Chapter 20
‘Where are we going?’ DI Harrison asked as DS Rogers took yet another turn.
‘Armley Road,’ he replied. ‘I don’t have all the details, but basically the homeowners were having some chimney repairs done, and the builders discovered a hidden alcove with a body in it. SOCO are there already doing their thing.’
Although the air conditioning was working flat out, DI Harrison still felt sweaty and her head was pounding as the migraine took hold.
She wanted nothing more than to retreat to her bed, but she realised this was a crime scene that needed her full attention.
She tried to ignore the pain, keeping her expression completely neutral as DS Rogers parked the car and they slipped on their protective overalls.
She fought the rising sense of nausea by focusing on her breathing as the uniformed police officers lifted the crime scene tape to allow her and DS Rogers to pass underneath.
A group of nosy neighbours were gathered but, after a quick scan, she made a point of ignoring them.
‘It’s in here, Ma’am,’ Terri, one of the Scene of Crime Officers, told her unnecessarily as she entered the hallway.
The house was at once familiar and strange.
The décor was different, of course, but the layout brought back so many memories.
Even if she hadn’t known exactly where the body was, the flashing from the camera would have led her to it.
‘The builders started to take down this wall,’ the photographer explained, indicating the hole they’d obviously punched with their sledgehammers.
‘They found a bag behind it and opened it. I suspect they were hoping for buried treasure, but they got a body instead. I’m just going to do a couple more pictures in situ and then we can bring it out.
Did you want to have a quick look before we do that? ’
‘Thanks, Geoff.’
It wasn’t just the migraine that was causing DI Claire Harrison’s legs to shake as she crouched down to inspect the hole.
Behind her, DS Rogers was engrossed in discussion with Geoff about the crime scene.
She looked into the hole in the wall and there was the body bag, instantly recognisable despite its thick coating of dust.
‘Hello, Darren,’ she whispered.
I lift my eyes from the screen, aware of someone approaching.
I’ve been trying to focus on my work in an attempt to blot out all my conflicted feelings about Finn, Angus and everything else.
Although it hasn’t been completely successful, I’ve still managed to lose track of the time and I’m surprised to see, glancing at my phone, that it’s nearly six o’clock.
My mind’s been such a whirlwind that I haven’t even remembered to set the alarm to make me get up and move, and I can feel the stiffness in my neck as I raise my head after nearly four hours of staring at my laptop.
‘Hiya,’ Finn says softly. ‘I thought I’d find you here. How’s it going?’
‘OK. You? All packed and ready?’
‘Yeah. I’ve just settled up with Hugh and I’m about to leave for the airport, but I wanted to come and find you first to say goodbye properly.’
I study his face, trying to see if I can read anything into his expression, but I can’t.
‘I’ve really enjoyed getting to know you, Laura,’ he continues. ‘And I can’t thank you enough for what you’ve done. You’ve literally saved my show, which means you’ve saved my career too.’
‘It was nothing,’ I tell him. ‘I’m just glad I could help.’ Why is this conversation so stilted?
‘You did more than that, trust me.’
‘Well, you helped me out of a few plot holes too, so I guess we’re even.’
He smiles. ‘Thinking of which, there’s definitely something weird going on with the others. Gina and Lynette were in the library when I came out, and it looked like they were being nice to each other.’
‘Lynette’s helping her with some Tudor sex.’
‘Not a phrase I think I’d ever have expected to hear before coming here. It’s been an eye-opener, that’s for sure. I’ll miss our walks.’
‘Me too.’
‘Tell me if this is too presumptuous, but I’d like to keep in touch, is that OK? Can I give you my number?’
‘Of course you can. I’d like that.’ I hand over my phone and he types in the details. When he’s done, I open WhatsApp and send him a series of emojis including smiling face, prayer hands and crossed fingers.
‘That’s for luck tomorrow,’ I tell him. ‘Also, you’ve got my number as well now.’
‘Thanks. For everything. And good luck with the Double-Doubles. I feel like I’m abandoning you.’
I get to my feet and wrap him in a brief hug. ‘I’ll be OK. Don’t worry about me. Go and sell your show. Who knows, I might even watch it.’
‘If I sell it, I’ll invite you to see it being filmed, how about that?’
‘I’d like that. I’ve never been to a TV studio before.’
‘I’ll see what I can do. Right, I’d better get going.’
I watch as he disappears up the path and into the house.
My emotions are conflicted. Should I have told him how I feel?
Maybe this is fate telling me it wasn’t meant to be.
Maybe I’ve been misreading the signals all along, and this is for the best. It doesn’t feel like it’s for the best, though, and I’m dreading telling Liv.
She’s bound to have plenty to say on the subject.
‘So, he just upped and left?’ Liv’s voice is predictably cross when I tell her the next morning. I’m out walking on my own. It feels weird without Finn next to me, but I was awake and didn’t fancy lurking around the house. ‘Thanks for digging me out of a hole but I’m off?’
‘I think you’re being a bit harsh. It seems like these pitching slots are super rare, so you don’t mess about if you’re offered one.’
‘Hm. Just seems like very bad karma to me. Angus pitches up here, upsetting the status quo, and somehow your new guy gets summoned back to London on the very same day? Who have you been upsetting?’
‘Nobody. I’m sure there’s nothing supernatural going on, Liv. It’s just the way these things pan out sometimes. Anyway, enough of my woes. Tell me about Donna. How was the drink?’
Her smile is so wide it tells me all I need to know before she opens her mouth.
‘It went well then,’ I observe.
‘Brilliantly. Honestly, I just felt like we connected on so many levels. It turns out she did quite a bit of travelling when she was younger as well, and we think we might actually have been in Cambodia at the same time. What are the odds of that, eh?’
‘So you’ll be seeing her again?’
‘Tonight. She’s coming round for dinner.’
‘I’ll give you this, Liv. You don’t hang around, do you?’
‘What’s the point? If I like her and she likes me, let’s not waste time playing games.’
‘Well, I just hope you have more success than me.’
‘Mm. I will admit to being disappointed for you. This Finn guy sounded promising. At least you’ve got his contact details so you can stay in touch. Maybe he’s more of a slow burn, and something will happen when he invites you to the filming.’
‘If he invites me. He hasn’t even sold the show yet, and there won’t be any filming to invite me to if he doesn’t.’
‘Then you invite him to your book launch.’
‘I don’t have book launches, as you know.
The closest I get is the glass of champagne Ruby gives me when I go to her shop to sign the first batch of a new novel.
I’m starting to wonder if I imagined the whole connection.
He’s definitely been odd since we kissed.
Maybe he didn’t like it, and he’s secretly relieved that he’s got this excuse to leave early. ’
‘I don’t think so.’
‘Uh-oh. Is this a Liv “certainty” coming on?’
‘No. But he didn’t back off because he thought you were a pity party, did he? He backed off because, and I quote, you were out of his league. That’s a pretty powerful statement.’
‘I still think that was an odd thing to say. I mean, I’d understand if I looked like Kendall Jenner, but I don’t.’
‘Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, Laura. You’re obviously his type. And I bet even Kendall Jenner is wracked with insecurity about some aspect of her body. It comes as part of the whole “being female” thing.’
‘Maybe he was trying to say that I intimidate him in some way. Nobody wants to feel like that.’
She laughs. ‘Apart from your frank exchange of views with Angus yesterday, I don’t think anyone could call you intimidating.’
‘He hasn’t bothered you again?’
‘No. I think he got the message loud and clear. So, what’s your plan for the rest of the retreat then, now you don’t have Finn to entertain you?’
I sigh. ‘I don’t know. Keep my head down, I guess. I did wonder about coming home early too, but I’ve paid for the two weeks and I am making good progress with the book.’
‘There’s only another five days. I’m sure even you can tolerate the witches for that long. What does Finn call them?’
‘The Double-Doubles.’
‘Yeah, them. Steer clear of the cauldron, don’t accept any food or drink that they might have put potions in and I’m sure you’ll be fine.’
‘Thanks. If I ever want encouragement, I know where to come.’
When I reach the bridge that Finn and I have used as our turning point, I stop and lean against the parapet, breathing deeply and taking in the view. I am surprised how much I’m missing him already, and he’s only been gone for a few hours.
‘Toute seule?’ a voice says from next to me, and I turn in surprise to see the same old lady we met on our first walk here together.
‘Oui,’ I tell her.
‘Où est ton copain?’ She must sense my incomprehension, as she tries again. ‘Ton petit ami?’
She’s obviously talking about Finn. ‘Il est parti,’ I tell her, hoping that my schoolgirl French is enough to make myself understood. ‘Il est allé en Angleterre. Travail.’ I shrug my shoulders in a kind of ‘That’s life, but what can you do’ way that I hope is suitably Gallic.
She sighs and pats my hand, and I feel the need to try to clarify the situation with her, which is odd given that I don’t know her at all and my French is surely not up to the task. What was the word she used?
‘Ce n’est pas mon copain,’ I tell her. ‘C’est juste un ami.’
To my surprise, she bursts out laughing. Oh, shit. Maybe I’ve said it wrong and told her something that sounds totally inappropriate instead. That would be just my luck.
‘Oh, chérie,’ she breathes once she’s calmed down. ‘Je suis une vieille dame et j’ai vu beaucoup de choses dans ma vie. Pensez-vous que je ne peux pas reconna?tre deux personnes qui vont ensemble?’
This is too much, and I have to admit defeat. ‘Je suis désolé. Je ne comprends pas,’ I tell her after wracking my brains for the words.
‘You and this boy. You belong together,’ she says in heavily accented English. ‘I saw it in, comment le dit-on, how you were.’
‘You speak English?’
‘A very little. Like your French, I think, hein? But we do not need to speak the same language to understand love. L’amour, c’est un langue universal, non?’
‘You think Finn and I are in love?’
‘Bien s?r. You may not see it yet, but it is there. C’est comme une graine. Il suffit de l’arroser et de le regarder grandir. Like a plant, you know? Some plants, they grow very quickly but are not strong. Les Arbres, trees, they grow more slowly but they last. You and your friend are like that.’
I smile at her, unsure what else to do. ‘Merci, I think,’ I tell her.
She’s read way more into the situation than can possibly have been there, given that Finn and I had only just met when we saw her last, but I don’t have the heart to tell her that I think she’s probably mistaken.
I have no idea what kind of relationship Finn and I will have going forwards, but the more I think about it, the more I think that yesterday was probably our moment, and we missed it.
I’m philosophical as I make my way back to the house.
Maybe I just let myself get carried away because I enjoyed spending time with Finn so much.
Would our bubble have translated into the real world?
We’re both creative people, I suppose, but is that a good thing in a relationship?
Part of the reason that Angus and I worked as well as we did was that he was the steady one, with a solid job that allowed me to take risks and pursue my writing dream.
Liv may believe it’s always better to regret something you did than something you didn’t do, but maybe, sometimes, it’s better this way around.