‘Don’t be ridiculous. You can’t give it to them now. There’s nothing left!’
The look of horror on her face, along with Meaty’s surprise, made Edie giggle; she couldn’t help it.
‘Oh well.’ She glanced at Ralph, who was biting his cheeks, trying not to laugh, too. ‘At least the dog’s had a slap-up meal. I guess she’s partial to a Cretan sausage as well – and who can blame her!’
* * *
April insisted on giving them some more, unchewed sausages and after saying goodbye to her and Meaty, they trudged back to the villa with the shopping bags, cursing themselves for buying too much.
‘I can’t think why I got all that stupid cheese,’ Edie grumbled. ‘No one feels like eating anything anyway.’
By the time they arrived, the police had left and they found Mac sitting on his own by the pool, hunched over, with his hands clasped between his knees, staring into space.
He looked up when he heard them and gave a small smile, but his eyes were dull and lifeless.
‘Hi,’ Ralph said, trying to sound a bit cheery. ‘How are you doing?’
Mac shrugged. ‘Same as you, I guess. This whole thing is a shitshow.’
Edie and Ralph pulled up another lounger and sat side by side.
‘Did you speak to the police?’ Ralph asked, and Mac nodded. ‘How were they?’
Mac sat up straight and crossed his arms. ‘Pretty aggressive, to be honest.’
‘Oh!’ Ralph couldn’t hide his surprise; they’d seemed so pleasant and helpful earlier.
‘They were asking loads of questions about my marriage,’ Mac went on. ‘They wanted to know if Hannah and I were happy or not, and what we argued about the other evening.’
He looked Ralph straight in the eye, before shifting his gaze to Edie.
‘Did you tell them about the fight?’ he said. ‘What did you say?’
Edie’s pulse started racing and she fidgeted with the hem of her shorts.
‘We didn’t… I meanIdidn’t, actually. I was going to, because I didn’t want to keep anything back in case it was relevant. But then Hannah started talking about it, so I left her to it.’
‘And?’ Mac’s blank expression made Edie shiver; she couldn’t work out what was going on in his head.
‘Basically, she told it as it was,’ she said.
Mac gave a hollow laugh. ‘You mean she gave her version of events?’
Edie was confused. ‘Well, yes. Why not? Surely that’s normal? She didn’t lie, if that’s what you mean.’
Mac swallowed. ‘She also told them I didn’t like Jessica, correct?’
Edie glanced at Ralph, who was sitting completely still, listening carefully.
‘She said you’d taken against her for some reason, and vice versa.’
‘Too right.’ Mac exhaled with a long, loud puff.
‘Where is Hannah anyway?’ He glanced round, looking for her, as if she might suddenly appear, like an apparition. ‘Didn’t she come back with you?’
Ralph jumped in to answer before Edie got the chance.
‘She’s on her way. She won’t be long. Did the police say anything else about Jessica? Do they have any leads?’
