Chapter 24

The deafening silence at the kitchen table is punctuated by Zelda's hiccupy sobs, the hoot of an owl and the gekkering of foxes.

‘We need to call the police,' Linda insists. ‘God, my mouth is so dry.' Getting to her feet, she snatches a glass off the drying rail and fills it with tap water.

‘They'll lock me up,' Zelda murmurs tearfully. ‘I'll be an old woman before I'm released.'

‘Not if you explain that you acted in self-defence,' Linda claims, sitting back down, glass in hand. ‘We'll get you a good barrister. Theo's cousin Andrea is…'

But Zelda shakes her head to and fro, to and fro. ‘Bella, please don't call the police. I'll die in prison.'

‘It'll be manslaughter,' Linda explains. ‘You might not even go to prison.'

Zelda uses her hands as earmuffs, rocking back and forth in her chair. ‘They won't believe me. Please, Bella, don't call them. How will it look when they dig up my file?' I bite the flesh inside my bottom lip, that thought did occur to me, too.

‘We can't just leave him there,' Linda says to me firmly. ‘Look, if we don't call the emergency services it'll be conspiracy to murder, you do realise that, don't you?' Silence. ‘Right, I'm ringing them now.' Linda's hand disappears into her handbag.

Leaping to her feet, Zelda grabs Linda's arm with both hands. ‘No, don't,' she cries, wrestling her for the handset. ‘If you do, I'll kill myself. I mean it.'

I comb my hands through my hair as they continue to squabble, their voices growing louder and louder and louder, and then, ‘Oh, just shut the fuck up and let me think.'

The room falls silent. All I can hear is the thump, thump, thump of my racing heart. This morning I didn't think my life could get any worse, but what happened with Liam pales into insignificance compared to this. Zelda has killed a man, albeit in self-defence. Her fiancé of a few hours. My ex-fitness instructor. Linda's one-night stand. We're all connected to him in some way. Linda's right, we can't just leave him there. We will have to call the police, but I can't relay this to Zelda, not while she's like this.

‘Can't we get rid of the body?' Zelda asks. ‘I saw a thriller on TV where…'

‘Are you out of your mind?' Linda yells. ‘We'll all go to prison once they dig him up from your garden. Our DNA is all over him.'

‘We were all at a party with him,' I offer. ‘He's bound to have our DNA on him. The police won't question that.'

Linda's eyes have become like discs. ‘You can't be serious?'

A beat and then. ‘No, no, of course not. We're not going to bury him.' I drum my fingers against the table, filling the silence. ‘Did Theo turn up?' I ask, hoping a change of subject might calm Linda down.

Linda shakes her head. ‘I've no idea where he's gone. He just stormed off. He'll probably sleep it off at his sister's and come home tomorrow.'

‘Zelda,' I say gently. Zelda's head shoots up, eyes round. ‘How did this happen?'

‘I told you on the phone,' she says, annoyed.

‘Tell me again, from the beginning, and don't leave anything out. We need to get our stories straight.' Zelda looks from me to Linda, and Linda nods reassuringly, drops her phone back into her handbag and tells her that we'll look after her, no matter what.

Zelda takes a deep breath. ‘We came home, and he went upstairs and locked himself in the bathroom. I think he was doing a bit of coke.'

‘Drugs?' I say, horrified.

‘No, Bella, he necked a can of cola,' Zelda snaps. ‘Of course drugs.'

‘You let him do drugs in your home,' I exclaim. ‘Where Georgia has sleepovers?' Only occasionally, but still.

‘He did it once, and I told him off. He promised it was a one-off, but then started spending ages in the bathroom. I saw a bit of powder on his nose a couple of times, but I didn't want to argue with him. I'm not his keeper.'

‘Zelda, you should've given him his marching orders the first time he did it.'

‘Oh, will you get off my case?' Zelda yells, head in hand. ‘I don't need this shit right now.'

Linda gives me a look, then turns to Zelda. ‘Go on, Zee.'

Zelda takes a few breaths. ‘He was acting a bit weird after we left yours. Almost fell asleep in the cab, could barely walk in a straight line when we got out. I knew it was the booze. I told him I'd put the kettle on and make us both a nice cuppa. He agreed; he had a headache earlier.' I nod but don't say anything. I don't want to snitch on Daisy. ‘He even asked me for a slice of my lemon cake.'

‘People get the munchies on coke,' Linda says, ‘Or is that weed?'

‘Weed,' I say, as if I'm an expert.

‘Anyway, I left him to his tea and cake and said I was going for a shower. Chris had been texting me all afternoon but I didn't reply in case Frank got suspicious.' That's why she was reluctant to hand over her phone earlier. ‘Once I was safely in my bedroom, I replied to Chris. We exchanged a few emotional messages and agreed to meet up to discuss things. Don't give me that look, Bella, you can't help who you fall in love with.'

Liam flashes in my mind – his pleading face, his soft voice saying things he shouldn't be saying, things that were buried long ago. ‘I wasn't going to say that. I'm not judging you. None of us are saints. Carry on.'

‘I was going to let Frank down gently. I mean, I don't even know why I agreed to marry him. He just took me by surprise, that's all. I got caught up in the moment.' Linda gives me a look. ‘When I came back into the kitchen, he was acting bizarre.' Zelda pauses, takes a sip from Linda's glass, which has an imprint of her crimson lipstick on it.

‘Go on,' I urge, covering her tremulous hand with mine.

‘He was sitting at the table with my laptop staring at my bank's log-in page, and then he asked me to lend him some money.' Linda and I frown. ‘I was like, what the fuck? I wasn't going to give him any.'

‘Of course not,' I tut, ‘you're not stupid.'

Zelda looks at me for a moment, and then. ‘He asked me to do a bank transfer for fifteen hundred quid – the landlord was breathing down his neck – threatened him with eviction – he promised to pay me back next week when he got paid. I told him I didn't have that kind of cash.'

Linda shakes her head. ‘He must've thought you were a pushover.'

‘More fool him,' I add, ‘he really doesn't know the Villin sisters at all.' I laugh lightly.

‘You're not going to like this next bit.'

‘Go on,' Linda says gently. ‘You can tell us anything, we won't be judgy.'

Zelda takes a deep breath. ‘I already lent him two grand.'