The Attic Room: A psychological thriller - Huber Linda. Страница 16

When the two officers left Nina checked the time. Shit, it was twelve already. What a stomach-turning way to spend a morning. She turned to Naomi, who was standing in the hallway, her face one big question mark.

‘Right, Miss,’ said Nina briskly. ‘Information. First of all, the police have found out that John Moore was involved in some sort of – of illegal business. That’s why he was being blackmailed. So he was wrong and the blackmailer was wrong too. Secondly, and I don’t understand this myself yet, but there’s a possibility that John Moore was my father. The test results will tell us that and they should be back in a day or two so let’s wait for them before we get carried away about that, okay?’ Half-truths maybe, but this way she’d have a bit more badly-needed thinking time.

Naomi’s eyes were fixed on Nina’s. Nina reached out and hugged the girl quickly. Thank God her daughter was old enough to understand this much, at least. Pretending that everything was all right would have been next to impossible.

‘Thirdly, the police are coming to have a look round here, to see if there’s any evidence that might help them investigate the illegal business. They’re going to tap the landline too, in case the blackmailer calls again, so don’t you answer that phone, ever, no matter what. And fourthly you are one mucky pup, skedaddle upstairs and change that disgusting pullover before we go into town.’

Naomi giggled, then caught Nina’s arm. ‘Mum – it’s going to be okay, isn’t it?’

Nina hugged her again. ‘As Inspector Mallony said, it’s really nothing to do with us, so yes, it’ll be okay in the end. It’s a bit messy at the moment, though, but you don’t have to worry about that. Okay?’

Naomi shot off upstairs, and Nina pulled out her mobile. Under the circumstances it might be best if she disturbed Sam’s lunch hour to tell him what was going on. He listened without interrupting, and his voice was angry when he spoke.

‘What a bastard, threatening you like that. Are you okay?’

‘I’m fine now. It was horrible at the time. And apparently John Moore is my father, Sam. I feel sick about that.’

‘I know. Some of the queries I put through came back too. You have a couple of cousins as well, but no one that could upset the will so nothing changes there. If you wanted to get in touch with them we could find them for you. Nina, I was wondering if you and Naomi would like to go for a picnic by the river – there’s some kind of water event on today. I think Naomi might enjoy it, and it would get you out of the place when the police are searching it. What time are they coming?’

‘About four. That sounds perfect; she’s a real water-rat. Thanks, Sam.’

His voice was warm in her ear. ‘Great. I’ll bring the grub.’

Nina put the phone down and stood staring at it. Cousins? So they did have family in England…

Chapter Ten

Claire’s story – Edinburgh

‘Squirrel, squirrel!’ cried Nina, running across the grass in Princes Street Gardens, losing both her red Christmas mittens in the process. Claire and Lily laughed.

‘She’s having a ball here, isn’t she?’ said Lily, as Claire returned from retrieving Nina’s mitts.

Claire could only agree. Her gaze swung from the dark heights of Edinburgh Castle towering above them, to the shoppers up on Princes Street, a colourful mass of well-wrapped-up bargain hunters doing the January sales. And Nina wasn’t the only one who was enjoying Edinburgh life. It wasn’t until she came home to stay with her parents that Claire realised how much time she’d spent in Bedford walking around on tip-toe, afraid to make her presence felt in case Robert lashed out with another hurtful remark.

Marry in haste, repent at leisure was dead right, she thought, watching Lily point out the people at the top of the Scott Monument to distract Nina from chasing squirrels. It had taken the geographical separation from Robert before she’d allowed herself to think too much about it. Living with Mum and Dad was so restful in comparison. And in the few weeks since their arrival Nina had become chattier, laughing more too, which made Claire angry. Even a baby like Nina was sensitive to the atmosphere in a house, and after what Paul said that awful afternoon in Bedford there was no way of knowing how long Robert had been bullying the children – without her noticing a thing. She hadn’t been much of a mother to her child, but she was going to change that now.

‘I want to stay in Edinburgh, Mum,’ she said quietly, and Lily squeezed her arm.

‘Of course you can stay. I’m sorry things haven’t worked out for you and Robert, but you tried, and your Dad and I’ll help all we can. It’s a good thing I’m not working – you can find a job and I’ll be there to take care of Nina.’

Claire squeezed back. Her parents had always done the old-fashioned thing. Mum was housewife and Dad was breadwinner. It was the right arrangement for them.

She straightened her shoulders. The ‘holiday’ was over. She would go to the job centre tomorrow; she couldn’t expect her parents to support her and Nina indefinitely. Another problem was that the Morningside semi where she had grown up only had two bedrooms, so as well as a job she would have to find a flat. Life in Edinburgh would be a lot less luxurious than life in Bedford, but then money couldn’t buy the important things anyway.

And oh, Lord, she’d have to get things organised with Robert, child support and so on. All he knew was what she’d told him when she called from King’s Cross before boarding the train for Edinburgh – that she didn’t like his behaviour and wanted a ‘trial separation over Christmas’. Not that she’d had any idea of returning, but it was as well to give him time to get used to the idea. He phoned every few days, trying to persuade her back to Bedford, but all she heard in his voice now was insincerity. He would be missing someone to keep the place clean, of course. How on earth could she have been so taken in by his good looks and charm? Unbelievable, how naive she’d been. But that was over.

She called Robert that night and informed him curtly that she wanted a divorce. It was easy to be brave when your abusive soon-to-be-ex-husband was several hundred miles away, and Claire congratulated herself on her decisive tone.

Robert, however, was equally firm. ‘I’m not discussing this on the phone,’ he said, and she could hear the anger in his voice. ‘I’ll come up to Edinburgh at the weekend. But I warn you, Claire, I’m not giving Nina up. She’s my daughter too and I want her back here, with or without you.’

Claire gripped the phone, her fingers shaking. She would tell Robert what she thought of him, right now, in case her new-found bravery deserted her when he was standing in front of her.

‘Oh yes? You love her so much you bullied her and Paul and frightened them both half to death, not to mention hurting them,’ she said, distance allowing the sneer in her voice . ‘That’s abuse, you know. It’s despicable. Paul told me all about what you did that last afternoon, oh, yes. Not much love there, was there? If I went to the police with a story like that they would stop you seeing Nina first thing and you know it.’

There was silence at the end of the phone. His breath had caught when she’d spoken, so she’d taken the wind out of his sails anyway. Apparently he did know that hitting small children was unacceptable.

‘We’ll talk at the weekend,’ he said at last, and hung up before she could reply.

Claire thought carefully about how best to arrange her meeting with Robert. No way was she inviting him to her parents’ home; she would take him somewhere in town. It might actually be an idea to ask Lily to come along for moral support – Robert would be more restrained if his mother-in-law was there too. But then, it was hardly fair to drag Lily into her mess of a marriage.