Necessary as Blood

the carpet. Her toenails were painted a bright coral with pink polka dots, a surprisingly feminine contrast to her plain, un-made-up face. Abba—‘
    ‘Mr Malik was a man of good character, although we did not think it right for our daughter to be in his house with his wife away. I cannot think how this thing can have happened.‘ When his wife was away? Gemma wondered if this was a euphemism, or if Mr Hakim didn‘t know that Sandra Gilles had gone missing months earlier.
    ‘Abba,‘ Alia said more forcefully, and this time her father looked at her. ‘I‘m trying to tell you. I was there on Saturday, taking care of Charlotte. I know you don‘t like me to be there on the weekends, but Naz — Mr Malik — asked me to come for just a few minutes while he went out.‘ Her accent, in contrast to her father‘s singsong lilt, seemed even more nasally Estuary than Gemma had noticed before. ‘I might have been — maybe I was the last person to see him alive.‘
    Mr Hakim‘s moustache turned down at the corners as he tightened his lips. ‘You, Alia. If this is true, you have been very disobedient. I think you will have to pay a visit to your auntie in Sylhet if you cannot show respect for your parents‘ wishes. We have had enough of this nonsense about lawyer school, this going and doing without any sense of what is proper. Your sisters—‘
    ‘My sisters have married totally boring men and lead totally boring lives,‘ Alia said vehemently as her mother came back into the room with a tea tray. All they think about is babies and sweets and the latest Indian pop song—‘
    ‘Alia.‘ The sharpness of Kincaid‘s tone stopped her mid-word. ‘You may not have been the last person to see Mr Malik alive. We think Mr Malik may have been murdered, and I need you to tell me anything you can remember about that day.‘
    The shock was mirrored on the faces of parents and child, but it was Alia who spoke. ‘Murdered? Naz murdered? But how — why?‘
    ‘The police pathologist thinks someone gave him drugs and he suff—‘ Kincaid hesitated, and Gemma guessed he was searching for a more palatable description. ‘He stopped breathing.‘
    ‘Drugs?‘ said Mr Hakim. ‘Alia, for you to be involved—‘
    ‘I am not involved,‘ Alia snapped at him. ‘And neither was Naz. Naz wouldn‘t have anything to do with drugs.‘ She turned back to Kincaid and Gemma. ‘Why would someone do this to him?‘
    Out of courtesy, Gemma accepted a cup of the tea Mrs Hakim had poured, sipping gingerly. It was luke-warm, tasted of cardamom and was teeth-achingly sweet. ‘Did Naz say or do anything that was different on Saturday?‘ she asked, glad for an excuse to set down her cup.
    ‘No.‘ Alia shook her head, slowly. ‘But he was... distracted. I told him I‘d made samosas, and he — he didn‘t thank me.‘ She carefully avoided meeting either parent‘s gaze. ‘He was usually very polite.‘
    Gemma suddenly wondered if there was more to Mr Hakim‘s disapproval than fatherly over-protectiveness. Perhaps not on Naz Malik‘s part, but it was only natural that this rather awkward girl might have developed a crush on her employer, especially if she had romanticized Sandra‘s disappearance in some way.
    ‘Did he mention anything about a case he was working on?‘ asked Kincaid. ‘He was defending a Mr Azad, a restaurant owner.‘
    ‘No. Naz — Mr Malik — never talked about work. Well, only a little, when I‘d have questions about my law texts, but then it was only, you know, general. It would have been unethical for him to discuss his clients.‘
    Definitely an echo of hero-worship in the slightly prim reply, thought Gemma, but she said, Aha, did Mr Malik ever mention a man called Ritchie? Lucas Ritchie?‘
    ‘No.‘ Alia frowned. ‘Who is he?‘
    ‘Someone Sandra might have known. Did Mr Malik ever talk to you about what he thought had happened to Sandra?‘
    ‘No. No — well, only at first. The same sort of things you‘re asking me. “Did she say anything?” or "Was there anything different?‘”
    ‘Do you know why Naz and Sandra didn‘t get along with Sandra‘s family?‘
    ‘I — no, not really,‘ said Alia, but her covert glance at her parents was unmistakable. ‘It wasn‘t my business,‘ she added, making Gemma even more certain that she had absorbed every detail of Naz Malik‘s and Sandra Gilles‘s lives.
    ‘And it is no longer her concern,‘ Mr Hakim broke in, addressing Kincaid. ‘I think