Inspector Shaw summarized the situation, told us about Vincent’s disappearance, and said that they needed to contact him in case he was linked to the murder. He was pleasant and even agreeable, the complete opposite to the man who always lost his patience with my aunt’s friends.
“Do you have any idea of where he might be hiding?” he said. “We need to contact him urgently.” His eyes moved from Brittany to me, and back again. Even though he’d shown some sympathy for making us sit in the same room as each other, he wanted to analyze our body language in case we knew something we weren’t saying.
Brittany put her classic good girl face and tried to convince us that she had nothing to do with Vincent. She’d felt alone and empty after Parrish’s death. She’d needed support and a friendly shoulder to cry on. Vincent had been hurt because I worked too much and rarely paid attention to him. It wasn’t true, of course, because whenever Vincent had come to visit, I’d put everything aside.
I didn’t argue with Brittany, though; we didn’t need to give any extra explanations about our private lives. Besides, I couldn’t prove anything, so it was her word against mine. Inspector Shaw looked at her with sympathy. He didn’t need the truth; he only wanted to listen to her and to stare into her superficial blue eyes.
She continued her unbelievable tale. According to her, when Vincent had tried to cheer her up after Parrish’s death, they’d felt an instant attraction. They’d both felt bad, and then they’d ended up in bed without even realizing.
“I’m so sorry about this,” Brittany told me as she dried an invisible tear from her cheek. She wasn’t crying, but she wanted to act the part. “I didn’t expect anything to happen between Vincent and me.”
Yes, of course, you weren’t thinking when you were taking off your dress.
I smiled and thanked her for her apology. I must be dumb, but I actually felt sorry for her. I didn’t need her to continue feeling at fault towards me; she was simply a flirt.
Inspector Shaw was delighted with her tale. He asked us a couple more times if we knew anything about Vincent, but neither of us did. He then made the classic comment that most cops make on TV: if we remembered anything, even if it wasn’t important, we had to tell him.
“You can also tell Mr. Barton if you prefer.” The inspector stared at me with some amusement. He scribbled a second phone number onto his business card and handed it to Brittany. “I know this is a difficult time for you, Miss Merritt, but don’t hesitate to contact me if you need anything.”
How did she do it? All men turned into her puppets whenever she talked to them. I didn’t care that Vincent had fallen for her tricks or that the inspector was nicer towards her than towards me. She had her virtues, and she had the right to use them. But if she ever got close to Nathan, she was going to have big problems.
Chapter 19
“Vincent was well below you, and she’s a flirt.” Aunt Agnes walked towards me and held my arm as soon as I walked out of the police station.
“Young men lose their minds with that kind of women.” Flora adjusted her white retro-style sunglasses that gave her a touch of glamour.
“I liked her dress,” Aunt Etta said. She always came up with the strangest comments.
My aunt and her friends had taken a bus to Corton to go shopping. They’d said that they were coincidentally walking past the police building a moment before I walked out. They’d probably spent most of the morning there, waiting to interrogate new targets.
“One of those girls stole your aunt’s boyfriend too,” Ivy said. She was smiling broadly at Aunt Agnes; she knew that she wasn’t supposed to tell anyone about those topics.
“It never happened,” Aunt Agnes said. “Michael wasn’t so dumb.”
“But he went with that―” Aunt Etta began innocently.
“Hush,” Aunt Agnes said.
“Don’t you remember the girl with the large breasts?” Ivy said, signaling enormous invisible breasts in front of her. “You hated her for years.”
“And you cried for weeks,” Flora said.
“He didn’t leave me!” Aunt Agnes said. “I left him.” She tried to sound annoyed, but she was enjoying the tale as much as the others. My aunt sometimes liked to be the center of attention.
Aunt Agnes wore a turquoise skirt and a cassock, and Aunt Etta wore white pants and a bright green blouse. They never ceased to surprise me. They were well into their thirty-somethings, like they always said, but they dressed in style. They looked like actresses from the 50s. Completely unlike average seniors. The four of them combined were like a hurricane: unstoppable and full of energy.
“Your aunt caught Michael in bed with another girl too.” Flora winked an eye at me. “See? Just like Vincent.”
“By the way,” Ivy said mischievously, “what did Raymond’s son want to ask you? Couldn’t he call you instead of forcing you to come here?” She knew that the inspector wasn’t Raymond’s son, but she found it funny.
I couldn’t tell them anything, so I said that I had to leave and excused myself.
“Don’t leave yet,” Aunt Agnes said. “Don’t you feel sorry for a group of old ladies who don’t have anything else to do? We’re bored half of the day.”
“Yes, please,” Flora said. “We’ve tried playing bingo, but this is so much more fun.”
“And we’ve heard almost everything from outside the window,” Aunt Etta said.
“Hush!” Ivy said. “She’ll tell Nathan about the hearing aids, and the inspector will soundproof the station.”
If I let them talk to me for a while longer, they’d end up squeezing all information out of me. It wasn’t going to happen.
“I’m in a hurry,” I said. “I promise I can’t stay and chat right now.”
Aunt Etta pointed towards the police building. “Here comes my nephew. Just in time to be able to chat with both of you, eh?” She waved at him. “Nathaniel! Oh, Nathaniel! Come here and say hi to your auntie.”
Nathan let out a long sigh and headed towards us. He kissed his aunt and let the others squeeze his cheeks and tell him that he was taller than they remembered. He nodded at me with sympathy; we’d both been trapped by Team Gossip.
“You come at the perfect time to go for a snack,” Aunt Agnes said cheerfully. “Why don’t both of you join us and we drink some hot chocolate and croissants? Or pretzels, if you don’t like croissants.”
“No,” Nathan said. “I’m sorry, but I can’t go. I’m working right now and the inspector is waiting for me. Thanks for the invitation, but we’ll have to leave it for another time.”
“And how’s the inspector’s father?” Ivy started laughing to herself before even mentioning Raymond Poole.
“Hush,” Flora said. “Save that for the inspector himself. It’s no fun with Nathaniel; he knows us too well.”
“Well,” Aunt Etta said, “Meghan didn’t want to eat anything with us either. Young people don’t know how to enjoy life anymore. Too much work, too much stress, and too little time to spend with friends and family.”
“And eating,” Ivy said.
“Let’s leave the two busy professionals and let’s eat something ourselves,” Aunt Agnes said. “That way, both of you can catch up with your lives.” She winked an eye at us. “Catch up or whatever you want to do. We won’t bother you.”
“Both of you are single right now, aren’t you?” Ivy laughed with her classic hey, hey, hey and patted Nathan’s shoulder. “Young, stylish, and single. Who can imagine what can happen?”
“You two would have beautiful children.” Aunt Etta never worried about the possibility of saying something inappropriate. She either didn’t realize or she didn’t care. I think it was the latter; she was too good at sneaking inappropriate comments into every single conversation. “Have you ever thought about the possible genetic combinations.”
The others laughed.
Okay, this was too much. Nathan and I started complaining.
“Don’t kill the messengers!” Aunt Ag
nes said. “We’re simply making an observation. Whatever you decide to do will be perfectly fine. We’re modern and open-minded; we understand that young people sometimes date and get romantic before marriage, and we’re perfectly fine about it. You two have strong morals and good intentions. No harm can come out of such a union, can it?”
Ouch. This is the problem of having old relatives with large social circles. This was an unfair fight: 4 against 2, and the larger team was used to this kind of social interactions. Nathan and I weren’t; we’d lost practice at dodging our aunts. Back when we’d been teens, we hadn’t felt obliged to be polite, so we’d run away instead of greeting them. Ah, the happy lives of youth! I sometimes understood why Peter Pan never wanted to grow up; he must’ve had an aunt with many friends.
“I think we’re overdoing it,” Flora said. “Look at them: both bright red and uncomfortable. Let’s leave and let them cool down, or their circuits will end up burning.”
Ivy laughed loudly. “Look! You’ve made a technological reference!” Ivy said. “Our computer classes are paying off.”
They bid us farewell and left. Nathan kept staring at them until they’d walked far enough to be out of hearing range. He finally let out the air he was holding and shook his head, laughing. “How could we stand them when we were teens?” he said.
“They gave us pocket money,” I said.
“We were too cheap to bribe.” He chuckled, then quickly regained some of his seriousness. “I’m sorry that you’ve had to face Brittany again. The inspector wanted to speak to both of you at the same time. Part of the investigation procedures.”
Wow. I’d forgotten about Brittany and about the inspector! My aunt’s friends had a serious effect on people: they made you lose track of everything you were doing.
“Think you’ll solve the case soon?” I asked.
If he didn’t solve the case quickly, the Sand & Sea could end up closing down, but if he did, he’d spend most of the day in Corton and we wouldn’t have an excuse to see each other. Time had passed, and we couldn’t act like old friends out of the blue if we’d barely seen each other for years. I wanted Pops’ business to survive, but I hoped that Nathan would keep coming to the Sand & Sea. April was my best friend, but I hadn’t realized how much I’d missed Nathan. Was I being selfish? Or was there something else? I didn’t want to think about it.
Nathan told me about Russo, the businessman. They’d confirmed that his business was close to bankruptcy because Parrish had shut down his distribution channels and used every trick at his disposal to increase the interest rates he got from banks. He’d been at the restaurant at the time when Parrish took the Barbiturates, and he’d had the chance to put them in his beer. Nathan had interrogated some of his employees, and they’d told him that he felt betrayed by Parrish and always spoke badly of him. Russo’s clumsiness when dealing with the police had confirmed his position as the prime suspect. They didn’t have other solid leads.
Nathan glanced at his watch. “It’s late,” he said. “Gotta go. Mind if we chat up some other time?”
“I’d love to,” I said.
“Your place or somewhere public,” he said. “I’m still looking for a place of my own and I’m staying at my aunt’s. She won’t leave us alone if I take you there.”
He stepped forward, heading for my cheek, but then stopped himself and looked down. Had he been close to kissing me as a friend, or as something else? This was like a deja-vu, and I no longer knew if Nathan and I were old friends or if we were turning into something else.
I couldn’t tell April about this. She was worse than my aunt and her friends.
Chapter 20
April smelled her cup of black coffee and took a small sip. She frowned and made a face. “Too bitter. Our coffee is way better.”
“If you wanted to drink our coffee, you could’ve stayed at the Sand & Sea,” I said.
“No,” she said. “Antoine is always buzzing around and complaining about everything, and he always kicks Derek out and I have to keep him busy. I want to spend time outdoors for a change.”
The Sand & Sea cafe was empty, so April and I had taken part of the shift off. The place had always been full during breakfast, but this was no longer the case. We needed to find the culprit and solve the crime, or the restaurant would have to close down. We were already losing money.
Instead of staying at the cafe for some coffee, we’d gone elsewhere to try to forget about the business. April said that I was letting the Sand & Sea’s problems drain me and that I needed time for myself. She’d also noticed that I was happier than before and asked me if I’d finally forgotten about Vincent. She used a couple of creative words to describe him, but she quickly changed topics. Neither of us wanted to spend the entire day talking about him.
“This is much better than running around like you always do,” April said. “I don’t understand jogging unless you’re running away from something.”
“It’s healthy,” I said. “Keeps me in shape and lets me forget about everything.”
“And it stops you from breathing properly for half an hour, makes you sweat, and you can’t wear makeup while you’re running. You’ll never look your best when you’re jogging.”
That was April: she preferred to stay indoors, sitting on the couch instead of breathing fresh air.
I didn’t want to agree with her, though. I’d always exercised because it allowed me to eat more without gaining weight. I hadn’t had much free time during college or in my previous job. Now that I’d finally found empty slots in my schedule, I wanted to use them to improve myself.
The weather didn’t make my life easy, though.
It was cloudy, with an intense mist that barely let me see anything. Mornings were the best time to jog, but I’d had to stop in case a distracted cyclist collided with me without prior warning. No, this wasn’t a New Year’s resolution that I’d end up forgetting within a week. I was serious about taking care of my body and my fitness levels… more or less.
“I wouldn’t bother jogging,” April said. “Guys who exercise are too focused on their bodies. They rarely have any brains.”
Why did she always have to turn everything into man-hunting? She was as unlucky with men as I was, but she still hadn’t given up. She hadn’t even given up when Too – the abbreviation of Tattoo – had crashed at her couch even after breaking up. He’d needed somewhere to stay while he looked for a job, but he’d spent all day watching TV and living off her.
“I’m not jogging to catch anyone,” I said. “I’m just trying to keep healthy.”
“How can it be healthy if you can’t breathe?”
“It helps build your heart’s muscles,” I said, “and it burns fat. And―”
Wow, that’s the best-looking guy I’ve seen in years!
A tall man with enough muscles to look fit, but not enough to be overworked, jogged past us. He had jet black hair and wore a t-shirt and short running pants that fitted him perfectly. My mind went blank and I simply stared at him run away. He was jogging at a good pace, but he didn’t look tired.
I wouldn’t have minded seeing his face and chatting with him. Hi, I’m Meghan. I’m single because my last boyfriend cheated on me.
What was I thinking? I didn’t want anything to do with men, not for a long while. If I ever decided to look for another boyfriend, I was going to ask for references to avoid unpleasant surprises.
But why hadn’t I crossed paths with any handsome men whenever I did run?
“Whoa.” April returned to her cup of coffee once he’d moved too far. “I’m telling you, girl. I think I’m going to join you in your morning runs. I didn’t know you could find these… surprises. Do I know him?”
How was I supposed to know? I hadn’t even seen his face. I didn’t even know if I knew him.
“I’ve never seen him before,” I said.
“Yeah, right.” She folded her arms. “I get it. You want to keep him all for yourself. Does he have any single friends
? Are they as handsome as he is?”
I shook my head. April was incorrigible. I told her to run with me next time in case we ran onto him. He was fair game if he showed an interest in either of us, and we were more likely to engage in conversation with him if we were both jogging.
If we didn’t run onto him, which was far more likely, at least we’d keep in shape.
Chapter 21
“These cookies are amazing.” Nathan munched onto some of the treats I’d stolen from Antoine. Not having enough customers came with extra perks. “Have you made them yourself?”
“Do you really think that I’d be a manager if I could cook like this?” I said. “I’d be on TV shows.”
He would’ve continued praising the cookies, but he was too busy eating.
Nathan had dropped by my house earlier that afternoon, and we’d decided to have some coffee outside. The day was perfect, bright enough to hurt your eyes if you didn’t protect them with sunglasses or with your hand.
We’d chatted about the Sand & Sea and our lack of customers, about his new job in Corton, and about old times. I’d missed talking to him, but I hadn’t even realized. Sometimes, two people cease contact so gradually that they don’t notice that something is missing in their lives until they spend time together again. That’s exactly what had happened between Nathan and me.
He told me about the drugs that the pharmacist had sold, but they hadn’t been able to link some of them to anyone. Someone had taken photo-manipulated the vet’s prescription, so they couldn’t be linked to anyone in particular. They were back to square one in terms of tracking where the barbiturates had come from. Carlo Russo had bought some, but Nathan didn’t think he’d murdered the victim.
“I hope that you find the murderer and lock him up soon,” I said. “The Sand & Sea won’t survive much longer.”
“Is it so bad?” Nathan asked with worry.
I nodded. It was bad, and worse. If Russo had murdered Parrish, then I wanted them to prove it soon. Otherwise, I wanted them to find the culprit and make their arrest very public.
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