‘I’m so sorry,’ I say thickly, knowing how hollow it sounds. ‘I understand how angry you must be. But please, don’t tell Tolly. Your dad is the only father he’s ever—’
‘I’d never do that,’ Bella says sharply. ‘I love him. He’s my brother.’
‘If you want to go and live with your dad and Caz, I won’t fight it,’ I say bleakly.
Bella twists the silver ring on her finger. ‘Gree said something the other weekend,’ she says, staring at her lap. ‘When we were talking about Uncle Nicky. She said love is like water: if something blocks its path, it always finds another way through.’ She pauses for a long time, and I suppress the urge to fill the silence. ‘I figured it must’ve been like that for you, when Dad met Caz,’ she adds finally. ‘You needed somewhere for love to go, and Tolly’s dad was there.’
I stare at my wise, extraordinary daughter, overwhelmed with conflicting emotion. Relief, pride, shame, regret. She has behaved better in all of this than any of the sorry adults in this saga.
‘Caz isn’t the enemy,’ Bella says softly. ‘Please, Mum. Can you just stop hating her now?’
I nod. ‘Yes,’ I say. ‘I’ll stop.’
BRIAN ROBERTS
PART 1 OF RECORDED INTERVIEW
Date:- 25/07/2020
Duration:- 31 Minutes
Location:- Kingsbridge Police Station
Conducted by Officers from Devon & Cornwall Police
(cont.)
POLICE
So what you’re saying is that Mrs Page – your daughter, Louise Page – wanted the other Mrs Page there?
BR
I wouldn’t say that.
POLICE
Forgive me, Mr Roberts, but you just said she called your wife two days ago and told her she wanted her ex-husband and his wife at the party.
BR
Yes.
POLICE
Are you saying now she didn’t?
BR
No, she did.
POLICE
Were you there when she called?
BR
Yes. Celia said Lou told her it was OK.
POLICE
Meaning she did want Andrew and Caroline Page to come after all?
BR
That’s right. [Pause.] She wasn’t too happy at first, mind.
POLICE
What do you mean, at first?
BR
When Celia first invited them.
POLICE
That would be back in June? [Pause.] If you could speak for the tape instead of nodding, Mr Roberts.
BR
Sorry. Yes.
POLICE
Could you expand on that a little?
BR
Well. Lou wasn’t too happy.
POLICE
So you said, Mr Roberts. [Pause.] Can you clarify that at all? Did she say anything, or do anything, to make you think she wasn’t happy?
BR
Lou isn’t one to rock the boat.
POLICE
Did she discuss it with you?
BR
I know my daughter.
POLICE
Right. Your wife and Andrew Page were on good terms, is that correct?
BR
Yes.
POLICE
Did that bother your daughter?
BR
You’d have to ask her that.
POLICE
What about you? How did you get on with your former son-in-law?
BR
Lou isn’t perfect, but she’s a good girl. He’d no need to go carrying on behind her back.
POLICE
With Caroline Page, you mean?
BR
Yes.
POLICE
Why did your wife invite her to the party, do you think?
BR
You’d have to ask Celia that.
POLICE
So, just to be clear. Your daughter wasn’t happy when she initially found out her mother had asked both Andrew Page and his second wife to the party, but she accepted it, is that right?
BR
Yes.
POLICE
But then she and Mrs Page fell out. The police were called to an altercation at Andrew and Caroline Page’s flat two weeks ago, isn’t that right?
BR
You’d have to talk to them about that.
POLICE
What I’m getting at, Mr Roberts, is that the previously civil relationship between your daughter and Caroline Page had clearly broken down in recent weeks.
BR
Yes.
POLICE
Yet you’re telling us your wife then got a phone call from your daughter saying she wanted her ex-husband and his wife to come?
BR
That’s what Celia said.
POLICE
Were you surprised?
BR
[Pause.] Celia usually gets her way.
POLICE
That’s quite a turnaround, though. Can you think of a reason your daughter changed her mind?
BR
I don’t know.
POLICE
Is it possible, do you think, that she wanted Andrew Page at the party for a particular reason?
BR
I couldn’t say.
POLICE
Might she want to get him alone?
BR
What for?
POLICE
Well, that’s what we’re trying to find out. [Pause.] The thing is, Mr Roberts. Less than forty-eight hours after that rather surprising phone call to your wife, Andrew Page was dead.
Chapter 38
Caz
If you didn’t know her, you might think my mother deserves a little joy, stuck all day in that wheelchair and parked in a miserable beige prison smelling of damp biscuits and disappointment. No friends or family to visit, except me, and we both know I don’t come to brighten her day. I don’t blame her for taking her pleasure where she can find it, spilling her guts to my worst enemy out of sheer malice and boredom. But that’s not going to stop me bursting her little revenge fantasy bubble.
‘No one’s going to believe it,’ I say, almost fondly. ‘You can tell them whatever you want. The more terrible it is, the crazier you’ll seem.’
Her black eyes are sharp as knives. ‘That so? Why d’you come rushing over here, then?’
‘I find you amusing. Tell me,’ I add conversationally, ‘how did it go with Louise?’
‘Now we get to it,’ she says, with relish.
‘She must be pretty desperate, coming to you.’
‘You must be pretty desperate, coming to me.’
I take a seat opposite her wheelchair as we both regroup, sizing each other up. I don’t fool myself my mother loves me; although perhaps, in her wizened walnut of a heart, something flickers. But I am known, and I’m constantly surprised by how much that matters. There is no pretence between us, no shame. She has seen my worst and I have seen hers.
‘Come on,’ I say after a moment. ‘Tell me about it. You know you want to. What did you think of her?’