It’s a recording on a mobile phone by the looks of it, the angle of the screen showing that it has been propped against something, I think. I recognize it as Sadie’s house – her kitchen to be precise, and I hold my breath as two people come into view – Sadie and Rupert – Sadie leaning against the kitchen counter, Rupert standing close to her. She’s wearing the dress she wore to her garden party, and my breath sticks in my throat as I realize it is the night of Sadie and Miles’s Easter party. The night Rupert proposed to me. The night Rupert told me that he hadn’t seen anyone when he went downstairs.
Sadie has her arms around Rupert’s neck, and they are talking, but the sound is muted. I turn up the volume on the phone as high as it will go, but it’s difficult to make out the words. It sounds as though Sadie says to Rupert, ‘It should have been me,’ but I can’t make out Rupert’s reply and his back is to the screen so I can’t even lip read. Adrenaline pumps through my veins as I watch them both on the screen, still talking quietly, before Rupert raises his voice and finally, I am able to hear what Rupert says.
‘Sadie, I love you.’ His words are clear, and I feel them as sharply as if Rupert had stabbed me himself. The video ends.
I lay in bed all night, stewing over the video. I replay it three times in the privacy of the downstairs toilet, until Rupert bangs on the door to check if I am OK. Now, in the darkest hours of the early morning, I slide out from under the covers to peer out into the street below, straining my eyes to see if there is a shadowy figure watching the house. Now I know that Caro is dead, I know she can’t have sent the video, so who did?
Rupert snuffles in his sleep, rolling over onto his back and I hold my breath for a moment, until I am sure he won’t wake up. The cold from the oak floor is seeping into my toes, and I shiver, although I don’t feel cold. I feel as though I am burning up from the inside out, the way you do when you have the flu. Clicking my phone onto silent, I replay the video again, the screen casting a blue glow across my features.
Without the sound, I can focus on their body language and I’m sure it’s not my imagination that Rupert doesn’t look entirely comfortable as Sadie latches her arms around his neck. She, on the other hand, looks as though she is enjoying it far too much, although her eyes are half closed and she looks as though she’s had far too much to drink. I am trying to be generous.
Sighing, I pad silently across the room and slip back into bed, the warmth from Rupert’s body raising goosebumps on my skin. He throws his arm over my waist and mumbles ‘love you’ into my ear. I close my eyes, the words he said to Sadie printed indelibly on my mind. I picture myself, standing at the bottom of the stairs that night, seeing the two of them together, and then Rupert telling me the next morning that he hadn’t seen anyone when he went downstairs. Lies by omission. I wriggle out from under his arm, my skin burning. I know what I need to do. I’ll go and see Sadie first thing tomorrow morning and find out exactly what the hell went on that night.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
It’s my turn to lie by omission as I don’t mention to Rupert the video sent to my phone, instead waiting until he has left for the office before I snatch up my keys and my bag and walk the twenty minutes to Sadie’s house. I could have taken the bus, but that intense heat still burns me from the inside out, so I try to walk it off before I arrive.
When I arrive at Sadie’s twenty minutes later, my anger has cooled ever so slightly, no longer white hot, but a fierce red that bubbles and rages in my veins. It’s been a long time since I felt this angry about anything, which tells me my relationship with Rupert is worth fighting for. We might have had our problems lately, but I’m certainly not ready to give up, not by a long shot.
‘Emily! What a surprise!’ Sadie looks immaculate in designer loungewear, her hair tied up in an artfully messy bun – the type that when I tried it before, I looked as though I’d just woken up, and not in a good way. I don’t bother with pleasantries, instead I shove my way into the house, the way Sadie has done to me so many times before. Sadie’s twins gawp at me from where they sit on the living room floor, surrounded by expensive toys.
‘Kids, out of here. Tallulah!’ Sadie shouts for the nanny to come and get the children. ‘Emily, is there a problem?’ Sadie’s porcelain white cheeks are stained with a red flush, and she looks nervous.
‘You could say that.’ I brandish the phone at Sadie. ‘I think you’ve got some explaining to do.’
Sadie is silent as she watches the video, the red flush on her cheeks creeping down to stain her neck in an ugly rash. Finally, with shaking hands, she hands the phone back to me. ‘Really, Emily, this isn’t what you think it is.’
‘Then what is it?’ A note of steel has crept into my voice, and I feel a flicker of the old Emily coming back to life. The Emily who wasn’t too afraid to go out
