Chapter 11 #2
‘Do I have to spell it out?’ She looks away. ‘We . . . started a relationship. An affair. Whatever you want to call it.’
‘How did you get away with it with all the cameras?’
‘Giles would turn them off. And to start with, we’d meet at Georgia’s house.
She’d asked me to water her plants while they were away so I had her spare key.
Rufus didn’t think anything of me popping over there all the time.
I think he was relieved to have a break from me, to be honest. My life was so consumed with the IVF, it’s all I talked or thought about.
I know these houses are huge, but when there’s tension between two people, there isn’t enough space in the world, is there? ’ She raises her eyebrows.
I think of how things are between Leo and me now, how mistrust has lodged itself between us; even if he won’t utter the words, it must be making him question how he feels about me. Does Eleanor know this? Or is she making assumptions? ‘If you’re unhappy, why don’t you just leave Rufus?’
She opens her mouth as if she’s about to object to me asking this, but then her shoulders sag.
‘I love Rufus,’ she says. ‘Despite everything, I won’t walk away from our marriage.
Things are over with Giles. We were just talking about it all on the night of the barbecue.
Nothing happened.’ She pauses. ‘I’m almost glad you’ve brought this up.
It’s been killing me. I know it’s time to do something about it. ’
‘Good.’ I study her, wondering how suddenly she looks like a different woman. ‘Why have you been so . . . off with me?’
‘I’m sorry, Ria. I suppose I’ve just been wrapped up in my own problems and wasn’t open to accepting a new couple into Silverleaf. I should have been more welcoming to you. Can we . . . start over?’
I stand and nod. ‘Yes, let’s move forward.’ Part of me means this, but can I trust Eleanor? I think again of Willow. I don’t want to believe that Eleanor had something to do with her being poisoned.
In the hallway, I stop to put on my shoes, and when I look up, my eyes are drawn to the display shelf by the door.
To the large candle that looks identical to the ones that someone lit in my bedroom.
I pick it up and study the label at the bottom.
The same label that was on other candles in my house. Candles by Tonya.
‘What’s that?’ Eleanor asks, taking it from my hand.
‘It was you,’ I say. ‘I knew it was you.’
‘I don’t know what you’re talking about,’ she says. ‘What is that?’
‘You left lit candles in my bedroom. When I was out. Why did you do that? Some kind of warning? It won’t work!’
‘What are you talking about? You sound hysterical. Why would I leave candles in your bedroom? I’ve never even seen this candle before. Did you put it there when I wasn’t looking? What kind of game are you playing?’
The calmness of Eleanor’s voice infuriates me. ‘No!’
‘I just poured my heart out to you, and now you’re accusing me of . . . I don’t know what. I think you should go now, before you say something else you’ll regret.’ She opens the door and reaches for my arm, but I pull away.
‘Don’t touch me.’
But she doesn’t listen, and pushes me outside, slamming the door before I can say anything.
For a moment I stand motionless, unsure what to do, and with no idea why Eleanor is doing this. Across the green, Giles opens his door to check his mailbox, then goes back inside. Either he doesn’t notice me, or he chooses not to.
Trusting my instinct – it’s all I’ve got to work with – I rush to his house and ring the doorbell, glancing up at the camera above the door, then at the doorbell camera.
Giles is the only one with this extra camera.
Overkill. Especially with the cameras on the security gate – one facing into Silverleaf, the other to the road leading up to it.
There’s movement inside and his front door opens. ‘Oh, hi,’ Giles says, keeping the door partially closed.
‘Can we talk?’
‘It’s really not a good time. I’m in the middle of prepping for a meeting, which I’m struggling to do after what happened to Willow.’
‘It won’t take long.’ I edge forward so he has no choice but to let me in. He stares at me, his eyebrows raised at my audacity.
‘If you’ve come to apologise, then please don’t. I’m not ready to hear it. Maybe soon, but right now it’s too raw.’
‘I didn’t do anything to Willow,’ I insist. ‘I didn’t leave anything out that could have harmed her.’
‘Please, Ria,’ he says, holding up his hand. ‘I really don’t want to talk about this.’ He eyes the front door.
‘That’s not why I’m here. There’s something urgent I need to tell you. Will you please just hear me out? This will change everything, Giles.’
His brow furrows and he takes a moment to consider my request. ‘Two minutes.’ He sighs and leaves the door open, walking to the living room without waiting to see if I’m following.
I close the door and catch up with him.
‘So what is it you wanted to say?’ he asks.
‘Someone’s been getting into our house. I think they did something to Willow.
And yesterday I came home in the evening and found candles lit in my bedroom, and all the blinds down in the middle of the day.
It wasn’t me – I don’t have any candles!
I know this is hard to hear – you try so hard to make Silverleaf a safe place – but it’s the truth. ’
Giles stares at me. ‘Well, that’s easy to check. We can look at the cameras.’ He sits on the sofa and pulls out his phone.
‘Leo already has. No one is on them but me, and Leo, when he came home later.’
‘Then I’m not sure what you’re suggesting, Ria.’
‘Can anyone else access the cameras? Anyone who could change the settings. Maybe they altered the timings?’ I think of Rufus, and how he works for a tech company. Could he have done this?
Giles sighs. ‘Ria, do you realise how preposterous this sounds?’
‘I’ve got proof now.’
‘What proof?’ Giles frowns.
I falter for a moment. This man has been having an affair with Eleanor, so he will never believe that she has anything to do with hurting Willow. But I’ve got nothing to lose.
‘I’ve just been in Eleanor’s house. And I saw the same candles that I found in my house on her shelf in the hall.’
He stares at me, wrinkling his nose. ‘Lots of people have candles, Ria. I’d hardly call that evidence.’
‘I saw her leaving here after the barbecue,’ I blurt out. I hadn’t planned to confront him like this, and it won’t help win him over, but now it’s too late to backtrack. ‘Hours after everyone else had left.’
He sits back, folding his arms. ‘I don’t know what you’re suggesting, Ria, but this is highly inappropriate. Eleanor is a married woman.’
‘I saw her, Giles.’
‘Just like you saw a woman being murdered on the green? I’m sorry, Ria, but since you moved here, you’ve been making people uncomfortable, making this place out to be somewhere sinister. And I think you need to stop.’
Only moments ago I’d made a promise to Eleanor not to mention their affair to anyone, but after seeing those candles, and with Giles refusing to listen, I have no choice but to tell him. ‘I know you’re having an affair.’
‘What did you say?’ he says.
‘Eleanor told me. Just now. She said it started after Moira died.’
Giles stands and walks to the window. Deep frown lines are etched on to his forehead. Without a word, he begins tapping on his phone. ‘Friday night,’ he says. ‘Watch this.’ He hands me his phone.
I stare at the screen and the date stamp says Friday, the night of the barbecue.
I watch as people begin to leave Giles’s house.
First Leo, then me. I forward to the next pair: Declan and Patrick.
Half an hour later, Georgia and Eleanor leave.
Followed shortly after by Xander, after a brief chat at the door with Giles.
Then there is nothing. No one else leaves or enters Giles’s house.
‘Someone’s done something to the cameras,’ I say, still holding his phone. ‘That’s what they’ve been doing this whole time!’
‘And who would do that? I hope you’re not suggesting it’s me?’
‘Not the other stuff, no. But if you don’t want anyone to know about your affair with Eleanor, then of course you’d delete the footage. In case Rufus found out.’
Giles shakes his head. ‘Come with me.’
He storms out of the living room and flings open the front door. ‘Let’s sort this out, and then you can get the help it’s clear you need.’
It’s no surprise to see that, outside, Giles heads straight for Eleanor’s house.
Adrenalin pumps through my body as I wait to confront her in front of Giles.
Finally it feels as though I’m getting somewhere and heinous secrets are about to spill.
I’m sure Eleanor is the one who’s been in my house, and she’s the one who’s responsible for Willow’s poisoning.
Eleanor opens the door before Giles reaches it, greeting him with a warm smile.
‘Eleanor. I’m so sorry to turn up like this.’ He glances behind him. ‘It’s all a bit . . . awkward.’
Her expression changes when she turns to me. ‘I know what this is about,’ she tells Giles. ‘You’d better come in.’
The first thing I notice when I step inside is that the candle has gone from the shelf in the hall, leaving just photos of Eleanor and Rufus. One from a wedding, and another of the two of them on a beach.
Giles looks uncomfortable, as if he doesn’t know where to begin. ‘This is, um, awkward, Eleanor. And I’m sorry to bring it to your door. But Ria seems to think there’s something going on, so I wanted to come straight over here to clear it up.’
Before Eleanor can respond, I point to the shelf. ‘What have you done with the candle?’
Eleanor stares blankly. ‘What candle?’
‘It was on your shelf. Right there!’ As I point to the photos, my hand knocks one and it slides off the shelf.
‘Hey, what are you doing?’ Eleanor demands, grabbing it just in time to stop it smashing to the floor.
I turn to Giles, even though I know this isn’t a battle I’ll win.
‘When I was here a few minutes ago, Eleanor had the same candle that someone left in my bedroom. Right there on her shelf. They’re from an Etsy shop, and I don’t even have an account!
’ I turn to Eleanor. ‘What were you trying to do, Eleanor? Why have you been breaking into my house? It wasn’t the first time, was it?
I bet you have an Etsy account, don’t you? ’
Eleanor shakes her head. ‘I’ve never had one.
’ She turns to Giles. ‘I really don’t know what Ria’s talking about.
I’ve never had candles in here. I don’t even own any.
Scented things give me headaches. You’ve been here many times, Giles – have you ever seen candles in here? ’ She gestures to the shelf.
There’s no hesitation in Giles’s reply. ‘No, I can’t remember ever seeing candles on that shelf.
Or anywhere.’ He looks at me. ‘I’m sorry, Ria.
This all feels a bit off. You can’t just accuse the neighbours of breaking into your house.
Why would anyone do that? That’s not the kind of thing we do around here. ’
‘You’ve moved it!’ I say.
She shakes her head, folding her arms and casually leaning against the wall.
‘I think Ria needs help,’ she says, still looking at me.
Giles clears his throat. ‘That’s not for me to judge, Eleanor. But, um, there is one more thing.’ He glances at me, then back to Eleanor. ‘Ria says you told her we were having an affair.’
His words detonate like a bomb, and Eleanor’s eyes widen as she slowly looks at me.
‘That’s ridiculous! Why would I say something like that?
’ She shakes her head. ‘Why would I tell such an awful lie? I’m sorry she said that, Giles.
But it’s clear this is just more proof that Ria needs help. And that she doesn’t belong here.’