coming," she said. "Thanks for coming when you should be enjoying your new baby."
"Like I said, she's still in neonatal care. And Lynn's exhausted. I thought I might be more use over here. But? he gave Jackie a smile. "I see you're being well looked after."
Jackie shrugged, the hostile expression never wavering. "I'm a freelance journalist, so I can be a bit flexible about my hours. You want a drink? There's beer, whiskey or wine."
"Coffee would be great."
"We're out of coffee. Tea do you?"
Nothing like being made to feel welcome, he thought. "Tea's fine. Milk, no sugar, please." He perched on the far end of the sofa from He'd. Her eyes looked as if they'd seen far too much. "How are you doing?"
Her eyelids fluttered. "I try not to feel anything. I don't want to think about David, because when I do my heart feels like it's breaking. I can't believe the world can go on and him not be in it. But I need to get through this without cracking up. The police are being horrible, Alex. That dull-looking girl in the corner last night? You remember?"
"The policewoman?"
"Yes." He'd gave a snort of derision. "It turns out she did French at school. She understood our little conversation last night."
"Oh shit."
"Oh shit, is right. The detective in charge, he was here this morning. He spoke to me first, asking about Jackie and me. He told me there was no point in lying, his officer had heard all about it last night. So I told him the truth. He was very polite, but I could see he is suspicious."
"Did you ask what had happened to Mondo?"
"Of course." Her face tightened in pain. "He said there was very little they could tell me. The glass in the kitchen door was broken, maybe from a burglar. But they haven't found any fingerprints. The knife that was used to stab David was one of a set. From the knife block in the kitchen. He said that, on the surface, it looks as if David heard a noise and came down to investigate. But he stressed those words, Alex. On the surface."
Jackie returned, carrying a mug whose transfer of Marilyn Monroe had suffered some attrition from a dishwasher. The tea it contained was an intense dark tan. "Thanks," Alex said.
Jackie settled on the arm of the sofa, one hand on He'd's shoulder. "Neanderthals. The wife has a lover, therefore the wife or the lover must want to be rid of the husband. They can't imagine a world where adults can make more complex choices than that. I tried to explain to this cop that you could have sex with someone without wanting to murder their other lovers. Asshole looked at me as if I was from another planet."
Alex was with the cop on this one. Being married to Lynn didn't make him immune to the charms of other women. But it made him repudiate the notion of doing anything about it. In his book, lovers were for people who were with the wrong partner. He could only imagine how distraught he'd feel if Lynn came home and told him she was sleeping with someone else. He felt a stab of pity for Mondo. "I suppose they've got nothing else to go on so they're focusing on you," he said.
"But I am the victim here, not the criminal," He'd said bitterly. "I didn't do anything to harm David. But it's impossible to prove a negative. You know yourself how difficult it is to dispel suspicion once the finger points. It drove David so crazy he tried to kill himself."
Alex shivered involuntarily at the memory. "It's not going to come to that."
"Damn right, it's not," Jackie said. "I'm going to talk to a lawyer in the morning. I'm not standing for this."
He'd looked worried. "Are you sure that's a good idea?"
"Why not?" Jackie demanded.
"Aren't you supposed to tell your lawyer everything?" He'd gave Alex a strange sideways look.
"It's protected by lawyeræ¿lient privilege," Jackie said.
"What's the problem?" Alex demanded. "Is there something you're not telling me, He'd?"
Jackie sighed and rolled her eyes upward. "Christ, He'd."
"It's OK, Jackie. Alex is on our side."
Jackie gave him a look that said she read him better than her lover.
"What have you not told me?" he asked.
"It's none of your business, OK?" Jackie said.
"Jackie," He'd protested.
"Forget it, He'd," Alex got to his feet. "I don't have to be here, you know," he said to Jackie. "But I'd have thought you needed all the