A Body in the Bookshop

by Helen Cox

  Taking a deep breath, Evie opened the bathroom door and returned to the bedroom. She was surprised to see Charley was already dressed.

  Evie tried not to focus on how beautiful she found her in that moment. Right now, she needed to focus on letting Charley down easy, and above all else not saying or doing something that would make her feel as though she had been used.

  ‘That was work,’ Charley said. ‘I just called them back. I’ve been reinstated.’

  ‘That’s great news,’ Evie said, for a moment forgetting herself and rushing towards Charley. She stopped herself after a few paces and smiled. ‘I’m so pleased this nightmare is over for you.’

  ‘Not quite,’ said Charley. ‘I’ve been put on desk duty until the matter has been fully investigated. The DNA at the garage has put enough doubt on Alim’s testimony that they can’t rightfully keep the suspension in place, especially given my impeccable record.’

  ‘Oh,’ said Evie. ‘So, you’re still in a little bit of hot water.’

  ‘You could put it that way. But if I keep my head down and get on with whatever mind-numbing admin they push my way, I might win some favour with Ricci.’

  ‘She creeps me out,’ said Evie. A little shudder ran through her as she remembered how she had asked about her scars. She felt again what she felt in that moment: the blunt force of shame.

  ‘She’s not my favourite person either, but she’s in charge now and I’ve got to do whatever I can to help my situation.’

  Evie nodded. ‘About last night . . . I had . . . such a wonderful time with you,’ she said, making sure she held Charley’s gaze. ‘I’m sure you could probably tell.’

  Charley half-smiled, but there was a watery look in her eyes. ‘You seemed to be having a good time.’

  ‘I was,’ said Evie. ‘It’s just, I’ve never done anything like that before. I’m . . . I’m sure that showed too.’

  ‘Not particularly,’ said Charley, taking a step closer. ‘But perhaps what happened last night just felt natural to you.’

  Evie felt her cheeks reddening. Being with Charley had been easy. She hadn’t felt self-conscious or unsure, and there hadn’t been a need to fake anything. Still, she couldn’t just leap into this, or anything like this. It was just too . . . strange and unexpected.

  ‘I think maybe you’re just a good teacher,’ Evie said.

  ‘Who can recognize natural talent when she sees it,’ said Charley, the smile on her lips broadening.

  ‘I’m sure,’ said Evie. ‘But I don’t really know what happened last night. This just isn’t me. It’s not what I . . . do.’

  ‘Are you sure?’ Charley asked, taking yet another step closer to Evie so the pair were now standing just a pace apart.

  ‘Yes,’ said Evie. ‘I don’t think it should happen again. It was lovely but it was just for last night.’

  Charley’s eyes lowered to the carpet and she sighed. ‘Can I say something now?’

  ‘Yes, I will allow it,’ Evie said, trying to lighten the mood.

  ‘Unlike you, last night wasn’t my first time with a woman. And I can tell you, it doesn’t always feel like that for me. It . . .’ Charley seemed on the brink of saying something but paused mid-sentence. ‘It’s rare for two people to have this kind of chemistry, that’s all I’m saying.’

  Slowly, Evie crossed her arms. ‘I hear you. But, I’m sorry, I just can’t. It doesn’t feel right to me.’

  Charley didn’t say anything else. She nodded and then gave Evie what could only be described as the kind of smile a stranger might give if they bumped into another in the street. Slowly, she walked past Evie and out the bedroom door.

  Evie listened to Charley’s footsteps descending the stairs and waited for the inevitable slam of the front door. The second she heard that thud, she slumped down on the end of the bed while slow, silent tears slipped down her cheeks.

  What was wrong with her? What the hell had she been thinking? Why had she done this with Charley in the first place?

  Evie could think of quite a few different answers to these questions but she didn’t like any of them. Consequently, she reached over to her phone resting on her bedside table and began to type a text message to Kitt.

  Sixteen

  ‘Did you know lesbian couples have the best sex?’ said Evie, before Kitt had even sat down with her cup of Lady Grey in the second-floor office of the library.

  Kitt gave her friend a lengthy stare, before taking a seat in one of the shabby, floral armchairs. ‘While I appreciate your attempts to keep the conversation between us lively after all these years of friendship, it is customary to ease into a topic like that. Perhaps start with some idle chit-chat about the weather, and then broach the topic of lesbian sex.’

  Evie smirked. ‘Sorry, I read an article about it on the Guardian website on my lunch break today and I can’t get it out of my head.’ Of course, it wasn’t like she’d happened across this article by accident. She had typed ‘the truth about lesbian sex’ into Google.

  Kitt narrowed her eyes and placed her teacup on the table in front of them, next to a stack of books that someone had abandoned without note or explanation. ‘You’re fooling nobody, you know?’

  ‘What?’ Evie said, her body stiffening. ‘What do you mean?

  ‘I mean, you’re talking to a librarian turned detective here,’ Kitt said, pointing her thumb at herself.

  Kitt had never referred to herself in this manner before. Perhaps she had been enjoying their latest investigation more than she was letting on.

  ‘Nothing gets past me,’ Kitt continued. ‘Just ask Grace. And if you think starting a conversation about girl-on-girl-action is subtle, you need to look up the word subtle.’

  Evie didn’t dare move. She felt any gesture might give away more than she would like, though it seemed her mouth had done that for her already. ‘What are you suggesting?’

  ‘Oh, nothing too much really,’ Kitt said, stirring her tea even though it didn’t need stirring. ‘Just that you’ve shown more than a passing interest in a certain female officer of our acquaintance.’

  Evie felt the blood rushing to her cheeks and knew Kitt couldn’t have failed to notice.

  ‘Text messages, meetings at the Christmas Fayre, launching your own investigation to overturn her suspension, masquerading as me down at the hospital in a bid to get answers, getting all shiny-eyed whenever her name gets mentioned—’

  ‘All right,’ said Evie, unable to listen to any more of the damning evidence. ‘I did it. I slept with Charley.’

  There was a pause and Kitt slowly raised her eyebrows. ‘Well, I was just going to tease you about having taken a shine to her. But this is much more exciting. When did this happen?’

  ‘Last night,’ Evie said in the smallest voice she ever remembered using.

  ‘And, was the Guardian right in its assessment?’ Kitt asked.

  ‘You’re enjoying this . . .’

  ‘Too right I am. Just as you enjoyed teasing the life out of me before me and Halloran made things official.’

  ‘This is different.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘Because . . . making it official with Halloran didn’t involve a major lifestyle choice.’

  Kitt offered a playful smile that Evie had never seen before the librarian had crossed paths with Halloran. ‘That remains to be seen.’

  Then it was Evie’s turn to narrow her eyes. She was about to ask what that was supposed to mean but Kitt gave a dismissive wave, indicating she wouldn’t be drawn.

  ‘Aren’t you at least a bit shocked?’

  ‘Not really.’

  Looking at her friend, Evie could see this was true. Her face was completely level and she took another sip of her tea as though Evie had told her she had found some cut-price lamb at the supermarket rather than having confessed that she had slept with a woman
for the first time. ‘Well, I am,’ Evie said.

  ‘Was it really so out of the blue?’ asked Kitt. ‘I’ve never really heard you talk positively about the sex you’ve had with men.’

  ‘That’s not true, there was . . .’ Evie paused. ‘Well . . . what about . . .’ Again she found herself lost for words. ‘Well, it was always over so quick it was difficult to form a proper opinion.’ She covered her face with her hands. ‘Oh God, am I the only one who couldn’t see this coming?’

  ‘No . . . but your concerning obsession with innuendo was a clue that perhaps you were missing out on something.’

  Evie’s head jerked back an inch. ‘Do you really think that finding the right partner is going to curb the innuendo?’

  ‘No. But the hope lives on.’ Kitt looked hard and long at her friend. ‘You seem pretty rattled. Are you afraid of something?’

  ‘Yes!’ said Evie. ‘Not least what it says about me that I got to the age of thirty-three and never even entertained the possibility that I might be gay.’

  ‘Never?’

  ‘Well . . . there was the odd . . . thought. In the privacy of my own bedroom. But everyone has thoughts like that sometimes, don’t they?’

  ‘Almost everyone has thoughts about sexuality, though the content often differs.’

  Evie sighed.

  ‘Just give yourself some time,’ said Kitt. ‘Sometimes it’s not about thinking, but feeling. Rather than piling pressure on yourself, you might be better off just enjoying the gift of a pleasurable sexual experience.’

  The second these words left her mouth the office door swung open and Halloran stepped through it.

  The inspector smiled between Kitt and Evie, raised an eyebrow as he stepped in and closed the door behind him. ‘Sounds like an interesting conversation?’

  Evie’s stomach tightened – for a second she thought that Kitt might actually tell Halloran and that if she did it might get back to Charley that she had been gossiping about what happened between them. But she should have known better. Kitt wasn’t one for sharing secrets that weren’t her place to share.

  ‘Oh, just the usual womanly chit-chat. Manicures, yoga positions and the inconsistency of men,’ Kitt said, bringing her teacup to her lips to try to hide a smile. Whenever Halloran was in the room however, the smile was visible in Kitt’s eyes, if not on her lips.

  ‘Books would have been a more believable lie,’ said Halloran, crossing his arms and staring at his girlfriend.

  ‘I thought we were meeting at the cottage in a couple of hours?’ said Kitt.

  ‘We were but something’s come up with Banks’s case. Things have got worse.’

  ‘Worse how?’ asked Evie, her thoughts dashing back to Charley and the way she had left things between them this morning. She had started the day by being brushed off by Evie, and had only a return to desk duty as a consolation. It wasn’t fair for the work situation to get worse. Things were supposed to be looking up for her.

  ‘Alim Buruk is dead.’

  Seventeen

  ‘Dead?’ said Kitt, at last finding her voice. ‘But his injuries weren’t that bad.’

  Halloran shook his head. ‘He’s been murdered.’

  At those words Evie felt her whole body start to shake. She had only just begun healing since the last time Halloran walked into a room and told her someone had been murdered. Things like this weren’t supposed to happen in York. Saturday nights aside, it was quaint and quiet. She looked over at Kitt to see her friend taking some deep breaths. But Halloran wasn’t finished.

  ‘And in what is unlikely to be a coincidence Donald Oakes has been reported as missing.’

  ‘What? Donald? When did he . . .’ said Kitt, but then stopped herself. ‘No, wait. I’ve got to try and handle this logically if I’m to . . .’

  Halloran frowned. ‘If you’re to what?’

  ‘Nothing,’ Kitt said. ‘If I’m to get it all straight in my head, that’s all. Start with Alim. Murdered, how?’

  ‘Somebody tampered with his IV in hospital. He died of a sodium overdose. Cardiac arrest.’

  ‘Oh my God,’ said Evie, running her fingers through her hair. ‘He was only young. Twenty-five, if that. What a waste of a life.’

  ‘I know,’ said Halloran. ‘Percival, Wilkinson and Ricci visited him just this morning. Percival and Ricci would usually leave that kind of work to us but they wanted to underline the complaint against Banks was being taken seriously and, in light of the DNA found in Banks’s garage, wanted to go over his statement for themselves. See if he wanted to revise anything. They didn’t get anything concrete but they felt they were making some progress with him. Getting close to coaxing him into revealing something important about the case.’

  ‘And the next thing we know he’s dead,’ said Kitt.

  ‘And Donald Oakes is reported missing.’

  ‘Oh no,’ said Kitt, shaking her head. ‘You don’t think . . .’

  ‘I’m reserving judgement,’ said Halloran, ‘but the timing doesn’t look good.’

  ‘But was there anything at the scene that pointed to Donald’s involvement?’ said Kitt.

  Halloran shook his head. ‘Not as yet. We’ve been through the footage of the hospital entrance and couldn’t place him there during the six-hour window we’re looking at. But we are still waiting on forensics to come back.’

  ‘So you can’t place him there,’ said Kitt. ‘And if he did do it, wouldn’t it be a bit silly of him to disappear? Doesn’t it just make him look guilty? He would have been better off taking his chances that you wouldn’t find out it was him than to run.’

  ‘Planning a murder, and carrying it out are two very different things,’ said Halloran. ‘When a person realizes what they have actually done it can lead to all kinds of irrational behaviour. Which is usually how they get caught.’

  ‘So you think Donald has gone full Lady Macbeth?’ Kitt said.

  ‘As I said, I’m reserving judgement.’

  ‘What’s Donald’s motive for killing Alim? Burgling his bookshop? Why not just take whatever evidence he had to the police?’ asked Evie.

  ‘That’s not the most likely scenario, given what you and Kitt have gleaned over the past few days.’

  Evie frowned. ‘How do you mean?’

  ‘It’s not the only possibility but there’s a stronger chance that Donald orchestrated the robbery for the insurance, thought Alim was going to give him up and killed him before he could,’ said Halloran.

  ‘But Donald wouldn’t kill anyone,’ said Kitt. ‘I can’t believe that.’

  Halloran sighed. ‘None of us want to believe it of someone we know, pet. But sometimes people do desperate things. I’m not suggesting he’s evil.’

  ‘All right, I need to think about this,’ said Kitt. ‘Who found Alim’s body?’

  ‘He died while his mother was visiting him,’ said Halloran. ‘She called for help but the medical staff couldn’t save him.’

  ‘His mother?’ said Evie. ‘She was there when it happened?’

  ‘Yes,’ said Halloran. ‘But an IV slowly releases fluid into the body. It would take hours for the sodium overdose to take hold. The best we can do is narrow it down to between the last time his IV was changed to his time of death. That gives us a six-hour window. From nine this morning until about three this afternoon. His mother only arrived at the hospital fifteen minutes before he died. That wouldn’t be long enough for the overdose to flood through his system. If she had tampered with his IV then he would have died much later.’

  ‘Fifteen minutes,’ said Evie, ‘almost like she knew when he was likely to die and went to say her last goodbyes.’

  ‘The timing is a bit suspicious even if she didn’t poison her son for herself,’ said Kitt. ‘What if she got someone else to do it and she was visiting him so she could be with him in the end, knowing roughly
when his time would be up?’

  ‘We’re talking about a mother killing her son,’ said Halloran.

  ‘Amira Buruk isn’t your average mother though, at least not from my experience of her,’ said Evie.

  ‘And you said yourself, Mal, there’s no real telling what she’s capable of. “Dangerous entity”, that’s the wording you used. If she knew that Percival, Ricci and Wilkinson were getting close to the truth, if she thought her son was going to give in to pressure from the police, she might have taken drastic measures.’

  ‘She hasn’t been discounted as a suspect,’ said Halloran. ‘And we’re trying to get a sense of who else visited Alim this morning. But right now Donald Oakes’s disappearance is even more dubious than Amira Buruk’s general disposition or anything else related.’

  ‘Donald . . .’ said Kitt, shaking her head. ‘How long has he been missing?’

  ‘His wife hasn’t seen him since she left the bookshop yesterday. She left him to close up but he sent her a text message a couple of hours later to say he was going out for a pint with some friends. He never came home.’

  ‘What about his friends, did they see him last night?’ asked Kitt.

  ‘His wife got in touch with all of his regular drinking buddies before she got in touch with us. None of them went out with him last night.’

  ‘But if Donald’s been missing since last night, how could he have killed Alim?’ asked Evie.

  ‘He hasn’t been seen by his friends or family since last night,’ said Halloran. ‘It doesn’t mean he’s not in the area and if I knew I was going to commit a murder the next day, I probably wouldn’t want friends or family around me in the run-up to it either.’

  ‘But doesn’t he have to be missing twenty-four hours before he can be presumed a missing person? Perhaps there’s some explanation?’ Kitt asked.

  ‘Under ordinary circumstances that’d be true. But with the death of Alim, and the fact we still haven’t arrested the culprits of the robbery, we have to take it as a serious development in the case, and Banks . . .’