‘Please don’t call me again. It’s over, all right? I can’t do this any more.’ And then before she could say anything else, Sadie had hung up. The phone had rung again almost instantly, but she hadn’t picked up. She had turned the answer machine off too. When Mona had continued to call, over and over again, Sadie had got down on her hands and knees and pulled out the lead. While she’d been sat on the floor with her arms wrapped around her legs the harsh sound of the phone had continued to echo in her ears.

Joel had been bemused by her refusal to take any further calls off ‘Anne’ and Sadie had had to offer up a feasible explanation.

‘She wants to talk about Eddie all the time. I can’t… I don’t want to think about it any more.’

‘Can’t you tell her that?’

‘She never listens.’

And so Joel had continued to say that Sadie wasn’t in and a few days later the letters had begun to arrive. Sadie was in the habit now of always going down to pick up the post – she didn’t want him to know how often Mona was writing – and every time she saw that childlike scrawl her heart would skip a beat.

‘No,’ she would groan. ‘Not again.’

After she’d read the letters, she would tear them into tiny little pieces and shove them in the bin under the leftovers and the wet tea bags. It was crazy, mad, but she didn’t know what else to do. A part of her realised she should be keeping them as evidence of Mona’s guilt – these were clear plans for the murder of her father – but she was too afraid that they would make her look guilty too. If the police ever got hold of them, they would jump to the obvious damning conclusions.

There was Joel to worry about as well. How long before Mona started dripping her poison into his ear? If she was drunk and angry, there was no knowing what she might say. Sadie had returned the gifts, the book and the scarf, without any sort of note. But if she’d been hoping that Mona might get the message and stop harassing her, those hopes had been quickly dashed.

As she reached Buckingham Road, Sadie slowed her pace, not wanting to get home any faster than she had to. There was an awkward atmosphere between her and Joel at the moment. None of it was his fault. It was all entirely hers. She had chosen to lie, to deceive, and now every day she felt a little more distant as if she was being carried on the tide and gradually drifting away from him.

Joel was in the kitchen, sitting at the table. He looked up as she came in and from the expression on his face she knew that something was wrong. Immediately she thought the worst, that the police had been back or that Mona had called and told him about the imaginary ‘pact’.

‘What’s happened?’

He hesitated, his mouth twisting. ‘It’s… well, I wasn’t sure if I should tell you or not but —’

‘Tell me what?’

‘I don’t want you to get upset.’

Sadie felt a jolt of alarm. ‘Oh, just tell me, Joel. Please.’ She pulled out a chair and sat down opposite to him. Her lips were going dry, her throat tightening. ‘I’d rather know, whatever it is.’

Joel took an audible breath, glanced down at the table and then up again. ‘My mum rang earlier. They got a letter this morning, an anonymous one. It was about you.’

‘What?’

‘Just some rubbish accusing you of… of being involved in Eddie’s murder. They know that it’s nonsense. They don’t believe a word of it. It’s just some crank trying to stir up trouble.’

Sadie put her elbows on the table, lifted a hand and chewed on a knuckle. She instantly guessed that it was Mona, but couldn’t say it out loud. ‘My God, why would anyone do that?’

‘Don’t worry about it. Some people… they’re just… they’ve got nothing better to do. Nobody believes it, not for a minute.’

Sadie jumped up, went over to the sink and poured a glass of water. She took a sip and then, with her back still to him, asked, ‘What else did it say? The letter?’

‘Nothing much.’

She turned to look at him again. ‘What’s nothing much?’

Joel pulled a face. ‘Some jibes about how you couldn’t be trusted, that you were using me, that all you care about is money – or, to be more precise, my parents’ money.’

Sadie shook her head. ‘So now I’m a murderer and a gold digger. Was there anything else?’

‘That was pretty much it, I think. Look, I know it’s cruel and nasty, but you just have to put it out of your mind.’

But that was one thing Sadie couldn’t do. Mona wasn’t going to stop until she got what she wanted. ‘Are they going to take it to the police? Did your mum say?’

‘I don’t think so. Do you think they should?’

Sadie gave a shrug, wondering how careful Mona had been. There would be a postmark on the letter, maybe even fingerprints. What if they managed to trace it back? She shivered at the thought, aware of how unstable the girl was. A rush of panic made her hands shake and she quickly put down the glass on the side of the sink. ‘I suppose it would be a waste of time. I doubt if they could find out who sent it, could they?’

‘I shouldn’t think they’d even try.’

‘No,’ Sadie said, hoping he was right.

Joel stared at her, his eyes full of concern. ‘Are you okay? I feel really bad about… I mean, you’ve got enough to deal with without this as well. I wasn’t sure if —’

‘It’s not a problem,’ she lied, attempting to keep her voice steady. ‘Like I said, I’d rather know.’

‘At least we can get away from it all tomorrow.’

‘Huh?’

‘The Lake District,’ he said. ‘You hadn’t forgotten, had you?’

Sadie had forgotten. It had gone clean out of her head. Every year, before Christmas, Joel’s parents rented a large rambling house in Grasmere for a week. During that time friends and relatives came and went and the house was always full to overflowing. Although she’d enjoyed it in the past, this December the thought of all that socialising, all that endless smiling and chatting, filled her with dread. ‘I was wondering… would you mind if I gave it a miss? After everything… I just fancy a quiet weekend.’

Joel looked disappointed, but gave a nod. ‘Yeah, I understand. If that’s what you want. It’s been a tough few weeks. I’m sure they’ll be fine about it. We can just stay here and take it easy; maybe we could catch a film or go for a meal.’

‘No, you should still go. I want you to. Your mum and dad will be really disappointed if you pull out now.’

‘I can’t leave you here on your own.’

‘Why not? I’ll be fine, honestly I will.’ Suddenly the prospect of solitude, of having time to think, filled her with a wondrous sense of relief. She wouldn’t have to worry about saying the wrong thing or letting something slip. Just for a while, she’d be able to breathe and maybe get her head in order.

‘It’s not because of the letter, is it? Because if it is —’

‘It isn’t,’ she insisted. ‘I promise.’ Although that wasn’t strictly true. The subject was bound to come up at some point and she couldn’t bear the strain of lying. She’d be under scrutiny at the Grasmere house and that was the last thing she wanted. ‘I might go and see Mum on Sunday. She’s been worried, you know, after all this stuff with Eddie.’

Joel sat back and folded his arms his arms across his chest. ‘Are you sure you won’t come? It won’t be the same without you.’

‘I just feel… I feel really tired, exhausted, like I want to sleep for a year. I wouldn’t be good company. You’ll apologise for me, won’t you?’

Joel opened his mouth as if he was going to try and persuade her to change her mind, but then almost immediately closed it again. Perhaps he realised that the decision had been made and that it was pointless to argue. He left a pause and then said, ‘Everything’s all right, though, isn’t it? I mean, between us?’

‘Of course,’ Sadie said, a bit too brightly. ‘That’s not why I don’t want to come. It’s not that at all.’ All her instincts told her to lean across the table, put her hand over his and make some physical contact, but instead she looked away. Somehow, when it came to it, she just couldn’t give him the reassurance he needed.