The Girl Who Lied(111)

‘I need to talk to Erin,’ said Kerry. Sean was mad, hammering on the closed door. Kerry saw Fiona look towards the door. He moved to the middle of the hallway, blocking her way.

‘Please, don’t do anything stupid now,’ she said.

‘Come on, Fiona, what do you take me for?’

‘An interfering bastard.’

It was Erin’s voice. She stood at the top of the staircase.

‘I had no choice,’ said Kerry.

Sean was still shouting and thumping on the front door.

‘Oh for God’s sake, let him in,’ said Erin to her sister. ‘You,’ she pointed at Kerry, ‘you get yourself up here out the way. I’ll speak to you only because I don’t want a Sean-shaped hole in the wall when he finally loses it.’

Kerry took the stairs two at a time and followed Erin into the bedroom. As he closed the door he could hear Sean blustering his way in, complaining to his wife. Fiona was pacifying him, ushering him away from the foot of the stairs.

‘You’re out of order, Kerry Wright!’ Sean’s voice travelled up the stairway.

‘Sorry!’ called back Kerry, although he didn’t mean it in the slightest.

‘Never mind all that,’ said Erin. She walked over to the window and turned to face the room. ‘You have five minutes.’

Kerry took a step towards her, but she folded her arms and glared at him. No words needed. He could read the body language loud and clear.

‘May I?’ he indicated to the stool at the dressing table.

‘If you want, but don’t get yourself too comfortable, you’re not staying long.’ She looked at her wristwatch. ‘Four and a half minutes.’

Kerry ignored her and took a moment to find the right way to start off. He had rehearsed this several times on his way over, but now his mind was playing catch-up.

‘Okay,’ he said, conscious that he needed to get to the point. ‘Now, your mother is at this very moment confessing to a murder…’

‘Manslaughter,’ corrected Erin.

Kerry raised his hands slightly. ‘Sorry, manslaughter, and as she has no alibi whatsoever and she did, in fact, go and meet Roisin, I’m no lawyer, but I’m pretty sure she’s going to find herself in jail for a long time.’

‘I don’t need an information broadcast on the Irish judicial system,’ said Erin.

‘No, I’m sure you don’t. But what about a reality check? Your mum is no spring chicken. She’s heading for sixty, that’s nearly retirement age. How old is she going to be once she gets out? If she gets out? She’s going to be in her mid-seventies at least. And what’s it going to do to her in there? Think of the people she’ll be locked up with!’

‘I appreciate all that,’ said Erin, ‘but it’s my mum’s choice.’

‘See, that’s where you’re wrong,’ said Kerry. ‘Your mum had no choice. You put her in this position. You forced her to take this course of action.’

He could see the colour slip from Erin’s cheeks. She unfolded her arms and rested a hand on the windowsill.

‘You have no right to say that to me,’ she said.

‘Why? Because it’s painful? Because it’s the truth?’

‘You’re a cruel bastard,’ said Erin. She looked at her watch.

Kerry checked his. ‘By my reckoning, I still have three minutes.’ Erin went to stride past him towards the door, but Kerry was too quick. He jumped to his feet and pushed the palm of his hand against the white-panelled door.

Erin stood facing him. Fury firing up at the back of her eyes. ‘I hate you.’

‘No you don’t. You just hate what I’m saying.’

‘It amounts to the same thing.’ She moved away and sat down on the bed. ‘It doesn’t matter what I say anyway. I can’t make my mum retract her statement. And now Sophie’s gone missing, it’s all getting too much. I don’t know how or where it will end.’

Kerry went and sat down beside her. The dip of the mattress causing her to lean in towards him, their shoulders resting against one another.

‘Come here,’ said Kerry, pulling her towards him. It cut him to pieces to see her so upset and desperate. ‘There’s something I want to say.’

‘No. Wait. I need to tell you something first. Something I should have told you before,’ she said, looking down at her hands. She fiddled with the pendant round her neck before looking up at Kerry. ‘I haven’t been totally honest with you about the baby.’

‘It’s okay,’ said Kerry, wanting to save her the pain of confessing. ‘I know about Sophie.’