Again she held her silence, smiling in response, alert to the faintest whimper from Charlie, knowing how terrified he must be.
‘When it got dark, Silvia and I would go exploring. It was something I taught her, Kate. I was used to roaming around the house at night, listening to the floorboards creaking, learning to be light of foot. We’d take a kerosene lamp with us because the passages of the castello were dark at night, except for the room with the windows, of course.’
‘The room with the windows?’
‘Yes. It was our favourite room. Six tall, stained-glass windows in a semi-circle. At night, the moon shone through them, a beam of light exploding into the room. During the day, we would play there together. The rocking horse was there too. In the dark, his eyes reflected the light of the moon, dark red they were, sometimes they looked like large rubies. I went looking for her one night. I wanted to give her a present before I left. But I couldn’t find her. She wasn’t in her room, and she wasn’t in the room with the windows either. It was then that I heard it. The scream, echoing through the walls and the corridors, just like the way the sound travelled in the old town of Suvereto, sending vibrations everywhere. At first I thought it was an animal screaming, the screech was high-pitched, like a wild cat.’
Looking at him in the rear-view mirror, Kate could see his eyes glaze over, as if he were back there, in those rooms, hearing the sound again. He was completely caught up in the memory. She could see that the present had fallen away from him and he was in the past – trapped by the memories, as she’d suspected.
‘I followed the sound. I knew the way to the bishop’s rooms. He let us play there sometimes. I held the hurricane lamp up high, making sure I could see as much as possible, following the sounds. The closer I got, the more I knew it was her. I called out, wanting her to hear my voice, but I could barely hear my own. The echoes were too strong. When I got to his door, I could hear him, goading, laughing. At first I couldn’t open the door, but I used my penknife and fiddled open the lock. I saw him lying on her, pushing into her, her legs spread open. When he turned and saw me, the fat pig didn’t care. I ran at him. She screamed, her eyes were wild, lost.’
Again he paused.
‘When I flung myself at Antonio, he wrestled with me, throwing me to the ground, and that was when she got free of him. Even when she ran, it was as if she was blind, as if she was looking inside herself instead of ahead. When I called after her, she didn’t turn. I followed her, so did Antonio, out to the cliff edge. He was shouting after both of us, his voice vile like the vermin he was. She ran so fast. Her white nightdress made her look like a ghost, a brilliant white against the moon. And then she fell. Her scream lowering in sound the farther down she went. Until all I heard was the silence.’
‘Did you help bury her, William?’
‘We all did. Antonio, Mother. But I fixed her.’
‘In the grave?’
‘Yes. I plaited her hair the way she liked to wear it. I went back to the castello to get her crucifix. She wasn’t wearing it that night. She had had nothing to protect her. Then I gave her my present.’
‘The ribbons?’
‘They were red, with a perforated edge, a herringbone pattern. I knew she would like the feel of them. I had taken them in my attaché case. I tied both her plaits, resting them on her shoulders after I positioned her, fixed her nightdress, placed her head on the stone pillow, joined her hands, bent both her knees. She looked as if she was praying. She wanted to be a guardian angel, Kate. Even in death, she wanted to help others.’
‘And your mother, William. What did she do?’
Kate watched his face change, anger and a look of defiance returning to it.
‘Mother was happy. She got more than she bargained for. It takes a lot of money to keep a mouth shut, especially one as big as hers. It was only a few months ago that I found out the real truth.’
‘And what was that, William?’
‘She had encouraged him to do what he did. My mother was a whore, Kate. She slept with dogs. Antonio entertained her for a while, but she soon realised he had other interests, interests of the younger variety. Nobody mattered to her, you see, nobody other than herself. I had to take action. I had done nothing for far too long.’
‘So what did you do?’
‘I killed Antonio of course, pushed him off the cliff edge, the snivelling coward. Begged like a baby, his scream all the better for it.’
‘And your mother?’
‘I gave her the same death as Amy Brady, smothered her with a pillow. An eye for an eye, Kate.’
‘Did you kill Amy Brady, William?’
‘No, no. That was Mother. She thought Silvia had come back to haunt her.’ He snorted. ‘I heard Mother coming back to the house that night. I knew she had been up to no good. She told me she had taken care of everything.’
‘So you went back to Amy’s caravan?’