“I’m glad you’re still seeing your grandfather,” said Graham, turning back to Christa and the game. He moved, then wished he hadn’t been distracted.
“Yeah, I went with Sam.”
“Sam?”
“The current.”
“A male Sam, I take it,” said Graham, to say something, “not a Samantha.”
“Of course not. I knew him at school, but I never realized how nice he was. He protects me from Romford.”
“Do you need protection from Romford?”
“Yeah, from Romford people. People who come up and say they remember Mum from Hello, Dolly! or Hedda Gabler, and God knows what. I sometimes think people like that were closer to Peggy than I was.”
“I should think actors’ children always think that.”
Christa threw up her hands. “She was only an amateur, for God’s sake. Not that that creep Michael Halliburton would admit that.”
“Why’s he become a creep?”
“He always has been. But he offered me the other female part in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”
“What’s creepish about that? You’re a bit young, though.”
“Apart from the fact that he knows I’ve got no interest in acting, what’s creepish about it is he said he’d always had a special interest in me.”
“Oh.”
“Which must either have meant that he’d always wanted to bed me, which since Sam was standing beside is unlikely, or he was trying to tell me he was my father. As if I cared.”
“I’m sure that’s the best attitude.”
“Sam told him that having Peggy for a mother put me off the stage for life. He protects me, you see.”
“You really like him?”
Christa made an attacking move and her face assumed an ecstatic look.
“I do. I really do! He’s sweet and gentle and cooks better than I do. I think I’ll be moving in before long. His flat is nice too.”
“I hope he’s good at cleaning and ironing as well.”
“He is, actually, but I’d do my share, so stop being so sarky.”
“I just don’t want you to make a wrong choice, after the shock of your mother’s death.”
Christa made a move that revealed, too late for Graham, the deadly plan behind her recent maneuverings.
“I’m not making a choice. But he is lovely, and I think I’m beginning to…Oh, well, no point in making plans that probably won’t work out. But, Graham—don’t go on about Mum’s death being a shock. She never figured much in our lives, and everything that’s happened since has been much, much better.”
Graham made a move he suspected was his last.
“She’s right,” said Adam from the sofa.
“Well, I’m glad about that.”
“It’s good to have someone who cares about me,” said Christa. “You know, what I said in that hotel in Colchester has come true. I’ve got a father at last.”
“Thanks,” said Graham bleakly, folding the board and putting the pieces carefully away in their box.
About the Author
ROBERT BARNARD’s most recent novel is The Graveyard Position. Among his many other books are A Cry from the Dark, The Mistress of Alderley, The Bones in the Attic, A Murder in Mayfair, No Place of Safety, The Bad Samaritan, A Scandal in Belgravia, and Out of the Blackout. Scribner released a classic edition of his Death of a Mystery Writer in 2002. Winner of the prestigious Nero Wolfe Award as well as Anthony, Agatha, and Macavity awards, the eight-time Edgar nominee is a member of Britain’s prestigious Detection Club. In 2003, he was honored with the Cartier Diamond Dagger Award for lifetime achievement in mystery writing. He lives with his wife, Louise, and with pets Jingle and Durdles, in Leeds, England.
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