THEN
Felix and Elena’s life takes us most of the day to pack up.
Since there’s no hope of fitting it all in Aunty Sam’s car, we leave the pile of boxes where they are and go home via the café – to reward ourselves for our hard work.
Also, Patrick and Michael claim to have matching, crippling, caffeine withdrawal headaches.
We’re at the same café where Lilia recorded Patrick and Elena, making it hard for me not to think about the conversation I’ve done my best to avoid thinking about.
I’m waiting for my hot chocolate to arrive when the bell over the door jingles and in walk Ben and Lilia. I must have been a terrorist, an incel or someone who talks on their phone at the cinema in a former life to deserve this kind of luck. Of course, they spot us right away and come over.
‘What are you doing here?’ I ask them, because I’m tired, grumpy and in the mood to act like a toddler with a tummy ache.
‘I’ve been calling you,’ Lilia says. ‘I need to talk to you about something.’
‘You’ve tracked down another of her exes and you’re dating him too?’ Patrick says, and someone snorts. It might’ve been me.
‘Patrick,’ Michael says loudly, big-brother mode activated. ‘Leave her alone.’ Then he says to Lilia, ‘Sorry about him. Mum kept abandoning him on hillsides, but the vultures didn’t want him either.’
‘Do you want to join us?’ Elena asks Lilia, and I think about abandoning Elena on a hillside.
Ben looks like he’d rather stick his genitals in a blender than take up Elena’s offer, and mutters something about grabbing a takeaway.
‘Heidi,’ Lilia says in a quiet voice. ‘Please, can I talk to you?’
‘How did you know I was here?’ I ask, because there are coincidences and Portuguese tart addictions and then there’s this.
Lilia’s face goes the same colour as her lips. ‘You never stopped sharing your Find My with me on your phone.’
How. Embarrassing. I hope Patrick’s not listening.
‘Over here.’ She leads me away from the others, waving Ben off in the direction of the counter. He looks shitty, which perks me up a little.
‘What is it?’ I ask when we’re far enough away to avoid anyone who might be eavesdropping.
‘It’s about Felix,’ Lilia says.
‘Don’t tell me. He’s dead.’
She ignores that. ‘I ran into Adam.’
‘Adam as in Elena’s friend Adam?’ I say.
‘Yeah.’
‘You ran into him?’ I ask, because I know Lilia well and she seems … shifty.
‘I went to that coffee shop where we met him last time and he was there,’ Lilia says.
‘That’s convenient.’
‘I went there every day for three days,’ she admits.
I’m not impressed. I’m not impressed.
‘And what happened?’
‘I introduced myself.’
‘Why would you do that?’
‘I had an idea about the case.’
‘I don’t know if there is a case anymore.
’ It’s the first time I’ve said it out loud, but it feels true.
Patrick and Michael will fly back to Melbourne tomorrow.
I’ll go back to school. Life will move on and the cops will decide what happened to Felix on the night that he died. Eventually. Probably.
Lilia doesn’t seem to realise I’m having a moment, because she waves her hand dismissively.
‘Remember how Adam said that he saw Aunty Sam outside Elena and Felix’s house the night he died?’
‘No, I’d completely forgotten this incredibly weird and suspicious detail about the night of my brother’s death.’
Lilia ignores my tone. ‘I wanted to know if it really was Aunty Sam he saw that night or if it might have been another middle-aged lady who dresses like Stevie Nicks. Once I’d told Adam who I was, I asked if I could show him a picture of your aunt, to be sure.’
‘Very normal behaviour. Did he file the restraining order right there or wait until he got home?’ I ask.
‘Ben thought it was stupid, too.’
That shuts me up. I look towards the counter to see Ben busily tapping on his phone. Messaging his other secret girlfriend or researching romantic dates for himself and Lilia? The jury is very much out.
‘How did you even have a photo of Aunty Sam?’ I ask, when Lilia’s silence makes it clear it’s my turn to say something.
‘Have you been stalking her too?’ (This is a bit much, coming from me, but it’s important to remember that Lilia doesn’t know about me AirTagging Patrick, which I’m pretty sure means it never happened.)
‘You think I don’t have photos of Aunty Sam?’ Lilia says, looking insulted.
It’s possible the past few months have erased my memories of how entwined Lilia had been with my family before Ben happened.
‘I showed him the most recent one I had. It was Aunty Sam, you and Felix at her birthday party. You looked super cute. Remember you’d had that haircut?’
I resist asking to see the photo, but only just. ‘My hot chocolate’s getting cold.’ I point at the table, where my drink (and family) is now waiting for me.
‘I showed Adam the photo and asked if he was sure it was the same person he saw the night Felix died. He said he was sure, that he’d got a good look at her face.’
‘Right.’ I’m disappointed. I wanted doubt. Aunty Sam, it seems, is right up there with Patrick and Elena on the list of people I can’t trust.
‘But then he asked, “Who’s the guy?”’
‘What?’ I’ve lost track of what Lilia is saying.
‘Adam asked about the guy standing next to you and Aunty Sam,’ Lilia explains slowly.
‘But wasn’t that Felix?’ I ask, not sure what I’ve missed.
‘Yes!’
‘Adam didn’t recognise Felix? But he met him the night Felix died and didn’t he say he’s got a great head for faces?’
‘That’s why I’ve been trying to call you. That’s why I’ve tracked you down here like a stalker. Adam acted like he had never seen Felix before,’ Lilia says, a little louder.
Heads turn towards us and I force a smile, like we’re two girlfriends discussing weekend plans that could involve a trip to the beach – not murder.
‘What did you say?’ I ask Lilia.
‘I told Adam that it was Felix. Adam kind of frowned and looked at the photo again. Then he said something like, “Oh, I guess I didn’t recognise him.”’
‘What does that mean?’
There’s a hand on my shoulder, which makes me leap. I turn to see Patrick behind me.
‘Your drink’s getting cold,’ he says.
I wish I knew how much he’s heard.