Page 27 of Perfect Wives
No. Marc and I are solid. He was upset about Jonny, that’s all. We’ll talk tomorrow, and it will all be OK. But I’m not sure I believe it. Something I don’t understand has shifted in my marriage tonight.
Outside, alone in the dark of the garden, I bury my head in my hands, wishing I could just disappear. Be somewhere else – someone else – just for a little while.
I need help.
I need to talk. Not about Marc. But Jonny.
My hands shake as I pull out my phone and send a message to Georgie and Beth.
I’m freaking out. Can we meet quickly? Outside mine? xx
The replies come fast, and five minutes later, we’re huddled in the shadows beside my house.
‘I haven’t got long,’ Beth says first. ‘I told Alistair I was dropping a casserole dish back to Jean.’ She pulls her cream shawl tight around her shoulders, long hair braided down her back, and glances over her shoulder. Two of the police cars and Detective Sató’s car have gone, leaving only one car and the blue van behind. Light streams from Jonny’s windows.
‘Me neither. Nate was in the shower. He doesn’t know I’ve popped out,’ Georgie adds. ‘I can’t believe Jonny is dead. Who would do this?’
‘Some man who found out he was sleeping with his wife is my guess,’ Beth whispers.
Georgie nods. ‘That’s what I thought too. Or a break-in gone wrong.’
‘I can’t believe it either,’ I say, emotion cracking in my voice.
Georgie’s gaze lands on me. ‘I know it’s awful that it happened, but I’m not going to pretend I care Jonny’s dead, and you’d better not either, Tasha. This is good news for you. You can reapply for planning permission.’
Her words land with a jolt. I’ve been so fixated on Jonny’s death, I haven’t stopped to think about what it means. A whole new future opens in front of me. One I thought was as dead as Jonny is now. My parents living with us. The perfect solution to all my problems.
I swallow, focusing on Georgie’s question. ‘I’m not upset he’s dead.’ My voice dips lower. ‘I hated him as much as you did. But he’s dead after we joked about killing him. More than joked after that weird woman – who, by the way, still hasn’t been seen since – pushed us to go into insane levels of detail.’
Beth hugs her arms around her chest. ‘You know no one saw him today, right? He went into his house last night and never came out again. What if he was murdered during the quiz night like Keira suggested?’
‘Then it’s like Keira said – we’ve all got alibis,’ Georgie says. In the darkness, her mouth forms a tight line. ‘And no one knows what we talked about in the pub last week.’
‘Keira knows,’ Beth says, her voice barely a whisper.
My legs feel suddenly like they might buckle. My mind starts to race. If Keira talks to the police…
If they find out that we joked about killing Jonny on the same night he was murdered, what happens?
We’ll be arrested. Questioned. The whole of Magnolia Close will turn against us. It’ll be like the Gallaghers all over again. But worse. At least I’ll still have Beth and Georgie’s friendship. And the girls will have their friends. I couldn’t bear it otherwise.
Georgie places her hand on my arm. ‘It’s OK,’ she says, seeing the fear written on my face. ‘Where is Keira anyway? Like you said, she didn’t show up to the quiz night. Her daughter hasn’t started at the school. We’ve got nothing to worry about.’
‘But don’t you think that’s even weirder?’ I ask. ‘It’s like she’s disappeared into thin air. It makes no sense. Why would she say she was a new parent if she wasn’t?’
‘She didn’t look like a parent, did she?’ Beth says. ‘Maybe she gets a kick out of joining strangers on nights out and pretending? Who knows. The important thing is, we didn’t kill Jonny. We say nothing to the police. Only that we were together all of yesterday evening.’
She shoots another glance over her shoulder, and I follow her gaze to Jonny’s house.
Two men in dark overalls push a gurney out the front door, its wheels bumping. My eyes are drawn to the black body bag lying strapped to the top. Jonny’s body. But now it’s not him I’m thinking about. It’s the night in the pub with Keira, and the exact moment she joined our table. Not walking through the door from the street but moving towards us from somewhere else in the pub. As though she was lingering just out of sight. Listening to our conversation about Jonny before deciding to join us.
She’s the only person who knows what we talked about that night. I squeeze my eyes shut and pray I never see her again.
PRESENT DAY
FIFTEEN
GEORGIE
