Page 125 of Born to Sin

“I’m acting as Beckett’s attorney in the U.S.,” she said, “as I mentioned.”

He barely blinked. “And you’ve traveled all this way with him for a case that’s completely out of your jurisdiction? I’m sure you appreciate that persons in whatever capacity, once they have a personal relationship with a subject, can’t be considered impartial.”

“Yes,” she said, “I do appreciate that. But—”

Megan stood up. “I think we’re done here.”

Burnside said, “We’re done when I say we’re done.”

“Fine,” Beckett said. “What else would you like to know?”

Burnside said, “We have all we need for now.”

So,Quinn thought and did not say, because she didn’t need to antagonize him any more,you’re sayingwe’re done here.

“I’ll be here until Saturday evening,” Beckett said. “Day after tomorrow. If you think of anything.”

“It would be better if you didn’t leave the area,” Burnside said.

“I’m sure,” Beckett said. “But as my kids are back in the States and so is my job, and I’ll need to fly on Christmas Eve as it is, I’ll be getting back to all of them.”

“Christmas closing,” Burnside suggested. “You’re not working until after the New Year, at least.”

“You’ve clearly never lived in the States.” Beckett was keeping his composure, but there’d been a muscle jumping in his cheek since that first phone call, and it was doing it now. “They haven’t heard of Christmas closing. So I’ll be getting back. If you need me in the next two days, you have my number.”

* * *

Quinn followedMegan and Beckett out of the police station, then stood on the sidewalk blinking against the sun and already sweating in the heat. “So,” she said. “What do we do next?”

Megan said, “You wait a day to see if Burnside has more questions, if you feel you have to, and then you go home. You did well in there,” she told Beckett. “You certainly won’t have aroused any more suspicion, and as we thought—they don’t have anything. You should feel relieved here.”

Beckett wasn’t looking convinced. He had his hands in his pockets and was frowning at the ground, seeming unconcerned by the humidity that was all but pushing Quinn to the pavement. He said, “Yeah, cheers. Want to go for a coffee?” he asked Quinn.

“Yes,” she said. “If it’s a cold one.”

He looked surprised. “They probably have that. Ring me if you hear anything,” he told Megan.

“No worries.” She shook hands with both of them and walked away, no doubt thinking,Clients are mad.Different when you were on the other side of the table.

Quinn said, “This coffee had better not be a mile away.”

“It’s Aussie,” Beckett said. “There’ll be three within a hundred meters.” He looked around. “There.” And started walking.

The café was open to the outside, like peoplewantedto be this hot. Fortunately, they did have cold-brewed. Beckett ordered something called a “long black,” because you didn’t seem able to get a regular cup of coffee in this country. Quinn hauled out her legal pad as soon as they sat down and said, “Right. Where are we?”

“Coffee first,” Beckett said. There were deep lines of strain around his eyes. Well, of course there were. Quinn contented herself with making a list while she waited.

Their drinks came—in a specially-sized mini porcelain cup and saucer for Beckett and a glass for her, not paper cups—and Beckett took a swallow of inky-black hot coffee like it was the perfect refreshment for a day like a steam bath and said, “Let’s have it. Since you look like a sheepdog in the back of the ute, aching to get out amongst it.”

Quinn had opened her mouth to start. Now, she said, “Are you really this casual?”

“No,” he said. “I’m pretending.”

“Oh. I figured. All right. My list of questions. Who was at this party, exactly? How late did it go? Who was still there when Abby left? Did her sister see her take the pill? Did anybody else? Did Abby talk to her sister—Samantha, right?—about anxiety? Or to anybody else? To her parents, maybe? That’s another one.” She made a note. “The police will have asked all that, but I’d like to ask anyway, since Burnside isn’t going to tell us. If you learn more, maybe something will occur to you, and we can pass it along. That’s about all we can do, but let’s do it. And some other questions. When did she drink whatever she drank? Did she eat? Did she seem worried? And most of all—did she leave with anybody? Did she mention picking anybody up? Did she mention any—” She hesitated.

“Any other man,” Beckett said. “You can say it.”

“Somebody who was bothering her,” Quinn suggested. “I’m guessing that if, say, an old boyfriend had contacted her, or somebody new she’d met through her sister who set off her alarm bells, she might not have told you.”

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