Appearances Greeting a Point of View
Page 7
“I just wanted to ... be with you,” he says, ashamed of such a weak effort. He doesn’t want to cry.
“Tu est fou, tu ...”
“You’re not the first person to call me crazy.”
She cups her hands around his face and looks at him, right at him. She understands. His body, the bastard, forgets all the rules. The pressure changes, she pushes him back onto the bed. Tears leak from his eyes as she leans to kiss his lips. Her hands move expertly, handling him as if she’s known him all his life. A deft thumb hook slides her panties to one side. He enters her and comes instantly, shocked by the influence of his thoughts. She rests beside him as he cries, occasionally stroking his hair. Such tenderness, such care.
She’s smoking.
Half-light wakes him. She’s gone. Three searches of the room reveal no note. She’s left him, again.
It’s over and he’s going home. He has a return ticket.
Katharina and her migraine are resting in her room, this pregnancy proving far harder than the first. The nanny, he doesn’t recall her name, is bathing Matthias. So he is alone, and can talk to the notary without a scene. In fact, between the two men, there is a curious absence of drama. Max has no idea how to feel.
“Herr Baumann, the one certainty is that she did not suffer. A rockfall caused the derailment just before the tunnel and the train ploughed straight into the wall. The impact killed everyone in the first class compartments. She died immediately, as did her companion. However, I had instructions to notify you. Her documents identify you as next of kin.”
“Of course.” Max pockets his emotions. He will look at them later.
“I am deeply sorry for your loss,” the notary adds.
“Monsieur, you are more deserving of my sympathy. She was your client; you met her. It is harder to grieve when you never knew the person. Yes, our relationship was biological, but in truth, she meant little to me. I have two admirable parents, and that’s all one can ask for in life. However, I’m sorry for the woman, and I appreciate your informing me.”
The notary shifts. Max senses unfinished business.
“My visit here is due to more than courtesy, Herr Baumann. You are named as guardian of her little boy. Almost two years old. His name is Max.”
For Sam, Ellie, Jessica, Caitlin, Emily and Lauren – all of whom demanded stories
Also by JJ Marsh
BEHIND CLOSED DOORS
Suicide – the act of taking one’s own life.
Homicide – the act of taking someone else’s.
An unethical banker suffocates. A diamond dealer slits his wrists. A media magnate freezes in the snow. A disgraced CEO inhales exhaust fumes. Four unpopular businessmen, four apparent suicides. Until Interpol find the same DNA at each death.
Beatrice Stubbs, on her first real case since ‘the incident’, arrives in Switzerland to lead the investigation. But there’s more to Zürich than chocolate and charm. Potential suspects are everywhere, her Swiss counterpart is hostile and the secretive world of international finance seems beyond the law. Battling impossible odds by day and her own demons at night, Beatrice has never felt so alone.
She isn’t. Someone’s watching.
Someone else who believes in justice.
The poetic kind.
“Original, well written, ingenious and unusual. I'm eagerly looking forward to the next appearance of Beatrice Stubbs - ASAP!”
Jessica Mann, author of The Fifties Mystique.
Also by JJ Marsh
RAW MATERIAL
You never know who’s watching
Beatrice is on home turf. Her innocent photographs of a Welsh sunrise attract unwanted attention. But she has no time to find out why.
Assigned to the London Transport Police, she’s pursuing the Finsbury Park Flasher to prevent a serious sexual offence. So gay chorister Adrian and Classics Professor Matthew take up the case, eager to play the Hardy Boys.
Amateur detectives and professional criminals make a bad mix.
From deserted Pembrokeshire beaches to the shadowy underpasses of North London, Beatrice realises protecting the vulnerable is far more difficult than it looks.
“The characters leap off the page, the prose is witty and intelligent, and the plot twists keep you hooked to the last. What more could you ask?”
Barbara Scott-Emmett, author of Don’t Look Down
Also by JJ Marsh
TREAD SOFTLY
You don’t attract trouble. You go looking for it
Disheartened by her recent performance, Beatrice Stubbs takes a sabbatical from the Metropolitan Police for a gourmet tour of Northern Spain. In Vitoria, she encounters a distant acquaintance. Beautiful, bloody-minded journalist Ana Herrero is onto a story.
Beatrice, scenting adventure, offers her expertise. The two women are sucked into a mystery of missing persons, violent threats, mutilated bodies and industrial-scale fraud. They are out of their depth. With no official authority and unsure who to trust, they find themselves up to their necks in corruption, blackmail and Rioja.
Beatrice calls for the cavalry. The boys are back, and this time, it’s a matter of taste. But when her instincts prove fallible, Beatrice discovers that justice is a matter of interpretation.
“Read this and you’ll be desperate for a seat on a Vitoria balcony with a glass of white Rioja, a plate of pintxos and the next Beatrice Stubbs to accompany them”
Annemarie Neary, author of A Parachute in the Lime Tree