The Look of Love (25 page)

“I beat you,”
she said breathlessly, still panting from running and jumping
about.

He sighed and
slowly nodded. “Yes, my dear. You have beaten me.”

Charles
appeared in the doorway behind them. He was still fastening his
jacket. “Is it true, Sir?”

Adam smiled
weakly. “Yes, Charles. Chrissy is victorious. It is now eight to
two.”

Charles
immediately smiled. “Well done, Miss!”

Chrissy glowed
with her success. “Thank you, Charles!”

Adam’s spirits
seemed to lift a little. He smiled more brightly at Chrissy. “I
fear those kisses have cost me dearly.”

She shook her
head. “It wouldn’t have mattered; it would have been my last go
anyway.”

“So it was. You
have won as you said you would. Now the game is over and the
penalty must be paid. So, my dear, what will be your choice? A fast
car, maybe? Your island dream in the sun? Or maybe the Swiss bank
account you were talking about?”

Adam seemed to
have recovered quickly, but Chrissy stunned both him and Charles
with her answer. “I want your mother’s wedding dress.”

Adam looked
completely shocked. Shocked and confused. “Bu-but why? It is of no
great value. Surely there is something else?”

Chrissy was
relentless. “Dreams of the unattainable? Remember?” she reminded
him. “I told you I was unforgiving. I told you that this was going
to be bloody. No, I want your mother’s wedding dress. It’s the most
valuable thing you possess. And what you wanted from me was no less
valuable.”

Adam stared at
her. He seemed stunned. Finally, he nodded.

“As you wish.
Charles, please have my mother’s wedding dress packed in its box.
Then bring the car round to the door. Miss Davis is leaving.”

For the
remaining few minutes that Chrissy was in his house, Adam was
polite but abrupt. It was obvious that her request had hurt him,
hurt him far more than she had imagined. When she was in the car
and he said goodbye to her, she could see the pain in his eyes.
Even Charles was displeased with her. All the way back to
Stretford, he never spoke a word.

Chrissy looked
at the large and faded white box on the seat next to her. She
suddenly felt terrible. When Charles drew the car up outside her
house, she could stand it no longer.

“It was a
mistake wasn’t it?” she asked Charles.

Charles
switched off the engine and twisted round in his seat. He looked
back at her sadly, and nodded. “It was, Miss. I gather that you
must have worked out how attached Mr Campbell was to his
mother.”

Chrissy nodded.
“It wasn’t difficult. Do you think he will forgive me?”

“No, Miss. What
you did was pretty heartless. I doubt if even that American woman
could have come up with something so cruel.”

There were
suddenly tears in Chrissy’s eyes. “You better take it back to him,”
she said, and quickly opening the door, she got out and slammed it
behind her.

Charles wound
the electric window down and called after her as she ran up the
drive to her house. “What shall I say to him, Miss?”

“Tell him to
ring me tomorrow night,” Chrissy called back. Then she opened the
front door and hurried inside.

“Why is it that
I’ve spent three nights at your flat and only slept in my own bed
once?” Victoria remarked over breakfast.

“That’s not
quite true,” Louise replied as she munched on her toast. “The first
night you spent half in my bed and half in your own.”

“Oh, well, that
makes it alright then.” She ran her fingers through her hair, which
was all loose again and fluffed up after her shower.

They had awoken
that morning still in one another’s arms. Louise had felt
marvellous, and when she told Victoria, Victoria had pushed her out
of bed and started a pillow fight, proclaiming that Louise was a
hussy and that she had taken advantage of her –again. They had
screamed and laughed, and when they were both out of breath, it was
a quick shower each, clothes and breakfast.

“You enjoyed it
then?” Louise asked her.

“Do you mean
the pillow fight this morning or the sex last night?”

“You know what
I meant!”

Victoria
smiled. “I do, and I did. I’m quite comfortable about it, so don’t
worry, Louise. And at least I was sober this time.”

“I’m glad,”
Louise said going slightly red. “I enjoyed it too.”

“I know, you
told me. And I think I noticed last night.”

Louise went
redder still, and Victoria laughed. “You’ll have to do better than
that! One question from Angie and you’re going to turn into a
tomato!”

Louise smiled.
“You’re not really going to kill her today, are you?”

“No, but I’ll
get even!”

They got to
class early, a first for Victoria. Angela was already there, and as
soon as Victoria saw her she threw down her hold-all and chased her
around the desks, finally catching her and pinning her down, and
threatening her with a ruler.

“If you say one
word, Angie! Just one word! You and this ruler are going to get to
know one another in the biblical sense! Do you get my meaning?”

Angela nodded,
laughing. “I promise! I won’t say a word!”

It was all very
light-hearted, and Angela obviously didn’t feel threatened at all.
All three of them were laughing most of the time, and it took them
a while to calm down. After that the conversation returned to
Friday night. Angela wanted to know everything that happened, but
she was out-numbered two to one, and she found herself telling
Louise and Victoria about her date with Andy instead.

The other
students in their class began to arrive. Most of them smiled and
said hello as they came in, and every so often, Victoria would
glance towards the door. It was very noticeable, and eventually
Louise asked, “Are you looking for Chrissy?”

Victoria
nodded. “She’s going to hate me, I’m sure she is.”

Angela said,
“Oh, don’t worry! You and Chrissy have known each others for ages.
She’s bound to let you off. But I wouldn’t let her get hold of that
ruler for a while.”

Victoria
smiled, but didn’t look convinced. And Louise said, “I told her
exactly the same thing. I’m sure Chrissy will forgive her.”

“Yeah! Don’t
worry, Tori!”

As the last of
their class mates began to arrive, but Jo and Chrissy still hadn’t
turned up, Victoria could wait no longer.

“I’m going to
find her,” she said getting up. “Wish me luck!”

As soon as
Victoria had left, Angela grabbed Louise’s arm and asked in an
eager whisper, “Well? Did you or didn’t you?”

Louise
instantly began to blush. “I’m not going to tell you that!”

“That’s what
Tori said! But you can tell me, Louise. I promise I won’t breathe a
word to anyone!”

“I know you
won’t,” Louise replied. “But Vikki’s thinking about things, and I
don’t want to say or do anything to upset her. So I’m not going to
tell you, one way or the other.”

“Then why are
you going red?” Angela asked, smiling brightly.

“I am not!”
Despite her protests, Louise could feel her face flush.

“Yes!” Angela
exclaimed, making a fist. “That’s good enough for me!”

“Angie!” Louise
said in embarrassment, quickly glancing around. The other students
were too busy talking to one another to even notice what Louise and
Angela were talking about. They didn’t know of course. It was just
that Louise felt as if they did.

“Keep your
voice down!” she told Angela.

“Oh, don’t
worry, Louise! My lips are sealed!”

When Victoria
returned, she came to sit down behind Louise and Angela. She looked
really sad. “Chrissy still hasn’t forgiven me,” she said. “She told
me I was a stupid cow and to get lost.”

Angela
remarked, “Well, at least she’s talking to you!”

Louise elbowed
her. “Did you try to explain?” she asked.

“Yes, I did! I
told her how I was sorry, and how I got beaten up, but she didn’t
seem to care at all. She said it was all my own fault, and that it
probably served me right. I told you she wouldn’t forgive me. I’ve
blown it. Will you talk to her, Louise? You promised you
would.”

Louise nodded.
“I’ll do my best.” She got up and headed for the door. “Where is
she?”

“She’s waiting
for Jo by her locker. You better hurry up, though, we haven’t got
long.”

“Okay,” Louise
called back as she left the classroom.

Angela looked
at her watch. “It’s unusual for Jo to be late. I wonder where she
is.”

Louise found
Chrissy standing by Jo’s locker as Victoria had said, but there
were now two other people with her. One of them Louise recognised
as their course tutor, Mrs Thorne. The other man she didn’t know.
He was dressed in a smart suit and he was very tall. Mrs Thorne was
talking to Chrissy, and they all looked very serious.

As Louise
walked up to them, Chrissy suddenly dropped her ruck-sack, put her
hands to her face, staggered, and fell back against the lockers.
She cried out and looked terribly shocked. She burst into
tears.

Louise hurried
forward as Mrs Thorne began to comfort Chrissy, hugging her and
patting her back.

“Chrissy!
Whatever’s the matter?” Louise asked, reaching out to hold on to
Chrissy’s arm.

Chrissy was so
much in tears that she couldn’t speak. Her head was buried in Mrs
Thorne’s shoulder. It was Mrs Thorne that replied.

“Jo Henshaw’s
been murdered,” she said tearfully. “You better get back to class,
Louise. Detective Shawcroft and I will follow you with Chrissy. He
wants to talk to you all. Afterwards you can all go home. There
won’t be any classes for you today. Go on, now.”

Louise heard
the words but didn’t take them in. It was as if they were spoken in
a different language. She was so stunned that afterwards she
couldn’t even remember what she said, or if she cried. All she
could remember was walking back to class with Mrs Thorne and the
policeman following her with Chrissy, and all the way there Louise
could hear Chrissy sobbing and wailing.

As soon as they
got to class all the other students knew at once that something bad
had happened. Louise saw Victoria’s face as she and Angela stood
up. She wanted to run to her and hug her, but before she could
move, Chrissy suddenly screamed out and broke away from Mrs
Thorne.

“It’s your
fault Jo’s dead!” Chrissy screamed to a stunned Victoria. “You
killed her!”

Before anyone
could move, Chrissy hurled herself at Victoria, and the two of them
fell among the desks and chairs, scattering them about. Everyone
had to get out of the way, and there was sudden pandemonium in the
classroom as Chrissy did her best to strangle Victoria while Mrs
Thorne and Detective Shawcroft tried to pull them apart. By the
time they succeeded, Victoria was in a worse state than she had
been on Friday night. But now she was also in tears, crying as much
as Chrissy.

Louise rushed
forward to help Victoria as Shawcroft began to drag Chrissy away.
He had to hang on to her tightly, as Chrissy was still trying to
reach Victoria, kicking out at her and struggling madly.

“You selfish
bitch!” she screamed hysterically. “You killed her! It was your
fault! You useless slag! You should have died, not her! You killed
her! Bitch! I hate you! I hate you!”

Detective
Constable Shawcroft interviewed everyone in Jo’s class in
alphabetical order. He was very patient and gentle with all of
them. All of the girls, and even some of the boys, were very
tearful, and he was careful not to upset them further. What he
wanted was a clear statement of the facts, and he couldn’t get that
while they were in hysterics. But it was Jo’s three friends who
were with her on the night that she died that interested him the
most.

Chrissy Davis’s
outburst and accusation had been totally out of the blue. And she
continued to show every sign of wanting to attack Victoria Kenyon
again if she got the chance. Because of this, they both had to be
kept separated as they waited for their turn to be interviewed.

Chrissy’s
statement was eagerly awaited, and Shawcroft wasn’t disappointed.
It had taken Chrissy a while to recover, but she was still just as
angry as she was sad.

“And Victoria
does this all the time?” Shawcroft asked after Chrissy had told him
the course of events on Friday night up to the point where she
stormed off.

“Yes, she’s a
slut,” Chrissy said coldly. She kept dabbing at her eyes with her
handkerchief.

“And why do you
think she was responsible for Jo’s death?”

The mere words
seemed to make the tears well up in Chrissy’s eyes. “Because she
broke us up!” she snapped angrily. “I would have stayed with Jo if
it hadn’t been for her! It was her fault!”

“So when you
left Jo, who was with her?”

Chrissy
sniffed. “Angela and Louise, and Max and Andy.”

“What about
Scott?”

“He came after
me.” Chrissy then told Shawcroft about their discussion, and how
she had left Scott on King Street.

“And you didn’t
see any of the others after that?”

“No.”

“Where did you
go?”

Chrissy now
told Shawcroft how she was knocked down by Adam Campbell’s taxi and
what happened after that. If Shawcroft was surprised by any of her
story, he didn’t show it.

“And you got
home after five o’clock in the morning?”

Chrissy
nodded.

“Do you have
the address of Mr Campbell should we need to talk with him?”

Chrissy nodded
again and took the pen and paper Shawcroft offered her and wrote
down the address.

If Chrissy was
forthright in her statement, Victoria Kenyon was practically
silent. Shawcroft could hardly get anything out of her. When he
called for her, she was sat in the arms of another girl, Louise
Taylor, and she didn’t want to get up without her. She was still in
tears, completely unintelligible, and in dire need of a doctor. The
only thing she did manage to say was, “I killed her…” echoing
Chrissy’s accusation. She kept repeating it. Shawcroft quickly gave
up on her.