Love Him to Death by Tanya Landman Page A

have felt more for Angelica than he was supposed to…
    “Mick,” I said. “She was in love with
Mick
. And then he died. That would explain why she was so upset in the bluebell wood.”
    “But why come here? Why try to stop the wedding?”
    “I don’t know. To save Josie from Bill?”
    “Save
her
? You’re not suggesting
he
was her murderer?”
    I stared at Graham for a moment. It was the only solution that made sense. “Yes, I think he is,” I said slowly, puzzling it out as I spoke. “All that Mr Nice Guy stuff? Bill seems so easy-going and laid-back – but you don’t make it to the top of the showbiz ladder without being pushy, do you? He’s just better at hiding it than most people. All this time we’ve been thinking Angelica was obsessed with Bill … when it’s the other way round! And if Angelica was planning to leave him – well, he could have killed Mick, couldn’t he?”
    Graham almost exploded in protest. “But he married Josie!”
    “Yes! To get his revenge. This whole thing has been a set-up. All that Venus and Adonis stuff. Tessa said those costumes were Josie’s idea. So did Bill. But Josie said her dress was Bill’s choice. And that gold bikini – she looked like a kid in fancy dress. I bet he chose that, too. What if he planned the whole thing from beginning to end? The deal with
Hi!
magazine, all that press coverage… Those comments from outraged celebrities – he planted them! What if he wanted maximum media attention to draw Angelica out? To have her totally in his power. She’s got no friends – he’s seen to that over the years. “ You Won’t Never Need No One But Me.” It doesn’t get clearer than that, does it?
He’s
the complete control freak, Graham! The only two people here who ever listened to Angelica are dead – he’s seen to that too. He must have killed his own mother! And Sizal – Bill must have thought he knew something about her and Mick. He’s framed Angelica, good and proper. That’s why she said that stuff about him visiting her in prison –
that’s
why she sounded so defeated – she knows there’s no way out. She tried to help but no one believed her. “ Ain’t No Escaping My Love” wasn’t written for Josie: it was written to torment Angelica. Can you imagine her sitting up here, listening to it over and over again, knowing it was meant for her, knowing that he was going to do something to Josie and that nobody would believe her? No wonder the poor woman’s gone bonkers!”
    My voice had become louder and louder as I’d been talking. Angelica hadn’t paid the blindest bit of attention, but clearly Gregor had. He must have alerted his employer to the fact that Angelica had visitors, because without warning the door swung open and Bill Strummer walked in. Graham and I were so shocked, we both screamed. It was enough to startle Angelica out of her reverie and she looked at Bill in terror. Then, before any of us could stop her, she scrambled onto the parapet.
    There she stood, teetering on the edge for a second. And, with a last, despairing sob, she jumped.

no more mr nice guy
    Bill roared like a tiger whose prey has escaped, then let out a stream of swear-words that could have made your ears bleed.
    Graham and I raced across the room, leant over the parapet and saw, to our immense relief, that Angelica had landed in deep water. She bobbed to the surface but seemed to be making no effort to swim.
    “You stupid—!” bellowed Bill from inside the room, and Graham and I spun round to face him. I’m not repeating what he called us – you can probably imagine.
    It was obvious that
he
knew that
we
knew all about him. He must have been listening at the door while we worked it out. And now something was contorting his features: something that terrified the pants off me. It was the cold, savage rage that had clearly inspired him to stab Josie.
    For the first time I noticed how extremely well-muscled his arms and shoulders were. We were two