Judith’s bike cut through traffic and she was the first to reach the Anderson house. She ran up the steps and knocked on the door, then rang the doorbell. There was a narrow window to the right of the door. Judith peered through the glass but saw no sign of movement inside the house. She rang the doorbell again, then heard the screeching of brakes and turned to see Rocky and Lucy Phillips pull up in a highway patrol unit, lights flashing. Rocky hurried up the steps towards Judith.
‘What’s going on?’ he asked. Before Judith had a chance to answer, Nathan Anderson pulled into the driveway. His older daughter was sitting in the back of the car, still clutching the rabbit plushie from the night before. Nathan got out of his car. He didn’t look like he was expecting to find patrol cars at his house, and two detectives on his doorstop.
‘Mr Anderson, your au pair, have you seen her today?’
Nathan looked confused. ‘Celine? I saw her this morning, before I went back to the hospital.’
‘Where’s your younger daughter?’
‘She’s still on the ward. They think she might be improving, thank god, but she’s still too sick to come home. Look, what’s this about?’
‘I’ll explain. I’m happy to explain, but for now, can I ask you to give your keys to Detective Jansen, and to take your daughter further down the street? We need to search your house immediately, if you’ll give us permission to do so.’
‘What are you saying? Are you saying it’s not safe? That someone might be in there?’ The tension in his face ratcheted up a notch.
‘Please. I’m happy to explain after we’ve searched the house.’
Nathan handed over his keys. He took his daughter from her seat, and walked rapidly away, crossing the street towards a neighbour’s property.
‘We need to be careful,’ Judith said. ‘She could be armed.’
Rocky nodded. He drew his weapon. ‘I’m point,’ he said.
Judith took out her gun and tucked in behind him, with Lucy behind her. As soon as Rocky had the front door open, he was moving.
They followed standard police procedure and cleared each room downstairs before moving up to the first floor and clearing that space, bedroom by bedroom. They reached the third floor. The house was empty. All of the bedrooms were untidy, with unmade beds and kids’ toys strewn about, but the smallest bedroom, tucked away at the end of the house, looked like it had been stripped. The wardrobe was empty. There were no clothes, no books, no personal belongings.
‘She’s gone,’ Judith said.‘Goddamn it.’
Rocky holstered his gun. ‘Who, exactly, is gone?’
‘Ruth Hall, otherwise known as Alexis Turner, otherwise known as Celine. I think Ruth took a job working for the Andersons as their au pair. She adopted a French accent, a whole persona.’ She’d been so smooth, so confident. She’d been right there, in this house, right in front of Judith, and Judith hadn’t recognised her. Judith had been distracted, of course, by the little girl’s illness, by the urgency of the situation, and looking back, Celine/Ruth had kept her head bent and turned away. But my god, the confidence. The gall of the girl.
‘How do you know? How do you know that Celine is Ruth Hall?’
‘Because I found this in an apartment rented in Alexis Hall’s name.’ Judith fumbled in her pocket and took out the pink iPhone she’d taken from the flat. The phone was inside a clear plastic evidence bag. Judith hit the button on the side of the phone and woke the screen. ‘It’s password-protected, but look at the photo. The girls are the Andersons’ little girls. I think the brunette is their last au pair. Elsa said that Celine had only been with them a short time.’
Rocky examined the phone. He nodded to Lucy Phillips. ‘Take that to Anderson. Ask him if recognises the young woman in the photo.’
Judith handed the phone to Lucy, and she left the room.
‘You think Ruth Hall killed this girl so that she could take her place?’ Rocky asked.
‘I don’t know,’ Judith said. ‘I think it’s possible.’
‘You don’t know. It seems to me that you wouldn’t have come chasing over here if you weren’t pretty damn sure.’
‘I spoke to a psychologist who met Ruth when she was a kid. He said that Ruth could be charming. That she liked to put on an act, to draw people in. And her mother, Anita, was French.’
‘And you think she’s been living in this house, working with their kids, getting up with them in the morning, feeding them, wiping their arses. Why the hell would she do that?’
‘Because she likes to watch. Because she likes to see the result of what she does, up close and personal.’
‘She was the one who told the team about the marshmallows. Why would she do that, if she was the one who poisoned them?’
‘I don’t bloody know, Rocky. Maybe she wanted to save the kid.’
‘There was no antidote. Knowing what the poison was didn’t make a difference.’
