(2011) Only the Innocent (50 page)

Will continued to stare at his sister and gave an almost imperceptible nod. Laura stood up from the sofa, clutching her large glass of whisky, and went to stand in front of the fire, drawing some warmth from the flames. She began to talk, keeping her voice steady and her emotions in check.

‘It was all so meticulously planned. Every single detail. The countdown started on the afternoon of the Thursday before Hugo’s death. I was at the house in Italy, of course, and I can remember checking my bags for at least the twelfth time, ticking off every item yet again from my list. Checking and re-checking. There was so much at stake, you see. I left another list on the kitchen table there, together with a small tape recorder, my passport, flight confirmation, Mercedes car keys and Stansted car park ticket. On the floor next to the table, I left a suitcase and a carry on case. I left them there for Imogen.’

She saw Will jolt at mention of Imogen, but true to his word he didn’t interrupt.

‘Finally, everything was ready. I made it from the house to the car, and then I just sat there in the driving seat for ages. At first I couldn’t even get the key in the ignition, my hands were shaking so much.’ She clutched her drink tighter as the memory of that moment hit her.

‘Imogen was incredible; a real rock and an enormous source of strength. I knew I was making her an unwitting accessory, but I never thought it would be an issue for her because she’d be back in Canada before Hugo’s body was found. There was no way that she would be connected to it all. Her name would just never have come up, because in theory I hadn’t seen her for years. She was out of my life. She made such a huge mistake coming here, and I was livid when she arrived. She still didn’t understand, you see.

‘She started to visit me when Hugo had me locked up for the second time - whenever she could get over to England. We set it all up. She pretended to be visiting a sad old chap in the home who couldn’t speak, and then she’d sneak in to see me. Hugo would
never
have allowed her near me.’

Laura took a drink from her glass and placed it on the mantelpiece, but with nothing to hold she felt more vulnerable somehow, so she picked up the glass again and held it between her two hands.

‘She knew I was supposed to be suffering from delusional disorder, and she knew what the so-called delusions were. You see I was fairly certain Hugo was taking the girls, and I told her that the only way that I was going to be able to escape this marriage was by proving to the whole world what a depraved individual he was. I told her that I had a plan. I had to get the evidence and leak it to the press. But it was essential that any revelations couldn’t be tied back to me - because I knew what the consequences would be. So I had to be able to provide irrefutable evidence that I was in Italy at the time that the news broke. That’s why I had to ask for Imogen’s help. At the time, all she thought I was going to do was follow Hugo and get some photographs. She had no idea what I really planned.’

Imogen had been in Cannes - she had told the police the truth about that. Laura remembered very little of her drive - only that she had made it from Le Marche to Cannes in record time - just over seven hours, and no borders now, of course. That helped. She’d pulled into the car park at the Palm Beach end of La Croisette, knowing that Imogen would be waiting.

‘When I arrived in Cannes Imogen had organised everything. Her suitcases were in in the hire car, together with passport, flight tickets, cash - everything we’d agreed in advance.

‘She could tell I was nervous, because she stroked my hair and told me I was doing the right thing. If she’d known though, I don’t think she’d have helped me. She knew she was going to be breaking the law, travelling under a false passport - but she thought the risk was worth it if I could expose Hugo for what he was - or at least what I
thought
he was then.’

Will stood up, and Laura realised that they had both already finished their whisky. Without taking his eyes off her face, he took Laura’s glass. She thought he was going to speak, but he resisted. As he turned his back to refill the glasses, Laura felt relieved not to have his eyes burning into hers, and so she continued.

‘Imogen gave me the key card to her room at the Majestic. She’d already filled in and signed the fast checkout form and left it in her room, and she was going to phone the hotel at eleven the next day to let them know that she’d just left but forgotten to hand in the form. She’d thought of everything. Then she hopped into my car as if it were the easiest thing in the world to drive through the night, back to my home in Italy.

‘I needed some sleep, but I couldn’t stop thinking of the bargain I’d made with Hugo. The bargain that was going to make his murder possible. I’d stopped caring about what happened to me by this time. But then I wasn’t doing it for me.

‘I left the hotel very early in the morning to drive to Paris. I’d got far too much time to kill, but it was the only way we could do it. Most of the driving between the villa and the south of France had to be done overnight, so I wouldn’t be missed. I had to be ‘seen’ in the grounds of the villa - even if the person seen was actually Imogen. She was going to pick a few olives at strategic times when I knew somebody would be driving past - far enough away not to be able to make out her features, of course.’

Will held out her refilled glass, and Laura took it, but went to sit down opposite him on the sofa. She was quiet for a moment as she remembered her drive to Paris - stopping to fuel herself with coffee, dropping Imogen’s suitcase off at the Gare du Nord, and then leaving the car at the hire company. It had closed for the night, so nobody had seen her there. And then the interminable hours of waiting, sitting in restaurants rather than the station waiting room where somebody might have remembered her, drinking endless cups of coffee. Finally, when all other options were closed to her, she had made her way back to the Gare du Nord and hidden in the toilets to keep her face away from too much public view. It had been a terrible night. But the worst was still to come.

She swirled the whisky around the glass, gazing at it as if mesmerised by its golden vortex.

‘The train was booked in the name of Imogen Dubois, a name that should never have been associated with me. I used her Canadian passport to board the train. It matched the name on the ticket, you see. The photograph was at least eight years old, and could have been anybody. It wasn’t a flattering photo - how many of them are? And let’s face it - my passport photo was taken just after Hugo and I were married, and I don’t look remotely like that person now. I also had Imogen’s other passport - her UK one. That was even older and close to its expiry date. She looked very young.’

Her brother’s face didn’t so much as flicker. She could see that he was still far from on her side.

As she endured the never-ending hours of waiting for the train, Laura had gone over and over everything in her mind. The reason why this was the only option that made any sense. The reason why she was about to do something that sickened her to her very core.

‘Finally, I was able to board the train, and it was so easy. With the briefest of glances at my passport, and slightly more scrutiny to make sure it matched the name on the ticket, I was allowed through. I huddled in a corner and pretended to be asleep so that nobody would try to engage me in conversation. Getting off the train was easy too. If I’d continued to use Imogen’s Canadian passport, I’d have had to fill in a landing card. But I used her UK one, and I sailed through. No paper trail.’

‘I knew Hugo wouldn’t be at the apartment. But he was coming. We’d planned it, you see. He thought that his final deal with me - the one that got me out of the home for the second time - was about to come to fruition. I had to get there before him to prepare myself. Getting into the house was potentially hazardous though - I might gave been recognised by a neighbour. So I nipped into the toilets at the tube station, and I put on the hideous red wig - even though its associations with previous events made me feel sick. The rest of my outfit was waiting for me at the house, but at least with the wig nobody would make a connection.’

She was now getting to the difficult part. She took three deep breaths to steady herself, and continued.

‘I unlocked the front door and disengaged the alarm. I went straight to the bedroom, and opened the wardrobe door. I hadn’t kept many clothes there for a long time - but there were still a few long dress bags from the early days, so I’d hidden everything I needed there just a week before.

‘I’d gone through this in my head so many times that I went into automatic mode. It was the only way. I had a step-by-step list so I couldn’t panic or forget anything. I pulled out the clothes and placed them on the bed. The first thing I did was put on the long soft leather gloves that I knew were a necessity, but I’d chosen well. Hugo would think they were part of the performance.

‘I unpacked a white coverall and took it into the bathroom, and pushed it deep into the clothes hamper. I went to the kitchen, and took a long, sharp knife from one of the drawers. I’d sharpened it myself. This went in the clothes hamper too. I took off everything that I travelled in, and packed the lot into a plastic bag marked A. There were other bags too, each one carefully marked. The last bag wasn’t empty, though. It contained five silk scarves - all bright crimson in colour. I laid the scarves on the bed.’

Will was now leaning forward, a look of fascination and almost wonder on his face. Laura knew that he was amazed and slightly horrified at the cold planning that had gone into this act, and she didn’t want to look at him as she told him the rest. She stood up again, and went to stand at the fireplace, this time facing the fire, with her back to him.

‘Then I had a steaming hot shower. I needed it. I was frantic with worry - but I still had an hour left, and I didn’t know how I was going to get through it. I knew he wouldn’t be early. That might indicate that he was eager. Anyway, after the shower, I wiped the tiles down with the towel, and threw it in the tumble dryer. It would come out in half an hour and go back on the shelf with all the clean towels.

‘I put the gloves back on, and returned to the bedroom. Then I put on the clothes I’d chosen - clothes that Hugo would believe were for his benefit. When everything was ready, I took the final two items from a shoebox at the back of the wardrobe. One syringe, and one glass bottle. I went back to the bathroom and filled the syringe with the liquid. The syringe went into the hamper, and the empty bottle was returned to the bedroom and placed in one of the marked bags.

‘I was ready. There was only the room to prepare. It had to look perfect. He had to have no idea that I wasn’t a willing participant in his games. I took a bottle of Cristal champagne out of the wine fridge. I knew Hugo would think this was the ultimate evidence of my submission - the very champagne he’d bought on the first night of our honeymoon. I prepared an ice bucket and flutes, and arranged the furniture. Then there was just the wig.’

‘All I could do then was wait.’

*

Laura turned round and faced Will.

‘So now you know. I killed him. And God help me, Will, but it was the right thing to do. You have to believe me. Do you honestly believe I would have done it - put myself through that torture - if it hadn’t been the only option?’

Laura risked a glance at Will. He hadn’t interrupted, and still he just stared at her through narrowed eyes.

‘Is there more, Laura? Are you going to explain the reason for this incredibly intricate plan?’

Laura didn’t like Will’s tone, but she couldn’t entirely blame him. Perhaps she would appear more credible if she ranted and raved, but she knew that the minute she let her emotions take control, she wouldn’t be able to continue.

‘I’ll tell you the rest - but don’t judge me. Not yet, at least.’ Did she see a slight softening in his eyes, or was that wishful thinking? She looked away and stared at the opposite wall, unwilling to meet his gaze as she continued with her story.

‘The return journey was much the same. I’d prepared the bags so that I wouldn’t panic. Some of them contained different outfits, so that I could change my look at various points along the way back to Paris. The other bags were marked for disposal, so that I didn’t put more than one item of incriminating evidence in the same place. The syringe went in one, the empty bottle in another, and so on. I was back in Paris by late afternoon, and took the metro to Charles de Gaulle to fly back. Imogen landed at Stansted, picked up my car and drove to Heathrow to meet me. I’d changed into my drab Laura clothes at the airport. Then I drove back here. Imogen went into the terminal, ostensibly to catch her flight to Canada. That’s it.’

Will continued to stare at her, almost as if he didn’t know her. After several minutes of a silence that Laura didn’t feel she should break, he spoke.

‘As I said, your planning was ingenious, your delivery of the plan impeccable. But to risk so much, just because you hated your husband? We know
now
what he was - but you didn’t know all of that before. So why didn’t you just leave him? And why involve Imogen?’

Laura had known that this was going to be hard. She was trying to keep her tone level, but inside her emotions were in turmoil. After all she had learned that day, what she really wanted to do was curl up and die. But she had to get through this. Tell Will everything, and then crawl away into a very dark corner, away from the world.

‘When Imogen started to visit me, I told her just enough to make her realise what Hugo was capable of. There is a fatal flaw in him somewhere. And coupled with everything Hugo did to the pair of you, it was more than enough to persuade her to help me expose him for the person he really was. But she honestly had no idea that I was going to kill him. I couldn’t believe it when she turned up here. That was a very, very bad moment. I’ve still not admitted it to her. That would definitely make her an accessory. She knows, though - I’m certain of it.’

Will’s face remained expressionless. Placing his glass on a side table, he leaned back against the sofa with his hands behind his head. Laura knew him well enough to realise that he would be weighing up her every word.