ll stop at nothing to ruin Mum and Quinn’s lives.
Forty-Two
Morgan
Shaking, I run as fast as I can back to Zoe’s. Sausage barks from inside her house. As I reach her front door, I fumble in my pocket for the key and I can’t get it into the keyhole. I drop it in the snow. On my knees, I feel for the tiny piece of metal as damp seeps through my jeans. Footsteps crunch in the snow and an owl hoots in the distance. Someone is heading towards me, so I frantically search harder for the key. My fingers are losing their feeling. It’s too late. The footsteps are almost upon me. I glance up, frozen, at who is about to emerge through the hedge and I gasp. The fox takes one look at me before darting back the way it came. I place a hand over my thudding heart before finally locating the key with my almost dead fingers.
As I turn it in the lock, I hate myself for being some horror film cliché. Yes, it’s been a scary night but really, it was a fox. I slipped on the ice, I dropped the key – I’m such a douche. A part of me half expects James to pop out from behind the hedge with his phone in my face, ready to upload my fear face to TikTok for all the kids at school to see.
