Page 31 of Trick of Light
“I’m sure he will,” Barnaby said quickly. “But could we also discuss the possibility of doing it here? She has no criminal record. She’s hardly a flight risk if she’s terrified to leave the island. ”
“I’m not—” Tamara began.
He shushed her before she could contradict him. His arguments were working, he was sure of it. Hooper was wavering.
“Do you have any grandparents or elders in your life?” Barnaby asked him. “If so, you can see why I’m protective of her.”
Hooper stiffened; apparently that was the wrong approach to take. “There’s nothing to protect her from. We’re just doing our jobs. She’s a person of interest in a murder, Mr. Carmichael. That’s not our doing.”
Something about the way he kept saying “Mr. Carmichael” rubbed Barnaby the wrong way. As if he knew all about the Carmichaels and didn’t respect them.
Then again, he couldn’t blame the detective for that, given all the criming in the Carmichael clan.
The two detectives conferred with each other, then Chen announced that they would head to the constable’s office for Tamara’s official police interview.
“Then can I come back here afterwards?” Tamara kept asking.
“That will depend on what we find in the search.” Hooper pulled his handcuffs from his belt, apparently forgetting they weren’t actually arresting Tamara..
“Don’t even think about it,” Barnaby barked. “She’s coming willingly. Jesus Christ.” This time his Cunty Carmichael tone worked, and Hooper, looking embarrassed, tucked away his cuffs. With a gesture, he allowed Barnaby to accompany Tamara out of the cottage.
“Don’t answer anything until the lawyers are here,” Barnaby warned Tamara in a low voice as he guided her out the door. Outside, the mossy ground was still moist from the recent rain, and a deep earthy scent rose around them.
“But I just want to get it over with,” Tamara pleaded. “If you’re with me, isn’t that enough?”
“I’m not a criminal defense lawyer.”
“I don’t care. I want you there. Promise me, Barnaby?”
How could he not? She looked so woebegone in her handknitted poncho, with bits of lavender stuck in her puff of hair. She must have been harvesting it when the police appeared. “Okay, but tell me something first. Did you know Amelia left her house to you?”
“My goodness, no. I have no desire for another house.”
He glanced around him, making sure that Hooper and Chen were deep in their own conversation a few feet ahead of them before he went further. “Did she mention anything about changing her will the last time you saw her?”
“Well, the thing is, she was acting very oddly during our last meeting. She arrived late and was so jittery I could barely get a word out of her.”
“Okay, well what did she say?”
“That she needed something to settle her nerves. She was talking about the past, about performing for royalty, maybe in Sweden. I was concerned for her because she seemed so…rattled. I went into the woods after she left to calm myself down. I often do that after I see a patient because I can still feel their energy. That’s when the raven landed on a birch branch.” She gave him a significant look, as if that should mean something to him.
“And?”
“Oh Barnaby, remember, ravens can be messengers of death. I knew it wouldn’t be much longer. I thought about telling her, but I didn’t want to make her more anxious than she already was.”
“You knew she was going to die?”
“Ravens can be quite reliable, when they choose. They can also be very mischievous. But I trust that particular raven.”
Oh boy. This interrogation was going to be interesting.
14
Of all times for Heather to leave her phone on mute…
Gabby herself never turned her ringer off. She never wanted to miss an important call, and besides, her mother always worried that she’d be some lunatic’s target. The least she could do was not add to her mother’s stress.
Why couldn’t Heather be equally obliging? Then Gabby remember that she was spending some alone time with Izzy, Luke’s six-year-old daughter. Which meant she was either at the ice cream shop, Sea Scoops, or looking for sea glass on the beach.
