They were both silent. Alex watched the rainbow dancing on the kitchen bench, wished he was a child again. A simple time when he hadn’t known people such as Edward Albert Nyss existed, and his parents held his hand when he was frightened.
‘And Edwina,’ Rose whispered. ‘What about Edwina?’
‘Ah, Edwina.’ Alex moved, tried to relieve the pain in his side. ‘Edwina put the cat amongst the pigeons. She started his downward spiral.’ He didn’t want to say more, had to force the story out for Rose. She deserved to know.
‘Trudi’s death was sort of accidental. Mind you, from some of his comments it seems he was being an absolute bastard, terrorising her on the swing and then the rope broke. It was one of those chance things. She fell onto a nail, well … never mind, she died. Edwina saw it happen, but he must have terrorised her too. Threatened her. She was literally struck dumb for months, didn’t say a word. Then she got on with life. Until …’
‘Until she suddenly woke up,’ Rose broke in. ‘After she started going to the gym class. Oh my God. Everything she did afterwards … the job, the car, the house. She started living like a real person.’
‘Yes. The accident had shaped her life, defined it. She’d always lived in its shadow. When the house came up for sale, she saw it as a sign from God telling her to put things right. She bought the house to be nearer Trudi, a reminder she had to finish what she’d begun. After she unearthed the judge’s phone number, she rang him, asked for money for a memorial for Trudi. But she wanted more, she wanted him to resign. Insisted someone as cruel as him shouldn’t be a judge. That was to be his penance. Of course, he couldn’t agree. Power, position and pride meant everything to him.’
He heard Rose gasp, saw the tears falling down her cheeks. A long slow line of tears. ‘I remember now, he told me.’
It took all of Alex’s self-control not to react. Not to frighten her. It would haunt him forever. The idea of the judge standing in front of Rose explaining why she must die.
Rose wiped her tears. ‘She had no idea, did she? She had no idea what she’d started.’
‘No. None. In their conversations, he’d played at being repentant. Ready to make his peace with God. She bought it all. Every word.’
They both fell silent. Alex was thinking vicious things about Edwina. She should have known. She’d seen the brute in Edward as a child. He shivered, remembering the judge’s delight as he described killing Edwina. How he’d taken wire to use, but when he saw the scarf she was wearing he grabbed the moment. He admired it, took it from her to have a closer look. ‘Dropped’ it, giving him enough time to wrap the wire inside the scarf and then place it back around her neck. ‘So easy, and a gentleman to the last,’ he’d said, breaking into hysterical laughter.
‘Tell me,’ Rose whispered, ‘I don’t understand. Why me? What did I have to do with anything? How did he know who I was? How did he even know I was a friend of Edwina’s? What made him think I was a threat?’
Alex pulled her tighter, buried his mouth in her hair, breathed in the scent of apples. ‘According to the psychiatrists, they think most likely Edwina caused something to snap. He started to unravel. There’d never been any suspicion of his actions. He’d climbed the ladder of success, socially and at work. He was riding high. His marriage was successful. According to some of the things he’s been saying, it was a surprise to him. He got more out of his marriage than he had ever expected. He had accomplished everything he set out to achieve. Respectability, kudos and a comfortable, pampered life. Then up popped Edwina. Paranoia set in. Edwina had mentioned something about you. Rose gave me courage. He decided she must have taken you into her confidence. We haven’t pinned down how he found you. How he put the name to a face. That’s one bit of the story we’re still grappling with. He saw you with Juliana Fabbiano, we think. He kept calling her the fat cow from the veggie shop.’
Rose pulled away from him, her eyes round with horror, remembering. She clamped a hand hard over her mouth. ‘Oh, Alex. Juliana and I, oh God, Juliana and I … we went … Oh God.’
‘Shush. Don’t upset yourself,’ Alex said, all the time thinking, what did you do? You and Juliana. Whatever it was, somehow you prodded the devil. We’ll have to deal with it, but not now. Later. ‘Shush. It’s over. You met evil, pure evil, but we got him.’ He didn’t say the rest out loud, didn’t say how close it had been. Yes, they got him, but only just.
Rose slumped against him and stayed there for several minutes, before jerking upright. ‘His wife,’ she whispered. ‘Did she know?’
‘No. She had no idea. Said she’d always trusted him.’
‘That’s almost impossible to believe.’
‘The psychiatrists say it’s amazing what people will believe when they’re in love. Their view of the world and the person they are in love with is similar to a fantasy construct.’
‘Oh, the poor woman. How is she taking it?’
‘Badly. They had to bring her back from Europe and now she’s under sedation most of the time.’
‘What about the dog? Who’s looking after the dog?’ Her voice rose.
‘The housekeeper, I believe.’
‘To use the dog.’ She trembled. ‘To cultivate me, with the dog. It was so well planned. It went on for weeks, you know. He’s a monster,
