by the press, that we couldn’t even open the front door without a billion flashbulbs going off, and the desk sergeant or whoever it was just said there was nothing they could do, not unless they were trespassing or there was damage to property or something. I got mad and just put the phone down on him. I feel really shitty about it now.’
Eva crossed the room, dropped the remains of her apple onto a plate that was sitting on the coffee table, and sat down beside me.
‘Oh sweetie, they’ll understand. You’re under massive pressure, especially after last night. And you’ve been on the other side of things often enough in the past to know that he was right – the press are perfectly entitled to stand outside someone’s house on a public road as long as they obey some basic rules. Nothing we can do, sadly.’
She squeezed my arm, and I sighed.
‘I know. I just can’t bear it, Eva. This whole thing … it’s just getting more and more bizarre. I don’t think they’re even looking for Danny alive anymore, you know. I think they’re absolutely convinced he’s dead, and that I had something to do with it. And with those other murders too. I mean, seriously? Two murders in London, and another two in Bristol? They seem to think that because I once suffered from a bit of anxiety that I’m some sort of psycho. Me, Eva. If it wasn’t so bloody nightmarish it would be funny.’
‘I know. It’s crazy. I’m so glad you’ve got some new friends here, you know. I’ll feel so much better about leaving you here and going back to London. I did really like them.’
‘Good. I like them too.’
Earlier, Tai and Clare had come round for coffee. They’d obviously heard the news, seen my picture on the front of the paper, and Tai had rung first thing, asking if I was OK and if she and Clare could come over.
‘We’ll bring cake. Sounds like you might need it,’ she said.
An hour later they were on the doorstep, looking anxious and flustered after pushing their way through the press pack in the street.
‘God, that was horrible! This is horrible, I can’t believe what’s going on here,’ Clare had gasped as I closed the front door behind them.
‘Welcome to my world,’ I said drily. ‘And yes, it’s not much fun. Come in and meet Eva, she’s dying to say hello.’
True to her word, Tai had brought cake; not just one, but a selection of cupcakes from one of the bakeries in Clifton Village.
‘There’s lemon, banoffee, carrot, rocky road and, errrm, salted caramel, I think,’ she said, as she lifted the beautifully decorated mini-sponges carefully out of their white box and laid them neatly on a plate, Albert hovering nearby, eyes following her hands, hoping for some dropped crumbs. Clare had arrived without Winnie and Albert’s disappointment had been clear, his frantically wagging tail drooping as the door closed and he realized that it was just two humans standing in his hallway, no poodle in sight.
I smiled at Eva.
‘Told you they were nice,’ I said, and she grinned back as Tai and Clare laughed. The cake had lifted the mood a little, and for a few minutes we sat and ate and chatted about not very much.
Then Clare said: ‘Gemma, I know you probably don’t really want to talk about it, it must be so awful with Danny still missing, but are you OK? I mean, when we saw in the paper that you’d been questioned, and that the police seem to be linking Danny’s disappearance to the two murders on The Downs, well, we were just horrified.’
I hesitated for a moment, wondering how much to tell her, then decided to keep things simple. What had been in the papers was enough for now.
‘I’m OK. Well, as OK as I can be under the circumstances,’ I said. ‘The police just brought me in to get some more background stuff on Danny, that’s all. The press outside, they’re just hoping for a new angle on the story. If Danny is dead …’
I swallowed hard, trying not to cry, and Tai who was sitting to my left on the sofa immediately slipped an arm round my shoulders. She smelled, as always, of oranges and bergamot, a fragrance she imported from a tiny perfumerie in Paris twice a year. She’d told us she’d discovered it on a weekend trip to the French capital years ago, and had never worn