Necessary as Blood

liable to be dodgy.
    Looking at his watch, Cullen saw that there would be no flat-hunting on the agenda that afternoon. As he pulled out his mobile to check in with Kincaid, he thought about the call he‘d had earlier from Gemma, asking for Roy Blakely‘s address. Should he mention it? Had she told Kincaid, as she‘d promised? Either way, Cullen would look like a telltale if he said anything about it, and that irritated him. Whatever her rationale, she was meddling in their case, and he didn‘t like it. He disliked even more the fact that he couldn‘t complain about it.
    But he would just have to bide his time.

    Betty Howard rang just as Gemma was walking into the house. Putting her handbag down, Gemma juggled her mobile while trying to pet the dogs jumping excitedly at her legs. There was no suit jacket tossed carelessly over the coat rack — Duncan wasn‘t home yet. Nor was there any immediate sign of the boys, so she guessed they were in the garden.
    Betty‘s rich voice came distantly until she managed to get the phone to her ear. ‘— hate to bother you so soon, Gemma, but Wesley‘s working at the cafe tonight and I‘ve got a carnival meeting — an emergency costume summit.‘ Betty chuckled. ‘Would you mind keeping little Charlotte? It will only be for an hour or two.‘
    Gemma suddenly found that her heart was beating a bit faster. ‘No, of course I don‘t mind. What time will you bring her? Or do you want me to pick her up?‘
    ‘I‘ll drop her in half an hour, if that‘s all right. She‘ll have had her tea.‘
    ‘Right. See you then.‘ Gemma was hanging up when she heard a tread on the front steps and Duncan came in, jacket already thrown over his shoulder, tie off and shirt sleeves rolled up.
    ‘You look positively pink,‘ he said. She felt the rasp of stubble as he kissed her cheek. She put a hand to his shoulder and held her cheek to his a moment longer. When she let go, he studied her. ‘Are you sunburned, or are you glad to see me?‘
    ‘No. Yes, 1 mean. Both.‘ She didn‘t know why she felt so flustered. It wasn‘t as if she didn‘t know how to look after a toddler, although it had begun to seem a long time since Toby was that small. ‘What I mean is, we‘re having company.‘

Chapter Sixteen

... for home to me was certainly never anything remotely material. It consisted, I have decided, in something I sensed as refuge: an atmosphere of safety in the love between my parents. It came in a tone of voice, in the preparation and eating of meals, in conversations during washing up and being busy in the garden.

Dennis Severs, 18 Folgate Street:
The Tale of a House in Spitalfields

    It was rough going at first. Charlotte had come willingly into Gemma‘s arms when Betty had dropped her off, but once in the house, the dogs barking and jumping up had frightened her and she had buried her head against Gemma‘s shoulder.
    ‘It‘s all right, lovey,‘ Gemma had soothed. ‘The doggies just want to be friends with you.‘ But Charlotte had clung even more tightly to Bob, her plush elephant, and watched the dogs with wide, frightened eyes. Naz and Sandra hadn‘t had a dog, Gemma thought, so perhaps she wasn‘t accustomed to them.
    Duncan had changed into T-shirt and jeans and gone out to fetch the boys from the garden. Now, having seen Betty‘s little van drive past, they all came trooping in to examine their guest.
    ‘Say hello to Charlotte, boys,‘ said Gemma.
    Toby, already wound up from playing outside and the excitement of Duncan‘s homecoming, stomped through the hall shrieking, ‘I‘m Captain Hook, and I‘m going to feed you to the crocodile‘, holding up a clawlike hand.
    In desperation, they had retired his Pirates of the Caribbean films and replaced them with every version they could find of Peter Pan. Now, Gemma wasn‘t sure that had been an improvement.
    ‘Toby, if you can‘t behave nicely, you can go to your room,‘ Gemma told him as Charlotte buried her head still further.
    When Duncan gave him a warning look and said, ‘Calm down, sport‘, Toby subsided a bit, but kept singing under his breath and making little flying motions.
    Duncan touched Charlotte‘s curls and said gently, ‘Well, you‘re a pretty girl, aren‘t you, love?‘
    Kit, who had been standing back, observing, took charge. ‘She‘s afraid of the dogs,‘ he whispered, then he turned to Charlotte and said, ‘Hi, Charlotte. I‘m Kit. That‘s Tfess and that‘s Geordie.‘ He