Aftershock

Seventy-four

Lisanne was ready for work, ready to face the day, and whatever it held, and so was Jack McGurk. She took hold of his lapels, pulled him downwards to her and kissed him. ‘Thanks,’ she whispered.

‘What for?’

‘For being there for me when my life got turned on its head,’ she replied. ‘And especially for letting me stay here last night. I know he turned out to be a scumbag, but I was married to him, and I cared for him. He didn’t deserve to die, and certainly not like that.’

‘Nobody does, love.’

‘Whoever killed him does,’ she said bitterly. ‘Well, thanks anyway.’

‘Don’t be daft. It’s a funny thing. . ill wind, I suppose. . but a part of me will always be grateful to Theo. If it wasn’t for him, I’d never have met you.’

Lisanne smiled. ‘It’s not such a big city, and you are a very large and visible guy. Maybe we’d have met anyway.’

‘Around the singles bars? Through the Scotsman dating service? I don’t know if I’d have gone down either of those routes.’

‘Me neither: I’d be too scared.’

‘Once bitten?’

She poked him in the chest. ‘Depends who’s biting me. No, I’m a very cautious person by nature.’

‘I suppose I am too.’

‘So why did we hit it off the way we did?’

‘Possibly because we’ve both been through similar marriage experiences.’ He grinned. ‘Or maybe the first time we met we had a shared inclination to rip each other’s clothes off.’

‘Could be.’ She looked in the mirror, and adjusted the cravat that was part of her bank uniform. ‘So where do we go from here, Jack? Is it “That was very nice. I’ll see you around,” or. .’

‘Is that what you want?’

‘No. Until last night when I heard about Theo, that was the nicest weekend I’ve ever had in my life. I don’t want it to stop.’

‘Me neither. Do you want to come back here tonight?’

‘It’s tempting, but I don’t think so. The longer I stay away from my place, the weirder it’ll be when I go back there. See you later in the week, though?’

‘How about Wednesday?’

‘That’ll do. Come to mine, about six, or whenever you can.’

‘Six should be fine, as long as the inquiry doesn’t go pear-shaped.’ He paused. ‘Which reminds me. There’s something I need to ask you about Theo. His police personnel file still has you down as next of kin, but you’re not any more.’

‘No,’ she said. ‘That would be his mother, Minnie. She went back to the West Indies. She lives in Bridgetown, in Barbados.’

‘Right. We’ll need to contact her.’

‘I’ve got an address for her, back at the flat. Her maiden name was Walcott, if that’s any help.’

‘The High Commission should be able to find her with that information. I’ll call you tonight for the address, if I have to.’ He slapped his forehead theatrically. ‘What am I saying? I’ll call you tonight anyway.’

‘You’d better, my man. I’m not a girl to be fucked and chucked, you know.’ The smile left her lips as quickly as it had appeared. ‘Jack, this man the radio said was assisting with your enquiries: that was Inspector Varley, was it?’

‘I guess so. Did you ever meet him?’

‘Once, at a station do with Theo: he seemed like a nice guy.’

‘They say he is, those who work with him. But I’ve known a few nice guys who are doing long prison sentences now.’

‘I hope it isn’t him. Theo messed his life up enough. I really don’t want it to be him who killed him.’

‘You and an entire police force, my dear,’ said McGurk, sincerely.