His daughter was sitting on the steps outside the Chinese Centre on her own.
‘You’re late, Dad.’
‘Sorry, traffic was bad.’
She got into the car, slinging her things onto the back seat roughly.
‘How was your class?’
‘OK, same old.’
‘You learnt some new vocab?’
‘No, we went over the old stuff again and again and again. Apparently, my tones are incorrect and I sound too English.’
‘Not surprising.’
‘Luckily, the others are just as bad, some even worse than me. They sound too Cantonese.’
‘What’s wrong with sounding Cantonese?’
‘When your teacher is from Beijing, apparently it’s a sin worse than murder.’
Ridpath laughed. ‘That’s bad.’
He headed back down the A56 to their home – a journey he seemed to make all the time these days. ‘I have to go back to work this afternoon. You don’t mind, do you? I can ask Mrs Dunwoody if you can go round to her house if you want.’
‘Nah, I’ll be OK. I’ve got lots of homework to keep me occupied.’
‘Sorry.’ He paused for a moment, before deciding to take the plunge. ‘About tomorrow. I don’t think we can go to the cemetery.’
Her mouth opened wide. ‘But you promised. It’s Mum’s time, we need to go, Dad.’
‘I’ll see if I can make it, but there’s so much to do and the inquest opens on Monday morning.’
‘You promised.’
He stared out of the windscreen. A few spots of rain began to fall, splattering the glass.
‘Mum was right.’
She turned her body away from him.
‘What?’
‘She always said you cared more about the job than any of us.’
‘Your mum said nothing of the sort.’
She answered without turning around. ‘I used to listen to your arguments. She was always telling you to care less about the job and care more about us, to spend more time with us.’
‘I do care about you and your mum.’
No answer.
‘You know I do, it’s just I have to work, cases need time and sometimes I can’t decide not to get involved.’
‘Doesn’t your family need time too?’
She sounded exactly the same as Polly, even down to the intonation.
‘Of course they do. Of course you do. I’ll make it up to you. We’ll go to London together when we can, now the lockdown’s over.’
He saw her shoulders relax and stiffen again.
‘Another promise?’ she sneered.
He turned into their road and pulled up outside the house. ‘I’ll call you before I come home.’
‘Don’t bother,’ she said without looking round. ‘I’ll manage without you.’ Without saying another word, she took her backpack from the back seat and strode up the driveway.
‘Eve…’ he shouted.
She didn’t turn round, opening the front door and slamming it behind her.
He sat in the car, thinking about whether or not to go in and talk with her, try to calm her down. The dashboard clock clicked over to 1.12.
Shit. He had told Sophia he would be in at one p.m.
Shit.
He closed his eyes and shook his head.
Shit.
Putting the car in gear, he headed off to the Coroner’s Court. He would have to make it up to Eve later.