Sarah opened the door, throwing her arms around Harry before anyone spoke. She didn’t cry, but he could feel the well ready to burst as she held him. When she finally let go, he introduced Amy to her.
‘Come in,’ Sarah said as she took them into the house.
Harry remembered the laughter the last time he was there, but now it was as if he’d stepped into a funeral parlour. He stared at the family photographs decorating the walls as they strode through the corridor. The floor was contemporary wood made to look old-fashioned with a blend of deep homely browns. Sarah led them into the living room with expensive couches, a massive TV, table and bookcases.
‘I’m sorry about Chuck,’ Harry said as they all sat. Amy was next to him while Sarah took the couch opposite.
‘The police came an hour ago. As soon as I saw them on the doorstep, I knew it was bad news.’
‘I’m sorry for your loss, Mrs Connors,’ Amy said.
‘Do you want a drink?’ Sarah said.
Harry did, desperate for some of that hard-to-get whisky Chuck had.
‘No thanks, Sarah.’ He looked around the room. ‘Is Kelly here?’
‘She’s upstairs. She wanted a lie down after the police left.’ She stood and went to the cabinet. ‘Are you sure you don’t want a drink? I’m having one.’
He watched her go, unsure of what to say.
Then Amy got off the couch. ‘Why not, Mrs Connors? Let me help you.’
Harry observed the two women talking as if they were chatting about everyday events.
Death is an everyday event. You’re looking at a dead woman, remember?
‘Please, call me Sarah.’ She looked over at him. ‘Usual for you, Harry?’
Why not?
‘Sure, Sarah.’
After the drinks were poured, they were all in their seats again. He only sipped at his, but the two women chugged theirs as if they were at a party.
‘How did you find out, Harry?’ Sarah said.
He didn’t want to say he’d seen it on the TV by accident, so he lied.
‘The police contacted me.’
As soon as the words came out of his mouth, he wondered if Agnes knew what had happened.
I should have called her.
Sarah put her glass on the table between them.
‘Was he on his way to a meeting for the business?’
I don’t know what he was doing or even at which Tube station he died.
As he struggled for a reply, Amy saved his blushes.
‘We’re not sure why your husband was in Brixton.’
Sarah reached for her drink again, but pulled back.
‘Do you work with Harry and Chuck, Amy?’ She realised what she’d said, and then corrected herself. ‘Did you work with Chuck?’
Amy gave her that smile that melted Harry’s heart.
‘They took me on a week ago as a consultant.’
Sarah laughed. ‘For a second, I thought you might be Harry’s girlfriend.’
Harry blushed as he pulled at his collar, but Amy only joined in with the laughter.
‘No, Sarah, he’s far too young for me.’
He watched Sarah’s lips tremble as she spoke.
‘Or, you know, I thought maybe he’d brought you here so the widow could meet her dead husband’s mistress.’
‘What?’ Harry said. ‘Why would you think that, Sarah?’
She gulped down half of her alcohol. ‘Chuck had been up to something for a while, Harry. I assumed you might have been in on it, you know, the boys sticking together while the wife is ignorant of what’s going on.’
Amy leant over and touched Sarah’s hand. ‘What do you mean when you say he was up to something?’
‘He was always late getting home, even though I knew the business had no work.’ She looked at Harry. ‘He couldn’t hide the finances from me. The debt his father left him – left us – is considerable, so I could understand him staying out for a few drinks before coming back to us. Yet he never stank of booze, but I could smell perfume lingering on him.’ She continued to stare at Harry. ‘I could put up with it for a little, with all the stress he was under, but I wouldn’t forever. I was going to have it out with him tonight, but… well, you know what happened.’
Harry was shocked. ‘You believe he was having an affair?’
She grabbed her drink and finished it. ‘I’m convinced of it. I’m surprised you knew nothing about it.’
‘Well, I didn’t, Sarah. I promise.’
What else don’t I know about him?
‘Do you think he might have been in Brixton to meet this woman?’ Amy said.
‘Why else would he be there?’ Sarah replied.
This was just another in a long line of revelations where Harry thought his whole life had been turned upside down.
‘What did the police tell you?’ he said.
The way she slumped into the seat, he wondered if she’d had a few drinks before they’d arrived. Not that he’d blame her.
‘Nothing much. They’ve got eyewitness reports and CCTV footage showing Chuck entering the station alone and walking towards the platform. Then, they said, there was nobody near him when he… when he…’
The tears came and Amy moved across to comfort the widow. Harry sat there, unable to move while considering the possibility his partner had been having an affair. While Sarah sobbed into Amy’s shoulder, he thought of all the times when Chuck had behaved strangely around him.
Sometimes I’d get to work and see him whispering with Agnes.
Agnes. It couldn’t be. Could it?
Sarah had asked him something, but he hadn’t heard it.
‘What?’ he said.
‘Did you notice him acting strange at the office?’
He shook his head. ‘No, Sarah, I saw nothing like that.’
Amy let go of Sarah and asked the question Harry had considered, but didn’t dare ask.
‘Do you think Chuck might have killed himself because of this affair?’
Sarah jerked up so violently, Harry thought she was going to hit Amy. Instead, she stumbled away from them.
‘I know nothing anymore. If he could do that to his daughter, then who knows what was in his brain?’
Harry got up and went to her. ‘Did Chuck have any enemies?’
She stared at him and laughed.
‘Wouldn’t you be in the best position to know that, with your Hook Security and Detection?’
‘I guess so.’
‘You know he was upset because his name wasn’t on the business with yours, don’t you?’ she said.
‘No, I didn’t. He told me he was happy to only have my name on the company because of my experience with the police.’
Sarah reached for the whisky bottle, clutching it in her hand like a weapon.
‘Ah, yes, your precious work with the Met. Maybe some criminal you’ve upset over the years decided they’d get back at you by killing my husband.’
He didn’t know what to say.
First, he heard Chuck might have been having an affair, and now this.
Was Chuck resentful his name wasn’t next to mine on the business? He’d told me he wasn’t.
Could some enemy from my police days have done this for revenge?
It was possible. He’d known criminals who’d done worse things for less reason.
‘Dad was keeping something from us; I know that.’
Ten-year-old Kelly Connors had stepped into the room with none of them noticing.
Sarah ran to her daughter and hugged her.
Harry went to Amy and whispered to her. ‘Maybe we should leave.’
She shook her head. ‘No. We have to find out what the girl knows.’
When they turned around, mother and child had separated.
‘What do you mean, Kelly?’ Sarah said.
The newly fatherless child seemed to Harry as if she was still in a state of shock.
‘I heard him on the phone a few times, whispering to somebody, saying he didn’t want you or Uncle Harry to find out about it.’
‘Find out about what?’ Harry said.
Kelly shrugged. ‘Don’t know. He always looked scared when he finished those calls.’
He couldn’t badger mother and daughter anymore. They had two leads to follow up without having to take a pill to go down the rabbit hole.
He smiled at Sarah. ‘Thanks for talking to us.’ Then he touched her on the arm. ‘Do you have anyone to look after you?’
‘We’re going to my mother’s later.’ She glanced around the house. ‘We can’t afford to stay here anymore.’
Harry hugged them both as they said their goodbyes.
When they got outside, he was glad to feel the warmth of the sun on his face.
Amy had a pill in her hand. ‘Should we take these now?’
‘In the street? Are you crazy?’
She shrugged. ‘There’s no time like the present, partner.’
He moved from the house and she joined him.
‘It’s time travel, so what difference does it make when we do it?’
‘You know why, Harry. As soon as we solve Chuck’s death, we can discover who murdered me.’
‘We might do it without using those pills, which are apparently in short supply.’
‘How do we do that?’
‘Sarah and Kelly gave us two leads: the possibility Chuck was having an affair and those phone calls.’
‘Okay, I get you could probably trace where those calls came from, but if they’re not from some mysterious woman, how will you track the caller down?’
Harry glanced down the street. ‘We’ll start in the office of Hook Security and Detection.’