private property, so fuck off!'
'I just want to talk to Emily.'
'She doesn't want to see you, and you have no right to break in here! Get out!'
'If I could just see your sister for a moment?'
'You can't; I just told you. She is not seeing anyone, so turn around and get the fuck out of her flat!'
Justine was wearing jodhpurs and riding boots, and brandishing her riding crop. 'Don't make me use this, because I will. I also know the law; you have no right to come in without a warrant. This is private property, so I am giving you warning. Get out!'
Emily's frightened face now appeared at the top of the stairs. 'What's going on?'
'Go back into the flat, Emily, and shut the door; this woman wants to talk to you and she can't.'
'Why not let me just speak to her? It will only take a few moments,' said Anna calmly.
'No. If she talks to you, she wants a solicitor with her.'
'Why don't you stay with her?'
'Because I don't want to! I don't want you here. I am going to make a formal complaint. Now go away.' She lifted the riding crop.
Anna hesitated; she looked past Justine to the frightened Emily, and shrugged. 'Okay, you can contact your solicitor, and he can accompany you to the station. I was just hoping that this could be less formal.'
'Why do you want to see me?' Emily asked in a high-pitched voice.
'I am not prepared to discuss this on the stairs,' Anna said firmly.
'I don't want to go to the police station!'
Justine turned towards her sister. 'Go back and shut the door. Just do what I tell you to do; you will not be taken to any police station.'
'Well, she very likely will be, if she doesn't talk to me now.'
Justine turned her fury back to Anna. 'Piss off! You can't frighten me! She has done nothing wrong and you should just leave her alone.'
'I only want to ask a few questions.'
Anna was caught off guard as Justine suddenly launched an attack. The riding crop in her left hand, she jumped down the stairs, and with her right hand she gripped Anna's shirt front, pushing her backwards and hitting her head against the wall. Justine hauled Anna back to her feet and was about to bring down the crop on her face.
'Stop it, stop it!' Emily ran down the stairs and tried to get between them but Justine turned and grabbed her sister's hair, hauling her away, giving Anna a chance to back off. The doorbell rang; whoever it was kept their hand on the bell so it was a persistent high-pitched wail. Emily ran back up the stairs and into her flat.
'Don't answer it!' Justine shouted, as Anna made her escape. She ran to the front door and opened it.
Langton stood there. 'What the hell is going on? I could hear screams.'
Before Anna could explain, Justine appeared.
'Get out. Do you hear me? Get out!'
Langton stepped between them; he gripped Justine by the throat and pushed her hard against the wall. 'Calm down, you hear me? Calm down or you'll be arrested.'
Justine tried to bite him; she was almost frothing at the mouth with rage, but he held on and forced her to drop the riding crop. She looked crazed; her eyes bulged and spittle formed at the corners of her snarling mouth. 'Arrest me for what? She broke into my sister's flat; I know the law!'
Langton slowly released his hold. His voice was low and threatening. 'You have two seconds to leave, and don't think you've heard the last of this. One…'
He never got to say 'two' as Justine shrugged him off and walked out of the house. Emily was nowhere to be seen. Anna looked past him and up the stairs to the flat.
'The door was open; I just came to the stairs and called out…'
'How did you get in to this floor?'
'Someone let me in; another tenant, I think.'
He nodded, then frowned as he looked at her face; she had a slash mark on her cheek. 'Did she do this to you?'
Anna rubbed her head. 'Yes, she pushed me against the wall.'
'Do you want to bring charges?'
Anna shrugged. Langton looked at his hand where Justine had tried to bite it. 'Strong as an ox, isn't she?'
He gently held her head and felt where it had cracked against the wall. 'Going to have a god-awful bump on the back of your head. Do you feel dizzy at all?'
'No.'
He ran his thumb along the red weal on her cheek. 'Well, it didn't break the skin.' He sighed. 'Christ, what a fucking family.' Langton looked up at the closed flat door. 'We found some bloodstains at Justine's flat; they're being tested. You think this is a good time to talk to Emily or do you want to leave it?'
'Well, if she lets us in, why not, as we're both here?'
They headed up the stairs and knocked on the door. There was no answer; then Anna noticed water dripping down the wall into the stairwell. They could hear the gush of an overflow pipe.
'Is it from her flat?' Langton asked, staring down.
Anna said it had to be. He put his shoulder against the door. It took a good few tries before the lock gave way and the door burst open.
Emily Wickenham was lying in the bath, the water becoming a deeper red by the second. Langton hauled her out, getting soaked in the process, as Anna called for an ambulance. Emily had not made a very good job of her suicide attempt: only one wrist was cut to the artery. Langton made a tourniquet from a pair of tights drying on a line in the bathroom.
They both travelled with Emily to the emergency ward at Charing Cross Hospital. She was tested for drugs and the doctors pumped the paracetamol out of her stomach. Langton contacted Charles Wickenham and told him about Emily's situation. He said little, just a curt thank you for letting him know. Langton was still wearing his bloodstained clothes, his cuffs and shirt front stained heavily. He went off with a nurse to see if they could find something for him to wear. When he returned, he was wearing a rugby shirt borrowed from a male nurse and carried his own shirt in a plastic bag. He sat beside Anna and checked his watch.
'You want a coffee? There's a machine up the corridor?'
'No thanks.'
Langton walked off. It was another hour before they got news that Emily was in the clear, though very weak and sorry for herself. The doctor doubted that she would be in a fit state to talk to them, but it would be up to them if they wanted to wait.
It was after eleven when, to their surprise, Edward rather than Charles Wickenham arrived. He said little but seemed very agitated, not due to Emily's suicide attempt, but the inconvenience it had created.
'She's tried this before; her wrists are like a patchwork quilt!'
The same young doctor returned and called a nurse to take Edward in to see Emily.
Langton yawned. 'I guess we can go; nice of him to thank us.'
The nurse appeared and gestured to Langton. He joined her and they conferred before he returned to Anna.
'Emily wants to see you.'
'Me?'
'Yes, you. I'll wait here.'
Edward Wickenham was sitting in a chair by Emily's bedside, reading a newspaper. 'I can't wait much longer. Father said you had to come back with me. I've spoken to the nurse and doctor.'
He gave an irritated glance at the interruption as Anna tapped and entered. She was shocked to see how pale Emily was; her eyes were sunken and her skin looked like parchment.
'You wanted to see me?' she asked tentatively.
Emily nodded. Both her wrists were bandaged and she had a glucose drip in her right arm. She gave Anna a
