‘No…’ So maybe it wasn’t common knowledge yet that it had been murder? Or maybe it just hadn’t occurred to her that an insurance policy was unlikely to cover that eventuality. She made herself a cup of tea and nodded to me before wandering off.
I turned around to flip bacon, but it wasn’t long before I was interrupted again.
‘All right?’ Zack’s voice didn’t have that usual note of cheerful swagger about it; he must still be wracked with guilt. I was surprised that Nathan hadn’t told him he was off the hook yet.
‘How’re you doing?’ I asked, in a sympathetic tone of voice. He shrugged.
‘Been better.’
‘And Aiko? Has she recovered?’
‘She’s on the mend, still a bit weak though.’ He smiled sadly. ‘Not the best start to a relationship, is it?’
‘You really like her, don’t you?’ I asked. He gave me a slow, shy smile. Aww, sweetheart! I thought. I reached over the counter and patted his hand. ‘I’m sure it’ll be fine. If it’s meant to be, it will be.’ I thought of Tony as I said that, and I sincerely hoped for Zack’s sake that his relationship was meant to be. ‘Look, about the fish—’
‘I know, I know, I should never have served it,’ he said. He shook his head. ‘I still can’t believe I cocked it up.’
I looked around, but there was no one else about. I had to tell him and put his mind at rest. ‘I don’t think you did. This can’t go any further, okay?’ I (metaphorically) rolled my eyes at myself; I’d been saying that a lot over the last couple of days, and I really hoped that all the people I’d sworn to secrecy really could keep quiet.
Zack looked mystified. ‘Of course! Go on.’
‘It wasn’t the fish.’
‘But – I heard they found the neurotoxin…’
‘They did. But the fish Gino got you, it’s non-toxic. That’s why he was happy to order it for you. I just wish he’d told me about it before.’
Zack sagged suddenly and I thought for a moment he was going to pass out.
‘Oh my God…’ he said.
‘Go and sit down,’ I told him. ‘I’ll bring you a cuppa.’
I turned off the stove (the bacon would have to wait a few more minutes) and joined Zack at a picnic bench, untying Germaine so she could come and be sociable. I pushed a mug of hot tea over to him as she snuffled at his feet and put her paws sympathetically on his lap. He smiled and patted her, then looked up to see me watching him closely.
‘Don’t tell me, I’ve gone all pale,’ he said, and I laughed.
‘Well, you have gone a bit beige…’ He gave one of his big belly laughs, and I knew he was feeling better.
‘Keep what I just told you to yourself for the moment,’ I said. ‘The police haven’t made it official yet, and we don’t want to disturb any lines of enquiry.’
‘What lines of enquiry?’ asked Zack, and then that shocked expression came back. ‘You don’t mean—’ He looked around too then, and dropped his voice. ‘You don’t mean murder?’
I shrugged, trying to look like there could be myriad completely innocent reasons for pufferfish toxin ending up in a cupcake… ‘I dunno. Probably not.’ Aware that I probably didn’t sound terribly convincing, I struggled for something else to say, and suddenly inspiration struck me. ‘You know this supposed ‘curse’? All these stupid accidents and pranks? Well, I’m thinking that maybe this was just another prank that got out of hand.’
‘Really?’ Zack looked doubtful.
‘I think it’s definitely something we have to consider,’ I said. ‘How many accidents have happened here? Kimi’s dog escaping, light bulbs blowing, the generator shorting out, the food-truck stairs breaking, Faith’s caravan door getting jammed…’ Zack shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He made himself stop quickly, but I’d already spotted it. I recognised the signs… ‘I reckon,’ I said carefully, ‘if we find out who’s behind those pranks, we’ll find out who’s behind the food poisoning.’
Zack avoided my eyes, staring down into his mug and stirring the hot tea with his finger.
‘Is there something you want to tell me?’ I asked. He looked up before he could stop himself, then away again.
‘Course not.’ It was his turn to sound unconvincing. Germaine gave a little whine, like she didn’t believe him either.
‘Zack,’ I said, ‘if you know something, you need to tell me or the police. If you tell me, I can decide whether it’s something they need to know or whether we can forget about it. If you don’t tell me and the police find out later – and they always do find out later – then it won’t look very good on you, will it?’
He looked at me again, obviously weighing something up in his mind.
‘Zack,’ I said. ‘We're mates, right? We’ve cooked together. I’d give you a job chopping veg if you ever gave up acting…’ He gave a small laugh. ‘So you know I’m on your side, right? If you’ve done something daft…’
He looked defensive. ‘Everyone thinks she’s this National Treasure, and she acts all motherly to the younger actors on set, but she’s a right bloody racist.’
‘Really?’ I was surprised. Faith’s on-screen husband in Mile End Days was a big Jamaican guy, and their ‘children’ were all mixed-race actors. It seemed to me that it would be easy to be prejudiced against a group of people you knew nothing about, but if you were working closely with them, for several years in Faith’s case, it would be difficult to keep that up; you surely couldn’t help but realise they were exactly the same as you in every single aspect that mattered. ‘Are you sure? What makes you think that?’
‘I borrowed a phone charger off her and I was on my way to take it back,’ said Zack. ‘I was outside her trailer and I heard her talking, and she said Kimi and me were
