“You think I'm not?” she asked without taking her eyes off the screen.
“Being cooped up in here? Driving me mad.”
“You’re not the one in danger.”
“I know. But...”
“But what?”
“I feel useless in here.”
She shrugged. “Whatever.”
He got to his feet. “Is there something else bothering you? You’ve been different since Kristin came to the house earlier.”
She switched the TV off. “Did you see Olivia when you were in Birmingham?”
“Didn't know she was there. Why?”
She looked hard at him. “Kristin thinks you're seeing her.”
Ian laughed. “Olivia’s gay.”
“It's not funny Ian.”
“You think I’m seeing Olivia?”
“I don’t know. The condoms. The things you said about her.”
“Like what?”
“Like she’s an attractive woman, and any penis that shagged her would be a lucky penis.”
“Christ.” Ian threw his hands up in the air. “I was being frivolous.”
“Well, if it’s okay for you to be frivolous, then it’s okay for me to be suspicious, yeah?”
“There’s no reason to be suspicious. Look at me.” He turned to face her. “Look at me. I am not sleeping with Olivia, okay?”
“If you could get away with it, you would. Men are like that.”
Ian rolled his eyes. “Not all women are like you in that department.”
“What do you mean?”
“You know exactly what I mean.”
“Do you expect me to just let you?” Her eyes widened and her face reddened. She shook her head with deliberate movement. “After what happened?”
“Oh for God’s sake Alice. Get a grip. What do you think I am? Get real.”
She switched the TV back on. “Leave me alone. Go to the bar.”
Ian left without another word and made his way to the bar where he sat on a stool. His mind whirled as he drank a large gin. He picked up his phone, then set it down again. He ordered another large gin. It tasted better than the first. He let out a breath so long it moved the straw in his drink. With an almost imperceptible shake of his head, he picked up the phone again. When he found Olivia’s number, he thumbed a text. We need to talk.
94
Kristin sipped on a glass of ice cold Pinot Grigio in her apartment and wished Olivia would call. After an hour of festering thoughts passed by, Kristin gave in and called.
“Hi. You home?”
“Uh huh.” Olivia sounded like she had just woken up. “Not long in. It was heavy going.”
“You wanna come over?”
“Aw Kris, I’m too tired. I want to go to bed.”
“So do I.” Kristin drank more wine. “But with you.”
“Look, we need to talk. I know things haven't been great between us, so let’s work it out, okay?”
“Maybe I could come over now?”
“No. I have work tomorrow. I’m in the City all day with follow ups from Birmingham.”
“You in Lloyd’s?”
“In the morning, yeah. Why?”
“Just curious. Maybe we could meet for lunch?”
“Can't. Have something on.”
“Somewhere nice?”
Olivia laughed. “If you call Leadenhall Market nice.”
“Oh.” Kristin caught her reflection in the window and scowled at herself. “Someone nice?”
“Yeah. You’d want to see her. She’s gorgeous.”
“Her?”
“Still going on about your silly assumptions after you rummaged through my bag, huh?”
Kristin winced and drank more wine to wash away the feeling. “Something happened to Alice.”
Olivia hesitated. “Uh, what?”
“It’s a long story, but a man let himself in to her house with a key and tried to rape her.”
“Oh my God. No. That’s, like, awful. Did they catch him?”
“No. They arrested the wrong guy. Alice and Ian are staying in a hotel until they get the right guy.”
“Shit. Maybe I should call her?”
“No. Best to leave her alone.”
“Sure.”
Kristin knocked back the glass of wine and refilled it. “Yeah.”
“Poor Alice.”
“Poor me.”
“Are you okay?”
“No.”
“Come on Kris. Don't do this. Please?”
“Do what?”
Olivia sighed. “I’ll call you tomorrow.” She paused as if she waited for Kristin to say something, but Kristin said nothing. “Okay then,” Olivia said. “Be like that. But take it easy on the wine.”
95
On Monday morning, Kapoor sat at her desk and stared at her computer. It drifted out of focus as her mind wandered. She had made no progress on the Madsen case since she spoke to Marks on Saturday and he still hadn’t got back to her with the information she requested. Despite Sunday being her day off, she ended up working the Johnson case, getting a sore back from typing reports and assembling a case for the CPS. Manning wasn't in yet, and Kapoor wasn't sure whether it was because Manning was late or she was early.
She groaned at the thought of calling Marks, but she had little choice. “Inspector, it’s...”
“Yes, yes, Sergeant. What do you want now?”
“I was hoping to get that report. You know, on the South Ken witnesses?”
“I gave that task to DS Gilmore. You need to speak with him.”
“Very good, Sir. Do you have...”
“His number is in the system. You can look it up.”
Kapoor cleared her throat. “Do you still think...”
But Marks killed the call. Kapoor muttered a curse, and several minutes later, she found Gilmore’s number and called him.
“This is DS Meera Kapoor, I’ve just spoken with DI Marks and he told me he asked you to run a query for me. I was hoping you had it?”
“What query?”
Kapoor paused, inhaled through her nose and clicked her pen on the desk several times. “I’m investigating the Alice Madsen assault. Do you have the case file number?”
Gilmore grunted. “Wait a minute.”
She continued to tap out a beat with her pen while she waited. The beat got louder with each passing
