It was nearly noon by the time I got to the safe house. Sandra was still in bed recovering from the cocaine Ken and Clive told me she was snorting the night before as she watched shows about buying and decorating houses and shouting at the screen.
“Arrrgh! Turn it off!” she cried when I threw open the curtains in her room to let some light in.
“It’s the sun. It can’t be turned off.”
“Shit, what time is it?”
“Sandra, I have some bad news.”
“What is it?”
“Darren’s dead.”
She froze.
“I’m sorry.”
She sat up, face blank.
“What?”
“Darren’s dead. It was made to look like an accident.”
“FUCK!”
Well. Not quite the display of shock and grief I was expecting.
“Is there anyone you’d like me to call?”
“No. No one. Fuck!”
She was lost in thought. No pain, no grief, just gears churning in her head. I didn’t need to be delicate or spare her feelings, then.
“There’s another thing. The Morning Post contacted us. You made a copy of the drive and sent it to them?”
She froze again.
“Fuck,” she said.
“You might have told us about that.”
“I did it the day before Tim died. Darren made two, one for me and one for himself to keep us safe. I took his and sent it to the Post. I didn’t know it needed a password then.”
“Why did you send it?”
“Look, after this I can never work in finance again, yeah? I need to make money.”
“Sandra, if you wanted to sell your story, we could have helped you, though we would probably have advised against it. Now the Post are in a position to dictate terms.”
“They wanted proof! I was under pressure! I’m sorry!”
Like a kid throwing a tantrum. Textbook borderline personality disorder.
“Is there anything else you’re not telling me?”
“No, that’s everything.”
I looked at her, unconvinced.
“I’ve told you everything!”
“Are you sure you don’t know the password?”
“Are you calling me a liar?”
“I just need to be sure you’ve told us everything.”
“I don’t believe it! The man I loved has just been killed and you stand there and accuse me of lying! Get out! GET OUT!”
She burst into a very theatrical gust of tears. I didn’t buy it, but I wasn’t getting anything out of her, so I walked out.
“Don’t let her leave,” I told Ken and Clive before I left the safe house. “Don’t let her out of your sight. And don’t let her make any calls. We don’t need any more surprises.”