The weak, slanting afternoon sun made the dark interior of The Rock even stuffier. The heat was oppressive after being outside. And it was quiet. Emma was used to a certain amount of white noise in a pub. A clattering of glasses, an occasional rendition of an Oasis song in C-flat. There was none of that here. The two men from that morning hadn't moved. For a moment she almost felt a twinge of déjà vu. Was that haggard and pock-marked dart board really there this morning, or did she remember it from every broken-down pub she had ever seen?
Two regulars, bent over a low table, turned and looked at her this time. The spell was broken. This was the part of her job she dreaded the most, like the feeling before reaching into a bucket of slime. She wished she could talk to strangers as easily as David did. That charming son of a bitch even seemed to enjoy it. She walked over, nudging a precarious glass back from the edge of the bar on her way.
“Mind if I join you?”
“Not at all. My name’s Red. This is Darren.” He jerked his head toward a man who had already gone back to his beer. “You're Ned's new second, Cambourne?” He tapped his thumb in a slow rhythm.
“Yes.” Emma sat across from him and tried not to touch the table.
“The old Governor General, he had an American assistant. Clare Han?” Red took a drink while looking at her expectantly.
“Oh. Uh, no I can’t say the name rings a bell. Did you know the Sergeant... Ned, well?”
“What do you mean, Ned who lived here on the island?”
“Sorry, I guess that was a stupid question.”
“No, it's alright. We were mates. Went fishing just a few days before it happened. You haven't seen the sea here when it's calm. It's a thing of beauty.”
“Is that usual, the two of you going fishing together?”
“Yeah, we went from time to time. It makes you feel like you’re the only people in the world when you’re out there. I used to like that a lot. But it's mostly him and Greg that go. They've been tight since they were lads.”
“And where is he now?”
“Greg? At home. I saw him this morning.”
“You spoke to him this morning? Did he say anything about Ned?”
“No. He said he might drop by the station later and have a drink with Evan, but I don't believe he'll be out of the house today. Bit shaken up about what happened, you know. It's one thing when a mate falls off his perch. But it's been a long time since we had something like this happen around here.”
“When you last saw Ned, did he say anything to you that might suggest he was unhappy?”
“Never. Can't imagine what pushed him to do it.”
Darren shook his head. “Terrible business. Terrible.”
“I'm sorry to pry. Police instinct, I guess. I actually came to talk to you about Steve.”
“Steve White, you mean?”
“Is there another Steve?”
“No.”
“That’s him, then. Do you know hi- Do you know where he might have disappeared to?”
“Oh yeah, I heard he was missing when he was supposed to bring Jessie’s truck back with a new starter, and he never showed.”
Darren leaned in. “Any idea where he might be, Constable?”
“No, Mr...”
“Darren.”
“Right. No, Darren, I was hoping you two might be able to help me in that department. When was the last time either of you saw Steve?”
Red sat up strait and took a deep breath. “I haven’t seen him in a while. I know my girl Sarah saw him at church two weeks ago. At the parsonage, I mean. But he wasn't there this last Sunday. It was a horrible, wet day. Probably just stayed in. I can’t say I blame him.”
Emma looked out the window at the gray sky. “What constitutes bad weather in this part of the world?”
“Listen, Steve's on the other side of the downs and The Culley. Let's see you stomp through that in a rainstorm.”
“Of course. Does your daughter know Steve well, then?”
“Not really. He's got his work during the day, and she's got the cannery.”
Emma forced herself to take a long look into the man's eyes. It was an effort she could only sustain for a second, but that was enough to make his own eyes flicker and look away.
“So she would have been working when Ned was last seen in good health?”
“Yes, I believe she told me she was at work when she heard the bad news.”
“Then she works the night shift as well as the day shift?”
“Well, sometimes.”
He was lying to her face. That was an amateur mistake. Talented liars only told the truth.
“Sir. You don't know me very well, so I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. I'm not inclined to look the other way when people lie to me, especially when there is a missing person case in progress. So why don't we start over and you tell me exactly what the relationship is between Sarah and Steve.”
Emma hoped the smile she felt wasn't visible. People came in good and bad varieties, but they could always be relied upon to behave the same way under pressure. It was just a matter of knowing where to press.
“They don't know each other well. Never have.” Red's eyes showed sincerity.
“But you were hiding something from me just now.”
Emma stopped herself from lunging forward in her chair. It was easy to get caught up in the pursuit, like a hound after a rabbit. She could smell the truth hiding in the bushes. But humans were flighty, and if they felt pursued that was the end of the chase. The danger of repeating the past held her on the slow and steady path.
DI Acharya had told her not to visit the suspect in a recent robbery. There was nothing to be
