The Last Thing She Told Me Read online

  ‘You know something, don’t you? Something you’re not telling me.’

  She shook her head slowly. ‘I’m as much in the dark as you are but I don’t see need to go meddling in past.’

  ‘So what do you want me to do?’

  She hesitated, then said, ‘You never saw it. You put the earth back, delete the photo and none of us ever speaks of it again.’

  ‘Jesus, Mum. What sort of solution is that? It would be a crime not to report what I’ve found. You’re seriously saying you want me to commit a crime?’

  ‘No one would ever know.’

  ‘But it’s awful, harbouring a secret like that. And what about when I die and the house gets passed on to Ruby? I leave her to deal with it, do I?’

  ‘You don’t need to pass it to Ruby. You don’t need to live in it. By the time it’s all cleared out you can sell it. Someone local will want it – you won’t even need to put it on market.’

  ‘And what if they find the bones?’

  ‘They won’t. People don’t go looking for bones in their back gardens. You put the statue back and that’s end of.’

  I threw up my hands in the air and took a few steps backwards. ‘I don’t believe I’m hearing this. You want me to break the law and go against Grandma’s final wishes. What kind of mother are you?’

  She started crying again but I had lost all sympathy with her. ‘Look, I don’t know what this is all about, but I have no choice. You need to understand that.’

  ‘We all have choices, Nicola. But we don’t always realise it at the time.’

  I walked out of the door, shutting it behind me, angry that she would put so much pressure on me. I got into my car, pulled my belt across and sat there, aware that my hands were shaking. The thing I was most scared of was that she was right and this would turn out to be a terrible mistake. What if the police uncovered something so horrible that our family never recovered from it? But I had already started the process. The genie would not go back into the bottle. And the idea that I should return to Grandma’s, fill in the hole and forget about it was ridiculous. It would eat away at me. Far better to get to the bottom of it now than let it fester away and leave Ruby to deal with it one day when I was gone.

  No. Whatever this was about, Mum’s issues with Grandma were getting in the way. And I was not going to let them stop me doing what was right. Grandma had told me about the babies. She wanted the truth to be known.

  I pulled off and, at the end of the road, turned in the direction of the police station.

  23 May 1944

  Dear Betty,

  Spending time with you today meant so much to me. I know it’s difficult trying to snatch moments when other people aren’t around, but a minute with you can live forever in my heart. And to touch you, Betty, to put my hands around your waist, I can still feel the tingle in my fingers. It felt like you were light as air when I lifted you up. It’s the joy in your heart that makes you seem as if you will rise up into the sky and float away if I don’t keep hold of your hand.

  We may not be able to grab many moments together but we will make every second count. Part of me wants to tell the world that you are my special girl but I know I can’t do that at the moment. The last thing I want is for you to get into trouble. But there’s nothing stopping me telling you that you’re my special girl, Betty.

  When I’m not with you, I think of you every moment, dream of you every night. And when I see you from afar I can’t help but smile to myself because that’s what you do to me.

  But I live for the moments we can be alone together. Before the world is up and watching us. When we have only the birds for company. Sometimes I think they are singing about our happiness. When they soar up into the sky, it is some kind of celebration of our love. I’m glad the birds know. No one else will realize they are singing about us. But one day Betty, when you are older and this war is over, everyone will know. I will shout it from the rooftops for the whole world to hear. I will go down to Buckingham Palace and tell the King and Queen. But for now, I must be patient.

  There is something kind of sweet about keeping it to ourselves. The way we can smile at each other and no one else knows what is passing between us in that smile. Only we know that it is so much more than a friendly greeting. I think of you night and day Betty. I hear your laughter on the breeze. I see you in everything I do. And I dream my life away waiting for that next snatched encounter. Those precious few minutes when we can be together and you are my girl and I can touch you and smell you and look at you and breathe you in.

  Yours always,

  William

  6

  I pulled up outside Grandma’s house, the police car behind me. When you had a photo of a human skull on your phone, it was very difficult for them to ignore you. I got out and went over to the two officers who had followed me, aware that the neighbours might well be looking out and wondering what was going on. I couldn’t imagine the police had much of a presence in Pecket Well.

  ‘We’ll go down the side entrance,’ I said to PC Hyde, who had taken my statement. ‘It leads straight to the back garden.’

  I felt a pang of guilt when I saw the fairy statues. Whatever was under them had lain there undisturbed for so long, it seemed wrong to intrude on their peace now. Perhaps Mum had been right, and this would serve no purpose whatsoever, apart from upsetting my whole family. There was no turning back now, though. I told myself Grandma had initiated this, not me. And she must have had her reasons.

  ‘It’s the closest one I dug under,’ I said, walking down the path.

  PC Hyde stopped next to me and surveyed the scene. His colleague, a woman in her twenties called PC Cole, came around to the other side. ‘And you say these statues have been here for as long as you can remember?’ PC Hyde asked.

  ‘Yes, as long as my mum can remember too. My grandma lived here from when she got married, about sixty years ago.’

  ‘Where’s the spade you used?’

  ‘In the tool shed.’

  I fetched it, handed it to PC Hyde, and watched as he made his way, somewhat cautiously, back to the fairy statue and started to scrape away the freshly dug soil I had covered the bones with. I wondered if he thought this might be some kind of wind-up. It did have the ring of a pub dare about it. I could have got the photo on my phone from anywhere. I guessed that was why he’d chosen to come out and see for himself before he called in Forensics.

  It didn’t take him long to uncover the bones. I watched his face change as he realised this was for real. His female colleague stepped back a couple of paces and lowered her head, as if in silent respect. A few moments later, PC Hyde walked to the other side of the garden and started speaking into his radio. That was the moment it hit me. That whatever I had uncovered now had a momentum of its own. The outcome was out of my hands. I was merely the person who had discovered it.

  PC Cole looked at me – she was young and seemed uncertain as to what to say.

  ‘It’s so sad,’ I said, staring at the statue. ‘Whatever happened, she took it to her grave.’

  She offered a supportive smile.

  PC Hyde came back. ‘Scenes of crime officers are on their way,’ he said. ‘I’m afraid this will have to be treated as a crime scene now. It’s very difficult to do these things in a low-key way. You may want to go and have a word with your neighbours so they don’t worry unnecessarily. Unless you’d rather we did it?’

  ‘No, it’s fine. I will,’ I said, although I had no idea what I would say. Yesterday some of them had attended Grandma’s funeral. Today I was going to tell them there was a body buried at the bottom of her garden. I didn’t know what they’d make of it. To be honest, I didn’t know what to make of it. And while I was hoping there would be an innocent explanation, I was well aware that others might jump to a rather different conclusion.

  I went to see Andrea and Paul next door first.
Proper neighbours, Grandma used to call them, like in the old days. All I could think of as I stood on the step was the lovely things Andrea had said to me about Grandma after the service and whether her view of the sweet old lady next door was about to change.

  She came to the door in jeans and a hoodie, with a chilled-out Saturday-afternoon expression on her face. I could hear music coming from one of her children’s rooms upstairs.

  ‘Hi,’ I said, ‘thanks again for coming to the service yesterday. I’m, er, just letting you know that the police are on their way to search Grandma’s garden.’

  She looked at me blankly.

  ‘I found some bones while I was digging yesterday. They look like human bones. They’re very old, mind. I’ve got no idea why they’re there, but I thought I’d better tell the police.’

  Andrea looked past me to the police car parked outside. Her eyes widened. ‘There’s a body in her garden?’ Her voice was more high-pitched than usual.

  ‘No, not a body, just some old bones. I wanted to put your mind at rest, before you saw the police arrive, that’s all.’

  ‘Goodness, that must have come as quite a shock,’ she said.

  I wasn’t sure whether to tell her what Grandma had said. She might be able to shed some light on it. Although, as they’d only lived there about ten years, I doubted it.

  ‘Grandma mentioned something about what was in the garden right at the end. It didn’t really make sense, to be honest. I take it she never said anything to you about it.’

  ‘Well, no. I’d remember it if she had. It’s not the sort of conversation you expect to have with an elderly lady. Do you know how long the police are going to be there?’

  ‘No,’ I replied. ‘But maybe we can get it all sorted out quickly.’

  ‘Let’s hope so,’ she said, frowning. ‘It’s not the sort of thing anyone will want going on in the village.’

  As she shut the door and I turned to walk slowly away, I imagined her going back to Paul and relating what I had told her. That would be the starting point of the conversation, at least. No doubt they would go on to discuss all the possibilities of who the bones had belonged to and how they’d got there. The same things that had been flying around in my head. And at some point they would probably discuss whether the old lady whose path they’d cleared of snow had used the same spade to bury a body in her back garden.

  I’d only managed to catch a handful of other neighbours by the time Forensics arrived. It was seeing the first guy emerge from their van in one of those white suits that really did it for me. I felt like I’d stepped on to the set of Happy Valley. PC Hyde had a word with him, then two other men got out of the van carrying a large piece of rolled-up white material and long poles.

  PC Cole came over to me. ‘They’re going to put the tent up over the area,’ she said. ‘Standard procedure in this type of case. Helps protect the crime scene and stops the neighbours getting too nosy.’ She gave a little smile.

  I didn’t respond. My brain was still trying to process the fact that Grandma’s garden was now a crime scene.

  ‘There’s really not much else you can do here now,’ she went on. ‘If you want to get home, we’ll keep you informed of any developments.’

  I knew she was right. It would be dark soon, and I wanted to get back to the girls after a long day, but it still felt wrong, leaving the bones there with the police. I had a weird maternal feeling that I should watch over a baby that might have been Grandma’s. I had to remind myself that there was nothing I could do to help it now, other than to ensure the truth came out.

  ‘Right. You’ve got my number if you need anything.’

  ‘Yeah,’ she replied. ‘Try not to worry. It might turn out to be nothing.’

  I smiled and nodded. Even though I knew that wasn’t going to be the case.

  *

  ‘Mummy,’ said Maisie, rushing out to me, ‘Ruby says I’m not allowed to sing because it’s annoying her, and Daddy says he’s too busy helping Ruby with her homework to play with me, and he didn’t even plait my hair for swimming because of his plumber’s fingers.’

  Usually, I’d have been exasperated to arrive home and be bombarded with ongoing family disputes before I’d even got in the door, but I actually found it quite comforting to know that normality still existed in our house, even if events outside were far from normal.

  ‘OK,’ I said, slipping off my boots on the mat. ‘I can take over homework duty now and Daddy can play with you, but you do need to go somewhere you won’t disturb Ruby.’

  ‘What about my hair?’

  ‘Well, I declare this a crazy messy-hair day and it will do just fine.’

  Maisie laughed. ‘What are plumber’s fingers?’ she asked.

  ‘I think Daddy meant his fingers are better at fastening washers than doing fiddly plaits.’

  ‘Can he put some washers in my hair?’

  I pulled a face at her. ‘No. Now, where’s your sister?’

  ‘In the kitchen.’

  ‘Right, how about you go up to your room to play and I’ll send Daddy up in a few minutes?’

  She shot up the stairs. James poked his head around the kitchen door. I gestured at him to come out and shut it behind him.

  ‘How are you?’ he said, giving me a kiss.

  ‘Pretty numb, to be honest. I can’t quite get my head around what’s happening. The police have set up one of those big white tents in Grandma’s back garden.’

  James blew out and shook his head. ‘Jeez, that sounds serious. What did your mum say?’

  ‘She didn’t want me to report it. Said we should keep shtum and no one need ever know.’

  ‘That doesn’t surprise me.’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘You know what that generation are like. Wanting to keep a lid on everything. Always obsessed with what other people will think of them.’

  ‘Well, I told her I didn’t have a choice. This thing would eat away at me if I didn’t tell them. Grandma wanted the truth to come out and that’s what we’re doing.’

  James winced. ‘You might not like the truth when it does come out.’

  ‘I know. But I’d rather I have to deal with it than leave it to Ruby when I’m gone.’

  ‘I guess so.’ James didn’t sound convinced.

  ‘You think I’ve made a mistake, don’t you?’

  ‘No. You did the right thing to report it. I’m just worried about you having to deal with all this on top of your grandma dying.’

  ‘So am I,’ I said quietly, keen that the girls shouldn’t hear. ‘What if they find the bones of another baby? People are going to think she murdered them.’

  ‘Hey, let’s not jump too far ahead,’ said James, pulling me into him and giving me a hug. ‘No one’s talking about murder. I’m sure there’s some totally innocent explanation.’

  Before I could reply, the kitchen door opened and Ruby came out. She looked at us suspiciously, obviously aware of the sudden silence. ‘I’m stuck on simultaneous equations.’

  I mustered a smile for her. ‘Bit of luck for you that’s my specialist subject.’

  *

  ‘Are you coming to see Paddington 2 with us?’ asked Maisie, the following morning, between mouthfuls of marmalade on toast.

  ‘Sorry, love. I’ve still got things to sort out at Great-grandma’s house.’

  ‘Emily said it’s very funny.’

  ‘I’m sure it is. You enjoy it and I’ll watch it with you when it comes out on DVD.’

  I looked at Ruby, who was chasing the last of her Shreddies around the bowl. ‘You really enjoyed the first film, didn’t you?’

  She shrugged. I glanced at James, who shrugged too.

  ‘Well, have fun and save me some popcorn.’

  ‘No chance,’ said Maisie. ‘I’m going to have all of mine befo
re the film starts.’

  ‘And I bet you’ll still try to pinch some of mine later,’ said James.

  ‘Yep,’ she replied.

  James had told me that last time they’d gone to the cinema he’d had to sit between them to stop her stealing Ruby’s too.

  ‘Right, see you later,’ I said, finishing my tea and standing up. ‘Don’t forget your hat.’

  ‘What hat?’ asked Maisie.

  ‘The one you keep your marmalade sandwich under, of course.’

  *

  I didn’t go straight to the house. I headed towards Mum’s instead. I wasn’t exactly relishing the prospect of another confrontation, but I knew I had to tell her about the police search before she heard about it from someone else. I was also hoping she’d mellowed since yesterday. One look at her face as she answered the door suggested that wasn’t the case.

  ‘Morning,’ I said, stepping inside without being invited.

  ‘You told them, didn’t you?’ said Mum.

  ‘I didn’t have any choice.’

  ‘Of course you did.’ She sighed and walked away a couple of paces.

  ‘It’s a criminal offence, concealing a body,’ I said.

  ‘No one would ever have known about it, if you’d kept quiet.’

  ‘Mum, I couldn’t have lived with myself if I’d done that.’

  ‘So now we’ve all got to live with consequences, whatever they may be.’

  ‘Nothing’s going to happen to us, is it?’

  Mum raised her eyebrows. ‘You don’t know that. You’ve got no idea what you might be getting us into.’

  ‘Well, feel free to enlighten me, if you do.’

  Mum looked at the floor. I still couldn’t help feeling she knew more about this than she was letting on. Even if Grandma had never told her about the babies directly, she might have said or done something that had made her suspicious.