office number. Cassidy answered the phone himself, no assistant to protect him from the pestering hordes. When she announced herself and requested a meeting, Cassidy said, 'I've really nothing to say. Eva and I hadn't been seeing each other for more than two years.' He spoke with a Dublin accent that made him sound endearing even when he was being evasive.
'But I understand you had recently got back in touch?'
There was a brief silence.
'Where'd you get that from?' Cassidy asked.
'You're not under suspicion, Mr Cassidy. I'm just trying to find out if there's anything more about Eva's death that ought to be known.'
'It's all been said.'
'You're sure?'
'Honestly, I wish I could help you.'
She sensed him wavering and pounced. 'Why don't I buy you a drink and you can tell me what you do know?'
They met in a waterside bar at the harbour and sat at an outside table overlooking the boats, a warm breeze playing off the water. Joseph, or Joe, as he preferred to be called, resembled an ageing surfer. Suntanned, with tousled blonde hair, he wore an open-necked pink shirt under a black summer- weight suit. He ordered neat vodka with ice and a dash of lemon juice. Jenny settled on neat tonic, her nerves still held in check by the Xanax she had taken before visiting the prison.
Keeping to small talk while they waited for their order to arrive, she asked him about the television business. The small screen was taking care of itself, Cassidy said, but he already had ambitions for feature films; he had just discovered a screenwriter who was going to be hotter than Tarantino. There were plenty doing the rounds who claimed to have mixed with gangsters, but this young man was the real thing - gold dust - a former drug dealer who had served time for shooting a rival through the kneecap.
Jenny listened patiently, but was glad when the waiter arrived with their drinks. Joe waited for Jenny to sip hers before he took a mouthful of the neat vodka, pretending he could take it or leave it.
Jenny said, 'Tell me about your relationship with Eva.'
More confident now he had a glass in his hand, Joe said, 'I'd like to know what you've heard about me first.'
'Just what I told you on the phone - that you and Eva had communicated recently.'
'Yeah, but who told you?'
'Paul Craven's solicitors knew about it,' Jenny lied, instinctively wanting to keep Father Starr's name out of the conversation for now.
'Hmm.' Joe took a big gulp of his vodka. 'I guess they must have talked to her lawyers. Trust those bastards to break their word.'
Jenny waited for him to enlarge.
'Does what I say here go any further?'
'That depends on what it is.'
'And if I don't talk?'
'I'd probably have to summon you to my inquest and make you answer under oath.'
'And this way I don't have to do that?'
'Possibly.'
'The thing is, Jenny—'
'Would you mind if we kept it to Mrs Cooper?'
Cassidy smiled. 'Whatever you like, Mrs Cooper. I did have a couple of meetings with Eva at the beginning of the year, but the matters we discussed were in strictest confidence.'
'Is that still relevant now she's dead?'
'It could be.'
'I don't follow.'
Cassidy pushed his hands through his hair. She noticed it was thinning at the temples. 'Look, I get that you probably know my history, how Eva and I met, but we both felt pretty much the same way about the adult entertainment business. I didn't even make money - girls get five times as much as guys, did you realize that?'
'No, I didn't.' She took a patient sip of her tonic.
'And if there's one good thing that comes out of all this, it's that Eva actually achieved something.'
'You mean Decency?'
'Yes. She wanted the law changed and so do I. In less than two weeks from now the bill gets debated in Parliament. That's what she'd been working for ever since we split up.'
'You're saying that whatever you discussed could jeopardize that in some way?'
'It's certainly possible.'
Jenny put her hands on the table. 'Mr Cassidy, we're talking about a young woman who was murdered. Unfortunately, it seems the police didn't go as far in their inquiry as they might have done - you're one of the people they should have spoken to, but didn't. One way or another you will eventually have to reveal what you know.'
Cassidy emptied his glass and crunched on an ice cube. Jenny tried to banish the image of him she'd seen on her