‘No, no, she’s lying. I was there, I did spend that time with her, I can tell you the name of every couple we went thr-’
‘You’ve let me down, Charlie. And betrayed us all. If you had a shred of decency or honesty about you, I could have helped you, but it’s in the hands of Anti-Corruption now. They will be here in five minutes, so get your story straight -’
Charlie’s hand shot out and grabbed Helen’s.
‘It’s not me.’
A long beat.
‘I know you don’t like me. I know you don’t rate me. But I swear it isn’t me. I…’
Now the tears were coming thick and fast.
‘I would never… I couldn’t. How could you think I would ever do something like that?’
Said with fierce passion. Then she broke down – deep, guttural sobs.
‘It’s not me.’
Helen watched her, then:
‘It’s ok, Charlie. I believe you.’
Charlie looked up, disbelieving.
‘But…’
‘Anti-Corruption aren’t coming. And Jackie never retracted her statement – she’s given you a cast-iron alibi. I’m sorry it had to be this way, but I’ve got no other choice. I need to know who’s doing this.’
‘So?’
‘You’re in the clear, Charlie. Nobody need ever know we’ve had this conversation and it won’t be on your sheet. Get yourself cleaned up and get back to work.’
And with that, she was gone. Charlie buried her head in her hands. Relief and exhaustion mingled with disgust – she had never disliked Helen Grace as much as she did at this moment.
Outside, Helen took a breath. She felt sick to the stomach. Not for what she had put Charlie through, but for what her innocence meant. There was only one possible culprit left now – Mark.
Caroline’s whole body was rigid, her ears straining for sounds of movement. It was four days since she’d been liberated and she’d hardly slept a wink since. Visions of Martina played in her head – the gasping for breath, the bulging eyes – but it was fear that was really keeping her awake. The euphoria of survival had slowly given way to a gnawing terror. Why had she been released? What terrible fate awaited her now that she had proved herself to be a killer?
Caroline had discharged herself from hospital as soon as they would let her and hurried back to her flat. She needed to be somewhere familiar, somewhere safe. But Sharon had taken one look at her and fled to her parents, despite Caroline begging her to stay. Looking in the mirror later, Caroline understood why her roomie had fled. She looked crazed and inhuman, the walking dead. All life had been sucked from her – she was pale, ghostly and utterly incoherent. She hadn’t been able to find the words to describe her ordeal – the endless stream of obscenities and non-sequiturs had made little sense.