Page 55 of We Chase Shadows

‘Rosie was on Graham Norton,’ says Amy. ‘We got to go backstage, and I met Denzel Washington.’

Adam gives a low whistle. ‘What was Graham Norton like?’

‘He was nice,’ says Amy. ‘He got a selfie with your dad.’

‘Do you mean my dad got a selfie with him?’ Adam asks.

‘I suppose so,’ says Amy. ‘He was very nice about it either way.’

‘What was Denzel Washington like?’

‘He went straight home,’ says Amy.

‘Probably had a long flight,’ says Adam.

‘Rosie mentioned We Solve Murders,’ says Amy. ‘That’s how we got this case.’

It is their anniversary on the 20th. Seven years. Amy was going to fly out and surprise him.

‘The murdered bodyguard, right?’ says Adam.

‘Two murdered bodyguards now,’ says Amy.

‘That’s a lot of murdered bodyguards,’ says Adam. ‘Are you safe?’

‘Safe enough,’ says Amy.

Will Adam end up breaking her heart? On a good day Amy is sure he won’t. On a normal day, like today, she could toss a coin.

Amy likes to avoid emotion when she can, but perhaps she needs to be more like Rosie? Smoking spliffs with foreign secretaries and physically manhandling Denzel Washington? Seeing your husband every now and again? The problem with emotions though is that the good ones are all jumbled up with the bad ones. You can’t just pick the ones you want. If you choose to feel things, you get the whole job lot.

‘I’m glad you rang,’ says Adam. ‘It’s boring here. Why don’t you solve the murders and come out?’

‘To Saudi Arabia?’

It’s the love that’s the problem. Amy had a foster placement when she was nine. Paula and Grant, two kids of their own already, their house not big, but big enough. Amy had her own room, but eventually chose to share with their younger daughter. They would stay up for hours, the two of them. Amy wishes she could remember what they’d talk about.

‘I miss you,’ says Adam. ‘There’s a nice gym at the hotel. And I think they even let you drive these days.’

She’d been with Paula and Grant for six months, and had started to let her guard down, started to feel part of the family. Started to feel loved. The sort of thing she and the other misshapes always dreamt about but never talked about.

‘How’s Rosie?’ Adam asks.

‘I left her in the pub with your dad,’ says Amy. ‘Last thing I saw, she was standing on the bar singing “American Pie”. I went to her book launch the other day.’

‘What was that like?’ Adam asks.

Amy remembers they were planning a holiday, the whole family. To Lanzarote. Paula showed her pictures of the hotel in a brochure. The sun was shining in every photo. It had three pools. Amy couldn’t stop thinking about it. Which pool they’d go to on which day, she had it all figured out.

‘Apparently Ian McEwan is surprisingly buff?’

‘Who’s Ian McEwan?’ says Adam. Good. This is why she married him.

‘I thought you might know,’ says Amy. ‘Everyone there seemed to know. How’s Saudi Arabia?’

‘Lucrative,’ says Adam. ‘Thank goodness.’

‘What time is it there?’