‘You killed him, Molly … your own husband … How could you do such a terrible thing?’
‘Stop it!’ Clenching her fists, she rained punches on his chest. ‘I did it for you! I saved your life and now you’re blaming me,’ she screamed. ‘If that’s all the thanks I get, I should have let him kill you … I should have let him tear you to pieces!’ After all this time, she was seeing him for what he truly was – a wimp. A nobody, a little man without backbone.
His reaction forced her to consider the enormity of what she had done. Because of this timid man, she had committed murder, without hesitation and without conscience. She now grew fearful for herself. She had believed Tom would be on her side, but now she knew different. She also realised that the implications for her were devastating.
She had thought he would help to cover her tracks, but she was beginning to realise she might have to face the consequences of her action alone. It had become obvious that Tom would not help her. No, she was alone in this; alone to pay the harsh penalty for what had happened here tonight. The very thought of being locked away in prison made her sick to the stomach.
Deeply agitated, her mind running crazy, Molly began pacing up and down, making plans, looking for a way out. But the plain truth was staring her in the face.
She
had killed her husband.
She
was the one who had swung the spade across his head … to stop him … to try to save Tom, a weasel of a man. Yes, that was why she had done it – because of him, this man who was now willing to see her locked away.
The germ of a plan lit up her mind. Of course! Tom loved her; more than that, he was besotted with her. And now she must do whatever it took to save her own hide, and to hell with the cowardly man who had got her into this awful situation.
The more she thought about it, the more she actually began to believe herself innocent. It was his fault. Yes, his fault … not hers.
Suddenly she knew what she must do, and to that end she crumpled to the floor beside the good man she had killed only minutes before, sobbing as though her heart would break.
‘I’m sorry, John, but I was so afraid you meant to kill Tom. But I swear, I never meant it to end like this.’
Forcing out the tears, she pleaded to her lover, ‘I swear to you, Tom, I never meant for this to happen, but he was hurting you. I knew he meant to kill you, and I couldn’t let that happen. I panicked. He meant to kill you, I know he did.’
She paused to wipe the tears from her face. ‘How could I stand by and see him kill you? I had to stop him. I’m sure you would have done the same if he was hurting me. Oh, darling Tom, we’ve only just found each other again. And already I’m certain I want to spend the rest of my life with you. But I never wanted to be rid of him this way. You have to believe me, Tom. I wanted to stop him hurting you, but I never meant to kill him.’
Having done her best to convince him, she looked up at Tom with a sorry face. ‘Please, Tom, don’t let them lock me away in prison. I would never survive. I would have to find a way to kill myself. Please help me, Tom. Please!’
As she had anticipated, his kindly heart melted at her seemingly genuine fear of imprisonment. Reaching out, he drew her into his arms, telling her softly, ‘You were only trying to help me. I do know that, and I truly believe you never meant this terrible thing to happen.’
He looked down at the other man’s empty body, his tortured mind racing with guilty thoughts. How could he allow Molly to be locked up when he was the guilty party in all of this? He had always loved Molly, with her irresistible curvy beauty, and when he saw her heading for the pub he was determined not to let her go a second time, even though she was now married to the man for whom she had left him.
With his sorry gaze fixed on the lifeless body of John Tanner, Tom blamed himself completely. This was a shocking situation, but having found Molly again, and knowing that she still loved him after all these years apart, he knew he must do all he could to keep her safe … to keep her free.
His mind was made up. ‘l’ll tell the authorities what happened,’ he promised staunchly. ‘I’ll tell them how John was about to kill me, and that you only meant to warn him off. When I tell them how you saved my life, they’re certain to be lenient on you. Just a few years away and then it will be over and we’ll be together. I won’t desert you, Molly, I promise.’
‘No!’ Molly reeled back in horror. ‘If they put me away, I swear I’ll kill myself! Without you by my side, my life would be over anyway. I want us to have a life together, and if I can’t be with you, I don’t want to live. I won’t be locked away, Tom. I won’t!’
‘No, Molly, don’t talk like that. You saved my life. I’ll tell the police that this would never have happened if I hadn’t deliberately seduced you this evening. In truth, what happened here is as much my fault as yours.’
Molly turned on the tears. ‘Oh, Tom, after we made love and I realised how much I’ve missed you I decided to leave John and make a life with you. But now it can never happen. After I confess to the police, they’re sure to lock me away, and I’ll never see you again. I could never allow you to visit me because it would break my heart to watch you walk away and leave me there.’
Her false words had the desired effect on him. Placing his hands on her shoulders, he held her away from him and looked into her tearful eyes. ‘Listen to me, Molly. Someone has to pay for what happened here tonight, but I promise you, hand on heart, I will not let you take full responsibility. Think about it, Molly! If I had not made a play for you this terrible thing would never have happened.’
Wrapping her tightly in his arms, he told her softly, ‘I won’t let you take the blame for this, Molly. If they locked you away and I lost you for ever, my life would be unbearably empty.’
Suddenly he had an idea. ‘I’ll tell the police that it was an accident … a shocking accident. You saw him go for me and I could not stand up to him. He truly meant to kill me. You realised that, and you panicked. It was all because of me.’
Secretly delighted, Molly remained silent.
‘If anyone is made to answer for what happened it has to be me, not you, Molly. And besides, you have responsibilities. You will need to keep the farm going. Your workers will be relying on you to sustain their livelihoods.’
‘You’re right, Tom. The farm is their livelihood, too, and they have families to take care of.’
‘And you have a young child who will be shattered when she learns that her father is never coming home again,’ Tom went on. ‘Just think what it would do to her if you were put away for killing her daddy.’ He shook his head. ‘It doesn’t bear thinking about.’
Picking up on his kind remarks, Molly set about making him feel even more responsible. ‘Oh, Tom, you’re so thoughtful. Young Rosie adores her daddy, and what has happened here will break her heart. She will be absolutely inconsolable. I can’t even imagine how the poor child would cope if I was arrested and locked away in prison.’
‘Oh, Molly, if I allowed that little girl to be even more hurt because of me, I would never forgive myself.’
Taking a deep breath, he went on softly, ‘Listen to me, Molly. We have to talk this through. We need to be sure of every small detail of our story. We should keep to the truth as far as possible … right up to the moment when he caught us in the hay together. That’s when he went crazy and flew at me like a madman. Don’t forget the pub landlady will have seen us leave together, and we were together when your husband found us, and that was what kicked off the fight.’
‘But we needn’t tell
everything
, surely?’ Molly was not altogether convinced.
‘Yes, Molly! Right up to the point where he was getting the better of me … and you believed he was about to kill me. But then we come to where he had me trapped against the wall. This is where we must change the details. Do you understand, Molly?’
‘Yes, I think so.’
‘Right, so now listen carefully. We don’t have much time.’ Tom went on softly: ‘You were so afraid when you saw how he was using me like a punch-bag, and because I feared for my life, I somehow managed to reach out and grab the spade, which was leaning on the wall beside me. I swung it at him and caught him a heavy blow to the head. John went down and we were both shocked to find that, after I’d defended myself as best I could … he was lying on the ground and not moving. Do you understand what I’m telling you, Molly? It was me that hit him, not you. It was me who had the spade in my fist and it was me who used it to defend myself. Are you clear on that, Molly?’
‘Yes.’
‘Good. And whatever you do, you must remember that everything up to the point when he had me trapped in the corner must be told exactly as it happened. The truth of us being together must not be denied. Your husband found us half naked and lying together in the hay, shameful though it is. It’s vital we convince the police that we are just two cheating people having a good time, who got caught up in something we never expected.’
He paused a moment. ‘Remember, Molly, I was the one who grabbed the spade. It was me who hit him too hard and killed him, though it was never intended. Do you understand what I’m saying, Molly?’
‘Yes.’ Secretly thrilled, she could not have planned it better herself.
‘Good, because if I am to take the responsibility off your shoulders we have to get our story absolutely straight. Can you do that, Molly? Can you stay calm and convince them that it was me who hit him with the spade, and not you?’
‘Yes … I think so.’ Smiling, she took hold of his hand. ‘Thank you, Tom. I will never forget what you’re doing for me.’ She wanted to laugh out loud at how easily she had duped him, but she knew she had to appear sombre and vulnerable. Not once did she look down on her husband lying still and bloody on the ground: that good, hard-working man who had adored and cherished her, regardless of her many faults, some of which no other man would ever have forgiven.
‘So … who should run to call the police – you or me?’
‘I was coming to that.’ Tom took a moment to think. ‘We should call the ambulance first, as quickly as possible … tell them there’s been a terrible fight. Your husband is unconscious and we can’t seem to wake him.’
He was now beginning to panic. ‘Hurry, Molly. Do it now! We’ve already lost too much time as it is.’
‘What should I say?’
‘I told you, just tell them there was a fight and your husband is badly hurt. Let them see that you’re in shock, crying … hysterical, even. Can you do that, Molly?’
‘I think so.’ Ever the vulnerable innocent.
‘Go on then … hurry.’ Fighting his rising panic, he took a deep breath, then let it out in a rush of words. ‘Tell them how we tried to wake him … to help him. That should explain how we lost precious time before calling them out. Go, Molly. Run as fast as you can.’
Molly was impressed. ‘You’re more capable than I realised,’ she told him proudly. ‘You seem to have thought of everything.’
Tom smiled wryly. ‘To tell you the truth, I think I’ve surprised myself, but I honestly wish that none of this had ever happened. The only good thing is that it has brought us back together, and that’s all I ever wanted.’
He held her face between his two hands and kissed her full on the mouth. ‘Don’t forget, my darling,’ he whispered, ‘it was me who killed him. It was never meant to end that way, and if this goes to court I have no option but to plead self-defence. You can back me up; tell them how violent John was … that he was tearing into me like a crazy man. You were shouting for him to stop. I was in fear for my life. You were sure he would kill me … and then somehow I found the strength to grab the spade and hit him across the head, but I never meant to kill him.’
Molly nodded. ‘Don’t worry, Tom. I’ll tell them everything.’
‘Good girl!’ He held her close a moment longer. ‘You go now, Molly. Call the ambulance. When the police are brought into it – as they surely will be – we must keep to the plan exactly as we’ve discussed.’
‘Yes, Tom!’ She played along. ‘He had you trapped and he would have killed you, I’m sure of it!’ She looked at his bruised and damaged face, and the trail of blood trickling from his nose and mouth. ‘The police will only have to look at you to see how vicious he was.’ Then she gave a heavy sigh. ‘I don’t like you taking the blame for me, though, Tom. I’m worried about what might happen to you.’
Tom drew her closer. ‘Now you listen to me, Molly.’ He looked her in the eye. ‘Whichever way you look at it, what happened here tonight was truly my fault, and to be honest with you, I was so afraid he might finish me off that if I had been able to reach the spade when he was battering me into the ground, I would not have hesitated to grab it and knock him down.’
‘But you didn’t, did you?’ She lowered her voice. ‘I was the one who hit him with the spade, and I don’t know that I should let you take the blame.’
Tom quietened her. ‘This is not up for discussion, Molly. The decision is made, and we’re not turning back now.’
‘I really wanted us to be together tonight … and I had hoped it might be for ever. But if they do put you in prison, you must understand I can’t visit, but I’ll be there when they let you go. I’ll be waiting at the gates, ready to take you home and start our new lives together, because I love you, Tom. I always have. I realise that now.’
‘That’s it! You tell them that he truly meant to kill me!’
‘I will!’ Molly pandered to his fears. ‘I’ll tell them that he had you at his mercy, and when you saw the spade, you had to grab your chance … I’ll stand by you, Tom, and no matter what it costs I promise I will get you the best lawyer available.’
Turning her head, she stole a glance at her husband, so still and silent. It seemed wrong, that big strong man lying lifeless on the cold floor, and for one fleeting moment she felt the slightest stab of regret. But then she reminded herself of how she would come out of this awful business with money in the bank, a thriving farm, and – with luck – her freedom. Of course, the girl still had be to dealt with, but she would address that problem when the time came.
‘You need to call an ambulance, Molly!’ Tom called out, interrupting her wicked thoughts. ‘We’ve wasted enough time. Hurry!’