‘You sanctioned it, didn’t you?’ I said to him. ‘Maybe more than that. You told Zack to murder Samir. You were so desperate for that app.’
‘You don’t know what you’re talking about.’
But I could see it on his face, and on Zack’s. He was lying.
‘Dad,’ Miranda said. ‘The girl.’
On the ground, Zack was still kneeling on Avril’s back, and she was groaning like she was in as much pain as Zack obviously still was. Sweat continued to pour off him. I could smell it: acrid and sharp.
‘All right. Zack,’ Charles said, ‘let her up.’
Zack got off Avril and stepped aside. She got to her feet, wincing, and Zack said to Charles, ‘I need to get to a doctor.’ As he said this, he grabbed the first-aid kit and tipped the contents out, tearing open the packet of painkillers and washing three down with the whisky, drinking it straight from the bottle again. Finally, he approached Miranda and gestured for her to hand over the rifle. He held it in his good arm, looking very much like he wanted to shoot Avril. But he didn’t point the gun at her. He left that to Charles.
‘Sit down,’ Charles said to Avril, and, tentatively, she sat on the sofa. ‘Okay, good. We’re going to take a minute to think about this.’ Charles’s voice was relaxed. ‘So Zack killed Samir, did he? He confessed to that? In front of all of you?’
‘He murdered my mum, too.’ Avril still sounded brave. Defiant in the face of this man who had a gun trained on her.
Charles shook his head at Zack as if he were deeplydisappointed in him. A parent who’s been called in to school to find out his son has been up to no good. It was all an act. Surely everyone here could see that. He had told Zack to kill Samir, or at least gone along with the plan.
Zack didn’t speak up. He was so loyal to Charles it appeared he was willing to take the blame for all of it.
‘Oh, Zack. I’m so disappointed in you.’
‘This is such bullshit,’ I said. ‘Holly, he’s lying. Your dad was involved in Samir’s murder. I bet he told him to kill Morag, too. All they care about is that fucking app. About all the money it’s going to make them.’
Charles shook his head, as if he felt sorry for me.
‘I care about family,’ Charles said. ‘And I would have happily welcomed you in as well, Patrick. It’s such a shame.’
‘What are you talking about now?’
Charles turned to Holly. ‘I’m sorry, sweetheart. I know you like him. But I need to shut this down now. All of it. And he’s useful. It’s good that you brought him here.’
I backed away. It wasn’t hard to figure out what he meant byuseful. Charles was going to tell everyone thatIhad confessed to murdering Morag, and probably Lewis, too. Zack would back him up, obviously, and I had no doubt Miranda would go along with it. The police already thought I was guilty and, after I’d escaped from custody, they wouldn’t need much persuasion to believe Charles’s version of events.
But what about Holly? Surely she wouldn’t go along with this.
I looked at her, but she refused to meet my eye. She must have realized what her dad was planning, and was still torn. Me. Or her family. Because she must also have known that her dad was lying. That he was involved in Samir’s death, and therefore Morag’s.
There was one other thing. If he could persuade Holly to side with him, what was he going to do with Avril?
He was going to have to kill her, too.
All this time, she had been watching, her eyes darting between Charles and Zack and me. If she was as clever as I thought she was, she would have figured it out. She knew they were going to lie, cover everything up. But for that to work, she had to die.
She threw herself at Zack.
He wasn’t expecting it, especially when she went straight for his wounded arm, punching him where she had shot him.
He screamed and clutched at his shoulder, dropping the rifle. She grabbed it. Across the room, Charles raised his gun for a second, then, as Avril pointed the rifle at him, he ducked– behind Miranda.
There wasn’t time for Miranda or anyone else to react, because Zack roared at Avril and tried to grab the gun back from her.
She evaded his grasp and squeezed the trigger. The first shot went wild, striking the wall.
He tried to move, but he was too slow. She pulled the trigger again, and shot him in the chest.
I expected Miranda to scream; for Holly to cry out, too. But Miranda was frozen, staring at her husband’s body with her mouth open. Holly had taken a step backwards, almost colliding with the cabinet. She seemed to have gone into a dissociative state, her face blank. I needed her to come back.
