*
Her mother was in the kitchen, preparing something with bean sprouts and strips of marinated chicken. It was the kind of stuff that always gave Karen a stomach ache. She picked up a spring onion, then thought better of it and replaced it on its saucer.
‘All right, love?’ Her mother’s voice was falsely cheerful – or perhaps Karen was being over-sensitive, as usual.
‘Fine, thanks.’
‘You’re back late. Been working in the library?’ She didn’t wait for a reply. ‘I thought you might be going round to Dad’s this evening.’
‘Why? Want to get rid of me, do you?’
‘No, of course not. Look, I know the divorce has upset you but–’
‘Well, you’re wrong.’ Karen made a supreme effort to see things from her mother’s point of view. ‘I suppose part of me hoped the two of you might get back together again. Silly really. Anyway, Dad seems fine. I’m going to ask him if he’d like me to decorate his flat.’
‘That’s kind of you.’ Her mother drew the curtains and switched on the light above the cooker. ‘It was nice to see Simon again,’ she said. ‘I haven’t said anything before but – you and Simon . . .’
‘Look, I don’t know what’s going to happen. I’ve been busy lately. We haven’t seen so much of each other.’
Suddenly it felt strange that her mother knew nothing about her investigations. Nothing about the visit to the Stevens’ house and Joanne’s new flat, or the conversation with Olive Pearce and Liam. What would she have said if Karen had told her? It didn’t bear thinking about.
‘Yes, I see.’ Her mother was still thinking about Simon. ‘Well, you know me, I wouldn’t dream of interfering. It’s just that I’ve always been fond of him.’
‘I know. The son you never had.’
‘You can be very cruel, Karen.’ She started chopping up a shallot. In a moment or two the tears would start flowing and she could pretend she was upset about poor Simon.
Karen stood in the doorway, wondering if she ought to apologise. Fortunately the phone rang and saved her making a decision.
‘Yes? Oh, hello.’ It was Russell. He must have looked up her number in the book. It was still under her father’s name but in any case Russell knew where she lived. It wouldn’t be difficult to find the right ‘Cady’.
‘What are you doing this evening?’ He sounded excited. ‘I don’t come off duty until half past but if you like we could meet up. There’s something I want to tell you.’
She hesitated, but not for long. ‘Yes all right. I’ll meet you at the Sports Centre, shall I?’
‘Fine. Sure that’s all right?’
‘Yes, of course. See you soon. Bye.’
Alex strolled out in the hall. ‘Simon’s replacement? What it is to be young. Easy come, easy go.’
‘What?’ She was supposed to react angrily. Accuse him of being patronising, make some sarcastic remark about the ridiculous red and green scarf he had knotted round his neck. But she wouldn’t waste her energy. She had far more important things on her mind.
Chapter Fifteen
She could see Russell talking to the girl at the ticket desk – the one who had taken over the job after Natalie was killed?
‘Just coming.’ He smiled at her, mouthing the words he knew she wouldn’t be able to hear because of the background noise of kids jumping into the swimming pool.
Two boys were playing a video game, shouting triumphantly as they annihilated the enemy one by one. Their faces were fixed in angry snarls – but maybe the game was getting it out of their systems.
Then a group of girls, carrying bags of wet swimming costumes and towels, came out of the changing rooms. One of them waved to Russell, then pushed against her friend, laughing and giggling.
‘Right. Good.’ Russell was by her side. ‘We’ll walk by the river, shelter in that boathouse place if it starts to rain.’ He was cheerful, relaxed, but she could hear the excitement in his voice.
She started telling him how Liam Pearce, befuddled with drink, had incriminated his mother, destroying her alibi – and his own. To her surprise Russell didn’t seem that interested.
‘He’ll tell his mother you went to the house,’ he said. ‘The end of a beautiful friendship.’
‘Finding out who killed Natalie’s more important than staying on good terms with Olive Pearce.’
‘Of course.’
The rain had stopped but there was a cold wind. They crossed the road and walked through the car park of ‘The Bricklayers Arms’. A path led down to the river. One of the street lamps had broken but there was still enough light to see where the swans were sitting on the grass.
‘Have you seen Joanne?’ said Russell, dropping back until they were walking side by side.
‘Not since I told you. The day she showed me her flat. Why, have you heard something?’
‘So she hasn’t been in touch since?’
Karen shook her head. ‘Actually, she said if we met again I was to pretend we were strangers.’
He nodded. ‘What about Ann Stevens, Joanne’s mother – you said you suspected something? Something she said to you, something about her husband.’
‘Oh, I was completely wrong about that. She blamed him for Natalie’s death, but only because he was terribly strict and that made Natalie rebel. She meets up with Olive Pearce, you know, at least she did yesterday.’
‘You saw them together?’
‘Yes, I was going to tell you, only I wanted to hear what you’d found out.’
‘In a minute.’ He took hold of her hand and she tensed, but quickly relaxed. He had done it so naturally and his
