‘Oh God, that’s all my fault.’ I put a hand to my mouth. ‘I told you that.’
‘Of course you did; you had to tell me what you knew. And I told Dan, who blabbed last night. But you know, she was
‘But then … who could it be? Who on earth could have used that test? Not Mrs Briggs, that’s for sure.’
‘Not unless she’s been at the radiance pills.’ Mrs Briggs helped Jennie with the ironing and was a good sixty- five. Jennie plucked a bit of sweet corn between forefinger and thumb from the pan and popped it in her mouth, much brighter now.
‘So who’s been in your house recently, then? Apart from family?’
‘No one very much. Don’t you think I’ve already wracked my brains? That bin only gets emptied once a week, slut that I am, and I’ve been through everyone I can possibly think of who might have been upstairs. You’re obviously in and out –’
I snorted. ‘Chance would be a fine thing.’
‘Well, quite, and Angie and Peggy –’
I turned. Raised quizzical eyebrows.
‘Oh, don’t be silly, Poppy. Peggy’s far too old.’
‘No, but you’ve got to ask them, consider them,’ I told her. ‘I know it’s far-fetched but if they’ve been in the house they’re in the frame, so to speak, and you’ve got to eliminate them from your enquiries. Even if it wasn’t them they might know something about it. Oh, and speaking of eliminating from enquiries, I must just quickly tell you –’ And so I did. About Emma Harding. Sketchily, because I knew she had other things on her mind, but Jennie’s load had been considerably lightened in the last half-hour. Her internal swing-o-meter had lurched in a positive direction and, rightly or wrongly, the conviction that her stepdaughter was not indeed pregnant had firmly taken root; she was much more receptive to the outside world and, as such, suitably enthralled. When I got to the end, she whistled.
‘Well. She certainly got her comeuppance, didn’t she? Got her thieving little fingers rapped. Shall we do a spot of prison visiting? Take her a photo of Phil?’
‘I’d rather not,’ I said hastily.
‘She could, though, couldn’t she?’
‘Go to prison? I’ve no idea.’
‘She bloody should,’ Jennie said with feeling. ‘Or at least community service. God, I’d love to see her sweeping the streets in a fluorescent yellow jacket. She probably thought she was invincible. People do, you know, when they’ve got away with something for ages, whether it’s nicking people’s husbands or nicking money – probably thought she’d never get caught.’ Her face fell suddenly. ‘Oh. Poor Simon.’
‘I know.’
She picked up a wooden spoon and stirred the yellow corn, reflective. ‘Funny. A couple of months ago he was all I could think about. Every waking moment. I used to drive past his house at night, take Leila to his bit of the common for a walk, Google him constantly – I could practically recite his website. I had the most almighty crush, Poppy. But now, especially with all this Frankie business, I look back in wonder. Think: who was that woman checking her phone for texts every five minutes, going dog-walking in full slap in case she should bump into him, who was she? I don’t recognize her at all. And after what you’ve told me I certainly don’t think: oh, good, he might be free again.’
‘Don’t you?’ I was intrigued. ‘Not even a bit?’
She regarded me, astonished. ‘Not even a tiny bit. Not for one fraction of a second. Honest to God, Poppy, I’m embarrassed by her. Constantly licking lipstick off her teeth, buying new bras and pretending it was time to ditch the old M&S ones – I was in danger of making a fool of myself. And I’m genuinely sad for Simon. Wish his life wasn’t like it is right now. But in the long run, he’s better off without her. Perhaps it’s as well it happened now?’
‘You mean, rather than further down the line with children.’ Like me, I thought.
‘Exactly.’ She sighed and we were silent a moment, Jennie watching opaquely as I shared out the sausages between two plates, spooned the veg. Suddenly she came to. ‘Anyway, I’ve got other things to worry about without wondering if Simon will be waiting at the prison gates for her. Here, darling.’ She seized the ketchup bottle and shook some out for Clemmie, who, hungry and fit to combust, was climbing into her chair. ‘Yes, I’ve got other fish to fry,’ Jennie said with a sudden grin. ‘I’m
