“No. Go on.”
He shifted restlessly. “That’s it. That’s all I can tell you.”
“But—”
“You don’t understand. I knew how she
When he didn’t continue, she said, “Were you …”
“Lovers?” The word carried an undertone of amusement. “Past tense. I broke things off with her months ago.”
“
He spun round and took a step towards her. “Is that so hard to believe? Do you think I hadn’t any pride? I’d had enough of games.”
“What sort of games?”
“She came to listen to me play, just like you. And one night she came home with me.”
Gemma felt the flush creeping up her chest and throat. Is that what he’d thought the evening she’d stopped and spoken to him about his dog? She wondered if he’d been more encouraging with Annabelle—not that she’d had Annabelle’s motives, of course.… Or if perhaps Annabelle had liked the challenge.
“I should think you’d have been flattered,” she said, aiming at nonchalance as she perched herself gingerly on the arm of the old chair near the bed.
Its fabric was worn, but he’d covered it neatly with a woven purple rug, and for an instant she imagined Annabelle sitting there, framed by the contours of the chair, her hair glowing against the purple backdrop. Gemma smoothed the rug with her fingers, feeling as though she were infringing upon a ghost.
“Flattered?” With a derisive snort, he added, “By the attention of a woman who didn’t tell me her name for weeks? Who made it a point not to tell me where she lived or what she did?” He flicked ash from his cigarette end with a sharp tap of his fingertip.
“But you found out?”
“Only by accident. I’d just got off the train at Island Gardens one day. I looked down from the platform and saw her coming out of the Ferry Street flat. And once I knew her name, it didn’t take too long to make the connection with Hammond’s Teas.”
“You must have wondered why she was so secretive—what she was hiding.”
“The arrangement suited me well enough.”
“Did it?” Gemma shook her head. “I wouldn’t think the hole-and-corner bit suited you at all. Or that you’d like being treated as if she was ashamed of you.”
“All right,” he said sharply, and she knew her remark had stung. “I didn’t like it. But she said she was engaged to someone in the company, and there were reasons she couldn’t break it off.”
“What sort of reasons?”
“She wouldn’t say. I told you, she didn’t talk to me about herself. She only said that much because—” He stopped, scowling, and ground out his cigarette in the ashtray next to the first.
“Because you threatened to call it off,” Gemma finished for him. “Is that it?” When he didn’t answer, she said, “Is that what ended things between you?”
“No. I just … got tired of her, that’s all.” He jammed his hands in his pockets and stared out the window.
“When did you learn about your father’s connection with Annabelle?” asked Gemma, trying a different tack.
“I didn’t know there was a connection—and I doubt you do, either. You’re fishing, Sergeant.”
“We have a witness who saw them together as far back as last autumn. And your father left a message on her answering machine the night she died.”
“So?” Gordon challenged, but she thought his face had paled.
“When did you first see Annabelle?”
He lit another cigarette. “I don’t remember.”
“You said she came to listen to you play. You must remember what time of year it was,” Gemma insisted.
“Summer, then. It was hot.”
“And when did you break things off with her?”
“A few months ago. I suppose it was early in the spring.”
Was that why he’d been so taciturn when she’d seen him in Islington? wondered Gemma. The timing fit. “And you’d not seen her again until Friday night?”
“Seeing and speaking are two different things. I’d seen her around—the Island’s a small place—but I hadn’t spoken to her.”
A current of air lifted a sheet of music from the stand and sent it drifting lazily towards Gemma. Bending to catch it, she turned it right side up. “It
Gordon looked surprised. “You were listening?”
