Convicted

Chapter 16

Connie had met Grace from the train station, and both her and Hugo got off the train laughing together. Connie hated to have to be the one to bring her daughter back to this awful reality.

"Mum!" As soon as she saw her mother, Grace's face erupted into a huge grin, and she began to run towards her, leaving her suitcase with Hugo, who walked slowly behind them. Connie wrapped Grace in a huge hug, unable to do anything but smile at finally having her daughter back.

"Hey Gracie! How was it?"

"It was absolutely amazing mum! We went kayaking, abseiling, and they even took us to a theme park too!" Grace was clearly so excited, and Connie just smiled too, listening to all her stories.
    "How's everything been here? How's Jacob?"

"Jacob's the same, honey. He's doing alright." Connie decided that that was all Grace needed to know about Jacob and the prison - the point of getting her away was to avoid all of that and so Connie didn't intend to tell Grace about what she'd missed.

"And how are you?"

"I'm doing good. Much better now you're back home," she smiled, and Grace laughed as Connie pinched her cheek. Hugo had just strolled up with the suitcases, and he let go of them as he smiled at Connie. He had a great friendship with Connie, which was great for Grace too, as it meant that Hugo was happy to spend time at their house.

"Hi Mrs Beauchamp," he said politely, and Connie enveloped him in a small hug.

"Hi Hugo, have you enjoyed it as much as Gracie has?" He nodded, passing Grace her suitcase, and said goodbye before walking over to his dad, who looked a little dejected. Connie knew the heartbreak of watching your child prefer to spend time with someone else, and so she offered an apologetic wave to Hugo's dad, who smiled back as Hugo went up, and wrapped his arms around his dad's neck. Connie watched the scene unfold, and saw the two of them laughing together. She reached out for Grace's hand, and took the suitcase in the other hand, and the two began to walk back to the car.

Connie was a little distracted as she walked back to the car, wondering how she was going to bring up the topic of the phone and varnish remover with her daughter, but she knew it had to be done. Grace was telling Connie about all the things she'd done on the Summer Camp, but Connie wasn't really focused. She was focused on driving home, but her mind was clouded with how Grace was going to react. Connie knew that she was going to have to be delicate, but how do you delicately accuse a teenager of her father's murder?

"Mum?" Connie was dragged out of her trance and she realised that she was sat waiting in front of a green traffic light. Fortunately there weren't any cars behind her, and so Connie drove off, putting on a chuckle to convince Grace that she was alright.
    "I know you didn't hear anything I just said," she said softly. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine love, just something on my mind. I'll talk to you about it at home, okay?" Grace nodded, and the two of them sat in silence for the rest of the trip. Connie reached out to hold Grace's hand, and brought it up to kiss it softly, assuring her that everything was going to be alright.

At home, Connie had let Grace get a drink and a bite to eat, and had told her that there was something they really needed to discuss. Connie had guided her daughter up to her bedroom, and pushed open the door gently, instructing Grace to go inside. As she did, she looked around, and noticed everything was clean. Then she saw the objects in the middle of the bed, and she swallowed hard.

"Would you like to explain these, Gracie? I promise that so long as you tell me the truth, I won't shout." Grace nodded, with tears in her eyes, and picked up the mobile phone. She smelt the nail polish remover on it and that was enough to cause her to break down into tears.

"Have you seen what's on the phone?" Grace asked, as her mother hugged her and tried to stop her crying. Connie nodded, admitting quietly that she had seen it all.
    "I hated myself so much, mum," she cried. "How I could do something like that- oh my god, I miss him so much. Mum, I really miss him."

"Hey, shush, shush... it's okay sweetheart, it's okay," Connie whispered, rocking Grace back and forth. "I need to know exactly what happened, sweetheart."

"Well you saw the text... I said I wanted dad to- to- to-" Grace couldn't say it, and Connie just nodded, knowing what she was trying to say. "I said that about him, and then when the police told us I didn't know how to react. It was all my fault mum, but I never meant it and now I don't know what to do." Grace's sentences came out all in one breath, desperately, and Connie just held her tighter.

"What happened... in between... then?"

"You mean when he- um - died?" Connie nodded. "I don't know. I stopped texting Hugo. I couldn't handle what I'd done and I just needed space." Connie was a little confused, but she was beginning to get her hopes up. She really hoped Grace was talking about the text because she didn't want to believe that her daughter was capable of such a thing.

"Gracie, just tell me... why have you got an empty bottle of varnish remover and a lighter in your room?" Something in Grace's expression changed, and Connie could see that the penny had dropped. This was it. If Grace was going to flip out and be angry, this was when it was going to happen.

"You think I did it?"

"No, I don't," Connie said honestly.

"But that's what you're insinuating?" Connie looked down to the floor and Grace broke away from her. "I said I hated him but mum, me? I couldn't hurt him once, never mind hurt him like they did!" Before Connie could apologise or try to reason with Grace, she had rushed off to the bathroom and Connie heard her throwing up. Connie followed, crouching by her daughter and rubbing her back, keeping her hair out of her face.

"I'm so sorry Gracie, I needed to ask," Connie reasoned, feeling completely unsuccessful after interrogating her daughter. "With what you said, and finding the equipment... it made sense based on the evidence but I never once thought that you were capable of that - you've got to believe me."

"I do," Grace cried. "I believe you. I promise I didn't do it."

"I believe you too," Connie smiled, stroking her daughter's hair softly. "So, do you want to tell me what did happen?"

Grace proceeded to explain that she couldn't bear to look at it, because every time she did it made her feel sick. She tried hiding it in her cupboard, but because it was still there it didn't make a difference. The only thing that she thought might help would be if she properly got rid of it, but she knew she couldn't get rid of the bottle while either Jacob or Connie were being accused of the murder, because then that would count as evidence towards them. So instead, she tipped it down the sink, and she was going to keep hold of the bottle until she could go somewhere further away to throw it away. She'd seen the lighter on the kitchen table one day and it had had the same effect, so she said she was intending to keep them until it was safe to get rid of them.

"Look," Grace said at the end, standing up and pointing at the silver around the plug hole of the sink. "When I poured it down, the varnish remover took away some of the silver paint around the plug hole." Connie saw it, and she smiled brightly, so so happy that the evidence had pointed in another direction. It didn't bring them closer to finding the actual killer, but Connie didn't mind. She hugged Grace tightly, before telling her to get her pyjamas on. Connie did the same, ordered a pizza, and the two sat on the couch, snuggled up in a blanket, and watched a film together. Connie was smart enough to know that her daughter's explanation wasn't enough evidence to completely clear her in a court of law, but in Connie's mind it was enough for now as the two lay close together, trying their best to forget about the events of the day.

That was when the phone rang.