‘Interesting, don’t you think, that he missed his son’s engagement,’ Olivia said, walking up behind Shilpa. ‘He couldn’t have approved of the match. And look at him. If I was worth half of what he’s worth I wouldn’t be dressing like that.’
‘He’s just lost his son.’
‘He always dresses like that,’ Olivia said. ‘Even when Mason was alive.’
‘Zero dress sense; a little like Steve Jobs – and look at Bill Gates. What is interesting though is, like you say, he missed his son’s engagement.’
‘Some deal with China, apparently,’ a voice said from behind them.
‘Oh Danny, love, you gave me a fright,’ Olivia said.
‘You two know each other?’ Shilpa asked, looking at Danny curiously.
‘Yes, we go back,’ Danny said, kissing Olivia on her cheek.
‘Shilpa, this is the copper I was telling you about. My brother-in-law. Married to my sister,’ Olivia said. ‘But how do you two know each other?’
Shilpa stood motionless in the middle of Mason Connolly’s wake, feeling like she had just been hit by a bus. She wanted to say something. She wanted to ask Danny why he hadn’t mentioned that he was married.
‘We went to university together,’ Danny said. ‘Bumped into each other just the other day.’
‘You need to introduce her to Theo,’ Olivia said. She turned to Shilpa. ‘He’s a detective sergeant on the case.’ She turned back to Danny. ‘Did you know she was the one to find the bloodstained knife at the Drews’? How creepy.’
‘Theo won’t be able to tell you anything. He’s all right though. Moved this way a couple of years ago,’ Danny said with a shrug. ‘Very sure of himself. Might be why he’s still single.’
Olivia scowled at him. ‘He’s a fine lad. Danny’s just a bit narked that this guy has come in from another force and is a sergeant. Not to mention at least a foot taller and better-looking,’ Olivia said playfully, squeezing her brother-in-law’s shoulder.
‘Oh, give over,’ Danny said with a forced laugh.
‘He’s a charmer, this one,’ Olivia said, looking at Danny with affection. ‘So, tell me. Did you see him again?’
Shilpa stared at Olivia, her mind in a fog. ‘Who?’
‘The man you’re after.’ Olivia turned to Danny. ‘She’s after someone.’
‘Oh,’ Shilpa said, trying to sound nonchalant. ‘We met. It didn’t work out.’
‘You decided that pretty quick,’ Olivia said. ‘Just yesterday–’
‘It went downhill from there,’ Shilpa said, cutting her off. Her mouth was dry. She downed her glass of prosecco.
‘Careful with that,’ Olivia said, looking at her glass. Shilpa scanned the room for the waiter to offer her a refill.
Danny smiled. Not a malicious smile, not a know-it-all smile, but a genuine smile which told her he had never been interested in her in the first place. ‘We’re meeting for tennis tomorrow. How about we make it doubles, and I’ll bring Theo too if he’s free. I didn’t realise you were in the dating game,’ Danny said.
‘I’m not really in the dating game,’ Shilpa said, her cheeks colouring.
‘Oh, get out of it,’ Olivia said. ‘You’re a gorgeous young single woman and without the burden of children. You’re most definitely on the lookout.’
Shilpa couldn’t help but nod. It must have been the shock.
‘Lo can’t make tennis, silly. Not with the problems she’s had and that swollen belly. She’s about to pop,’ Olivia said, turning to Shilpa. Shilpa wanted to cry. ‘But I could give it a go. The kids have their own things on tomorrow.’
‘That’s settled then,’ Danny said. ‘I’ll give Theo a call.’
‘You know,’ Shilpa said, plastering a smile on her face, ‘I’m just going to check on the cake.’ She quickly walked away from Danny and Olivia. She closed her eyes and rubbed her temples. She had thought Danny had been flirting with her. She had been mistaken – his wife was pregnant. Olivia said that her brother-in-law worked at Glass Bay. Why didn’t she mention Danny then? Was it possible that Danny genuinely liked her? She shook her head. It wasn’t. She had been stupid, and even if he was planning on cheating on his heavily pregnant wife, she wanted no part in it.
Shilpa adjusted her handbag and walked towards the patio doors. She could easily escape through them without having to pass Olivia and Danny again. She walked quickly, her head bowed, until she bumped into someone. She looked up. The woman in front of her was stunning. She wore a forest-green bodycon dress, entirely inappropriate for a funeral, but nevertheless she carried it off somehow. She was sure the woman with her dark curls and sparkling eyes was Izzy – dressed in signature green, as Leoni had mentioned. She had definitely seen her at Mason and Harriet’s engagement party.
Shilpa looked up to the darkening sky as she got into her red Fiat. She tried the key in the ignition, but it wouldn’t start. Her car wasn’t old. It shouldn’t have been playing up like this. She hit the dashboard and tried again.
‘Come on,’ she shouted.
Nothing.
Five minutes later, with no joy in getting her car to start, she decided she would walk. Remembering she had a duty as caterer to clear up after the guests, she quickly sent Olivia a message asking the favour of her. She made an excuse of feeling a little unwell. Olivia’s response was instantaneous. She would clear up, and she told her to get a good night’s rest ahead of their tennis game – only if she was up to it, of course.
As Shilpa pulled the key out of the ignition, a fat drop of rain landed on the windscreen. She looked back at the house she had just snuck out of and then at her shoes. She had worn heels. Not Louboutin 3.94 inches but a respectable three inches. After months of living in Devon, she had pretty much forgotten how to walk in heels. She was close to punching the steering wheel when she remembered she had a spare pair of flats in the rear passenger seat. Finally, something was going her way.
She reached behind her, changed her shoes and stepped out of the car. The red love hearts on the toes of her black pumps jeered at her. Fat chance she was ever going to fall in love.
By the time Shilpa reached her house, she was soaking wet. The light summer evening was much darker than she’d anticipated. The sensor light to the front of the house wasn’t working. Of course it wasn’t. She wanted to scream. She rummaged around in her bag and several minutes later found her keys and walked towards her front door. Despite the rain, she heard a clicking noise coming from the garage directly behind her. She thought she had heard the noise as she walked the mile and a half home from the Connollys’ house, but she had turned around a couple of times and there had been no one behind her. Now an eerie feeling came over her, the same one she had felt in the coffee shop yesterday. She shivered in her wet clothes, took a breath and decided to investigate. She hardly went into the garage, because it just contained more boxes of Uncle Dipesh’s possessions that she needed to sort out, and out of sight was out of mind.
She tried the garage door, but it was locked; of course it was. She didn’t have the key on her key ring. It was in the boiler cupboard in her kitchen. She closed her eyes. She was being dramatic. There wasn’t someone in the garage. How likely was it that someone would have followed her home and then snuck into her garage in the time it took her to find her house keys in her bag? It wasn’t, and in any event, who would want to follow her? She was being ridiculous, and she blamed Mason Connolly. His death was making her paranoid.
No one knew she was taking a keen interest in the Connolly death, she reasoned as she walked back to her front door and opened it. Well, maybe John and Graham, Leoni, Olivia – and Danny, sort of. Oh, Danny. She didn’t want to think about him tonight. So, maybe quite a few people knew about her amateur sleuthing, but no one would be bothered by it, would they? It wasn’t as if she was making much progress. She had asked a few friends for their opinions, that was all. She was hardly Miss Marple, but she definitely was a Miss. The thought of ending up as a little old lady with nothing to occupy her time but being an armchair detective made her heart sink a little further.
Shilpa let herself in, took her shoes off and locked the door behind her. She went to the bathroom, changed into her jogging bottoms and an old T-shirt and grabbed a towel from the radiator. It was warm to the touch, and she dried her hair with it. She needed a hot shower too, but she wanted to check something first. Shilpa padded into the kitchen and opened the boiler cupboard. She took a sharp intake of breath. The garage keys were missing. She tried to think of when she had last seen them. She couldn’t remember. It must have been sometime in the last month, definitely before Mason’s death. Or was it? Had she seen them in the last couple of weeks? No one had been in her home recently. Only June Connolly, and she was hardly a suspect. Plus, she had kept an eye on the grieving mother and hadn’t left her for even a moment. Anyway, what would June Connolly want with the keys to her garage? Come to think of it, why would anyone want the keys to her garage, whether or not they were a suspect in Mason’s death?
Shilpa shook her head. Everything always seemed worse at night. She was making something out of nothing. She took herself to the bathroom and had a hot shower, changing into her pyjamas. In a desperate attempt not to replay her humiliation, she decided to watch a movie. She was just about to make a hot chocolate when she heard a noise. Shilpa looked up the stairs towards the front door and then made her way towards it. A note had been pushed through the letter box. Had it been there when she first arrived home? She didn’t think so. It was probably some flyer from a new takeaway or something. She pulled it from the letter box and was about to open it when she heard a knock at the door. It made her jump. Once she composed herself, she looked through the spyhole. The rain was still coming down fast, and it was now pitch black outside. She cleared her throat.
‘Who’s there?’ she asked, pushing the flyer into her dressing-gown pocket. There was no response. She tried a little louder, but she felt foolish. She put her foot a little away from the door so that if the person behind the door tried to force it she could use her foot to stop them. She needed a chain across the door. Another thing for the list.
She opened the door a fraction, but she couldn’t see anything. She opened it a little wider and saw a silhouette standing to the right of her front door. Then she screamed.