"It's a small town, Inspector Janssen. Everyone knows everyone else's business. It's always been that way, and I'm damn sure it will never change. Besides, Ade told me." She sank back in her chair, lifting her mug to her lips and sipping at the brew. If she thought it tasted funny, he couldn't tell.
"Your brother was checking up on me?"
She smiled again, her expression taking on a faraway look. She was younger than her brother. He would put her in her late twenties, thirty at the most. There would be quite an age gap between the two of them. She was slightly built, much as he was, but where he was darker skinned with deep brown eyes, she was quite the opposite. She had piercing blue eyes that could have been fashioned from crystal and wore her blonde hair in a bob, longer at the front and rising to the rear. She didn't appear to have taken too much care in her appearance today, however. She wore no make-up and judging from the cut of her hair and the painted fingernails, he guessed she would usually. She held onto the mug as if it gave her strength. Perhaps it was a token to cling to. She glanced nervously across the table at him.
"Ade was a pretty good investigative journalist. I'll bet he would have given you a run for your money in an investigation."
Tom smiled at the sentiment. Judging by the scoops attached to his name, she was probably right. And he wouldn't have had the benefit of the judiciary and a warrant card to help him.
"Besides," she said, "you don't think he would let his daughter be around any bloke without checking him out first. Wouldn't you?"
Tom let out a small laugh. Carol matched it with one of her own.
"Yes, I suppose I would," he said, nursing his own mug.
A moment of silence passed between them. Tom was happy to give her space and time. Although it had been a trying day, culminating in a conclusion he would never have seen coming, he didn't feel it likely he would get a lot of sleep tonight. Besides, the bed would feel a lot larger and, he was certain, colder than usual.
"The word is that you've arrested someone for Ade's murder," she said, flicking her eyes up over the rim of the mug as she went to drink from it.
He shook his head. "That's premature."
"Word is it's Alice."
He felt her eyes on him, fixing him with a piercing stare and trying hard to gauge his reaction. Exactly what he would usually be doing. He remained stony-faced. She pressed him.
"Have you? Arrested Alice, I mean."
He shook his head. "Speaking to someone is not the same as arresting them."
"But you've spoken to her? Alice is a suspect?"
He drew breath, then took a mouthful of tea in order to give himself time to figure out the best way to manage the situation. Carol inferred her own analysis of his silence.
"The fact you're here," she said, rubbing briefly at the base of her nose, "suggests to me that she is. Tell me I'm wrong."
He wasn't going to confirm or deny anything. It wasn't proper and, besides that, he wouldn't want to risk pouring fuel on the fire of local gossip. He shook his head.
"I wouldn't read too much into my being here. Alice was close to your brother and I am close to the investigation team. It makes sense for us to… have a bit of breathing space under the circumstances. Otherwise, people might get the wrong idea."
"I think you'll find they won't need much to do that," she scoffed. "No matter what you do. It's the way of the world these days."
He couldn't disagree with that.
"Do you think she is capable of doing such a thing?" he asked, turning the focus back on her. "I mean, the two of you were good friends once."
Carol looked beyond Tom, staring at a nondescript point on the wall.
"I see Alice has been talking." She met Tom's eye, tapping her fingers against the side of her mug. "Yes, we were. Seems like a long time ago now."
"So?"
"Do I think it? No," she said, shaking her head. "But I've been wrong about people before." She looked directly at him. Focussed. "I seem to remember thinking the two of them were a perfect match. I was wrong there too."
He sat forward, resting his elbows on the table and putting his hands together before him.
"Why are you here? And I doubt it's because you're seeking confirmation of Alice's arrest. You could drive past her house and work that one out."
"Something Ade said to me a while back."
"If you have information related to the case, you should speak to the investigating officers and—"
"No!" she said. He was surprised by her aggressive reaction. She softened it almost immediately. Holding both her hands up by way of an apology but keeping the heels of her palms flat on the table. "No. I'll speak to you. I trust you and only you."
Tom was surprised. It must have shown.
"Ade told me you were reliable, that he believed you were one of the good guys."
Tom was even more surprised now. He could count on one hand the occasions where he'd met Adrian Gage, and most of those were seeing each other from a distance when Adrian was dropping off Saffy, Tom being in the house and him being in the car. They could barely have shared more than a dozen words.
Carol smiled. "Don't get me wrong. He hated the fact you got to live with his daughter… let alone his wife." She grimaced, inclining her head off to one side and reaching out to touch the back of his hand by way of an apology. "Ex-wife. Habit. Sorry."
He waved away the apology. There was no need. "But he respected you. What
