‘If the food isn’t to your liking, we can always go somewhere else. I just thought it would make a nice change.’
‘Looks lovely to me. I know I’m a creature of habit, but it’s nice to experiment every once in a while,’ Kate answered.
They were pleasantly surprised by the interior as they entered the eatery and followed an overly friendly waitress to their seats. ‘So far, so good. Should we get some drinks before we order?’ Maggie sat.
‘Oh yes. A white wine would go down nicely just now. Let’s order a bottle.’ Kate opened the menu.
Maggie ordered a bottle of a reasonably priced pinot as well as a jug of iced water. She had hardly eaten today and didn’t want the wine to go straight to her head. They looked over the menu in silence, and once the waitress returned with their drinks, they both ordered a pasta dish and a salad to start.
‘We’re two peas in a pod, aren’t we?’ Kate smiled as she sipped her wine.
‘Ha! Both as stubborn as each other, that’s for sure.’ Maggie wanted to start the conversation on a light note. ‘I realized that we’ve been working together for nearly a year now and I hardly know anything about the time before you came to Staffordshire.’
Kate’s left eyebrow rose. ‘Well, there’s not much to tell. You know I have my PhD in criminal psychology. I was born and raised in Galway, and I moved to London so I could finish my degree and secure a job in the field. I love the colour black, my cat, and candles. That’s me in a nutshell.’
‘What exactly did you do in London … work-wise, I mean.’
‘Once I finished university, I did some lecturing. I also registered with a consulting firm down there in the hope of securing some temporary work. A few jobs came through that, but …’ Kate coughed and took a sip of her water, ‘I realized the various jobs weren’t my thing and just continued with the lectures until I saw the job in Markston come up. I’d had my fill of London by that time and needed a change.’
As soon as Maggie had heard that Kate was registered with an agency, she wanted to know more. It might be that the killer had connected with Kate a lot earlier than they realized.
‘I’ve only visited London a few times, but I’ve heard it can be quite a lonely place to live.’
‘Really? That certainly wasn’t my experience. I guess it depends on how much you immerse yourself in things and how comfortable you are being by yourself,’ Kate offered.
Maggie could see that Kate wasn’t going to give up anything. In fact, she wondered if Kate had realized that she was fishing. Maggie probably shouldn’t have underestimated her or been so confident in her own abilities.
The meal arrived and Maggie thought it would be best to stick to small talk until they had finished.
***
Forty minutes later, their plates were cleared and Maggie poured them each another glass of wine.
‘What has this evening really been about?’ Kate leaned back as she placed her napkin on the table.
Maggie’s eyes widened. ‘Sorry? What do you mean?’ Shit. She’d been caught out.
‘Look, I hope you don’t mind, but the other day your brother mentioned to me that you’re bisexual. I really like you, Maggie, but we can only be friends.’
Maggie spat out the wine that she’d just gulped onto the table. Picking up her napkin and dabbing the puddle, she was at a loss for words. ‘Oh crap. Sorry. I didn’t mean to do that, but you caught me off-guard. Did you … did you think this was a date?’
‘Bugger. I was trying to be sensitive to your privacy. Have I got it wrong then? It’s just with you asking me about my past and the nice meal … well, I put two and two together and obviously got five.’ Kate’s face reddened.
Maggie was at a loss for words. She hadn’t known that Andy had spoken to Kate about her private life, but she’d be asking him why and how that bit of conversation had come about. Now she felt she had to explain something so Kate wouldn’t find out her real reason for bringing her here. At least now she knew where she stood and tried to rescue the situation with a bit of humour. ‘Don’t worry, you’re not my type.’ She was relieved when Kate smiled and her face returned to her normal colour. ‘I didn’t know you and my brother were so close.’
‘Oh, I wouldn’t say we are. We just happened to stumble on a conversation about relationships and I was curious whether you were in one because you seem to work so much – when I asked about boyfriends, thinking maybe you were in a relationship with another officer as that’s often the case in professions like yours, that’s when he told me that you were bisexual and as far as he was aware you weren’t seeing anyone. The alcohol may have loosened his lips at the time.’
‘Well, I would’ve been more than happy to chat to you and answer your questions, so don’t feel bad. Now that you know about my background, why don’t you tell me about yours …’ Little did Kate know, but she’d given Maggie the perfect way to delve a bit deeper. Andy may have done her a favour after all.