LITMIR.BIZ

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used to wonder if this cottage was haunted,’ Hannah said.

      ‘Whaaat?’ She was normally so logical, and yet she thought ghosts might be stalking the property.

      ‘It’s cold and there are strange noises. And you always used to look up at the ceilings …’ Hannah blushed. ‘Sorry. I know why you did that.’

      ‘I think we can lay the blame at the door of the geriatric boiler. You know there’s that company called Victorian Plumbing, which I always thought was a weird name. Well, my boiler actually is Victorian plumbing. And as for me looking at the ceilings …’

      ‘I’m sorry. I know.’

      ‘Yes. It’s okay. I’m over it. Most of the time I can walk into a room without thinking a family member’s going to be hanging from the rafters. It’s all good.’

      Hannah winced. ‘I honestly don’t know why I said that.’

      ‘It’s fine. And maybe the house is haunted. It’s ancient and it has its own microclimate and socks disappear all the time. Maybe there’s a poltergeist.’

      ‘Ha. Yeah, why can’t poltergeists ever tidy up, if they’re in the market for shifting stuff around.’ Hannah paused. ‘Seriously though, I know you’ll battle on and work hard and get far too emotionally involved in your new case, because that’s what you’re like, but you do need time … you know, to get over your gran.’

      ‘Time to get over being a coward and letting her suffer needlessly, after all she’d been through?’

      ‘It wasn’t your fault, Meg. She said she didn’t want to go to Dignitas after all.’

      ‘She was just protecting us. And me and Mum knew it. We knew the kindest thing was to take her, but we let her persuade us not to.’

      ‘You’d been through a lot too. And you weren’t to know it would drag on so long and so … horribly.’

      I felt my eyes mist over with tears. I wanted to tell Hannah how much I appreciated her, how important she was to me, even though I could be prickly. She knew what I was like, knew how I could fall into that pit. I couldn’t find the words. ‘Hannah, I’m okay. But … thanks for keeping an eye on me.’

      She shook her head slightly. ‘Someone has to. And how’s your mum doing?’

      I closed my eyes and pictured Mum rigid with grief and horror at what Gran had gone through. ‘She’s a lot better at coping than me. Throwing herself at causes like a silver-haired ninja. I’m not sure her reaction’s entirely normal.’

      ‘Since when has your mum been normal? For her, heading off to El Salvador on a mercy-mission is quite in character.’

      A knock on the door. ‘Oh shit, Jai’s here.’ I blinked and leaped up, negotiating the hallway, which was narrowed by the presence of too many books. The front door had been sticking in the hot weather and I had to give it such a wrench, I stumbled backwards when it finally opened.

      Jai looked at me with a slight frown. ‘Always so composed and dignified.’

      ‘Yeah, maybe Stiletto Woman isn’t my destiny super-hero.’ I grabbed the bottle of wine and six-pack of beer he was holding. ‘I can barely stay upright in flats.’

      ‘I have no idea what you’re talking about.’ He caught my eye. ‘Are you okay?’

      I hurriedly rubbed my face. ‘Yes, come in.’

      Jai stepped in, surveying the piles of books stacked along the wall. ‘Have they been breeding? Asexual reproduction?’

      ‘I had to move them around to do some cleaning. They’re reeling from the shock of it, but they’ll be fine. Come and meet Hannah.’

      I led Jai into the living room and made the introductions.

      ‘I finally get to meet him!’ Hannah cried, then turned to Jai: ‘She’s always going on about you.’

      ‘I am not always going on about him, Hannah. Jesus.’

      I sat Jai on the chair in the damp corner. Hamlet gave him one of the slow blinks I loved so much, and settled deeper into Hannah’s knee, purring furiously. I went to check on the food.

      When I returned with drinks, it was obvious they were bonding. Possibly over-bonding.

      ‘Does she give you that look too?’ Hannah said. ‘Like it could freeze boiling oil.’

      I put wine glasses on the coffee table. ‘I am here, you know.’

      ‘There’s the look,’ Jai said.

      I ignored him. ‘I think we’ll eat in here. It’s too cramped in the kitchen and the garden’s complicated.’

      ‘That’s fine,’ Hannah said. ‘Saves me having to move. Are you working on that case too, Jai? The sausage girl?’

      ‘She’s a real person,’ I said. ‘Just because you’ve seen her eating sausages in a bikini doesn’t mean she’s pretend.’

      ‘Sorry,’ Hannah said. ‘You’re right. Famous people never seem real.’

      I wanted to say, She’s not what you think. She’s not just a girl in a bikini. She reads feminist books and appreciates art. But obviously I couldn’t say that.

      I nipped out to check on the food and returned with three plates on a tray. I overhead Jai saying, ‘Yes, Suki wants kids of her own, but she doesn’t like mine very much. It’s as if she thinks by accepting mine, she’s giving up on having her own. But I don’t want more.’ How did Hannah get people to do this? I should have had her on the interrogation team.

      I handed them plates. ‘It’s like my silver service days all over again. Guests chatting away to each other; me the irrelevant waitress.’

      ‘Except you haven’t chucked boiling-hot soup in my lap,’ Hannah said. She was attempting to eat her food without moving Hamlet. There’s an unwritten rule in my house about moving cats.

      My mobile went. I put my plate down and fished it from my pocket, in case it was work-related. Dad. The father I hadn’t heard from in months, who hardly ever phoned me and was relatively monosyllabic when I called him. I stared at the screen, frozen. My finger hovered.

      ‘Sorry,’ I said. ‘It’s Dad. I’d better take it. He never calls. Something must be wrong.’

      I touched the green button. ‘Dad, are you okay?’

      His voice came over too loud, as if he was nervous. ‘Yes, fine. And you?’

      I stood and mouthed, ‘Sorry,’ to Hannah and Jai. They were already deep in conversation. No doubt Hannah was telling him all my most excruciating stories.

      I walked into the hallway. ‘What’s going on, Dad?’

      ‘Do I need a reason to phone my daughter?’

      Irritation fought with that old desire to please him. ‘You never normally call.’

      He separated his words, as if it was the early days of telephone communication. ‘I thought I might visit you.’

      I sank onto the hall stairs. ‘Visit me? Why?’

      ‘To see you. I know your grandmother died recently. I wanted to make sure you were all right.’

      I felt tears welling up. He hadn’t visited me for years. ‘Have you spoken to Mum?’

      ‘She doesn’t like talking to me.’

      ‘But Dad, she tried calling you about Gran and you didn’t get back to her.’

      ‘I never got those messages. So is it okay if I visit?’

      ‘Of course it is. My house isn’t big though. You know that? Or tidy.’

      ‘I

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