The Sum of All Sins Read online

  She often wondered how their life might have turned out had they stayed put in London. Would they have been able to solve their problems? She didn’t know, but for sure the move hadn’t helped in the way she’d prayed it would. In fact, it had eroded their relationship. The trust between them was gone, and perhaps the love was too. She hadn’t wanted to admit to it, but now she felt a breakup was all but inevitable. And when Daniel returned from his latest trip, she was going to have it out with him. One way or another.

  ***

  Catherine opened the front door to a dim circle of white cast by the outside security light. Beyond the circle, black. She still wasn’t used to the countryside at night. In London the sky had been a glowing reminder she’d been surrounded by millions of other people. An open window let in the sounds of the city, whether a wail from the siren of an emergency vehicle, a shout of a drunk in the street, or a roar from the last incoming flight of the evening as it passed above. Here, a stream bordering the garden gurgled as the rain spattered down on the muddy yard, and the only voices came from a pair of owls calling to each other in an outbuilding. The roar above her head wasn’t a 747, but the sound of the wind as the gale rushed across the surrounding hills.

  She stepped outside and slammed the door shut. Droplets of rain glittered as they swirled in the glare from the light, and she ran through the shimmering crystals towards the garage and dashed inside to where there was relative calm. Daniel had taken his car, but parked next to the space was their Toyota pickup. They’d acquired the pickup second hand from a local car sales place which specialised in 4x4s. It was a monster of a vehicle and in a bit of a state. The gearbox rattled like a pocketful of loose change, and the accelerator pedal had a disconcerting tendency to stick halfway down. On the plus side it had chunky snow tyres, four-wheel drive, and a massive truck bed at the rear. For once, she was pleased to see the pickup. It could go anywhere, and a little rain wasn’t going to cause it any problems.

  The vehicle started up with a throaty chug, belched a puff of smoke, and she was away, out of the garage and bouncing up the track to the lane. Five minutes later, she turned from the lane onto the main road and headed west, slowing down as she looked for Lisa’s car. The rain sluiced from above, javelins of water in the 4x4’s headlights. As she climbed away from the valley, the rain became sleet. Higher still and the sleet had become snow. Visibility was now down to a couple of car lengths, and the tarmac had all but disappeared in a sheet of white.

  Then the headlights sucked a burst of colour from the falling snow, and Catherine saw a bright red Audi sports car sitting beside the road, all four wheels sunk in deep mud. She beeped the horn, pulled over, and lowered the window.

  The driver’s door of the car opened, and a woman climbed out. Long auburn hair, wet and mattered, fell across her face.

  ‘Lisa?’ Catherine said as the woman staggered across.

  ‘Yes.’ A smile beneath the bedraggled mop. ‘It’s me. Sort of.’

  Catherine took in the shoes clogged with mud, the dirt spattered jeans, the sodden jacket with a ripped pocket.

  ‘Jesus, Lisa, what happened?’

  ‘I missed the sign to your place and when I tried to turn round I got stuck.’ Lisa let out a laugh. ‘There’s a metaphor if ever I heard one.’

  ‘Get in. Let’s get you back to the warm and dry.’

  ‘My car…’

  ‘We’ll sort it in the morning when this lot has blown over.’

  ‘NO!’ Lisa shouted. ‘We need to move it now. I don’t want to leave it here.’

  ‘Calm down.’ Catherine leaned back from the open window. The outburst had surprised her. Lisa usually played the part of the quiet little wife, sidling along in her husband’s shadow. Now she was wild, like a wounded animal trapped in a corner. ‘We’re not in London. I promise your car will be OK if we leave it here.’

  ‘I said we need to move it now, right?’

  ‘I don’t understand?’

  ‘The police. I don’t want them to find it.’

  ‘The police? What the hell would the police be doing up here on a night like this?’

  ‘I don’t know, but I can’t risk the car being found by them or anyone else. I don’t want anyone to know I’m here.’

  ‘Lisa, you’re going to have—’ Catherine paused. Lisa’s fists were clenching once more and her arms were locked rigid. Anger. Anger and another emotion too: fear. The cornered animal again, scared for its life. ‘Fine, we’ll try to tow it out.’

  She opened the door, clambered down from the pickup, and flipped down the tailgate. There was a long hank of towing rope lying on the bed of the truck. She pulled the rope out, hooked the loop round the towbar, and went over to the front of Lisa’s car. She bent and found the towing eye and looped the rope through.

  ‘Get in and I’ll give you a pull.’

  Lisa went back to her car. Once she was in, Catherine put the Toyota in gear. She lifted the clutch and the rope tightened. Lisa’s car came off the verge and back onto the road. Catherine reversed a touch and got out and released the rope, coiled it, and stuffed it back in the 4x4. She walked over to Lisa’s car.

  ‘Follow me, it’s not far. Be careful on the snow, OK?’

  ‘Yes,’ Lisa said. ‘Look, sorry I shouted. I’ll explain when we get back to your place.’

  ‘Sure.’ The damp was beginning to work its way inside Catherine’s clothing. She was tired and it was way past her bedtime. With all her own worries, the last person she wanted to see was Lisa. However, the poor girl was in a state and whatever the problem was, it must be serious. Why else would she drive two hundred miles in a storm to visit someone who, to be honest, wasn’t even a proper friend? Catherine smiled and tried to sound reassuring. ‘Don’t worry. Everything will be fine.’

  They headed off and a few minutes later Catherine parked up in the garage. Lisa rolled her vehicle onto the gravel yard.

  ‘Come in,’ Catherine said, opening the front door. ‘We need to find you some dry clothes and get a warm drink inside you.’

  ‘Yes.’ Lisa stumbled across the threshold. She looked half comatose, and as she made it into the hall, Catherine had to catch her as she slumped down at the foot of the stairs. The anger had gone, replaced by worry and fatigue.

  ‘Let’s get you cleaned up,’ Catherine said. ‘And if you can manage to stand, a hot shower would do you the world of good. You reckon you can?’

  Lisa mumbled several words and nodded. ‘Need to tell you something. Something important.’

  ‘It’ll wait ten minutes, won’t it?’ Catherine led Lisa along the hall to the little shower room tucked in beneath the stairs. ‘I’ll get you some spare clothes and make a hot drink while you clean yourself up. Then we’ll talk.’

  Catherine went upstairs and found a pair of tracksuit bottoms, a T-shirt, and a big baggy jumper. She doubted the clothes were what Lisa was used to wearing, but they’d do for now. In the kitchen she made a pot of coffee and opened a packet of biscuits. By the time she’d gathered together cups and milk and sugar and taken the whole lot to the living room, Lisa was sitting on the sofa, legs curled beneath her, just a glimpse of her pink toenails sticking out from the folds of the baggy jumper.

  ‘Dan’s up in London,’ Catherine said. ‘But I expect you realised he’s away.’

  ‘London.’ Lisa extended her left hand and touched her ring finger with the thumb of the other hand. She rubbed a plain gold band as if it itched. ‘Yes.’

  Lisa sipped her coffee and Catherine let the silence build. She glanced at the clock on the mantelpiece. Nearly one in the morning. Jesus.

  ‘You didn’t say on the phone what this was about. Is it Toby? Are you going through a bad time?’

  ‘I wish it was that simple.’

  Catherine waited again. Silence. ‘Go on.’

  ‘It’s... well...’ Tears began to flow down Lisa’s face and she started to shake. Catherine shifted to the sofa and took the cup of coffee away and placed it on the ta
ble. She put an arm round Lisa and gave her a hug.

  ‘Don’t worry. Whatever the problem is we can work it out. I’m sure we can.’

  Lisa leaned against Catherine. She tried to speak but her words came out as sobs. Then a yawn, eyelids fluttering closed. She was almost unconscious.

  ‘Come on, let’s get you upstairs to bed. The world will seem better tomorrow. It always does.’

  Little by little she coaxed Lisa to stand and led her upstairs to the spare bedroom. The bed was made up and she just had to turn back the duvet and help Lisa climb in. Never mind getting her undressed, she could sleep with her clothes on.

  As soon as Lisa’s head hit the pillow she was gone. Like a baby, Catherine thought. Inconsolable one second and dreaming peacefully the next. She pulled the duvet up and went to the doorway. She switched the light off and went back downstairs. She sent her husband a text message asking him to call, and then cleared up Lisa’s wet clothes and put them in the washing machine.

  A little later she was in her own bed, but sleep didn’t come as easily to her as it had to Lisa. She lay and listened to the wind as it howled outside. She thought about Lisa’s wild eyes and how she’d got angry about moving the car. She wondered why Daniel hadn’t got back to her. She shivered and wrapped the duvet around herself, now scared to fall asleep, dreading what the next day might bring.

  Chapter Three

  When she got up in the morning, Catherine poked her head into the spare room. Lisa was out for the count. She made herself breakfast and then took a shower. By the time she’d finished, Lisa had risen, and Catherine found her standing at the sink in the kitchen, nursing a glass of water.

  ‘Couldn’t find your bottled stuff,’ she said, holding up the glass. ‘Had to use the tap.’

  ‘The tap’s all there is these days,’ Catherine said. ‘You want some breakfast? Then we can talk.’

  ‘Yeah, sure.’ Lisa clunked the glass down on the drainer and put a hand out to steady herself. ‘Some food would be good. I haven’t eaten a meal since breakfast yesterday.’

  ‘Do you want to call Toby?’ Catherine gestured at the phone stuck on the wall by the door. ‘You can use the landline. Sometimes mobile reception’s not great in the house, but you could go outside and sit in your car.’

  ‘No thanks.’

  ‘Won’t he be worried?’

  ‘I’ve switched my phone off and I’d prefer to leave it that way.’

  ‘If you’re out of battery, you can charge it here.’ Catherine indicated an electrical socket with phone charging points. ‘I’ll get you a lead.’

  ‘I’m not out of fucking battery,’ Lisa said, pushing herself away from the sink. Her voice dropped to a whisper. ‘Don’t you get it? Don’t you understand what’s going on?’

  ‘Sorry, Lisa, I don’t.’ Catherine shook her head. ‘Look, I rescued you last night. Brought you back here and gave you a bed. I’ve been, to be honest, a saint, yet all you can do is be rude and ungrateful. We’re friends because Toby is a mate of Daniel’s, but I’ll always try to help somebody in need. However, you’re acting as if you’re the only one with problems.’

  ‘What the—?’

  ‘No, let me continue. You breeze up here expecting me to be a shoulder to cry on even though we barely know each other. When I rescued you from the lane you shouted at me and now you’re doing it again.’

  ‘I’m sorry.’ Lisa looked across the room at Catherine, holding her gaze, a hint of contrition in her eyes. ‘I told you, I’m stressed. I shouldn’t have snapped, but I genuinely didn’t have a choice about coming here.’

  ‘There’s always a choice. It’s making the right one that’s sometimes difficult.’

  ‘I couldn’t remain in London, I simply couldn’t. It was too dangerous.’

  ‘Dangerous? Please tell me you’re being melodramatic?’

  ‘I’m not.’ Lisa lowered her gaze.

  ‘Why don’t you go to the police? Surely they could help.’

  ‘They can’t, I’m afraid. They really can’t.’

  ‘OK.’ Catherine glanced at the window where snow brushed the glass and frosted at the sill. Several inches had fallen overnight, and white specks continued to tumble from the sky. She turned back to Lisa. ‘Let me make a pot of coffee and some toast. After that we’ll talk, right?’

  ‘It would be better if I showed you what this is all about first.’

  ‘Sure. Go ahead.’

  ‘It’s in the car.’

  ‘In the car?’ Catherine began to protest, but then figured it was easier to go along with whatever Lisa wanted. ‘Right, let’s go then.’

  In the hallway, Catherine found a spare pair of wellington boots for Lisa and gave her one of Daniel’s coats. She opened the door and snow swirled in, the door almost snatched from her hand by the wind. Lisa’s car stood sheathed in a layer of white. In the daylight the vehicle looked in a right state. A scrape ran along one wing and mud hung frozen on the wheel arches. They walked across and Lisa blipped the locks and went to the rear.

  ‘I don’t want you to panic, Catherine,’ Lisa said. ‘But this is the reason I came.’

  Lisa lifted the Audi’s rear hatch. A slab of snow slid off and Catherine moved closer. Inside the back of the car, a sheet of translucent plastic had been wrapped round a bulky roll of carpet. The roll of carpet was about six feet long and half curled so it could fit in the confines of the boot. Silver gaffer tape crisscrossed in all directions, parcelling the object and sealing the plastic at each end. Catherine had trouble comprehending.

  ‘What’s in there?’ she said, shivering as a gust of wind caught the side of her neck. She peered over the lip of the boot, catching a whiff of decay, and tasting iron in her mouth as if she’d bitten her tongue. ‘Oh my—’

  ‘Yes,’ Lisa said flatly as she slammed the hatch down. ‘It’s a body.’

  ‘Oh fuck!’ Catherine sprang back from the car. She gagged and put her hand to her mouth as she bent double. ‘Fuck, fuck, fuck.’

  The boot clicked shut and Catherine crouched down, one hand resting on the snowy ground for support. This was a nightmare. She needed to go inside and call Daniel. Get him to cancel whatever he was doing and drive home.

  ‘You understand now why I had to come,’ Lisa said. ‘I’m in trouble and you’re the only person I can turn to. We need to get rid of the body and bury it somewhere it will never be found.’ Lisa glanced at the surrounding moorland and gesticulated into the distance. ‘It’s why I came here. I knew you’d be able to find a solution. I knew you’d help a friend in need.’

  ‘No, I can’t!’ Catherine felt bile rising at the back of her throat. She swallowed and pushed herself up. She staggered towards the house, hands held up in front of her face as if hiding the scene from view might banish it altogether. ‘Leave me alone! Get out of here!’

  ‘I’m not going anywhere.’ Lisa stood by the car, her eyes wild but her voice low and determined. ‘And unless you help me, neither is the body.’

  Catherine stumbled into the porch and went inside the house. She slammed the front door and shot the bolts top and bottom. She ran upstairs and locked herself in the bathroom. She lowered the lid on the toilet and sat with her head between her knees. Nausea washed from the pit of her stomach and she swallowed back saliva and fought the urge to vomit. Even wrapped in carpet and plastic, she’d been able to smell the iron tang of blood rising from the body. She sat motionless for a minute and then stood and went to the basin. She splashed cold water on her face and washed her hands. As she reached for a towel she realised she was shaking. She dropped the towel, sank to the floor, and sat against the side of the bath with her head in her hands.

  She wished she hadn’t answered the phone when Lisa had called. Wished she’d never got together with Daniel. Wished they hadn’t left London. Wished a thousand and one other things hadn’t happened along the way.

  Part Two

  The Move

  Three months earlier…

  Chapter
Four

  Snow. We don’t get so much of it these days. Not with this global warming malarkey. Some people might call that a shame but to me, with all my sheep and cattle to worry about, the lack of snow is a blessing. Of course, there are those who say we’re due another hard winter and I kinda think they’re right. Even so, I doubt it will be as bad as the one in ’82. Hell, that was a winter to remember. Cold like I’d never experienced before and the snow lying solid on the ground for several months.

  We ran low on coal and wood and Pa said we had to tear down one of our barns and cut up the oak beams to provide fuel for the fire. Without that barn we’d have frozen to death because there was no way out, see? The drifts were so high that many villages on the moor were cut off for weeks. Food wasn’t a problem though. We had hay and grain to feed the sheep and once a week we slaughtered one of the older ewes to feed ourselves. We had several tons of swedes in a huge clamp out the back, so mutton and swede pie became our staple. Milk from the cows. Jams and pickles that Ma had put away in the autumn. Bread baked daily. We were well nourished, and with the oak logs on the range, we were cosy too. But we were bored. Once the day’s work was done, I’d retreat to the parlour and sit by the fire. I’d whittle a stick or play my fiddle, but mostly I sat and stared out at the snow.