Would they think I was the murderer? This was hardly innocent behaviour.
There was no lie that could get me off the hook. And so the truth would just have to do.
One final gambit.
‘Listen, Alison – it’s Alison, isn’t it?’ I said, taking an ill-judged step towards her until she raised the rifle and pointed it at my face. ‘Whoa, okay. The reason I’m here is because I think the dean has something to do with the murders. She goes to the tower at the same time every night, for hours on end.’ A beat. ‘You’ve seen her, haven’t you? You’ve wondered what she’s doing too?’
I searched her clammy face for a glint of recognition, and I found it in the subtle rearranging of her mouth. I pressed on. ‘I know the police have already talked to her, and they’ve found nothing. But I can’t let any more of my friends die. I need to know what she’s doing, and I need to know if she was there when Poppy was killed.’ A pause, in which I strained to hear for sirens. None yet. ‘Look, just tell me if you’ve seen her going to the tower?’
Alison reached up to brush a lock of pale brown hair out of her face, and the sudden downward jerk of the gun made me almost crap myself. Then, finally, a nod. ‘I’ve seen her.’
I nodded. ‘Did you tell the police?’
Another agonising beat. ‘No.’
‘Why not?’
A shaky shrug. ‘I need this job. My husband lost his when the colliery closed. We’ve got four kids to feed. What would we do if Carvell closed again?’
‘Okay,’ I said, forcing patience into my voice. ‘But kids aredyinghere, Alison. Kids just like yours, with parents who love them.’ I fought back images of my own frightened father, our final hug on the day he left me here. I’d been ignoring his calls since my bumblebee comment, in part because I was so ashamed of how I’d made him feel, but mostly because I didn’t want to have to say no to him again. Icouldn’tsay no. Sister Maria made sure of that.
‘All I need is the North Tower key,’ I urged. ‘I’ll slip away before the police arrive, and you go back and wait outside. Say you were too afraid to go in. They’ll find the office empty, just with a smashed window, and hopefully they’ll write it off as a prank. And I’ll do everything I can to make sure nobody else dies.’ I softened my voice. ‘We’re just kids, Alison. None of us want to die.’
Alison looked like she was considering this, and I wanted to tell her to hurry the fuck up, but I knew that rushing her would force a decision that might not go in my favour. ‘Vanessa will notice there’s a key missing.’
I nodded. ‘Maybe. But hopefully we can find answers before that happens.’
There were no sirens, but blue and red lights illuminated the semi-distant sky.
‘Okay.’ Alison laid down the shotgun, crossed to the safe and deftly entered a combination I didn’t manage to catch over her shoulder.
She handed me the key with a final stoic nod.
I climbed out of the window and disappeared around the corner of the convent just in time to see the police car rolling quickly but silently up the drive.
Adrenaline and residual fear made me so dizzy I had to take a brief pause by a tree with a crooked-elbow branch. Blood roared in my ears, and purple spots muddied my vision. The rubies were pounding so intensely it was like having two pulses. It took everything I had not to throw up all over the cobbles.
But it was worth it. I had the key to the North Tower. Now all that was left to do was get past the guard.