‘You all right? You want a glass of water?’
The girl shook her head, said hoarsely, ‘I don’t understand. Where was this?’
‘At the London Library, where she was working. She had some lunch in the square outside, then came in and collapsed. There was nothing anyone could do. Were you close friends, Tina?’
She hunched forward in the chair, staring at her fingernails, bitten to the quick. ‘Yes.’
‘Can you tell me about her?’ Kathy spoke gently. ‘It would help me. Do you mind?’
Tina said nothing at first, then whispered, ‘She saved me. Last October, when uni came back, I just couldn’t deal with things any more. I was standing in front of the student noticeboard in the department, trying to decide whether to jump in the river or go home and cut my wrists…’
Kathy had already spotted the pink scars on the girl’s pale forearm.
‘Then this voice behind me said, “Interested?” It was Marion. She pointed to a notice she’d put up, offering paid research work. I don’t know why I said yes. It was the last thing I wanted really, but there was something about her. We went and had a coffee, and she told me what she was doing. She wasn’t like me at all-she was very organised and disciplined, whereas I’m the opposite. But it felt like we were. .. sisters. Later on we discovered that our lives had been quite similar. I mean, like broken homes, stuffed-up families. Marion tried harder than me to keep in touch with her mum, but she’s useless. Have you spoken to her?’
‘Yes.’
‘Did she ask if she’d get any money out of it?’
‘Something like that.’
‘That’d be right. Anyway…’ Tina shrugged herself upright and looked around. ‘What do you care?’
‘I went through a bad time when I was about the same age as you, Tina.’
‘Yeah? What happened?’
‘I became a cop.’
‘Oh.’ She played with her fingers, twisting them together. ‘Well, maybe you’re like her. She was so strong. She knew exactly what she wanted.’
‘And that was?’
‘To be independent, not to rely on anyone, to be able to live her own life.’
‘That usually takes money.’
‘That’s why she was working so hard.’
‘With her studies?’
‘And her paid job.’
‘What was that?’
‘She was some kind of research assistant to someone. So what with that and her university work, she had more than she could cope with. That’s why she was looking for someone to help her.’
‘It must have paid pretty well, this other job, if she could afford to employ help.’
‘Yeah, she said they were pretty well heeled. And impatient.’
‘Someone at the university?’
‘I don’t know, she never said.’
‘So did you see each other socially? Meet her other friends?’
Tina shook her head. ‘I don’t think she had many friends. At least, she didn’t talk about them.’
‘What about a boyfriend?’
‘Do you know who it was?’
‘I was hoping you could tell me.’
Tina shook her head. ‘She never let on.’
Kathy bit her lip with frustration. ‘You say you and Marion were good friends, but you don’t know who she worked for or who her boyfriend was?’
Tina just shrugged.
‘But you knew there was someone?’
‘She had a new ring one time. It looked expensive, and when I asked her she said an admirer had given it to her for her birthday. She was teasing me.’
‘Where did Marion move to, Tina?’
‘I don’t know that either.’ She saw the expression on Kathy’s face and protested, ‘No, it’s true. There were a lot of things she kept private.’
A look of hurt came over her face, and Kathy saw a tear form in her eye. She wondered if Tina had been in love with Marion. ‘Didn’t you mind that, Tina?’ she said carefully.
Tina sniffed and shook off the question. ‘I thought it was really mysterious and interesting how she kept things dark. But now I wonder if she was afraid.’
‘How do you mean?’
‘Well, afraid that bad things might happen if she let the different parts of her life come together.’
‘Did she ever mention being afraid of someone in particular?’
‘No, not in so many words. But when something like this happens you look back at everything and wonder, don’t you? I remember one time we were walking across the river, and she suddenly jumped, as if she’d seen someone, and as soon as we got to the other side she dashed off with hardly a word.’
‘I see.’
Kathy showed her the picture of Rafferty. The girl hesitated. ‘I’m not sure.’
‘What sort of research work was Marion doing?’
‘It was all to do with William Morris and the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood-that’s what she was doing her doctorate on as well. Pretty boring really, but it was good for me-my Eng. Lit. lecturer is mad keen on them and there’s bound to be exam questions. He’s her supervisor too.’
‘That’s Dr da Silva, isn’t it?’
‘That’s right.’
‘What’s he like?’
‘Fancies himself. You know, shows off to the girls in class. Tells us about these papers he’s given at conferences around the world with lots of other important wankers like himself.’
Kathy smiled. ‘How did Marion put up with that?’
‘She could handle it. He’s supposed to be a world authority on the Pre-Raphaelites, so I suppose she didn’t have much choice.’
‘And Marion was particularly keen on that period.’
‘Oh yes. The way she talked about Dante Gabriel Rossetti, it sounded like he was the only man she’d ever really loved.’
‘But he’s dead?’
Tina nodded. ‘Yeah, over a hundred years ago. Sad, really-for Marion I mean.’
‘What did you do for Marion, exactly?’
‘Library searches, mostly.’ Tina’s expression softened as she explained, as if this was a part of her life that had gone well. ‘I wasn’t looking at the main Pre-Raphaelite literature-that’s what she was working on. But she wanted me to poke around the edges: old newspapers, memoirs, court records, books, diaries-anything really-by people who might have seen them from another angle, like doctors, lawyers, relatives, other writers and painters. She gave me lists of key words to work from. Marion said the most important thing was the choice of key words.’
‘Can I see them?’
The girl looked doubtful. ‘I don’t think they’ll mean much, but okay.’ She got to her feet and went to her room, returning with a folded sheet of paper. ‘This was the original list. From time to time she’d add new words. This is a copy; you can keep it.’
‘Thanks.’ Kathy scanned the words, mostly names that meant little to her: Dante Gabriel Rossetti
Elizabeth (Lizzie) Siddal
Jane (Janey) Burden/Morris
Fanny Cornforth
Annie Miller
Lena Wardle
