Page 81 of Happily Never After
‘Go back to France? How on earth am I meant to persuade him to do that? Besides, the retreat is over and Cara and Hugh probably have a new bunch of guests. That’s before we even get to the cost.’
‘No. It’s not about the place. It’s about you. You both need to rediscover the people you were out there. Maybe you just need to take the pressure off yourselves and let this grow organically. So, talk me through a typical day.’
‘Well, we’d walk into town in the morning.’
‘Yeah, that won’t work in the current circumstances. Next?’
‘We’d have coffee together mid-morning and chat about how we were getting on.’
She thinks for a while. ‘Do you know where his office is?’
‘No idea.’
‘Bugger.’
‘I could ask him?’
‘No. He’s like a car with a flat battery; we need the surprise to jump start him.’
‘I’m not turning up to his office looking like a stripper or anything, Liv.’
‘I wasn’t proposing that either. Stop being so prickly. You’re going to surprise him with a coffee and a delicious pastry, that’s all. The tricky bit is where and how. If you can’t go to him, we need a way to lure him back down here.’
‘And your plan is?’
‘No idea. Leave it with me though.’
29
DI Harrison knew something was off the moment she walked into the morning briefing. If the stares of her colleagues weren’t enough to unsettle her, the presence of the DCI in the room definitely was. A formidable man with an equally formidable waistline that he put down to ‘networking lunches’, he pretty much never got involved in the day-to-day running of a case, especially one as relatively straightforward as this.
‘Good morning, everyone. Chief,’ she said, trying to keep her voice level. ‘Let’s get straight down to it, shall we? DS Rogers, we’ll start with you.’
‘Actually, Detective Inspector,’ DCI Venables interrupted. ‘I wondered if I might have a quick chat with you. Are you able to spare me five minutes in my office?’
‘I’d prefer to get this done, Sir,’ she replied, trying to buy time to work out what on earth he’d want to talk to her about. ‘Then we can release the team to their work.’
‘I’m sure DS Rogers can deputise for you, just this once. DS Rogers?’
‘Umm, yes, Sir. That will be fine.’
Feeling thoroughly outmanoeuvred, DI Harrison followed the chief to his office.
‘Take a seat, Claire,’ he said wearily, settling his considerable frame into the chair behind the desk, causing it to creak ominously.
‘Sir, I have to object to DS Rogers running the meeting. This is my case and?—’
DCI Venables held up his hand to stop her. ‘I’m taking you off the case, Claire,’ he said simply.
‘Why, Sir? I don’t understand.’
DCI Venables sighed deeply. ‘Certain information has come to light, which changes things somewhat. Am I right in thinking you visited the crime scene yesterday?’
‘Yes, but I followed all the correct protocols. I wouldn’t have disturbed any evidence.’
‘I’m sure you wouldn’t. It just so happens that your arrival coincided with one of the neighbours, a Mrs Jones, returning from a shopping trip. I’m not going to insult your intelligence, Claire. She says she recognised you as the victim’s girlfriend. She was surprisingly adamant about it, despite the twenty-year gap.’
‘Oh, come on, Sir!’ Claire tried to sound as if the idea was totally absurd even as the panic rose in her chest, threatening to squeeze the breath out of her. ‘Is this the same woman who was so hazy before? She’s unreliable at best, attention-seeking at worst.’
