The Shell House Detectives by Emylia Hall

Author:Emylia Hall [Hall, Emylia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Mystery & Detective, Private Investigators, Crime
ISBN: 9781662505126
Google: QL1uzwEACAAJ
Published: 2023-02-05T00:00:00+00:00

33

Helena is used to turning heads, but the way that the man and woman on the sofa look at her it’s as if she’s the final flourish of a magic trick. She hovers in the doorway, unsure what to do next. Fiona beckons her in, and she’s trying for one of her encouraging smiles.

‘Helena, you’re safe.’

It’s the grey-haired woman who says it; she must be Ally Bright. And the young guy beside her must be Jayden. Fiona fully briefed Helena, before Helena decided that they should make the call. She looks at the two of them now, still wondering if this is a good idea. They just seem like ordinary people. How can they be of any help to her? And more to the point, why would they want to be?

Helena chews her lip. ‘You’re definitely not with the police?’

‘We’re not,’ says Ally.

Helena sits down, drawing her legs up beneath her. She feels like a self-conscious schoolgirl, not knowing where to put herself. It’s unreal, seeing the expressions of these people she doesn’t know, looking so relieved to see her. Relieved, and probably a little confused.

‘I know there’s a lot of fuss,’ says Helena, fiddling with the hem of her shirt; Fiona’s shirt, more accurately. ‘I didn’t expect it. It just got bigger and bigger. Until it was too late.’

She glances over at Fiona, who says, ‘I’ll make coffee. Helena, you . . . say what you want to say. It’s all going to be okay, darling.’

And Helena feels a surge of gratitude for this woman who took her in without question – she’d never met kindness like that before. She brought trouble to Fiona’s door when it was the last thing she was looking for. Fiona lived out here so calmly, so independently – and Helena was a bundle of chaos in comparison.

And, of course, someone as good as Fiona would never have done what she did in the first place.

‘I really didn’t plan any of it,’ Helena says to Ally and Jayden. ‘I want you to know that.’

Ally gives a small, close-lipped smile that Helena might have found reassuring were it not for the nerves, the way they twang inside her like an instrument gone haywire.

‘We haven’t been properly introduced,’ she replies, with a soft smile. ‘I’m Ally, and this is Jayden. I live out in the dunes, a mile or so west from you. Jayden’s a little inland, on his wife’s family’s farm.’

Ally talks calmly and steadily, and Helena feels like she could listen to her forever. Only, sweat pricks at her palms, and there’s a pounding in her chest; it will be her turn to speak soon. It has to be. She listens, her breath held.

‘Lewis Pascoe came to my house the night before he went off the cliff. He was asking for help, and . . . I didn’t feel in a position to give it. I’ve regretted it ever since. Jayden was there when they found him the next morning. We’ve both felt involved, in one way or another, from that moment.

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