room.’
Katra came up behind Liam and stroked his hair. Liam giggled. ‘Will you marry me, Katra?’
‘Of course. When you are old enough.’
Shepherd went up the stairs and opened the door to the spare room. ‘Have a look, Katra, see what you think.’
There was a double bed and a built-in wardrobe with mirrored sliding doors and a small teak dressing-table. ‘It’s lovely,’ said Katra. ‘Perfect.’
‘You’ll have to share the bathroom with Liam, I’m afraid.’
‘That’s fine,’ she said. ‘In Portoroz we had one bathroom for the seven of us.’
‘Seven?’ said Liam.
‘My father and me and five brothers.’
‘What about your mother?’
‘Katra’s mum died when she was young,’ said Shepherd. He patted Liam’s shoulder. ‘That’s something you’ve got in common.’
‘Was it an accident?’ Liam asked Katra.
‘She was sick.’
‘I’m sorry,’ said Liam. He slipped his hand into hers and squeezed it.
‘It was a long time ago,’ she said.
‘It’s not fair, is it, when things like that happen?’
She looked down at him and nodded. ‘No, it’s not fair.’
‘I’ll keep the bathroom tidy,’ he said.
‘Thank you.’
‘It’ll be a first,’ said Shepherd.
‘Dad!’
Shepherd went back outside to fetch Katra’s suitcase and his overnight bag, then took them upstairs. Katra was sitting on her bed. ‘This is so nice,’ she said.‘Thank you.’She pointed at the two black plastic bags at the foot of the bed. ‘What are they?’ she asked.
‘My wife’s . . .’ began Shepherd, but Sue wasn’t his wife, not any more. How was he supposed to refer to her now? ‘They’re Sue’s clothes,’ he said finally. ‘I wasn’t sure what to do with them. I’ll find somewhere else for them.’ He picked them up, one in each hand, and took them down to the garage. He put them under the tool bench, then showed Katra the freezer, which was packed with ready meals. ‘You eat these?’ she said, picking up one of the ice-encrusted boxes.
‘Only if I can’t get a takeaway,’ he said.
‘Takeaway?’
‘You know. Chinese or Indian food. You buy it and take it away.’
‘I will go shopping tomorrow for real food. And you have herbs in your garden?’
‘Are weeds herbs?’
She either didn’t understand the joke, or ignored it. ‘I will need garlic, parsley, marjoram, tarragon and horseradish,’ she said.
‘I guess the supermarket will have them,’ he said. ‘We can go tomorrow. We’ll drop Liam off at the school, then we’ll shop and then I’ve got to go to work. I start at two and my shift finishes at ten so I’ll be back at eleven.’
They headed back to the kitchen. ‘What time does Liam go to bed?’
Shepherd shrugged. ‘So long as he’s up for school, I leave it to him. What do you think? Ten?’
‘Nine might be better.’
‘Nine it is,’ said Shepherd.
Back in the kitchen she opened the fridge and checked the sell-by date on a box of eggs. Then she opened a carton of milk and sniffed it. ‘I can make omelette tonight,’ she said. ‘With chips.’
‘Great,’ said Shepherd.
He switched on the kettle and reached for two coffee mugs, but Katra beat him to it. ‘You relax,’ she said. ‘I will make coffee.’
Shepherd moved out of her way. ‘That grace you said at dinner yesterday, what was it?’
Katra turned pink. ‘Ah,’ she said. ‘I was hoping you wouldn’t ask.’ She busied herself spooning instant coffee into the mugs.
‘What’s wrong?’ asked Shepherd.
‘Actually, my family isn’t religious,’ she said. ‘My mother was, but after she died my father refused to set foot inside a church and threw out my mother’s Bible and crucifix.’
‘What about the grace?’
‘I thought Mrs Wintour might like a prayer, so I said a poem.’
‘A poem?’
‘Well, it was a traditional Slovenian song.’
‘What does it mean?’
‘You really want to know?’
Shepherd was enjoying her embarrassment. ‘Oh, yes,’ he said. ‘I think it’s important that I know.’
Katra looked as if she was in pain. ‘Well, it’s about a young man who is planning to visit his three girlfriends. The first is a waitress and she will give him something to drink. The second girl is a cook and she will give him something to eat. And the third . . .’
‘Yes?’ said Shepherd, encouragingly.
‘The third is the one he really loves and she will take him to her room.’
Shepherd bit his lower lip to stop himself laughing. ‘Her room?’
Katra looked even more uncomfortable. ‘You know,’ she said. ‘She loved him, so . . .’ She shrugged.
‘And you pretended to be saying grace?’
‘You’re not angry, are you? I am so sorry. I just wanted to please her.’
‘No, Katra, I’m not angry.’ He couldn’t contain himself any longer and burst out laughing.
Liam came in from the sitting room. ‘What’s wrong?’ he asked.
Shepherd grinned at Katra. ‘Nothing,’ he said. ‘Everything’s fine.’
One of the mobiles in his jacket pocket rang. He was carrying three and he fished them out. It was Hargrove, and he went through to the sitting room to take the call. The superintendent wanted to know if he’d spoken to Angie Kerr.
‘I’ve tried every hour but her phone’s off. I don’t want to leave a message.’
‘What do you think?’
‘I don’t know. If she’s had a change of heart she’d have got back to me. It could be as simple as a lost phone.’
‘I’ll check to see if she’s reported it,’ said Hargrove. ‘I’ll put a tail on her as well. But if all else fails you’ll just have to go up and front her.’
‘I’m starting with SO19 tomorrow,’ said Shepherd. ‘Two until ten, it won’t give me much time.’
‘You could get your mates to helicopter you.’
Shepherd grinned. ‘You heard about that.’
‘I wish I had SAS resources,’said Hargrove. ‘Worst possible scenario, you could call in sick and drive up. We’ve got to nail her, and soon.’
‘Let me know about the phone,’ said Shepherd.
‘You got the Stuart Marsden legend?’
‘Sure. It’s fine.’
‘And everything went okay at Hereford?’
‘I’m up to speed. I don’t expect any problems.’
‘I meant with your boy. Is he okay?’
‘Yeah, he’s fine. He’s back here now.’ Liam came running into the sitting room. ‘Can I play football in the garden with Katra?’ he asked.
Shepherd waved him away. ‘I’ve got some father stuff to do,’ he said to Hargrove.
