The Carer: A compelling psychological thriller full of twists by Jane Holland

Author:Jane Holland [Holland, Jane]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Lume Books Psychological Thriller, A Joffe Books Company
Published: 2024-09-26T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nineteen

I finally give in to pressure and go to the police station. Logan accompanies me. We wait for about half an hour before one of the officers is free to see us, and then we’re ushered into a small side room. Logan and I sit side by side, and I feel like this is a declaration of intent. It’s like I’m telling the world we’re together, that we’re a couple. I’m not sure how comfortable I am with that idea. But I’m also glad I’m not here on my own.

The police officer is a woman in her late twenties with short-cropped hair, watery blue eyes and a thin-lipped mouth, who introduces herself as PC Plimley.

She’s perfectly pleasant to us at first, but when I explain about the poison pen letters and describe how I’ve heard sounds outside the house at night, and once thought I saw someone lurking in the shrubbery, her manner gradually changes.

I can tell she not only thinks we’re time-wasters, but that I’m bonkers.

‘Did you bring any of these letters?’ PC Plimley asks me, somewhat sceptically, as though expecting me to say I have thrown them away. Which I nearly did, in fact, but am now glad I thought better of it.

I produce the crumpled letters in their see-through plastic folder and pass this across the table to her. She unsnaps the folder and takes out the letters, shooting me a dubious look. She then spends several minutes reading through them in silence, her mouth moving from time to time as though shaping the words, though the notes are hardly long enough to merit so much time.

I can’t tell from her expression what she thinks of them.

Having read them, she turns them over and studies the paper itself in minute detail, even holding the letters up to the light, as if expecting there to be some kind of clue as to the identity of the sender on the reverse of each sheet, or on the two envelopes that accompanied them.

Finally, the constable shakes her head. ‘Miss Kinley, why did you wait so long before bringing these to us?’

I feel like I’m being accused of something. This makes me defensive.

‘I didn’t think they were important. Not at first. But then I found the outside security light smashed, and Logan said…’ I stop myself. I dislike women who rely on men to guide their every move. ‘That is, I decided it was time. That enough was enough. When Logan got his letter, you see, it was no longer just about me. I could handle it being about me and David. It somehow didn’t seem as serious. But when he drags Logan into this—’

She interrupts me, raising thinly arched eyebrows. ‘He?’

I feel awkward, unwilling to come straight out with it and name Mr Adeyemi. It suddenly feels ridiculous to do so. Dangerous, even.

I lapse into silence instead.

‘We have a possible theory.’ Logan glances at me for confirmation, but when I say nothing, he continues more cautiously. ‘There is someone who might be sending these letters.

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