Shadow of a Doubt by Michelle Davies

Author:Michelle Davies [Davies, Michelle]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781409193449
Publisher: Orion
Published: 2020-11-11T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Cara

Most likely it was the combination of medication and alcohol knocking me out, but that night I sleep soundlessly for almost ten hours. Saturday and Sunday are the same, although I drink less both evenings because I no longer feel the need to wipe myself out. The conversation with Ian Leonard has shifted my perspective a bit: there are people out there who are willing to believe that I was not responsible for Matty dying. That matters to me hugely.

There have been no further disturbances either. No footsteps in the hallway, no tables upturned, no toys from Matty’s room being rearranged across my bed. I wonder how Leonard would’ve reacted had I told him about those bizarre, unfathomable incidents – he might not have been as confident about selling the house if he knew.

Jason the gardener did not work over the weekend, but he’s back this morning. He estimates it will take him at least another eight days to finish clearing the garden, lay new turf, weed the beds and replant them, paint the fences and prune back bushes, before it will be presentable enough for the marketing pictures to be taken. I tell him not to worry about rushing it.

Mid-morning, I ring Jeannie in the office to update her on my return to work. I hold my breath, hoping it’s not Donna who answers because I don’t fancy the interrogation that will inevitably follow, but thankfully it’s Leo, the junior, who picks up.

‘Jeannie’s not in today, but I’ll leave a message saying you called,’ he says. ‘Or you could just email her. She’s checking her emails at home.’

‘I’ll do that.’

I end the call before he has a chance to question me about when I’m coming back. The truth is, I don’t know when that will be. I’m hoping Jeannie will give me three weeks off unpaid, then I’ll see after that.

But before I draft and send the email, I make another call, one that I’ve been putting off for days.

Anne answers after only two rings.

‘Oh kiddo, I’m so pleased you’ve called,’ she says.

‘I’m sorry I haven’t before now.’ I mean it too. I’m so happy to hear her voice, I tear up. ‘I should’ve rung you sooner.’

‘It doesn’t matter. What’s important is that you’ve called now,’ she says, and I can hear the vibration of unshed tears in her voice too. ‘What happened at the cemetery—’

I cut her off. ‘Let’s not talk about it. I don’t want another argument.’

‘No, we need to discuss it. I want to explain. You thought I reacted because I didn’t believe you about Limey Stan, but that wasn’t it. I was scared.’

‘Scared? Of what?’

‘Of you having another episode.’

My stomach somersaults as she says that. ‘What do you mean?’ I splutter.

‘You know what I mean, Cara,’ she says gently. ‘The obsessive behaviour that flares up whenever you become fixated on Limey Stan, when you stop eating, start drinking too much and stay up all night rereading all the press cuttings. When I saw your reaction to what that man said at the cemetery, I feared the worst.

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