DANIEL had been late back from Madrid the night before and so they had slept in. They took a late breakfast in the garden and for the first time, it was Daniel who brought up the subject of the aftershocks from Sarah’s death.

 

“I’m so glad you know about my affair with Sarah now. I don’t know why I didn’t tell you before, I was so scared looking through her computer files. I felt like a kid again, about to be found out”

 

It was a good sign, Ana thought, that he felt he could be open with her again and she asked him why he thought Sarah was looking for a relationship outside her marriage to Mark. Daniel told her that at the time he had been so hurt by Lynette’s behaviour he had been looking for comfort anywhere. He had not considered Sarah’s motivation. The affair, which he said that looking back made him feel ashamed, had been only about sex and had lasted for only four or five encounters.

 

“It was only when I was feeling better that I wondered what on earth had been in it for Sarah. She was never my type, and I am sure I wasn’t hers, although I’m damned if I know what her type was.” He reminded Ana that Mark had told him he felt a little like Sarah’s father and he had wondered if her infidelity was about playing the disobedient child. “Remember when Lynette said the other day that her affair had made her feel young and wanted again? Do you think there could have been something like that for Sarah?”

 

Did she want to get into a discussion about the reason for the infidelity of her husband’s ex-wife? Should she confess now about Max and give the point of view of the “other woman? It was not a pleasant thought, but then if there were things Daniel needed to talk about perhaps even something this distasteful was necessary. But fate was on her side this morning. Her phone rang and she could put an end to the conversation with grace.

 

The caller was Mayte, giving her information she already knew. Mayte told her that in the light of the new evidence they would need to talk again to everyone involved. They would, she said, obviously be looking to find the woman with the dogs, as she might have seen something which would help to piece together Señora Harris’ movements that morning.

 

“Of course, it is always possible that, like Señor Schmidt, the woman with the dogs left the area soon afterwards. We know that many northern Europeans head north for the hottest months, but, if she hasn’t left the region, then we have to wonder why she hasn’t come forward. You know only too well how much publicity we have made, in Spanish and in foreign press. Even the radio stations have broadcast asking for witnesses to come forward.”

 

Ana did not respond and Mayte added that she and Manuel Camps had decided that they would bring in two official interpreters.

​

“It was a difficult decision because you are a wonderful interpreter, and I know your friends feel comfortable with you. But the situation is different now, as I am sure you realise, and it is important to question people, perhaps a little more rigorously. You feel well with this decision, my lovely, kind friend?”

 

Ana thought this was the right decision and said so. “Listening to what you say, I can see that there may be a new story, a different one. And it would not be correct for me to take part any longer. These people have become my friends, so it’s true, I would no longer a neutral interpreter.” 

 

Mayte rang off, saying she would let Ana and Daniel know if they would need to come to the police station, but Ana felt sure that her friend had heard something, in Ana’s unsaid words, the possibility of a different story. As she was telling Daniel what Mayte had said, thinking she saw in his eyes surprise that she had not told Mayte that they knew about Erik Schmidt, the phone again saved her.  This time it was Jonathan, saying that the police had phoned to say they were sending a car to bring Carole to the Guardia Civil station as they wanted to ask her more questions. They might wish to question the others too. He wasn’t sure what to do, but he was with Lynette and they thought the best thing would be to go the Guardia Civil offices, Ivan was in Russia and they must not they thought, leave Carole alone.  He would keep in touch.

 

His next call came several hours later. He and Lynette were on their way back to Carole’s house, with Carole, who was in a terrible state. Could they come? 

 

Holly ran out of the front door as they arrived at Carole’s house “I am so glad to see you” she threw her arms around Ana, tears on her cheeks. “We don’t know what to do. Carole is in a terrible state and Ivan is in Russia, again. She keeps saying, over and over again, that she lied and that the police will find out everything.”

 

Daniel took Holly’s arm, gave her a hug and suggested that she tell them what had happened. Holly took a deep breath and explained that Jonathan and Lynette had waited in a nearby café and an hour or so later Louis arrived to say Carole was ready to go home. Jonathan had rung Holly and Jeff on the way back, as well as Ana.

 

“Carole said nothing at all in the car; it was when they got back here and Punch and Judy were all over her that she broke down. “I’m so glad you have come, Ana.”  Although she was touched by Holly’s faith in her, Ana was almost sure that there would be nothing she and Daniel could do. If, as she feared, Carole was involved in Sarah’s death, then the law would operate as it must. Nothing she could do would stop it now.

 

In the kitchen they found Lynette and Jonathan standing each side of Carole, who was sitting on a chair with the dogs snuggled up to her, each with a head on a knee. Her hands rested on their heads, fondling their ears. Jeff was standing a little way away, his back to the window.

​

Holly put an arm around Carole’s shoulder. “Ana and Daniel are here now, Carole. I’m sure they will know what to do.” Carole looked up and Ana saw in her eyes relief that Daniel had come.  She gave Ana a watery smile. “Sorry, folks. What a terrible mess I have made of everything. You’d think by this time in my life I’d have learned that ignoring things and hoping they would go away doesn’t work.”  Ana was taken aback. This was not what she was expecting, these were not the words of someone involved in a tragic death.

 

“I lied to the police, but I am sure they didn’t believe me and they are certain to be back. So, I want to tell you. Yes, I did meet Sarah on the cliffs that morning” she said.  “I rang her the day after the beach party. On the beach, as we said goodbye, she’d seemed a bit sorry, said she realised she was being a spiteful bitch, said she realised she was taking out her problems out on the rest of us,”

 

She asked Holly for a glass of wine and continued “We couldn’t meet the next day, I had a client to see to, but we arranged to meet the day after, before she went swimming with Kevin. I said I’d bring the dogs. Well, she was there when I arrived and we walked along the path for a while. Then I asked her why she was saying things about Ivan, and to please leave him alone.”  Carole looked as if she would start crying at any moment but she drank more wine and continued her story.

 

Although Ana was expecting some of what came next, she was still deeply shocked at knowing the extent of Sarah’s desire to destroy the world that these people, her close friends, had created in a foreign country.  Carole continued.

​

“Sarah said she could tell about more men than Ivan.  She had written a diary, she said, about her love life.  About her romances in our little group. Can you imagine?”

 

Sarah told Carole about her diary, detailing the affairs she was having, at the same time, with Daniel and with Jeff.  “Do you know what she said next? She laughed and told me not to worry. Ivan propositioned her too, but she refused him because he wasn’t her type. Too arrogant, she said.”

 

Ana realised what the phrase “shell-shocked” meant as she looked at the reactions of Lynette, Holly and Jeff. She anticipated the revelation about Daniel, as did he, but the rest of the news was as much news to them. The only person who was not directly affected was Jonathan, and he looked, she thought, horrified.

 

But Carole hadn’t finished. “She said she would publish the diary, it would be a best seller. Didn’t I agree it would go down particularly well among the U3a crowd,?” Carole began to cry, in earnest; and through her tears she told them how she had begged Sarah to stop, pleading that it would destroy all of their lives.

“She laughed when I begged her. Can you believe it?  She laughed and it was that moment I realised she was drunk.  I don’t know if it was from the night before or if she had been drinking before she came out that morning, but she was definitely pissed. Then she ran away, laughing.

 

Punch and Judy ran after her, chased her, but in fun. But I swear to you, on the Bible if you like, she was alive when I last saw her, running along the cliff path. I didn’t harm her, although, God knows, at that moment I wanted to.”

 

No one spoke. Ana saw that Jeff and Holly were avoiding each other’s eyes and Lynette was looking at Daniel with a curious expression, one she couldn’t read. Disgust? Admiration? She wasn’t sure.

 

It was Jonathan who broke the silence. “But Carole, why on earth didn’t you say anything? When Sarah went missing, you never said you had seen her. And then when she was found……”

“But can’t you see, the things she told me, about all of us. I was terrified  that I would let them out if the police asked me questions and then who would believe I didn’t push her.”

 

“But what about Mark” Holly said, “how could you have let him go on wondering what had happened to her, not knowing, it must have been torture?”
 

“But I don’t know what happened to her” Carole was near to tears again. “I couldn’t tell him anything that would help. I saw her running along the cliff top, I didn’t see where she went. I ran back to the car with Punch and Judy. I wanted to get away and forget it ever happened. And if it wasn’t for that horrid, interfering Swiss man, no one would ever have known I was there. I didn’t bloody kill her. And if you ask me, Mark is well rid of her.” Amen to that, Ana thought and suspected the others felt the same.

 

She tried to remember what the police had said about the autopsy on Sarah. Had there been any mention of a high level of alcohol in her blood? If there was, then there was every chance they could prove Sarah fell, running while she was drunk. As she wondered about the wisdom of mentioning it,  Daniel had the same thought.

​

“If she was drunk, then there is every chance she fell accidentally, It’s certainly no place to go running if you don’t know what you are doing. We need to find out if the autopsy mentioned her blood alcohol level. Do you remember anything about that, darling?”

 

Ana had no recollection of any mention of her blood levels at all and they agreed that this was something they must ask if, or rather when, Carole was interviewed again by the Guardia Civil. She felt an unspoken agreement taking place; they must put aside these terrible emotional disasters until Carole’s innocence in the death of Sarah had been established

 

Jeff had been silent since Ana and Daniel arrived but now he seemed to find some inner energy. Perhaps, Ana thought, because his worst fear had been realised and Holly knew now of his betrayal.

 

He took over the group, using he said, the experience of his time working with the Citizens Advice Bureau in England and Ana saw a different man. This was the man she had glimpsed so briefly at Sarah’s funeral and she remembered Juana’s comment then, when he read from Cymbeline, “Am dram, dear, could have been a professional actor.”

 

Jeff explained they must concentrate on ensuring that Carole could explain to the police, calmly and clearly,  exactly what had happened on the cliff path that morning.  He suggested that Jonathan work with Carole to provide a written account. If Ana agreed, she could translate this into Spanish. He felt sure that this would help the police understand what had happened. But he thought there were two people who needed to be part of this process before Carole returned to the Guardia Civil station.
 

“We need Mark and Ivan,” he said “Mark, we can telephone him now, and ask him to come over but the other is Ivan and I suppose that will be more difficult. When is he due back, Carole?”

 

Carole said she planned to drive to Valencia airport to pick up Ivan  at around eleven thirty that night.  “In that case, I suggest that we make an appointment with the Guardia Civil to go there tomorrow, afternoon would be best, for Carole to make a statement. Ana, do you think you could use your contacts to arrange that? We can explain, and I am sure they will agree, that Carole would like her husband to be with her and that he will arrive home very late tonight. What do you think?  Will they go with that? We can guarantee that none of us is going anywhere in the meantime, other than Valencia airport. Mark must be a part of this and I think Ivan is absolutely key here, with his connections in Madrid, from what he told me anyway.”

 

But Mark was not available to come over right away. 

​

When Daniel reached him on his mobile phone, he was, he explained, in Barcelona, where some old friends from India were visiting. He had informed the police of his trip and been told there was no reason not to travel to Barcelona. He was with his friends as they spoke, so he was guarded in what he said. In any case, Daniel reported, he was returning that evening and would join them all at Carole’s house at nine the next morning.

 

Ana left the room to telephone to Mayte, preferring the privacy and the fresh air of the garden. She stood under a large almond tree, glad of a moment to herself.  Mayte immediately said she was in a meeting with Manuel Camps, in fact, they were discussing the interview with Carole at that moment. Ana took Mayte’s lead and spoke formally. 

 

“Senora Hepworth is with her friends now and she has told us she regrets she was not completely frank with you this morning. She was taken by surprise by the information that someone had seen a car resembling hers. She has information that she would like to give you, she very much regrets not being more helpful earlier.  She would like to come and give a further statement. However” Ana heard Mayte’s intake of breath at the word, “however she would, with your agreement like to leave it until tomorrow. Senor Hepworth is Russia, returning late tonight. She would like him to accompany her to your office and either late morning or afternoon would give him time to recover from his journey.”

 

Silence on the other end of the phone.  “Also Senora Harris thought it might be helpful if she brings with her a written statement, which she is preparing. I have volunteered to translate it into Spanish if you would find that  useful.” 
 

Ana detected a softening in Mayte's tone as she asked Ana to wait while she spoke to Manuel Camps. Moments later she returned, “ Yes, that would be helpful. So could you ask Senor and Senora Hepworth to present themselves here at four o’clock tomorrow afternoon?” And in Valenciano, which Ana knew Manuel Camps didn’t speak, she added “well done, cariño. And you do not need to come with them.”

 

Would Mayte be so relieved when she heard Carole’s story?

​

What would she say when she realised that the police were no further in finding out how Sarah died. Would the police have to know how these lives had been changed by Sarah’s cruel acts? Looking back she wondered how she could not have seen, even in their small contact, how disturbed Sarah had been, how reckless she was with the feelings of others. Ana wondered if she had been flattered by Sarah’s attention. She wondered what Sarah might have said had they met the day she died.  Suppose she had spoken of her affair with Daniel, and laughed about how she been collecting men as trophies. The cruellest trick of all, as far as Ana was concerned, was to have told Carole of Ivan’s unsuccessful attempt at seduction. Carole, whose ego was the most fragile and who was the least physically attractive of the women, and who, Ana thought, knew it. She remembered Mayte’s surprise that someone as sexually attractive, to her anyway, as Ivan had chosen someone as plain as Carole as his partner.

 

Right now all she wanted was to go home. She needed to be alone or, rather, alone with Daniel. Since he confessed his affair with Sarah, their emotional communication had opened again, and the thought brought her comfort.  It was unlikely that either Holly or Jeff was looking forward with pleasure to their time alone together; Ana had seen Holly’s face when Carole told of Jeff’s affair with Sarah.

 

It was time to go inside and let Daniel know they should leave.

But life doesn’t always turn out as you want. That night, as she lay awake, next to the deep, even breathing of a sleeping Daniel,  the words of Les Feuilles Mortes,  a favourite Jaques Prévert poem rang in her head

“mais la vie sépare ceux qui s’aiment, tout doucement sans faire de bruit”. life can separate lovers so easily, so quietly.

 

Nor do lovers always act as one might wish. Daniel, it turned out, did not want to discuss Carole’s revelations when they arrived home. He told her he had endured more than enough of the evil things Sarah had done for one day and, in any case, he needed to work. He was going to shut himself in his study and would not come out until an article, which was, by now, overdue, was dispatched. Could she make him some supper and let him have a tray in the study? 

 

So, although she too had work that needed finishing, she had sat by herself in the garden, watching the sky transform from day to dusk, listening to the conversations of the bird families. She had felt lonely and envied them their need to keep busy to survive. For comfort, she had deadheaded the spent flowers of the Stephanotis and the Dipladenia, stroking their velvet petals and enjoying their last, sad scents as she placed them in the compost bag. She was now sure about the baby, her period was over two weeks late and she would go to the chemist for a pregnancy test kit, just as soon as life returned to normal.

 

Then she must tell Daniel. Each time she felt their relationship had regained its old strength, something happened, like today’s drama, and Daniel retreated to the shell he seemed to have created to protect himself. But from what? Ana wasn’t sure whether it was his old friends and Lynette that he feared to let come too close, or whether she was the problem. Not a good way to start on the journey of parenthood, one she so desired.

​

With that thought she had returned to the house, to work on translating Carole’s statement into Spanish, which Jonathan had by now sent by email.

 

When sleep had come finally,   a dream invaded it; a woman with long blond hair was running, laughing, along a cliff top. Below the cliffs, the sea was not a calm blue but wild and grey and waves lashed at the rocks and sent spray to the top of the cliff, catching the skirt of the running woman. A man chased after her and in the dream he looked like Kevin Somerset. The woman’s laughter was not happy. In the dream her laugh was more like a scream. 

 

Ana was relieved when the first rays of the sun touched the windows of their bedroom even though she feared what new revelations this day might bring.