Just Like the Other Girls - Claire Douglas Page 0,49
dating? She said she was going out with a guy who worked here too.’
Kathryn shrugs. This was news to her. ‘I have no idea.’
Peter stares at Kathryn for such a long time that sweat breaks out on her top lip. Eventually he asks, ‘And what about the necklace?’
Kathryn’s eyes dart towards Una and back to Peter. ‘Necklace?’
‘Una told me she found Jemima’s necklace in her room and gave it to you. You said you’d forward it to her. Why would you say that when she’d left in such a hurry? Did she leave you a forwarding address? I thought you weren’t here that day.’
Una has the good grace to look guilty and averts her eyes from Kathryn, studying her hands in her lap.
Kathryn breathes in deeply through her nose. ‘Because it wasn’t Jemima’s necklace.’
Una lifts her eyes towards Kathryn in surprise.
‘Initially I thought it was hers, but then I realized it must have belonged to someone else.’
Una opens her mouth to say something but Kathryn gives her such a withering look that she shuts it again, doubt creeping over her face.
‘I’m so sorry for your loss.’ Elspeth’s voice cuts into the silence. ‘But, as you can see, we know nothing about what was going through Jemima’s head that day.’
Kathryn watches Una place her hand on Peter’s arm. Either in sympathy or reassurance. She’s not the only one who’s noticed this small act of togetherness.
Her mother looks furious.
Earlier, Kathryn had found the part-crocheted blanket and her heart had sunk because her mother had something in common with Una. Elspeth had tried, and failed, to teach Kathryn to knit in the past. Kathryn had found it too fiddly and kept dropping the hook.
This thing between her and Una is like a game of tennis – a point to her, then to Una. But the ball is back in her court now. She knows Una is losing. Her mother will see her cosying up to Peter and believe – in her warped, misguided way – that it is some kind of betrayal.
Una is on borrowed time.
17
Una
‘It’s all just a bit odd,’ I say to Courtney, later that evening. She’s come to Clifton so we can go to a bar, just the two of us. We’ve chosen a new place that opened recently, all chandeliers, glass tables and velvet button-backed sofas. ‘Peter seems convinced that Jemima didn’t kill herself. And I remember Aggie saying she was a bubbly, bright thing. She thought we were quite similar, in looks and personality.’
Courtney sits back against the soft cushions. Her thick copper hair is piled high on her head in a jaunty ponytail, which cascades over one shoulder. She’s wearing a long-sleeved dress with lace panels and looks stunning. ‘Do you think Peter is just in denial, though? Remember when we found out Charlie from school had depression and he tried to kill himself? We were shocked. He was one of the most popular boys, had everything going for him, looks, brains. You know as well as I do that people can hide depression.’
I run my finger along the rim of my mojito glass. ‘I know. But what if he’s right? He wants me to try to find out who Jemima was dating. Apparently it was one of Elspeth’s staff. The only men she employs are the gardeners.’
Her green eyes light up. ‘Ooh! Do you think it could have been Lewis?’
‘Maybe.’
‘Then you need to find him.’
‘But how?’
She leans forwards conspiratorially. ‘Find his mobile number. Elspeth is bound to have it.’
‘I can’t just ask her for it, though, can I?’
‘Why not? Say you know someone who needs a gardener.’
I shake my head. ‘It won’t wash with Elspeth. She’s wily. She knows I thought he was good-looking and she’ll think I’m after a date. She also told me she sacked him because he was lazy. So she knows I wouldn’t pass on his number.’
‘Oh, Una. I can tell you’re not going to be great at this. You need my help.’
I laugh. Ever since I can remember, Courtney has loved solving ‘mysteries’. When we were twelve she convinced herself, and me, that Mr Hadley from number twenty-four had done away with his wife because she hadn’t been seen for a week. Cue days of following him around, watching him from our bedroom windows. We even got Courtney’s brother, Theo, involved. We’d been mortified when we found that Mr Hadley’s wife had been laid up in bed with flu and he hadn’t murdered her after all.