Watching You: A Novel

Freddie felt like Charles in The Rachel Papers when he finally gets Rachel into bed. Not that he’d got Romola into bed. Not that he had any intention of getting Romola into bed. But he felt magnificent and triumphant. They’d danced together. Probably quite badly. And her bitchy friends had looked on in appalled disgust and made faces at each other and then Romola had said she was finding it all too stimulating, that she was experiencing sensory overload and that she wanted to be somewhere quiet. So they’d left. They’d sat for a while on a bench, Romola wearing his suit jacket slung over her shoulders. And he hadn’t touched her. She seemed to be a little uncomfortable with touching. She said it was her Asperger’s. He’d said he had no problem with touching, that he liked hugs and affection. She’d said, We’re all different.

And then he’d walked her home, to the mews on the edge of the city, and the tiny dog had barked a lot, and she’d dashed in the door without saying goodbye, but that was fine because it was part of her Asperger’s not because she was rude.

And he’d called his dad, hoping for a lift. But his dad hadn’t answered his phone so he’d started walking and just kept walking until he’d reached the village and then he’d walked up the hill to Melville Heights and he’d let himself into his house and he’d followed the sound of movement into the kitchen and there he’d seen his dad, and his mum.

And his mum was on the floor.

And there was blood, lots of blood.

And his brain, his big, brilliant brain, had not been able to translate what he was seeing, not for quite some time.

And when it did he screamed.

RECORDED INTERVIEW

Date: 25/03/2017

Location: Trinity Road Police Station, Bristol BS2 0NW

Conducted by: Officers from Somerset & Avon Police

POLICE: So, Mrs Tripp, talk us through what happened after you arrived in Melville Heights on Friday evening.

FT: Well, for a while I sat outside Tom Fitzwilliam’s house.

POLICE: Outside?

FT: Yes. There’s a small shrubby area opposite the houses. I had a fold-up chair and a camera. The woman in Mold told me the meeting was starting at 7 p.m. So I got there at six forty-five. I saw the boy leaving the house at about six forty-eight.

POLICE: The ‘boy’ being?

FT: Their teenage son. He’s one of them too. He sits up there in his room, watching me all the …

POLICE: Mrs Tripp. If you could just describe what you saw?

FT: Well. He was all dressed up in a suit and tie.

POLICE: And did he see you?

FT: No. It was getting dark by then and I was well hidden.

POLICE: Then what did you see?

FT: Well, nothing, for ages. Seven p.m. came and went, then seven thirty. Then at eight the blonde woman came.

POLICE: Could you identify the blonde woman?

FT: I don’t know her name. But I know she lives two doors down. Number 14. With the heart surgeon and his wife.

POLICE: Is this her? For the sake of the recording we are showing Mrs Tripp a photograph of Josephine Mullen.

FT: Yes. That’s the one.

POLICE: Could you tell us what she was wearing?

FT: Well, I can show you what she was wearing. I have photos.

POLICE: For the sake of the recording could you describe in your own words what Ms Mullen was wearing?

FT: Yes. She was wearing a black leather jacket, a big scarf and a tight dress. And boots. Coloured boots. With heels.

POLICE: Was there any form of decoration on the boots?

FT: Yes. There was. A kind of tassel.

POLICE: Thank you, Mrs Tripp. So, you saw Ms Mullen outside the Fitzwilliams’ house at 8 p.m. Can you describe what you witnessed?

FT: Yes. She’d got out of a taxi in the village. She was breathless. She’d been walking up the hill, very fast. Almost running. She stopped outside her own house and turned, seemed to be looking for something on the other side of the road. Then she slowed down, walked towards Tom Fitzwilliam’s house and stood for a minute with her hand near the bell. Then she took her phone out of her bag and looked at it. It looked as though she was thinking of calling someone but thought better of it. She looked up at Tom Fitzwilliam’s windows and then she turned round and went back to her own house. I immediately realised of course that she was one of them. She’d obviously been invited to the meeting but for some reason she changed her mind about knocking on the door. Maybe she realised that Tom Fitzwilliam’s car wasn’t there and decided to wait.

POLICE: So, Tom Fitzwilliam’s car was not there at 8 p.m.?

FT: No. It wasn’t. So, I waited a few minutes for him to arrive. The blonde woman had clearly been expecting him to be there. And then I remembered: when I was a child I had a friend who lived up in Melville Heights. She lived at number 3, the pink house. I’d go over to play quite a lot and there was a kind of secret garden behind her house. A little woodland. All the houses had access to it from their back gates. And I remembered that there was a footpath to it from the bottom of the hill, just behind the phone box there. And I suddenly realised, you know, if they’re all getting together they’re hardly going to be walking in through the front door, bold as you like. And I thought, I’ll bet you that’s what the blonde girl’s going to do. She’s going to go through her house and round the back. So I took my camera and I walked down to the entrance to the woodland and by now it was really very dark. I couldn’t see much. But I did see a figure, ahead of me, someone leaving the back of one of the houses. I ducked into the shadows so they wouldn’t see me.

POLICE: And did you see which house this person came out of?

FT: It was the yellow house. It was Tom Fitzwilliam’s house.

POLICE: And where did this person go after leaving Tom Fitzwilliam’s house?

FT: They walked two doors down. Into the back of the blue house. The heart surgeon’s house.

POLICE: Did you recognise this person at all?

FT: Well, it was the blonde woman. The one you just showed me a photo of. Who else would it have been?

POLICE: And you say you had your camera with you. Did you happen to get a photo of this person?

FT: Yes. I did. Just the one. And it’s terribly blurred, I’m afraid. Would you like to see it?

POLICE: Yes, Mrs Tripp, we would.