‘Chocolate. I got my daughter to bring it in.’
‘I didn’t see her bring anything.’
‘No, come to think about it, you’re right. I asked the nurse to buy it from the hospital shop. I’ve had a couple out of the box but I don’t want to get fat sat in here doing nothing all day. It’s all right for you, you can eat what you like.’
‘That nurse? Is it the young lad? The fit one? What’s his name? Jamey.’
Bella chuckled.
‘Yeah – you’re full of shit,’ Jolene hissed. ‘He’s not going to be interested in a pregnant woman or a killer.’
‘Believe me, he has exotic tastes. I have come to know him quite well when I’ve been on my exercise break. Why do you think I’ve been taking so long?’
‘I thought you must be having tests, to see if you are actually human or not.’
‘Yes – you’re right, I was testing Jamey and he passed with flying colours. He’s coming back in a minute. He’s on the night shift.’
Jolene sat up in bed, waiting.
The door opened and Jamey walked in.
‘Hello, ladies. Just come to make sure you have everything you need.’
‘I need to take a shower. Would you be able to help me with that?’
He looked back towards the door of the ward. ‘Yes, we’re not too busy. I can help you, no problem. I’ll go and request your key.’
‘Told you…’ Bella smirked.
Jolene grinned at her and shook her head. ‘Lucky bitch.’
Jamey came back a few minutes later and unlocked Bella’s cuffs. She picked up her towel and wash bag and the box of chocolates, which she handed over to Jolene.
‘You can have the rest.’
Half an hour later, when they returned to the ward, Jolene was sleeping deeply. Bella caught hold of Jamey and pulled him towards her for a kiss.
‘Pull the curtains,’ she whispered.
Jamey shook his head. ‘I’ll get the sack; anyway, Jolene might wake up.’
‘She won’t. She’s snoring her head off like a pig.’
‘I’ve got some work to do – when it all settles down for the night, I’ll come back.’ He kissed her. Bella held on to him as he tried to leave – her arm beside the bed as if she was handcuffed, as if he’d remembered to handcuff her back up. She watched him leave the ward then she slipped out of bed and felt beneath the back of her cupboard. She felt along, until she found what she was looking for, and picked the corner, stripping off the sticking plaster that held it in place. She walked across to Jolene and looked at the empty box of chocolates beside her bed. The sleepless nights that Bella had endured, the sleeping tablets she’d stashed would all be worth it now. She peeled back the bed cover and exposed Jolene’s stomach. She whispered, ‘Come to Mummy.’
Jamey could hear her singing. He walked towards the door of the side ward and paused outside, to listen. He heard the sounds of a lullaby.
As Jamey opened the door, Bella had her back to him. She was dancing around the room, twirling on her toes, but, in the gloom, she turned and saw him, and danced her way towards him, laughing. He could see her nightdress was covered in blood and in her arms was a baby.
Chapter 53
After they left Emily Porter, the three detectives walked back to their car in the visitors’ car park in Prince’s School.
‘Are we going to make it down to see Megan Penarth tonight, guv?’
‘How far is it now, Tucker?’
‘It’s at least three hours to Exeter and then half an hour on from there.’
‘Is there anywhere to stay there?’
‘Yes. There’s a really good pub that does rooms.’
‘Ring ahead and get us fixed up with some accommodation there and then we’ll visit Megan Penarth as well. We have to stay somewhere tonight, after all. If nothing else, we can find out a bit more about her from the locals.’
Tucker got the number and phoned through to the Boulder Inn.
‘All done. Three rooms, breakfast included. They have a restaurant there for dinner.’
‘Sounds great,’ said Willis.
Carter glanced across at her and grinned. ‘Must be getting hungry again by now.’
‘Starving.’
‘Yeah, and me,’ Tucker spoke up from the back seat.
‘Jesus…’ Carter started up the engine and put on the headlights. The place was suddenly swarming with noisy children, loading into home-time coaches in the car park.
‘Let’s get out of here – where we can hear ourselves think.’
They hit a heavy stream of traffic making its way towards the motorway. It was rush hour. They were stuck in a queue before they’d managed to get a mile.
‘We may as well get some work done… impressions of Emily Porter?’
‘Interesting to hear that she thought all the women were lying,’ said Willis.’ She was definitely having trouble sticking to the script – she’d expected us and rehearsed it. She has a lot she’s covering up.’
‘Covering up about what?’ Tucker asked. He’d found some chewing gum in his pocket. He passed the packet forward to the two in the front. Willis took it from him and unwrapped a piece of gum for Carter and handed it to him.
‘I tell you something that I know she’s lied about,’ Tucker added. ‘She sure as hell lied about her lack of expectations for the future for her and Ellerman. No one invests five years of their life and their savings with someone and says it’s still just a casual thing.’
‘She was straight out of a failed a marriage,’ said Willis. ‘If she met Ellerman on the rebound, does that make a difference to the way she sees him? Is he more of a friend that helped her through a bad time?’
‘No, I don’t think it does. She would have gone through a lot of emotions in those five years. Maybe her expectations would have changed from the start, when maybe she just saw it as flattering that he would come and see her once a week. After all, he comes across as a good catch. It would have helped to rebuild her bruised ego, but, by now? By now, she’s got to want something permanent. She may have known there were others but she’s got to have thought she’d come out the winner in the end.’
‘Maybe she still does,’ said Carter. ‘She didn’t want to tell us how much money she’s given him.’
‘I think it’s a case of think of a number and double it,’ said Tucker. ‘She’s not going to let Ellerman get into trouble if she can help it. It’s her and him and she doesn’t seem to see the others.’
‘You have to take your hat off to him, how he’s managed to inspire loyalty,’ Carter said. ‘I suppose we have to look at it from her point of view. She needed a friend, she needed to feel attractive, and he didn’t promise her that anything would happen fast; so, in her opinion, he hasn’t really lied – that much.’
‘Yeah – I’ve got a horrible feeling you’re right,’ said Tucker.
‘What did Megan Penarth seem like when you met her?’ Willis turned to ask.
‘She seemed very bright, very independent, confident, used to doing things her own way.’
‘Olivia was the same type – driven, confident; quite a loner at work. Gillian too. Lisa was a boss at a gym,’ said Carter. ‘Emily seems independent, quirky, strong.’
‘Megan Penarth organized the meeting between the women,’ said Tucker. ‘We need to know, did she contact others who were going to come and couldn’t make it or were these women the only ones interested?’ Carter turned.
‘These are his regulars,’ said Willis.
‘A fast-diminishing group,’ Tucker said.
‘Do you think Emily will see Ellerman again?’ asked Carter.
Willis replied: ‘Yes. Definitely.’
At just before eight they arrived at the Boulder Inn. They parked up, signed in and went straight to the bar and restaurant with their room keys in their pockets. They sat in the restaurant of the old mid-eighteenth-century coaching inn. Willis switched her phone on to vibrate only. She had texted Tina, to tell her that she wouldn’t be home tonight; having previously promised that, if she was back in time, they’d meet for a hot chocolate and a catch-up.