Page 52 of The Temp

‘Nah,’ Tom says, dislodging something between his teeth with his fingernail, ‘The Limes’ guy is smaller. Hardy is built like a pit-bull.’ I close my eyes, thank God.

Tom sniffs the air repeatedly like a hound. ‘Can you smell that?’ he asks, swiftly changing the subject.

We all start sniffing, noses twitching. ‘I can’t smell anything,’ I say, and Daisy agrees, then sniffs the edge of her dressing gown, asks if it’s ylang-ylang because she just smashed a bottle of it in the sink. The shelf collapsed. So, that’s what the loud crash was earlier. ‘I’ll pay for a new one,’ Daisy offers sheepishly. ‘I overloaded it with Aldi finds. Sorry.’

‘It’s okay, Daisy,’ I say, and Tom gives me a look. ‘That shelf has been loose for weeks.’ I’ve been nagging Tom to fix it, to no avail. ‘I’ll get a handyman in to repair it.’

‘I’ll fix it next week,’ Tom insists. But we both know that won’t happen.

‘There’s a whiff of bonfire,’ Mr Stanhope offers. ‘It’s that couple at number thirty-eight. They’re always burning stuff.’

Tom sniffs repeatedly. ‘No, it isn’t smoke. It’s something else. Oh, there is it again.’

We all shake our heads. ‘Might be your aftershave,’ I suggest, wishing they’d all disappear so that I can go into my garden office and ring Linda for an update.

‘No. It smells like my auntie Andriana.’

I smile. ‘She always wore musk, didn’t she?’ Our house reeked of it for hours after she’d visit.

‘Musk, yes,’ Tom says excitedly.

I sniff the air again. ‘But I can’t smell it.’

‘It’s definitely musk,’ Tom murmurs. ‘Look, sorry. I’m going to have to go. I need to google something.’ Tom’s crafty excuse to leave.

‘That’s a very attractive crucifix you have there,’ Stanhope says to Daisy as Tom disappears into the kitchen, ‘that ruby is quite unusual. I dabble in antiques. Is it a real piece?’

‘I should think so,’ Daisy scoffs, stroking it with a slender finger. ‘My mother bought it for me when I was an infant.’ Poor Daisy. She always wells up when she mentions her mum.

‘Daisy.’ Georgia’s voice echoes from the living room. ‘Come and see this. Quick.’ And Daisy is saved by Georgia.

‘Nice to finally meet you, Gregory,’ Daisy says chirpily. ‘Better get back to Georgia,’ she whispers to me, hand on my shoulder.

‘Likewise,’ Mr Stanhope calls out to Daisy’s back. And then we’re alone. ‘Anyway, best get back to Arthur.’ Mr Stanhope’s cat. ‘He’ll be wondering where I’ve got to. Have a good night, Bella.’ Hands in pockets, he goes to turn and then stops mid-circle. ‘And don’t forget to let me know what your sister says about Mr Hardy.’ He smiles, but I don’t miss the flash of accusation in his eyes. ‘Night night, Bella.’

I amble back into the kitchen and snatch up my phone from the table. Two missed calls and a voicemail from Linda. I press my phone against my ear and listen to her message – she’s sorry for not picking up earlier – Theo was hovering and watching her like a hawk. ‘I can’t say much now,’ A pause, an inhalation, must’ve been smoking, ‘I’m in the garden having a quick fag.’ I knew it. ‘But look, don’t worry, it’s all sorted. Zelda has... Oh, shit, he’s coming out. I’ll speak to you tomorrow. Sleep tight, Bells. Love you. Mwah.’

Holding the phone to my chest, the reels in my head start spinning – why was Theo watching her so closely? Is he suspicious, or has he got a guilty conscious? He did go AWOL when he found out Linda had a one-night stand with Frank on the night Zelda stabbed him. That gives Theo a motive, doesn’t it? Did he go out looking for Frank in the early hours of that morning? Did he find him injured and finish him off? A shudder runs through me and just then my phone buzzes in my hand with a text – Zelda:

1. Total nightmare of a day. I’m okay. Haven’t been arrested. Sorry about text before, it was meant to say, I’m done, as in I’ve left the police station. But cab went over a bump as I was typing and my finger slid upwards and accidentally hit the number 4 before typing a full stop. I didn’t notice until now when I reread it.

Thank God for that. I smile as I read her next message, thoughts of Theo murdering Frank and dumping him in a ditch dissolving.

2. Frank reported missing. All is well-ish. Will explain tom.

I’m about to reply when typing appears at the top of the screen. I wait it out and then another message buzzes through:

Can I use your office in morning? Neighbours have warned me of very loud building work – noise levels will be off the scale. They’ve made my flat intolerable to live in (an orange angry face emoji) Need to catch up on invoices. Promise not to leave a mess. The last time I left Zelda alone in my office I had to fish crisps out of my keyboard with tweezers for a week. Know ur picking Mum up from Heathrow. Leave key in usual place if you’re out early. No need to reply. Going to sleep now. Shattered. Speak tomoz. Signed with an emoji kiss, a red heart, and two women with their arms wrapped around each other.

Chapter 49

‘I’d change before leaving, if I were you,’ Tom says, the next morning, as we’re preparing breakfast. We move around the kitchen in synchronisation. Just as we have hundreds of times before. Only this time it’s different. This time this thing, this invisible shield, hangs between us. I know what it is. It’s the aftermath of my revelation about Liam. I learned early on in our marriage that Tom is one of those people who gets shocked into submission when they’re insulted or mistreated, and then, when they’ve slept on it, rebel. But I don’t rise to the bait.

‘Do I stink?’ I raise my left arm and sniff. ‘All my shirts are in the wash.’

After our midnight drama with Stanhope, I left Tom in the kitchen googling phantom smells and went straight to bed. With a fitful sleep, I was the first one up this morning, slipped into my wide-legged trousers and blouse, which I was wearing all day yesterday, emptied the dishwasher, texted Mum about her flight home, fluffed up the cushions in the lounge and made a cooked breakfast for Georgia and Daisy. I then sat at the table and watched them ravish it, nursing a cup of tepid black coffee, barely registering what they were talking about – head full of Frank and Zelda and Liam.

‘I’ll spritz myself with that perfume Daisy bought me yesterday.’ A thank you gift for everything we’ve done for her, from a boutique shop called Icecube. ‘I haven’t got time to wash and iron a blouse. I’ll be late for my appointment.’

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