AllFreeNovel
Share Us
‘So good of you to come tonight,’ he says. ‘Must have taken a lot of courage.’
I glance at him. My cheeks burn. I have no idea how to respond. If Jen had said this, it would have been fine, but Johnnie is not Jen.
‘Jen tells me they scaled back the investigation some months ago. Do you think they’ll close it altogether once it reaches a year? It’s almost a year now, isn’t it?’
‘Y-Yes.’ My hand flies to my mouth.
‘I mean,’ he adds, apparently oblivious, ‘I don’t know how these things work, but you’d imagine a year would be long enough, what with budget cuts and so forth. Can’t imagine there’s much to be gained.’
My skin is alight. The room spins. I have the impression of rising into the air, that speaking is all that will keep me on the ground.
‘There would be for us,’ I manage to say. ‘There’d be everything to gain.’
He swats the air with one hand. ‘Of course, yes, I didn’t mean that, I meant more in the sense that I can’t imagine there’d be more evidence now, after all this time. No new leads, are there? They’re not watching anyone?’
I wait. Wait to see how far he will dig before he strikes rock and breaks his shovel. Stop, I want to say, just stop talking.
‘There are no new leadsat the moment,’ I say instead. ‘And no, they don’t have a suspect as such. But they’re not closing it. Should something new come to light, they’ll move quickly.’
He nods, hugely, pushes his bottom lip up so far it overlaps the top, his chin puckering beneath his highly curated stubble. ‘Yes, yes,’ he says, head cocked, musing like an art critic. ‘Yes, I can see that, I can see that… It’s just that it was reported as a tragic accident, wasn’t it? I suppose because there was nothing suspicious. And they searched all the houses and gardens. The dogs were taken into Neil’s place too, weren’t they?’
‘Only for procedure. With them being our closest friends.’ The last two words sound – are – pointed. Back. Off.
‘Of course, of course. But they didn’t take the dogs into anyone else’s home, did they?’
I narrow my eyes at him. If he picks up how aghast I am, he doesn’t show it.
‘They can’t treat everyone as a suspect, Johnnie,’ I manage. ‘They’d have to have found incriminating evidence, they’d have to have good reason to justify that kind of… of violation.’
‘So they had good reason? I thought you said it was procedure.’
I inhale deeply. My shoulders rise. ‘I did. It was. I meant—’
‘Hey.’ Matt appears, hands me a drink. My third. I shouldn’t. But my hands are shaking and I’m so relieved to see him, I almost down it in one go.
‘Ava was just updating me on… everything,’ Johnnie says.
Matt eyes him warily. ‘OK.’ He turns to me, must see something in my face, because his eyes flicker with concern. ‘Do you want to go home soon?’
‘Catch you kids later,’ Johnnie says, pressing his hand to the top of my arm before he leaves us, as if in this last conversation we have established some sort of bond. My God, I think. What on earth does Jen see in him?
‘Neil wasn’t wrong,’ Matt says under his breath once Johnnie is out of earshot.
‘No. No, he wasn’t.’
The music dips.
Both of us look towards the far end of the kitchen. In a half-sigh, Matt says: ‘What the hell?’
Nineteen
Ava
At the far end of the kitchen, cheeks even pinker now and looking for all the world like an aged cherub, Johnnie has raised his hands. He says nothing, simply stands with his arms out, confident that the talking will cease. Like Moses parting the Red Sea, I think. And sure enough, the chatter dies away. Jen is beside him, looking a little coy. Another second and I realise she is holding hands with a young girl who looks about twelve or thirteen.
When he’s satisfied that the room is silent, Johnnie lowers his hands.
‘Hi, everyone,’ he says. ‘We just wanted to say thank you for coming to our humble abode.’ He smirks; no one laughs. ‘It’s really great to finally meet our neighbours, and yeah, hi, welcome,willkommen,bienvenue. As you know, I’m Johnnie, this is Jennifer, and these are our girls, Jasmine and Cosima, who are up way past their bedtime.’
