Page 58 of Witness 8

Ruby quietly stepped into the hallway, making sure not to go too far, so that Alison or John wouldn’t be able to see her from the lounge. She bent low, unzipped Althea’s backpack, took the diamond bracelet from her jeans pocket and placed it inside the pack. She didn’t zip it back up, just left it where she had found it.

Returning to the door, Ruby worked harder now on the letters. In a few strokes theMandUwere almost gone.

Footsteps coming down the stairs. Althea’s rubber soles flapping on the tiles.

The door opened further and she gave Ruby the bottle of bleach. Pausing, taking a breath, Ruby wiped at her brow before taking the bleach. Althea returned to the house and moved to the kitchen. She was heading for the utility cupboard to fetch her sweat-stained apron.

Any plan requires elements of luck. People not paying too much attention to what is going on around them.

Althea hadn’t noticed her bag was open. Everything was set.

Ruby picked up the tub of water, pushed open the front door and dropped the tub onto the tiles. She let out a cry, nothing too dramatic, but enough to summon Alison to the hallway. Two seconds later, Alison and John came bounding out of the living room, wondering what fresh hell was waiting for them. They saw the spillage. Ruby’s hands on her head, swearing at her incompetence.

‘Jesus, I’m so clumsy. I’m sorry. Alison! The water – grab Althea’s bag before it’s soaked.’

As the puddle of water spread across the tiles, Alison stepped forward and took hold of Althea’s backpack, not wanting it to be ruined. She didn’t realize the bag was open. As she snatched itupright, the bag tilted. A purse fell onto the floor. A granary roll wrapped in a plastic baggie, a set of keys . . . they all clattered onto the mosaic tiles.

And then a bracelet hit the floor.

Alison swore, at her own clumsiness this time. But then she paused as soon as she saw the diamond bracelet. Slowly, she bent low, picked it up and examined it.

‘I’ll get a mop,’ said Ruby.

‘No!’ said Alison forcefully.

Ruby stood still. Waiting. Watching.

Althea came out of the kitchen to see what had happened. She hadn’t even gotten to the cupboard yet to put on her apron. She stared in confusion at Alison, at both the expression on her employer’s face, and puzzlement as to why she was holding her backpack.

‘This was in your bag,’ said Alison, holding up the bracelet. ‘This ismine. John gave it to me for our tenth wedding anniversary.’

‘I don’t know what you’re talking about,’ said Althea.

‘It fell out ofyourbag,’ said Alison.

Fear crept into Althea’s voice, ‘I swear to God I didn’t put it there. I’ve never seen it before.’

‘John, call the police . . .’ Even as Alison said it, her face crumbled. The police had put her husband on trial for a murder he didn’t commit. Their happy, elitist beliefs had been shattered. Now, they didn’t trust the police.

‘You took my grandmother’s necklace too,’ said Alison. The shock of Althea’s betrayal was subsiding, replaced by anger.

‘Get out!’ said John. ‘Just get out of our house.’

Althea began to speak, but John shouted her down. He took hold of Alison, steadying her. And Althea gathered her own belongings, wet from the water on the floor, and stormed out of the house, muttering in Spanish.

Ruby found the mop and the bucket and soaked up the water, then quickly removed the spray paint from the door.

As she washed her hands in the kitchen, she heard Alison behind her.

‘Thank you so much, Ruby. I honestly don’t know what we would do without you.’

The rest of the day passed without incident. Esther called in, as she did more regularly, to check on Alison. She heard Alison telling Esther about what had happened that morning. The graffiti on the door, and Althea’s betrayal.

Ruby listened from the hallway and Alison and her mother spoke in the kitchen over herbal tea.

‘I just can’t believe it,’ said Esther. ‘Not Althea. The other one, Ruby, I could believe.’

‘No,’ said Alison. ‘Ruby has been amazing. She’s so kind. And she’s stood by us.’