What the Nanny Saw Read Online Free PDF Page B

wrong?” Ali asked.
    “They’re saying that Nick wasn’t acting alone.”
    He stared at her intently, and Ali realized that he was looking for answers to his question in her expression.
    “What do you mean?”
    “The initial investigation has thrown up some interesting leads suggesting that Bryony must have been involved, too. Nick had access to information that only Bryony could have known. Do you understand what this means?”
    “Not really.”
    “It means that Bryony will become a suspect. If she is found guilty then she could also go to prison.” He leaned forward and gripped her arm. “I don’t believe she would have done anything so reckless.”
    “I’m not sure how I can help.”
    “Tell me everything, Ali. Tell me everything that you observed living with the Skinners. Even details that you think might be insignificant. I’ll try and piece it together, and perhaps even if Nick goes down, then Bryony at least will be saved. We can meet up a couple of times a week and you can give me your side of the story.” He paused again to allow her to absorb his request. “There’s one other thing that you should know. There are people suggesting that you and Nick were involved. That you clouded his judgment, that she helped him as a last-ditch attempt to salvage their marriage.”
    Ali opened her mouth to speak, but it was as though his words had winded her. She moved her lips, but no noise came out.
    “You don’t need to justify yourself to me. I just want you to know that you need to watch out. You’re no longer seen as the innocent bystander. You’re fair game, and I’m one of the few people who can protect you.”
    He got out a notebook and a tape recorder from his pocket.
    “Shall we start now?”

 3 
    August 2006
    The job was advertised in the back of The Spectator . Hidden among the classifieds. Discreet typeface. Possibly Times New Roman. No elaborate borders.
     
    Modern-day Mary Poppins required to take care of needs of busy professional London family. Must have university degree. Clean driving license. Desire to travel. Experience working with children desirable. Loyalty, discretion essential.
     
    Ali Sparrow sat at the dining room table of the Skinners’ London home, rereading a photocopy of the advertisement that Bryony had left there, trying to find meaning in the order of the list of requisites. As she read, she twisted her hair into knots, preoccupied that there might be hidden clues she might have missed. She shifted awkwardly, crossing and uncrossing her legs, aware that the gray wool skirt she had borrowed for the interview from her much shorter flatmate was riding toward her thighs, causing the backs of her legs to stick uncomfortably to the leather surface of the chair. Trying to imagine what attributes the Skinners didn’t want in a nanny, she pulled the hem back down to her knees, glanced down at her black shirt, and did up the top button. “No bunny boilers. No cleavage. No anorexics.”
    She pulled a mirror out of her canvas handbag and checked her face. She had dyed her hair chestnut a couple of days earlier, and she hardly recognized herself. Her eyebrows now looked too pale by comparison. She licked a finger and smoothed them down in an effort to darken them a couple of shades. Dying your hair before an interview might make you look as though you had something to hide, Ali decided. In general, however, she liked what she saw. The hair matched her almond-shaped brown eyes and contrasted well with her windburned skin.
    She thought of her friends’ advice late last night as they shared a cheap bottle of wine around the table of their flat in the center of Norwich. Rosa was still trying to persuade her to join Sugar Daddies. She had shown Ali the website, hoping to convince her that sleeping with a successful middle-aged man for £500 every couple of months was somehow less demeaning than working as a nanny.
    “Sometimes they just want to take you out to dinner,” Rosa said.