Another hour of fruitless searching later, the office phone on the corner of the desk rang, snapping Alice’s mind back to the present. Stretching, she lifted the handset.
‘Hello?’
‘Alice? Hi, it’s Tina in the administrators’ office. I have a young man here holding a large bunch of flowers hoping you’ll come out to meet him.’
Alice glanced at the screen of her mobile and saw she’d missed a call from Ben.
‘Tell him I’ll be right out,’ Alice said, before hanging up and checking her hair in the small compact mirror from her bag.
She’d made virtually no progress with tracking down the remaining names on the list and had now decided to just bite the bullet and come clean to Ben. She would tell him she’d stumbled upon the list and ask him why he’d jotted the names down. The Kerry Valentine murder was like an irritating itch that just wouldn’t go away. Even though Alice had never met the poor girl, and knew virtually nothing about her, she couldn’t help but feel involved. Every time she tried to think about something else, her mind always went back to the woman who had indirectly threatened to spoil not only Alice’s wedding, but her marriage too. Alice now sensed she would never get any rest until the police formally announced they’d captured whomever was responsible for the crime.
Turning off the laptop and checking she hadn’t left anything in the office, she closed the door and made her way back along the musty corridor, waving at Tara as she passed the Drama block. Tara mimed a phone with her hand, and Alice nodded enthusiastically to confirm she’d call her later.
Ben was busy talking to Tina in the administrators’ office, his back to Alice, as she approached. Hearing her footfalls, he turned, both arms full of flowers.
‘The florist was having a closing down sale,’ he joked. ‘It was buy one, get ten free. You know how I hate to pass on a bargain.’
Alice couldn’t help but grin back at him. Moving closer, she leaned in and kissed his cheek, breathing in the sweet scent of the lilies; her favourite.
‘I’m just disappointed there’s no chocolates too,’ she joked.
Before she’d finished speaking, he passed her an arm’s worth of bouquets, reached into his jacket, and pulled out a cellophane-wrapped box of Belgian chocolates. ‘You didn’t give me a chance to finish.’
Alice accepted the box, studying the label, and salivating at the thought of the sweet chocolate on her tongue. She hadn’t realized how ravenous she was, and it was all she could do to stop herself tearing the box open and devouring the contents in one go.
The clock on the wall said it was nearly midday, and she had no idea where the time had gone. It didn’t feel like she’d been in the school that long; she certainly didn’t have five hours of work to show for it.
‘I tried to call,’ Ben continued, ‘but you didn’t answer, so I decided to come straight here instead. You don’t mind, do you?’
The woman behind the office window was smiling absent-mindedly as she watched the two of them, like someone reminiscing at an old movie they remembered. Not wishing to be the object of someone else’s attention, Alice dragged Ben away to the main door.
‘You didn’t need to buy me flowers.’
‘Are you kidding? It’s the first thing I should have done the second they let me out yesterday. These are just a token gift to try and show you how sorry I am for my part in what happened on Saturday. I cannot begin to tell you just how sorry I am.’
She pulled him closer and kissed him hard. ‘You already apologized, and I know it wasn’t your fault. You really didn’t have to buy up an entire florist’s display window.’
He examined the flowers, only now realizing just how absurd the gesture had been. ‘In fairness, she really did do me a deal because I was buying so many. I didn’t quite buy the whole shop, but I think she’s now planning on finishing early for the day.’
‘How did you know I was here?’
He looked away, staring out at where his car was parked, before fixing her with a long stare. ‘When I woke up and found the half-filled rubbish sack in the living room, I figured you’d come down, seen the state of the room and gone for a breather. Listen, I know Dave can get a bit much, and I’m sorry I didn’t speak to you before telling him he could stay last night. I felt a bit guilty because he’d done all that shopping for us. He looked sad, and so I said he could crash on the sofa. I swear, I never intended to pass out on the sofa with him. Can you forgive me?’
He was making his puppy dog eyes at her. ‘It’s okay,’ she caved. ‘I know he’s your best mate; I just wish you’d warned me before I got home. I might have stayed out longer.’
‘Well, the good news is he’s gone now and I’ve told him he’s not allowed back until I call him. I plan to spend the rest of this week showing you just how sorry I am for that trip to Bournemouth and everything that’s followed. Money is no object. So, what do you want to do?’
Her stomach grumbled in response to the question. ‘Can we go and get a bite to eat? I’m happy with a sandwich, but I need some sustenance.’
‘Absolutely! I could eat a horse as well. Are you done here? Or are you planning to come back after lunch?’
There really wasn’t any point in trawling through his list of friends, trying to work out who was who, how they could be involved, or why. She was no detective, and could spend the rest of the week trying to uncover a pile of secrets that might not even exist. She decided not to mention the list to Ben. For all she knew, Kerry Valentine returned home after her show with the boys and was killed for some reason that had absolutely nothing to do with any of them. She would just need to try and ignore the itch and hope it eventually faded.
‘No, I think I’m done here,’ she said. ‘What do you fancy for lunch?’
He pushed himself closer so his lips were practically touching her ear. ‘Well, now that you mention it, I do have a few ideas in mind. Maybe after lunch we should get home and spend the rest of the afternoon in bed.’
Alice felt her cheeks flush, and desperately hoped the woman behind the window was no longer paying them any attention.
Alice whispered back coquettishly, ‘I should warn you my husband will be home at some point, so you’ll need to make yourself scarce when he shows up.’
She could feel his lips curl into a smile. ‘Is that right? I bet he’s a scary guy, right?’
Alice turned her head to face him. ‘Oh yeah, he’d skin you alive just for looking at me.’
‘Well we’d better get out of here then,’ he said, his grin widening.
She pushed him away playfully. ‘Lunch first. I think I’m going to pass out if I don’t get something to eat soon.’
He nodded. ‘Very well, we shall eat, and then I’m taking you home and won’t let you out until you’re fully satisfied. I know where we should go and eat too. I won’t tell you where, but they do the best garlic dough balls.’
Her stomach rumbled, knowing exactly what he had in mind.