Read Online Dark Corners: A Novel by Ruth Rendell - Free Book Online
Authors: Ruth Rendell
Tags: Fiction / Crime
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remedies – my dad left in the house? Stacey came to see me one day, and she found these pills. Well, capsules. They’re called dinitrophenol.’ It sounded better using that word, as Nicola might have read the name in the newspaper. ‘I didn’t know anything about the pills, but she said they could help her lose weight. She asked me if she could have some.’
Nicola took a sip of her wine.
‘There were about a hundred in the packet. I let her have fifty.’ An idea came to him. ‘Would you like to see them? I’ve still got the rest.’
Nicola nodded. They went upstairs and she followed him into the bathroom. He took the packet of yellow capsules out of the cupboard and she held it in her hand. ‘You gave her fifty?’
There was no point in telling her at all if he failed to tell her the truth. So why was it so hard? He looked into her beautiful, gentle face. It would be fine; she just wanted clarification. ‘As a matter of fact, I sold them to her. A pound each, that’s the price that was listed on the package.’ Nicola nodded, but gave no indication what she was nodding about. She handed back the capsules and walked out of the room. He went after her, but she moved slowly. On the stairs, she turned and said over her shoulder, ‘And she died? Did she die because of the dinitro-whatever?’
‘They said at the inquest that it contributed to her death. Come back and finish your wine, and then we can make supper.’
‘Where does Dermot come into it?’
He saw now that bringing his tenant in would make things much worse. Should he tell her that Dermot was threatening him? Instead, he repeated the phrase: ‘The pills are not against the law.’
‘Then they should be,’ she said.
‘Maybe.’ He began to reel off the stories he had taken from the newspapers of people who had used DNP and lost weight but been OK. Their temperatures had risen dangerously and they had felt very ill but they’d got thin and now they were absolutely fine. ‘Please, can we have another drink?’
‘Not for me.’
‘What’s wrong, Nic?’
There was no need to ask. The tears were falling silently down her cheeks. He had never seen her cry before. ‘Why are you crying?’
‘You know. Of course you do. I love you, or I thought I did. But I don’t think I can love someone who did what you did. Gave her pills – sold her pills – that you must have known were dangerous. It’s horrible.’
Carl shook his head. ‘I’m not hearing this.’
‘Yes you are. Don’t you see it was bad enough giving her the stuff, let alone selling it to her?’ She wiped her eyes with a tissue. ‘I can’t believe you’ve kept all this a secret from me. I should never have come to live here.’
‘Don’t go, Nic. Please don’t go.’
‘I’ve nowhere to go to. The girls have let my room in the flat. I’ll have to sleep in the spare room.’
Carl had never felt such despair. It enclosed him in its cold emptiness. He drank about half the second of the bottles of wine they had bought – no, Nicola had bought. He went into the kitchen and ate a slice of bread and a hunk of cheese. It seemed that he lived on bread and cheese these days. Later, after he had slept a while on Dad’s sofa, he heard Nicola getting ready for bed, using the bathroom, fetching herself a glass of water. He held his breath, hoping against hope that she had changed her mind and gone into their bedroom. But no, she hadn’t.
The spare bedroom door creaked a little when it closed, and now he heard the creak before the click of the lock.
CHAPTER TEN
THE FLAT IN Pinetree Court could never become her permanent home; Lizzie knew this from the moment she moved herself in there. She had known it when she discovered Stacey’s body. But the trouble was, she was getting accustomed to it. It had begun to feel like hers. She even cleaned it, which was the first time she had ever cleaned anywhere. Her mother came round and hoovered and dusted her place in Kilburn, but
Nicola took a sip of her wine.
‘There were about a hundred in the packet. I let her have fifty.’ An idea came to him. ‘Would you like to see them? I’ve still got the rest.’
Nicola nodded. They went upstairs and she followed him into the bathroom. He took the packet of yellow capsules out of the cupboard and she held it in her hand. ‘You gave her fifty?’
There was no point in telling her at all if he failed to tell her the truth. So why was it so hard? He looked into her beautiful, gentle face. It would be fine; she just wanted clarification. ‘As a matter of fact, I sold them to her. A pound each, that’s the price that was listed on the package.’ Nicola nodded, but gave no indication what she was nodding about. She handed back the capsules and walked out of the room. He went after her, but she moved slowly. On the stairs, she turned and said over her shoulder, ‘And she died? Did she die because of the dinitro-whatever?’
‘They said at the inquest that it contributed to her death. Come back and finish your wine, and then we can make supper.’
‘Where does Dermot come into it?’
He saw now that bringing his tenant in would make things much worse. Should he tell her that Dermot was threatening him? Instead, he repeated the phrase: ‘The pills are not against the law.’
‘Then they should be,’ she said.
‘Maybe.’ He began to reel off the stories he had taken from the newspapers of people who had used DNP and lost weight but been OK. Their temperatures had risen dangerously and they had felt very ill but they’d got thin and now they were absolutely fine. ‘Please, can we have another drink?’
‘Not for me.’
‘What’s wrong, Nic?’
There was no need to ask. The tears were falling silently down her cheeks. He had never seen her cry before. ‘Why are you crying?’
‘You know. Of course you do. I love you, or I thought I did. But I don’t think I can love someone who did what you did. Gave her pills – sold her pills – that you must have known were dangerous. It’s horrible.’
Carl shook his head. ‘I’m not hearing this.’
‘Yes you are. Don’t you see it was bad enough giving her the stuff, let alone selling it to her?’ She wiped her eyes with a tissue. ‘I can’t believe you’ve kept all this a secret from me. I should never have come to live here.’
‘Don’t go, Nic. Please don’t go.’
‘I’ve nowhere to go to. The girls have let my room in the flat. I’ll have to sleep in the spare room.’
Carl had never felt such despair. It enclosed him in its cold emptiness. He drank about half the second of the bottles of wine they had bought – no, Nicola had bought. He went into the kitchen and ate a slice of bread and a hunk of cheese. It seemed that he lived on bread and cheese these days. Later, after he had slept a while on Dad’s sofa, he heard Nicola getting ready for bed, using the bathroom, fetching herself a glass of water. He held his breath, hoping against hope that she had changed her mind and gone into their bedroom. But no, she hadn’t.
The spare bedroom door creaked a little when it closed, and now he heard the creak before the click of the lock.
CHAPTER TEN
THE FLAT IN Pinetree Court could never become her permanent home; Lizzie knew this from the moment she moved herself in there. She had known it when she discovered Stacey’s body. But the trouble was, she was getting accustomed to it. It had begun to feel like hers. She even cleaned it, which was the first time she had ever cleaned anywhere. Her mother came round and hoovered and dusted her place in Kilburn, but