‘Tell me again why we’re going to this thing?’ James stood in front of the mirror and adjusted his tie.
‘Because this is what partners do. They go to events and schmooze. It’s how they get clients, like I was telling Cara last week. It’s a seduction, where the climax is lots of money.’ Alex stood in front of James and blocked his view of the mirror. ‘Could you zip me up?’ She held her hair away from her neck and felt James’s fingers in the small of her back.
‘It’s a little snug.’ His voice was tight. ‘I don’t want to break it.’
‘Just give it a yank. Sometimes you just have to force it.’ Alex sucked in her stomach and pressed her hands against her abdomen. Even her tummy-sucking shapewear wasn’t doing the job tonight.
‘But you’re not a partner. I mean you haven’t actually said yes. There’s no signed paperwork, is there.’ He moved to the side so his face was now visible in the reflection of the mirror.
‘Martin thought it would be a good idea for me to get a taste of it all – what it’s like to represent the firm and tout for business.’ Because unlike you, he and the rest of the world assume the only answer is yes.
‘These corporate dinner things are all a bit the same, aren’t they. Dry chicken. Expensive raffle tickets. Some kind of jazz band. I mean, if it’s all about raising money for a hospital, why don’t they just ask for a donation. Why the need for all this … palaver.’ James gesticulated in frustration. ‘This zip won’t budge.’
‘Yes, it will,’ said Alex. ‘Just keep trying.’ She put her hands on her hips and tried to ignore the beat of annoyance pulsing through her body. ‘It’s called socialising. I know we haven’t been out much in the last six years, but apparently it’s what normal adults do on a Saturday night.’
‘But socialising is with friends, not work colleagues.’
‘Haven’t you heard of mixing business with pleasure?’ She tried to keep her voice light.
‘This is pleasure?’ More tugging. ‘This zip really is stuck.’
‘All you have to do is eat the food, drink the wine and dance with me a couple of times. It’s not like we’re being forced to go to war. It’s a fundraiser. You’re not even paying.’
‘But Saturday nights are our family time. I’d rather be home with you and the boys, hanging out.’
‘You mean fighting about what movie to watch and refereeing over who gets the last slice of pizza?’
‘It’s not always like that.’
Alex sighed. ‘It’s just one Saturday night.’
‘But if you take the partnership, you’ll have to go to loads of these things.’
The next yank was more violent. Alex jumped and dropped her hair. ‘Ow. You pinched my skin.’
‘Sorry.’ The apology was terse. ‘Should I keep going?’
‘Yes,’ said Alex in exasperation. ‘Look, if I’m partner, I’ll get more say in what I do and don’t attend. They know I have a young family. There’ll be some leeway.’
‘Really? Because in the five years since the twins were born I don’t recall Macauley cutting you any slack at all.’
‘Yes … no. I don’t know. Maybe. How’s the zip?’
‘Getting there. If you could just breathe in a little more.’
Alex closed her eyes, inhaled deeply, and visualised herself sucking up all her frustration and fears until there was no more room for air. Did James have a point? Had Macauley been a one-way street? All take and no give? She opened her eyes and looked about their lovely white bathroom with its chrome tapware and deep, freestanding stone bath. Macauley had paid for that bath. Yes, Alex had worked for it, but plenty of people worked hard and weren’t nearly as handsomely rewarded for their efforts as lawyers were. Like her parents. But if Alex took the partnership, then Cuthbert Close would be completely theirs within a matter of years, debt-free, and she would have Macauley to thank for it. It was a no-brainer.
‘There. Got it.’ James sounded relieved. Alex felt suffocated.
She stepped away from the mirror and tried to breathe out but found she couldn’t. The dress wouldn’t let her. This was going to be a painful night.
All good things take a little suffering.
‘Are you nearly ready? I don’t want to be late.’
‘I’m going as fast as I can.’ James fiddled some more with his tie.
‘Okay, well, I’m going to check on the kids. Talia’s reading a book to them.’
Alex trod carefully down the stairs. She couldn’t look down. The dress wouldn’t let her bend. Halfway, she stopped to listen to the voices coming from one of the boys’ bedrooms. It sounded like Talia was pleading with them.
‘Noah, please tell me where this ring came from? Is it your mum’s?’
‘I don’t know. I’ve never seen it. Can we read another book now?’ Noah sounded unconcerned, almost flippant.
With her heart sinking, Alex strode into the bedroom. ‘What’s going on?’
‘Nothing, Mummy.’ Noah sat on the bed, his legs swinging like a pendulum underneath. ‘You look beautiful.’
‘Thank you, sweetheart.’ She bent her knees and lowered herself to kiss him on the nose. ‘Now what’s this about a ring?’
Talia bit her lip and looked sideways at Noah. ‘I was getting a book off the shelf to read … And I found this on the floor.’ She held up a small silver jewellery keepsake box, the one they put the boys’ teeth in for the tooth fairy, roundly regarded as a very forgetful flibbertigibbet who tended to take at least two nights to leave a coin.
Talia continued. ‘I heard something inside, so I opened it and found this.’ In the palm of the girl’s hand was a sparkling diamond ring.
Alex peered closely. ‘It’s not mine.’ She picked it up. ‘It’s definitely the real thing, though. Where did you get this?’ she said sharply to Noah.
‘I don’t know, Mummy.’ He edged closer to Talia.
With a degree of difficulty, Alex knelt down in front of him. ‘This ring is worth a lot of money and it’s very important you tell me where you found it.’
‘Really, Mummy. I don’t know.’
She took her son by the shoulders. ‘I’m not cross with you, Noah, but I need you to tell me the truth. Remember, you don’t get in trouble if you’re honest. Now, who owns this ring?’
Noah wriggled free and cowered into Talia. ‘I am telling you the truth. I don’t know.’
Alex stood up. ‘I’m going to get your father.’
In the hallway, she passed Jasper, emerging from the downstairs toilet with a dribble of toothpaste running down his chin.
Alex wiped it away and stood before him. ‘Do you know anything about this ring in Noah’s room?’
‘What’s a ring?’ he asked innocently.
Alex wanted to shake him. What was wrong with her sons? Either they were very good at pretending to be dense, or they actually were that way. Neither was good.
‘Go into Noah’s room, and wait for me there,’ she ordered. ‘James. James,’ Alex called up the stairs. ‘Could you please come down here? We have a problem.’
‘Just a minute.’
She waited. A final slam of the cupboard door and James hurried down the stairs. Alex filled him in on the unwelcome discovery of the diamond in Noah’s bedroom.
‘Any idea who it belongs to?’ James folded his arms.
‘None.’
‘I think I might be able to help.’ Talia stood in the doorway. She fiddled with a thread on her cut-off denim shorts. ‘Your neighbour, Mrs Chandler, has a ring like this one.’ She gave an uncertain smile. ‘I have a thing for diamonds. That’s one thing Mum and I have in common. Did you know Beyonce’s engagement ring was 18-carat? Crazy.’ Talia shook her head.
‘You think it’s Beth’s?’ Alex asked.
‘You could send her a photo and see,’ said Talia.
‘I’ll do that.’ Alex went to her handbag. ‘James, you go in and talk to Noah. See if you can get any more information out of him.’ She snapped a photo of the ring. ‘Talia, maybe you could read with Jasper?’
Alex checked her watch. They were due at the fundraiser in ten minutes and the hotel was at least a half-hour drive away. She tapped her foot. Beth could be notoriously slow in replying to texts. There was no point waiting at home for an answer because the reply probably wouldn’t come until tomorrow.
Alex collected her pashmina and handbag and went back into Jasper’s room to kiss him goodnight. He and Talia were curled up together on the bed and reading The Famous Five. Jasper was obsessed with the Blyton series and Alex had made the mistake of fanning his enthusiasm by buying the box set of all twenty-one books, the re-written politically correct version of course. For his sixth birthday, he wanted to go camping, without Alex and James, but with plenty of ginger beer and cream cakes and a dog.
‘Don’t let him make you read for too long, Talia.’ Bending awkwardly, Alex kissed Jasper on the forehead.
‘I love these books. My dad used to read them to me when I was a kid,’ said Talia.
Interesting. The Primal Guy was a Famous Five reader. Alex wouldn’t have picked that. In fact, she was a little surprised he could read at all.
‘Lights out at 8 pm,’ said Alex, switching on the bedside lamp.
‘Okay, Mrs O’Rourke,’ said Talia.
‘Call me Alex, all right.’ She shut the door and headed into the other bedroom where James was delivering a very solemn speech, with Noah sitting on his lap, about the importance of not taking other people’s things without asking.
‘Yes, it’s called stealing,’ said Alex, standing by the bed. ‘People go to jail for that.’
‘I don’t want to go to jail,’ Noah wailed and buried his head in James’s shoulder.
‘You’re not going to jail, mate.’ James kissed his head and gave Alex a look as if to say What are you thinking?
‘But Mummy says I’m going to jail,’ he sobbed.
‘I didn’t mean that you were going to jail, I meant other people. Older people. There’s no jail for kids.’
‘Really?’ Noah looked at her hopefully, his hair all mussed and his face streaked with tears. Alex felt herself deflating like a pricked balloon – all her frustration and anger hissing gently out of her. He was just a little boy. A confused little boy.
‘I promise.’ She kissed him on the forehead. ‘Now, we need to leave, darling, or Daddy and I will be late for our dinner.’
‘I don’t want you to go.’ Noah leapt off James’s lap and threw himself around Alex’s legs. ‘Please don’t go.’
She hugged him close and gently peeled him away. ‘If you stop crying now, I’ll give you an extra fifteen minutes on the iPad tomorrow.’
Noah’s face brightened. ‘Really? Fifteen minutes?’
‘Sure.’ Before Alex could kiss him again, Noah had sped out of the room and into Jasper’s, bellowing, ‘I get more time on the iPad tomorrow, and you don’t!’
James stood up slowly, the bed creaking. ‘Well, I think he really got the message about the consequences of stealing, don’t you?’ He shook his head. ‘iPad time, really? Is that the best you could do?’
‘We’re running late.’ She hurried out of the room.
‘Night, boys. Night, Talia,’ James called from the hallway, collecting his keys and jacket.
‘Night, Dad,’ they chorused back.
‘See, they’re happy,’ hissed Alex, giving her lipstick a final check in the mirror. James didn’t answer.
In the car, he drove stony-faced. It wasn’t like him at all to give her the silent treatment. That was usually Alex’s MO, and James tended to disregard it. He liked to talk things out. Endlessly. It was exhausting. But she realised, now, that it was far preferable to this – the silence.
Alex’s phone buzzed. A message from Beth.
Oh, you found my engagement ring! You wonderful, wonderful thing. Where was it?
‘So, the ring does belong to Beth. Her engagement ring.’ Alex stared straight ahead. ‘She wants to know where we found it.’
‘Tell her the truth.’ James kept his eyes fixed on the road.
‘What? That our son stole it from her? She’s one of my best friends. I can’t tell her that. Besides, we don’t even know for sure that he did do it. He’s denied it outright and quite frankly it is hard to understand why a five-year-old boy would steal a diamond ring.’
‘Weren’t you the one threatening him with jail?’
‘Yes, but only to scare him into telling us the truth.’
James looked at her hard. ‘I think you know the truth, you just don’t want to admit it.’
‘What are you talking about?’
‘Trashing the classroom at school, that picture he drew of himself, now this ring business. It’s all about getting our attention. They’re cries for help.’
Alex stared at the brake lights of the car in front and narrowed her gaze until her vision was filled with a blur of red.
‘I even wonder if Noah had something to do with Henny’s death?’ pondered James.
Alex’s head snapped back. ‘So now our son is a guinea pig murderer? That’s utterly ridiculous. And I know for a fact it’s not true. Talia told me what happened. It was definitely the Devines’ cat.’
‘Okay, well, regardless, we’ve always sworn we’d never be the kind of parents who buried their heads in the sand when it came to the kids. There’s a problem here and we need to address it.’
Alex wound down the window. She couldn’t breathe. Between the damn dress and James’s ridiculous comments, suggesting he thought their son capable of killing a pet, her body couldn’t complete the most basic of functions.
Alex gulped the air. ‘Noah may have some issues, but he’s far from being a budding psychopath,’ she croaked. ‘I think you’re saying all of this to make me feel guilty. You don’t want me to take the partnership, why don’t you just admit it?’ Alex gripped the armrest. The wind rushed at her, too fast for her to breathe. Everything was coming at her so quickly. The baby, the partnership, Noah’s problems. Her vision was narrowing, becoming black at the edges. It was like rushing headlong into a tunnel, and falling down, further and further, with James calling after her.
‘Alex, Alex.’ But his voice was distant, watery and melting away. She blinked and blinked again, tried to focus on the red light but the dark had overtaken that as well.
Suddenly, everything was blissfully black and silent.