Silent Truths Read Online Free PDF Page A

through all the bad times that had followed – and, God knew, there had been plenty of them …
    ‘Beth? Are you still there?’ Bruce said into the phone.
    ‘Yes,’ she answered.
    ‘I’m sorry, I have to go. Tell Georgie to take you to Charlie Sheldon’s.’
    ‘Your partner, Charlie Sheldon? Why?’
    ‘Because the press know we’re good friends. They’re bound to turn up at our place if they aren’t there already. Charlie’s wife is expecting you.’
    ‘Bruce, before you go, I still don’t know what happened. I mean, how did she …?’ Dread of the answer made it impossible to finish the question.
    ‘She was strangled,’ he answered.
    Beth’s hand moved unconsciously to her throat. It wasn’t easy to strangle someone, or so she’d been told. ‘Do you think he did it?’ she whispered, picturing her husband’s long, elegant hands and wanting to cry so hard that God would take pity and turn back the clock.
    ‘He says he didn’t,’ Bruce answered.
    ‘But what do you say?’
    ‘That he didn’t.’
    A lawyer’s answer, which told her that maybe he did think Colin had done it, but it was his duty, his job to defend him. ‘Why do they think he did it?’ she asked.
    Bruce hesitated. ‘Look, I’m sorry. I have to go,’ he said finally. ‘Tell Georgie to take you to Charlie’s. I’ll be there as soon as I can.’
    Beth rang off and relayed the message to Georgie. ‘Apparently the girl was strangled,’ she said, after a while.
    Georgie’s expression was steeped in sympathy as she glanced over at her.
    ‘I guess that means no blood. Did you imagine blood?’
    ‘I’m not sure,’ Georgie answered.
    Beth covered her face with her hands. ‘Where’s Blake?’ she said suddenly, referring to Bruce and Georgie’s one-year-old son.
    ‘In Gloucestershire with my mother. We might need to take you there for a while until all this dies down a bit.’
    Beth turned away. Georgie’s words were a bewildering reminder that this wasn’t going to look better in the morning. It was only going to get worse – and worse. ‘When will I be able to see him?’ she asked.
    ‘I don’t know. You’ll have to ask Bruce.’
    A few seconds ticked by. ‘Tell me, does he strike you as someone who could commit murder?’ Beth said.
    Georgie shook her head. ‘No.’
    ‘But even serial killers look normal until you know who they are.’
    Georgie’s hands tightened on the wheel. ‘Does that mean you think he could have done it?’ she said incredulously.
    Beth’s face was colourless. Her eyes were blind. ‘No. I don’t know what it means,’ she said. Then, after a pause, ‘I wish I didn’t have to speak to this detective. I’m afraid it’s going to make it seem too real. Right now, it still feels like a dream.’
    ‘It’s probably best to get it over with,’ Georgie said.
    Beth turned to look at her. ‘Did you know about Sophie Long?’ she asked.
    ‘No. I never heard her name before today,’ Georgie answered truthfully. ‘What about you?’
    Beth shook her head. ‘I’ve no idea who she is,’ she said, ‘but he wasn’t exactly in the habit of telling me their names.’ A vague note of bitterness had crept into her voice.
    ‘It might not be what we’re thinking,’ Georgie offered lamely.
    Beth made a noise like laughter. ‘I won’t hold you to that,’ she said.
    After a while her eyes filled with tears. The foreboding in her heart was becoming so black it was as though it was shutting all the light from her life. ‘I should call his mother,’ she said. ‘She’s bound to have heard by now. I wonder why she hasn’t called me.’
    Georgie had no answer to that, so she said nothing as Beth picked up the mobile and dialled Phyllis Ashby’s number.
    ‘Phyllis?’
    ‘Oh. I wondered when you’d get round to calling me.’
    Beth’s eyes closed. How could the woman keep up this absurd competition of who called whom first when her son had just been arrested for murder? ‘Have you spoken to