click his well-polished heels through the house in what he called his ‘appraisal process’. I’d offered to walk him through but he clearly thought Wolf and I were both dangerous. He was probably right — about me anyway. I’d pointed out that Wolf, as a well-trained ex-police dog, had merely pushed him to the ground and had not ripped his heart out as he was perfectly capable of doing. Jason remained unimpressed by my dog’s restraint. Personally, the more Jason grizzled at me the more I admired Wolf’s control. My dog’s behaviour had been non-discriminatory; he’d have knocked over anyone who came onto the property uninvited, whereas I’d taken an instant personal dislike to the man. And that was after hitting him on the head with a Frisbee. He was just lucky I hadn’t taken up the attitude before I let the Frisbee go.
Wolf sat bolt upright on his sofa, ears up in full alert. If I had ears like his I’d have done the same. I didn’t like the sound of Jason clonking through my house with such proprietorial heels either. Our house, I mean. Sean’s and my marital home. Wolf let out a low rumble of disapproval, which I suspect was just for my benefit. He’s nice like that.
I picked up the phone. ‘Karen? It’s Diane Rowe.’ I could hear her shallow breathing as she waited for me to continue. ‘Justin and Sunny are living in Auckland.’
‘That’s wonderful,’ she said. Nothing against Auckland, but I assumed she meant it was wonderful I’d found them.
‘I’m not sure how I’ll make the first contact, but I’d like to spend a couple of days up there sorting out how to go about things.’
‘Yes, good. When?’
Jason was talking loudly on his mobile in the other room. I caught the phrase ‘warm and welcoming’. I was pretty sure it wasn’t me he was talking about.
‘I can fly up first thing tomorrow,’ I said. ‘And all going well be back by Friday with a full report.’
‘You can stay at my mother’s place if you like,’ she said. ‘In Ponsonby. It’s empty.’ She was breathing fast. ‘She’s not there,’ she added. ‘I mean, Mum died a few months ago and I haven’t got around to putting it on the market yet. I’m going to sell up and go live in a Christian commune in LA but I won’t go until I know Sunny is alright. It’s fully furnished and everything’s still switched on.’
She fell silent as if embarrassed by her sudden chattiness. It was the most Karen had said in one burst. I realised she had no idea how close her mother’s house was to where her daughter now lived.
‘Okay,’ I said. ‘That sounds good.’
‘The spare key is under the mat at the front door. Oh, and I’ll put a cheque in the post to cover flight costs and all. I don’t have internet banking, I’m sorry. There’s a lot I haven’t got my head around yet …’
I let the sentence peter out. No doubt there were a number of things other than internet banking she’d have to get her head around. High on the list would be how to live her life knowing she’d killed her five-year-old son and done her best to murder her seven-year-old daughter. Maybe living in that Christian commune would help.
Her offer of more money reminded me I needed to deposit her down payment cheque or risk getting an embarrassing call from the bank. ‘We can sort out the money when I send you my report,’ I said bravely. The silence stretched on. She wasn’t an easy person to talk to by phone. Jason, on the other hand, was laughing loudly with someone as he opened and slammed wardrobe doors. Presumably, he was making sure they worked. Or looking for skeletons.
I forced myself back to my phone call. ‘If Sunny doesn’t want you to know anything about her, I won’t tell you. That’s the deal.’ It felt cruel to remind her. The silence went on forever.
‘Yes. I understand,’ she said, finally. As I lowered the handset to the cradle I heard her add, ‘God bless.’ A little nervously, I thought. She must have heard what I did to the last person who tried to bless me. It was at Niki’s funeral. Apparently, Father Fahey’s index finger still bears the scar.
Chapter 4
TUESDAY 20 NOVEMBER 2012
I’ve never understood the ‘fine dining followed by great sex’ thing. Who wants great sex on a full stomach? Luckily Robbie agrees with me on this. So