Downstairs an Irish voice rises to meet Pam: “Hello? Frankie? Are you okay? The door was—”
“Up here. Quickly,” Pam shouts down, and moments later Aoife is sent to find blankets, as Pam’s call connects with the emergency line.
Chapter 52
Simon and Anna
Simon has not slept, buteverything is now laid out:
A large heavy-duty storage box, for Anna’s body parts. He will use it to transport them to his storage unit in Chingford, where three chest freezers wait. The key to any system continuing is always being prepared for the worst, having a Plan B ready to cover yourself, should the need arise.
Beside the box is a large roll of plastic sheeting for the floor of Anna’s room, three fresh saw blades, one bolt cutter, one hammer, three large knives still in packets, duct tape, high-absorbency kitchen roll, air freshener, and two 2-liter bottles of still water, plus some sports glucose sachets, for energy and hydration.
Next to the equipment for the second stage lies the equipment for the first stage: a box of Anna’s favorite chocolates injected with morphine. A last supper, of sorts.
Chocolates can’t be a bad way to go, Simon reasons.
She will have some of her favorite chocolates and fall asleep, while he, on the other hand, will not have nearly such a pleasant time. Simon knows it will be a long day, so he figures he might as well not have to spend it feeling guilty about Anna’s last moments.
At 7:00 a.m. he enters her room; Anna is already awake, her energy edgy, expectant. She tries to cover her nerves at seeing him this early with a quick smile.
She heard the bang on the door and the scuffle outside yesterday afternoon. She doesn’t know what it was but she heard him grunting and dragging it away. She can only pray whatever it was wasn’t a person.
“I brought you something,” Simon tells her, kindness in his voice.
“Oh,” she responds, surprised.
He pulls the box of chocolates from inside his bag.
Anna hasn’t tasted chocolate for months and as far as she knows there is no occasion this morning. The air thickens.
Simon wonders if he’s played this wrong.
He hands her the box, sitting beside her as she opens it. She hesitates. She knows they’re poisoned, he realizes. She’s clever. He has played it wrong.
Simon picks up the irony of her being scared of the only good part of what is going to happen down here today.
“It’s an apology, for being so distracted lately,” he tells her.
He drops a hand into the chocolate box, grabs one and bites it in half, offering her the other side. He’s clever too. He didn’t inject two of them. He thought this through.
“In case you were worried they were poisoned,” he says mirthlessly.
Anna smiles, then chews her half chocolate. “You’re funny,” she says carefully, making a joke of it. “Thank you for my chocolates.”
“Do you love me?” Simon asks her suddenly.
Anna rearranges her face into surprise. She has been asked this question before, many times. The answer is always the same.
“Yes. I love you. And I still want to marry you. One day.”
Simon looks down at his hands. He is thinking about the smell of chopping up her body already. He hates the smell.
“Anna. Stop. Just stop, okay.”
Something falters, like a glitch, in Anna’s expression. But it doesn’t matter because Simon is not looking at her anyway.
“What do you mean, honey?” she asks gently, rubbing his back.
