She roused herself. ‘I don’t know. I was going to stay with my dad, wasn’t I? I suppose that’s out of the question now.’
‘Well, for a day or two, until all the forensic tests are done. Is there anyone else you can stay with in London? Friends? Family?’
‘I don’t have any other family, I’ve already told you that.’ Weariness and shock was making her a little irritable. ‘And I don’t have friends in London any more – not anyone I’d want to stay with, anyway.’
‘Well, we do need you to stay nearby for a little while,’ he said gently.
‘Oh, I’m staying,’ she said, suddenly forceful. ‘I’m staying until you find who did this, and catch him, and lock him up.’ The little burst of energy dissipated. ‘I suppose I’ll have to go to an hotel. I don’t know any round here. Can you recommend anywhere?’
The thought of her shacked up in some horrible hotel was unthinkable – soulless modern chain or tacky local cheap, either way it hurt him. He paused a moment to frame his words carefully. ‘Don’t be afraid to say no right away if you don’t like the idea, but I’ve got a spare room. You can stay there if you like.’ He dared to look at her, and she met his eyes doubtfully, wondering what was implied. He lifted one hand off the steering wheel in an open-handed gesture to indicate innocence. ‘No funny business. I mean it purely in a friendly way. You can have your own key and come and go as you please. I won’t bother you. And you can stay as long as you like. It isn’t grand, but it’s adequate, and it’s near a tube station.’
‘Are you serious?’ she asked slowly.
He felt a certain heat in his face. Ridiculous, at his age! ‘Yes, of course I am. But as I said, don’t be shy about saying no if you think it’s inappropriate.’
‘Inappropriate,’ she mused. ‘That’s a really American expression. No, I don’t think it’s inappropriate. I think it’s very kind, and I think it would be brilliant because you’d be able to keep me up to date on what’s being done and what you’ve found out. I was dreading going off to some hotel and being forgotten and left out. But do you really mean it? Won’t I be in the way?’
His heart lifted. ‘Not the slightest. I’d be glad to have you stay. As long as you like cats.’
‘I love them. Why?’
‘I’ve got two Siameses.’
‘My favourite sort.’
‘They’re mad as snakes, but very clean.’
‘Siameses are always clean.’
He turned into the yard and pulled into his parking slot, and only then dared to turn and look at her. He saw that in the weariness and pain of her face there had come a small measure of comfort, and he felt thrilled and humbled to have been able to do that.
As if she heard his thought she said, ‘It will be so much nicer to stay in someone’s home rather than an hotel. Thank you for offering.’
He tried not to grin like an ape in his pleasure. ‘The only thing is I won’t be able to take you back there right away. A lot of stuff to do. Do you mind waiting? I mean, you can go off and do things, of course, and come back later. You don’t have to hang around the station.’
‘Don’t worry, I’ll fit in with whatever you have to do. I don’t want to get in the way of the investigation.’ They both got out of the car, and she faced him across the roof. ‘Right now I’d really love a cup of tea, though.’
‘Nothing easier. You can use the canteen. And if you want to crash out for a bit, you can use the soft room – the interview room where you went this morning. The sofa there’s not too bad.’
They walked in together and up the stairs to the office, where her things had been stacked in a corner to wait for her. The first person Atherton saw as he entered was Joanna, sitting on the edge of a desk looking anxious. She jumped up as soon as she saw him. Until yesterday, it had given him a sharp pang to see her like that, all taut and curved down the front with Slider’s baby. Today, since meeting Emily, he was filled only with friendly affection. They kissed cheeks.
‘Where is he?’ she asked.
‘Still at the site. Don’t worry,’ he said, and introduced Emily Stonax before she could say anything inappropriate.
Joanna’s face immediately registered concern and vicarious distress. It was one of the things Slider liked about her, that every feeling – and often every thought – was visible in her expression. As a policeman he was so accustomed to being lied to it was refreshing to know a person without guile.
She held out her hand to Emily. ‘I’m
Emily shook the hand. ‘At the moment I think I’m cushioned a bit by jetlag. I only got in from New York this morning.’
Atherton said, ‘Emily’s pining for a cup of tea. Could you show her the way to the canteen?’
‘It’s all right, I can find it,’ Emily said.
But Joanna said, ‘I’m dying for one myself. Do you mind if I come with you?’
‘No, I’d be glad of the company.’
‘Will you tell me when he gets back?’ Joanna asked Atherton, and they went off together.
‘So you’re Inspector Slider’s . . . partner?’ Emily said, a little hesitantly, as they walked up the stairs.
‘Soon to be wife,’ Joanna said. ‘It’s just that it’s so hard to find a time when we’re both free. Whenever we do tentatively fix a date for the wedding, something always comes up.’
‘Like my father.’
‘I’m so sorry. I hope you didn’t think I meant—’
‘No, no. Look, if we’re going to sit and have tea together, you’ll have to not tiptoe round me. The whole thing’s too awful for me to know what I feel about anything yet. I’m pretty numb, if you want the truth.’
‘Probably just as well,’ said Joanna.
The canteen was almost empty. They got tea and Joanna, feeling they needed a sugar hit, picked up a packet of two giant chocolate chip cookies, and they made their way to a table by the window.
‘It must be strange for you,’ Emily said when they were seated. ‘What’s it like to be with a man who investigates murders for a living?’
‘I used to mind it terribly at first,’ Joanna said, tearing the end off the cookie packet. ‘I’ve had to switch off from it a bit, they way they do. They can’t get emotional or it interferes with their judgement.’ She handed one of the cookies to Emily, who took it absently. ‘All the same, he minds dreadfully. He’s always very depressed at the end of a case, when the adrenaline lets him down and he’s able to let his feelings loose.’ She smiled faintly. ‘That’s where I come in – general hand-holding, head-cradling and so on.’
Emily nodded seriously. ‘That must be tough. How did you meet him?’
‘He investigated the murder of a violinist I shared a desk with. I was about her only friend, but even I didn’t know her well. It was so sad and awful.’
‘It must have been.’
‘He was married to someone else at the time, but I don’t think she’d ever really understood what he felt about these things. He did tend to keep his feelings very much to himself. You know what men of his generation are like. So it all built up and he had a kind of nervous breakdown. And out of the mess, he and I got together and we’ve been together ever since.’
‘So, good coming out of evil. I wish I could think anything good would come out of this.’ She broke off a small piece of cookie and watched her fingers turning it into crumbs. ‘Is he good?’ she asked abruptly.
‘Bill? He’s the best. And he never gives up. Best of all, you can talk to him, and he really listens.’
‘And the other one? Sergeant Atherton?’
‘Jim is Bill’s friend as well as his bagman, so he’s my friend too. He’s brilliant in his way.’
‘Is he seeing anyone?’
Joanna thought it an odd question, but took jetlag into account. ‘He was going out with a friend of mine, another violinist, but they split up a while back.’ She didn’t say, ‘Why do you ask?’ but her tone asked the question clearly enough.
Emily said, ‘He offered me his spare room. I didn’t want to be treading on anyone’s toes.’
‘You won’t be.’ Speculation was so rife it was lucky Emily was not looking at her just then.
‘Why d’you think he did it?’ Now she looked up. ‘Offered?’
