Mourn not your Dead

smiled brightly and changed the subject, and they nattered on about mutual friends until Gemma’s sandwich was ready.
    When Gemma had taken a couple of bites and washed them down with tea, she said, “Jackie, what do you know about Gilbert and David Ogilvie?”
    “Ogilvie?” Jackie thought for a moment. “Weren’t he and Gilbert partners? That was before our time, but it seems to me there was some rumor about bad blood between them. Why?”
    Gemma told her what they had learned about Stephen Penmaric’s death, then added, “So it seems that both Gilbert and Ogilvie met Claire at the time of the investigation, then a couple of years later she married Gilbert.”
    Jackie licked the last of the crumbs from her fingers. “I know who might be able to help—you remember Sergeant Talley? He’s been at Notting Hill for donkey’s years and knows everything about everybody.”
    “He told me where to find you.” Gemma looked down at the sandwich in one hand and the tea in the other. “Here.” She handed the sandwich to Jackie and fished her notebook from her handbag. “I’ll stop back at the station and see if I can—”
    “Wait, Gemma, let me do it,” Jackie said, the temptation of a second bun forgotten. “You’ve got to understand about Talley. He may be the world’s worst gossip, but he doesn’t see himself that way. He’d never be willing to drag up any dirt on someone in our nick to an outsider—and you’re an outsider now.”
    “Ouch.” Gemma winced.
    “Sorry,” Jackie said with a grin. “But you know what I mean.” And it was true, she thought. She could see in Gemma now what hadn’t been apparent yesterday—the focus, the drive that made her CID material. It was not so much that Gemma had changed, for those qualities had always been there, but rather that she’d found the job which utilized her talents, and in doing so had moved away from Jackie and the life they’d shared.
    “You wouldn’t mind talking to him about it?” Tucking her notebook under one arm, Gemma retrieved her sandwich and nibbled at it again.
    “I’ll try to get him in the canteen for a cuppa when I get off shift, get him reminiscing. And I don’t mind a bit,” Jackie added slowly. “You’ve got my curiosity roused. I hope this detective stuff isn’t catching.”
     
    “HE’S GOT A RECORD.” NICK DEVENEY LOOKED UP AT KIN-caid and Gemma as they entered the incident room in Guildford Police Station. He and Will Darling had been bent over a computer printout, and the quick smile he gave Gemma was his only greeting. “I didn’t manage to get in touch with your friend Madeleine Wade until this morning, and it turned out he worked for her, too. Did some heavy lifting in the shop and a bit of painting in the flat.”
    Wondering at the barb implied by the emphasis on “your friend,” Gemma glanced at Kincaid, but he only looked amused. “Who has a record?” she asked. “What are you talking about?”
    “Geoff Genovase,” said Will. “Done for burglary five years ago. He was managing a hi-fi shop in Wimbledon, and it seems he and a mate from the shop decided to liberate some of the merchandise in the supplier’s warehouse. Unfortunately they hadn’t quite got the knack of disabling alarm systems, so Genovase did time in one of Her Majesty’s best hotels.”
    Gemma sat down in the nearest chair. “I don’t believe it.”
    “He did some sort of odd job for everyone in the village who reported a theft,” said Deveney. “Coincidences like that don’t manufacture themselves. And if he did the others, why not the Gilberts’, only this time something went wrong.”
    She thought of the gentle young man who had fed her cheese and pickle so solicitously, whose face had lit with eagerness when she inquired about his computer game. “Why didn’t you tell me?” her voice rose as she turned to Kincaid.
    His face registered surprise as he looked up from the printout he’d taken from Deveney. “It was just a hunch. I had no idea it would pan out.”
    “I’ve applied for a warrant,” said Deveney. “Hope we don’t have to search the whole bloody pub.”
    Kincaid returned the printout to Will and stood staring into space, his eyes slightly unfocused. After a moment he straightened and said decisively, “Listen, Nick, I’m not willing to drop everything else to run with this. I still think we should follow up on Reid and the London angle.” He turned to Gemma. “Why don’t you and Will go to