Chapter 44
‘She killed her husband, and she hid his body in the freezer in the garage. He’s been in there for over a week,’ Teri says.
I feel sick. How long has she known? Not long, surely. It was only yesterday that she threw my money and jewellery back in my face. She wanted Max. She made that clear. Yesterday, she didn’t know he was dead. And yet she doesn’t seem upset. She seems…gleeful.
Holly nestles against Teri. I can’t believe this is happening. I don’t understand why Holly is doing this. Didn’t she believe me yesterday?
I showed her everything, every detail of our escape, including the enquiries I’d made to find her a new school.
I showed her the note I’d found in Teri’s house – the note that showed Teri and Max were having an affair.
And I told her Teri was blackmailing me and threatening to report her to the police.
Didn’t she believe any of it? This doesn’t make any sense. Why is she taking her side? Why isn’t she saying anything?
‘Oh, God, Holly,’ My heart is breaking. I wipe a tear away. ‘What did you tell her? After everything we went through?’
PC Watts comes to stand in front of me. ‘Mrs Price, where is your husband?’
Something snaps inside me. I manage to tear my gaze away from Holly.
‘He left.’
‘Where did he go?’
‘I don’t know. We had a fight. He left. I believe he was seeing someone else.’
‘You’re such a liar!’ Teri exclaims.
PC Michaels pulls out his phone. ‘What’s your husband’s number, Mrs Price?’
I give it to him. He dials it. It goes to voicemail.
He leaves a message asking Max to call him and then gives the number. As he puts his phone away, he says, ‘We need to go into your house now, Mrs Price.’
I wish a hole could open up and swallow me. ‘He’s not there. I told you. I don’t know where he is.’
‘She’s lying,’ Teri says, ‘Surely you can force yourselves into that house, can’t you?’
Time stands still. I wring my hands together. ‘Don’t you need a warrant?’ Did I just say that? Surely only guilty people ask to see a warrant. Just like only guilty people ask for a lawyer. ‘Do I need a lawyer?’ I add.
They exchange a look. ‘We’re going to ask you one last time, Mrs Price,’ PC Watts says. ‘Will you come with us and let us into your house to check the freezer?’
I don’t reply.
‘Mrs Price,’ PC Michaels says. ‘We understand that you don’t want us to come in—’
‘I didn’t say that,’ I blurt.
‘—but we have the power to enter without your permission if we’re worried someone may be seriously hurt or worse. And that’s what we’re going to do now. Do you understand?’
I nod.
‘If you’d like to come with me, please. I’m going to enter your house now.’
My legs are like jelly as we walk outside. At the door, I turn around. PC Watts is asking Teri questions. Holly is still looking at me.
I still have no idea what is happening.
‘I have no idea why Teri is saying those things,’ I tell PC Michaels as I show him to the garage. ‘Like I told you, my husband and I had a fight, and he left. I have genuinely been worried about him.’
Shouldn’t I have said all this before? Isn’t it a little late to express how worried I am, after I’ve spent the last twenty minutes barely reacting to the news that I stuffed him in the freezer? But PC Michaels isn’t paying attention to me. He’s glancing around the garage, taking it in.
‘Is this your car?’ he asks, glancing at the Porsche.
‘It’s Max’s car.’
‘Does he have another car?’
‘No.’
‘But you said he left.’
‘Yes.’
‘So he left on foot?’
‘Yes.’
He turns to the freezer. My heart is beating so hard I think I’m going to die.
Pulling out a pair of blue plastic gloves, he asks, ‘Do you have a key for this?’
I reach for the lock as if I’d never seen it before.
‘I’d rather you didn’t touch that.’
‘I…’ I hesitate. ‘I didn’t know it was locked. It’s been empty ever since we moved in.’
He turns his head slightly, listening. ‘But it’s on.’
‘Is it? I had no idea. Like I said, I’ve never used it since living in this house.’
‘How long have you lived here?’
‘Two and a half months.’
‘So you don’t have a key for this?’
I can barely breathe. ‘If there is one, I don’t know where it is.’
He glances around the garage, then walks to the toolbox on the shelf. He rummages inside then pulls out a pair of heavy bolt cutters, just as PC Watts walks in and joins us.
‘Where’s Holly?’ I ask.
‘She’s with Ms George.’
I wrap my arms around myself. My vision blurs as I watch them move the tins and boxes from the top of the freezer. Then PC Michaels cuts the padlock and gently lifts the lid.
Black dots dance around the edges of my vision. I lean back against the car. PC Watts asks me if I’m all right – or I think that’s what he’s asking. I hear my name.
‘Mrs Price?’
I nod. My vision clears. The freezer is fully open now, and PC Michaels is pressing the crook of his elbow against his nose. A tuft of Max’s black hair pokes out from the top of the tarpaulin.
Suddenly it’s noisy in here. Police radios are crackling. Someone shouts. I’m not sure if it’s me shouting. PC Michaels opens the tarpaulin flaps fully. I can barely watch. It’s still Max, he still looks the same, but a bit blue, a bit waxy.
PC Watts turns to me. ‘Kate Price, I’m arresting you on suspicion of murder.’
And then I faint.