Page 41 of Seven Reasons to Murder Your Dinner Guests
For a few seconds, the question throws him. He can’t remember telling this man his daughter’s name.
“She’s well, thank you,” he says. Just last week, they spent a particularly awkward hour sitting side by side at a coffee shop near Gordon’s flat. After almost twelve minutes of silence, Louisa stopped looking at her phone and came out with something that surprised him.
“So what’s your new project about, then? Mum says it’s ridiculous.”
“Well, your mother is no scientist,” he snapped, but then looked at his daughter and noticed she was waiting for an answer. It was possibly the first time she’d shown an interest in his work. Even when he’d been onThe Morning Show, she hadn’t bothered to watch it. So he took a deep breath and told her. About the calorie cutting, the weight training, the medical tests, and even the headstands. Afterward, two lines appeared above her nose (just like his, he realized). She started to speak, then stopped herself.
“What is it?” he urged. He had to admit, he hadn’t planned on giving her such depth of detail. But he hadn’t told anyone about it, and it felt good to speak about his work.
“It’s just… I was thinking, what’s the point in living longerwhen you’re on your own, away from me and Mum? What are you living for?”
Gordon was initially stuck for a response, until he remembered that his paper was for the good of science, for the good of humankind. Louisa seemed satisfied with the response, and at the very least, the meeting would keep Elizabeth off his back for a few weeks.
He reaches into his pocket for his antibacterial spray, but his hand goes to the envelope and the folded piece of paper he brought.
“Melvin, I picked this up at the dinner party,” Gordon says, placing the envelope down on the table. “I suppose I should have given it to you before now, but you didn’t seem interested in its contents. Anyway, it’s your decision to make.”
“Oh, thank you, Gordon,” Melvin mumbles, glancing briefly at it.
“You had it all this time!” Vivienne cries.
“It wasn’tyoursto keep hold of,” Tristan snaps.
“Perhaps this will be of more interest,” Gordon says to Melvin, ignoring Vivienne and Tristan’s uproar. He places a folded piece of paper on top of the envelope.
“What is it?” Tristan asks.
“It’s something I’m working on. How a solitary existence, alongside a calorie-controlled diet and exercise, can lead to a longer life,” Gordon says. “It really has proven to be beneficial to my own situation. I haven’t felt this healthy in a long time, let me tell you.”
Melvin picks up the paper and frowns as he skims the information Gordon has carefully written down for him. Then he drops it back onto the table, right on top of the infested coins.
“I appreciate it, Gordo, but this isn’t for me,” he says with ashrug. “If my number’s coming up soon, then so be it.”
Gordon stares at Melvin, speechless for a moment. That information is the result of months of research and careful experimentation. It will soon be on the front page of every newspaper and make Gordon himself a big name in his field. And yet Melvin has barely bothered to look at it. For the first time today, he takes a closer look at the police officer. His shirt is stained on the sleeve; he’s lounging in his chair, legs akimbo in front of him, head rocking back as if he can’t be bothered to hold it up. The whites of his eyes are beginning to yellow—a sure sign of a regular drinker. This man does not deserve to benefit from Gordon’s work. He is disgusting, just like that Janet woman. Weak Matthew and rude Stella weren’t much better either.
“Don’t you see? We need to learn from them,” he cries. “I’ve given you a chance, and you’ve blown it.”
Then he marches out of the pub without a backward glance.
Melvin
Melvin watches Gordon, in his ludicrous white tracksuit, flounce out of the pub clutching the piece of paper in his hand.
“What was all that about?” he says, turning back to Vivienne and Tristan.
“No idea,” Vivienne says. “Can you believe he had your envelope this whole time?”
“It doesn’t matter,” Melvin says with a shrug.
“You’re not tempted to look?” Vivienne asks.
“I meant what I said to him,” Melvin says. “I’m going to let lifetake me where it will. I’m just along for the ride.”
“You know what they say: ‘Evil exists when good people fail to act,’” Tristan mumbles. Melvin just about makes out what he’s saying.
“Well, that’s a new one on me.”
“It seems like Dr. Gordon is trying to fight his number with science,” Vivienne says. “I suppose you can’t blame him. We’ve lost three of the group now, and his number isn’t far off.”
