Page 57 of Witness 8

‘Is Tomas out of bed yet?’ asked Ruby.

Alison shook her head.

‘Okay, let me go get some cleaning products. There’s some strong bleach in the bathroom cabinet upstairs. You’d better take a picture of this for your attorney. They should know you’re being targeted.’

‘Ruby, thank you,’ said Alison through the tears, her phone in her trembling hands.

Moving past her, Ruby heard soft, sibilant laughter from the red priest as she took the stairs to the upper floor. She moved quickly past the bathroom into the main bedroom. John was downstairs in his study, the door closed, already hard at work. She opened the jewelry drawer, grabbed a diamond bracelet and stuffed it into the front pocket of her jeans. She took the bleach from the bathroom on the way back down to the kitchen.

At the sink, she filled a dish tub with hot water and found some scouring cloths. Taking the tub, cloths and bleach to the front door, Ruby set them down on the top step.

‘Did you get a picture?’ asked Ruby.

‘I took a couple. Oh my God, I can’t believe this. Why are they doing this to us? Don’t theyknowus? Don’t they know we’re not bad people?’

Alison was in a mix of panic, deep frustration and sadness. The message scrawled across their door was an attack.

John must’ve heard the commotion. He came out of his study, his noise-canceling headphones round his neck.

‘What’s happ—’

His question became redundant before he spat it out. His eyes locked on the graffiti sprayed across the front door.

Doctors have strength. Ruby had always thought so. To deal with life and death on a daily basis builds an internal fortitude. Of course, it’s different when something terrible is happening to them. That professional distance that allows a cool head cannot be reached. The hurt hits the heart before the head.

His face flushed red. Eyes glistened. He opened his mouth to speak, but no words came, only a groan, his throat strangling his voice.

‘I’ll take care of it,’ said Ruby. ‘It’ll be okay. Go back inside.’

John’s lips trembled as he held Ruby in his gaze. In that moment, Ruby was hope. Someone helping them in another dark moment in what was becoming a perpetual night.

Somehow, Alison found strength – for John. She took his shoulders, turned him away from the door and spoke softly as she guided him to the lounge. Ruby closed the door, poured a small amount of bleach into the tub of water and soaked the cloth. She set to work, gently probing at the edges of theM. She didn’t want to remove the paint too quickly.

She checked her watch.

Althea would be arriving any moment.

Glancing behind her, Ruby made sure no one was on the street, no faces at the windows of the houses opposite. She reached over the stone porch and discreetly emptied the bottle of bleach into the storm drain.

While she worked, Ruby kept one eye on the east side of the street, waiting for Althea. Just a few minutes later, she saw her marching toward the house, her old, worn-out Converse sneakers flapping on the sidewalk. As Althea ascended the stoop to the front door, Ruby squeezed the last drops of bleach into her tub of water.

‘Hi, Althea. Isn’t it terrible?’ she asked, gesturing to the door.

Althea didn’t react to the graffiti, nor to Ruby. She had an uncanny ability to keep her expressions neutral.

Ruby did notice Althea shifting her eyes to Ruby’s right wrist. Following her line of sight, Ruby noticed small dots of red on her wrist. The exact type of mist that would blow back onto someone who is using a can of spray paint.

Rubbing at the paint on her wrist, Ruby said, ‘It’s starting to come off. Mostly onto me. But I’m out of bleach. Could you be a dear and get me a second bottle from the bathroom cupboard?’

Althea looked at Ruby’s hands again. There was some red tinging to the cloth, and Ruby’s fingers. It was clear she was making the calculation that the flecks of paint on Ruby’s wrist could have come from cleaning. Althea nodded, and Ruby stepped aside to let her get through the door.

Once Althea stepped into the hall, Ruby used the cloth to remove the last of the paint from her wrist. She thought she had washed her hands thoroughly last night. She must’ve missed these spots.

One mistake would be catastrophic. Ruby could not afford any more mishaps. Now, she was relying on Althea doing whatshe normally does. Every day she comes to the Jacksons’ she dumps her backpack in the hall. Same spot.

Listening, Ruby heard Althea’s footsteps on the stairs.

This was her opportunity.