The woman studied her for a few moments as if Liv would bite her. “Veronica,” she said. “I’m Cairo’s cousin.”
Vaguely in Liv’s memory she could remember Pat mentioning a sister once or twice in the past few decades. Why would the cousin be back here now? Had she been around longer, or had she only come into town yesterday?
“She’s staying with me for the moment.” Pat’s smile was sad when she looked at Veronica. Was Veronica here because of Cairo’s death, or something else? Maybe she was just being city-social when she had visited Liv’s coffee shop. If she hadn’t grown up in a small town, it could be awkward.
Hell, Liv had grown up there and she was still awkward.
“Have you been here long?” Liv tried small talk.
“Depends what you consider long.” Veronica offered her a half-smile, then took a sip from her mug. It was tea of some sort, if Liv judged by the tab hanging over the side. “I’ve worked at the bar for around a year.”
Liv waited, but that seemed to be the extent to which Veronica wanted to speak.
“Let me pour us some coffee.” Pat shuffled over to the thermos before Liv could grab it.
“I can help,” Liv protested.
“Let an old woman have her fun,” Pat chided, and instead of sounding teasing, she sounded tired. In only a few hours, Cairo’s death had aged her ten years. Not that Liv could even imagine what losing a child was like.
Ignoring the involuntary shiver that went down her spine, she and Pat sat on the faded blue couch in the living room. Veronica hadn’t moved from the bar, instead choosing to stare into space.
“I can’t believe she’s gone.” Pat’s voice broke. “They think she killed herself.” The words were barely a whisper.
Liv kept her voice carefully modulated. “What do you think?” She didn’t want to assume, didn’t want to give any hints about what she was thinking, as to bias Pat’s answer.
Pat shook her head firmly. “I told the detective, she would never kill herself.” She looked at Liv, her gaze strong. “Especially not now.”
“Not now?” Liv frowned.
“She had just won a settlement.” Pat’s voice trailed off. “I don’t know what it was about. Something very important, something hush-hush. She couldn’t talk about, but she got quite the deposit into her bank account.”
“Was that here, did she use Mr Harrington?” Liv asked, her brows furrowed. There was only one lawyer in town.
“Yes, he represented her, I think.” Pat looked almost as confused as she did. “She never told us the details.” Pat leaned forward, her head in her hands and tears starting to stream down her cheeks. “I can’t believe she’s gone.” Tears caught in her throat, choking her words.
“I’m sorry.” Liv wanted to hug her, help her, but she wasn’t certain what to do. She gave Pat an awkward hug. This was the type of emotion she could show, could understand. At least in this context.
Ryan was a whole different story.
“Do you have any idea what happened?” Liv kept her voice soft and nonjudgmental. She wasn’t asking for a criminal analysis, but Cairo was closest to her mother out of everyone. Or at least she had been when Liv was in high school.
“No!” Then Pat paused. “She and Steven had a few squabbles, but it was minor things, lover’s quarrels.” There was a slight downturn at the edge of her mouth, like she disliked something but not enough to voice it. “Her ex-boyfriend, Charles Mannigan, has been hanging around recently.” There was definite distaste in her voice for him.
She only vaguely remembered Charles. He had been older than the both of them, graduating high school two years before they did. Did Cairo even know him at that time? Liv didn’t know.
“Was he stalking Cairo?” Liv tried to mask the curiosity and alarm in her voice.
Pat shook her head. “No. He’s a hooligan, but when Cairo said leave, he left. At least last time.” She sighed. “I told all of this to the detective, too. She didn’t seem really interested.”
Liv felt like she had pushed her luck more than enough. She had gotten Pat to open up, and it was becoming more and more apparent to Liv that it couldn’t be a suicide. No matter what the police did or said, she was going to make sure the case got the investigation it deserved.
“I should probably go,” Liv said regretfully.
“Say hi to your Gram for me, will you?” Pat looked at her. Gram and Pat had crossed paths a few times when Gram had taken her to school events. Pat had been one of the few people that Gram was willing to talk to. Isolation ran in the family.
“Will do.” She hugged Pat awkwardly as a goodbye, then headed back out of the house, passing by the kitchen.
Veronica was still there, her flat eyes watching Liv like a hawk. It was enough to make her shiver. Something was off about her.
Could a woman have murdered Cairo? Liv was somewhat doubtful. It would have taken a lot of strength to hoist the body up that high. Plus Veronica had been in her café right before the body had been discovered. But the way Veronica was watching her made her wonder.
She pushed open the front door and headed to the coffee shop. She needed to relieve River.
Thursday 29th September; 5pm
Liv’s mind was churning with what she had learned. Settlement? What settlement? Not that she was entirely in tune with the gossip of the town. Even her Gram wasn’t, since she didn’t join the other old ladies in their bridge club or gossiping. Instead she spent most of her free time crocheting or knitting when her joints could tolerate it.
“I shouldn’t do this,” Liv muttered at her feet. Yet they turned and walked her towards the sole law office in the entire town. She knew the lawyer wouldn’t say much. Lawyer/client
