“What were you thinking?”
Motts stared blankly up at Detective Inspector Ash from her spot on the grassy cliff across from the cottage. She’d been asked the same question by Teo, Hughie, and now Perry. “Tiny holes through the heart aren’t any better than large ones.”
Perry chuckled, shaking his head. “You’re not wrong. Terrified my Marnie half to death. She barely made any sense when she called me. We couldn’t get over from Looe fast enough.”
“Why were you in Looe?”
“Investigating.” He shook his head when she went to probe further. “Perhaps, having captured a second murderer for us, you might restrain your curiosity until we’ve done our job?”
“I’ll do my best.” Motts shifted uneasily at the sight of Teo’s worried face. He’d been questioning Mikey in the cottage. Jasper had been taken away by ambulance with Hughie as a guard over him. She tried not to think about whether she’d seriously injured him, even if he’d been trying to kill them. “No promises.”
“Why don’t we get you home? I’m sure Cactus and Moss are worried about you.” Teo offered his hand to her, helping her up to her feet. “I wish you’d messaged me.”
“You wish I’d waited for you.” Motts shoved her hands into her pockets. It had gotten chilly as clouds rolled in off the sea. “Marnie was already calling Perry when I came up here. I never intended to run into Jasper.”
“Hello.” Hughie met them on the stairs. “Got Jasper all locked up and taken care of. Congrats, by the way, Detective Inspector. We’ll miss you.”
Motts watched Hughie continue toward the cottage where Perry was speaking with Mikey. “Why did he say congrats?”
Teo sighed. Deeply.
Motts began the descent toward the village. She kept one hand in her pocket and the other on the railing. “He said ‘we’ll miss you.’ Are you going somewhere?”
“Premature congratulations.” Teo placed a hand on her elbow to steady her on the steps. “I’ve been offered a position up in the north. Run of my own cold case department for much of Yorkshire. A promotion, in essence. Nothing’s been decided. My parents would have to move with me, and they haven’t made up their minds yet. I can’t be too far from them.”
“You never said.” Motts found herself suddenly exhausted. The adrenaline rush that carried her through the confrontation with Jasper had dripped away like a leaky faucet. “Promotions are good. Not easy to get your own unit or whatever. I’d imagine.”
“Not, it’s not. I planned to talk with you once we’d wrapped up the investigation here.” Teo gripped her elbow more tightly when she tripped on the last step. “Careful. Motts?”
“Home.” Motts had run out of words.
Shaking her head when he tried to prompt more out of her, Motts trudged toward the road leading around the village and up the opposite side to her cottage. She heard Teo muttering behind her about his perfectly functioning vehicle. Being trapped in a car in the middle of a tense conversation would’ve been beyond her ability to cope with.
“Motts?”
She closed the door to her cottage on his question and leaned against it. The day had been too much from start to finish. Finish? It’s barely noon.
Meow.
Motts opened her eyes to smile down at Cactus, who’d come to sit on her foot. “Hello.”
Lifting her fuzzy cat into her arms, Motts went into the living room. She curled up on the chair by the window, dragging a blanket around her. Cactus shifted contently in her lap until he could see out into the garden.
What a bizarre day. What will happen to Mikey with his brother arrested and his mum gone? And where’s Ashby run off to?
And when is Teo going to run off?
Is a promotion running off?
Mott sank down further into the cushions, pulling the blanket up to her nose. “It’s almost anticlimactic.”
Meow.
“Okay. Maybe not anticlimactic. Almost being stabbed with an ice pick is a bit climactic. Is climactic a word we use? Climactic. Climactic. Sounds completely made up.” Motts grinned half-heartedly at her purring cat. “A meow is much less complex.”
Climactically complex climax.
Sounds like a terrible title for one of those naughty novels Vina reads.
The peace and quiet in her cottage lasted not even an hour. River and Nish arrived, using her cousin’s key to get inside. Motts knew news of the arrest would’ve swept through the village like a tidal wave.
“We brought hot chocolate and steamed buns.” River lifted a thermos while Nish carried a Tupperware container. “Mum insisted. Dad made the hot chocolate. Not sure it’s as good as yours.”
Watching with mild bemusement as her cousin and his boyfriend went around her kitchen as if they owned the place, Motts stayed on the couch. They had things under control. She appreciated their not trying to press her for information.
And they had to be curious.
She would’ve been.
Motts tucked her legs up under the blanket and gratefully accepted a mug of hot chocolate. “Teo’s moving.”
“Is he?” Nish sat on her left while River collapsed onto the cushion on her right. “Sounds sudden.”
Motts shrugged. “Jasper killed his mum.”
“His mum? You mean his nan, right?”
“Nope.” Motts sipped the hot chocolate. It wasn’t perfect; only her dad could claim that title. “Think his mum killed his nan.”
“Pardon?” Nish almost dropped the plate he’d been holding. “They certainly had no love lost between them.”
“Mmm,” Motts muttered into her mug. “Jasper didn’t confess everything before I conked him over the head with a chair.”
“Pardon?” Nish did drop the plate onto the coffee table.
“He had an ice pick. He lunged.” Motts made a jabbing motion with her hand, careful not to disturb her hot chocolate too much. “Stabby, stabby.”
“Stabby stabby?” River turned his head away, coughing into his hand several times. “And you’re okay?”
“Eh.” She shifted underneath the blanket. It had taken a while for the cold to dissipate despite it being the middle of summer. “Not as shaky as I was when I got home. Found my words again. I’m doing better. Okay is another matter.”
River and Nish both squashed her into a hug. Cactus lazily pawed at both of them for jostling him from his safe spot curled in her lap. Motts allowed the embrace for a few seconds before shoving them away.
“So, Teo’s moving?”
Motts ignored her cousin’s probing question and pathetic attempt at changing the subject. “Shouldn’t you be working? Both of you?”
“Just making sure your ‘delicate nature’ hasn’t been too disturbed.” River sounded as though he was quoting his mum directly. “Also, trying to decide if we need to have a word with the towering detective.”
“Towering Teo?” Motts appreciated the alliteration. “No need.”
“Mottsy.” Nish leaned against her side.
“We’ve only been dating off and on. My heart isn’t in danger of being broken. Not yet. I’ll miss him if he goes.” Motts had been heartbroken when her relationship with Vina ended, no matter how amicably. They’d loved each other, still did, though it had thankfully turned into a platonic thing. “I’m sad about the potential we might’ve had.”
“Long-distance—”
Motts cut River off with a sharp shake of her head. “If he stays, we’ll see what happens. But long-distance would never work for me. Emails and talking on the phone are far too difficult to manage for me as it is.”
“Well, on the plus side, a potential break-up has distracted you from a traumatising run-in with a killer.” River leaned away from Motts when she went to elbow him in the side. “Or Jasper’s murderous rage has provided an escape from Teo’s deserting you.”
“Dramatic berk.” Motts smacked River on the arm. “Eat a bao.”
“The most politely phrased ‘shut your trap’ I’ve ever heard.” He grinned.