No Mark Upon Her

wondered if Jachym’s disbelief were a bit manufactured. Surely it must have occurred to him that Freddie would be a suspect. “Human nature, as you said,” he answered. “Sometimes there’s a fine line between love and hate. No one else can be sure how they really got on.”
    “I knew them,” said Milo, his jaw set in an obstinate line. “And I don’t believe it.”
    Doug conceded for the moment. “Then have you any idea who might have wanted Becca Meredith dead?”
    “No.” Milo shook his head. “I can’t imagine. Do you know—how did she—”
    “That’s still under investigation. As is last night’s attack on one of the members of the search and rescue team that found her body.”
    “What?” If Milo had not been surprised that they’d determined Becca’s death a homicide, he seemed genuinely shocked at this. “What sort of attack? On whom?”
    “His name is Kieran Connolly. He and his partner were the team at the weir. Someone tried to burn down his boatshed last night—with him in it. Do you know him?”
    Milo thought for a moment. “Quiet guy? Repairs boats? I’ve talked to him a few times. He’s done work for some of the crew as well as the members. Does a good job,” he added approvingly. “Is he all right?”
    “I think so, yes. Were you aware that Connolly had a relationship with Becca Meredith?”
    “A relationship ? What do you mean by a relationship ?” Milo looked disconcerted.
    “What people usually mean, Mr. Jachym. They were sleeping together.”
    Milo frowned, considering. “I did see them out on the river together often enough, during the summer,” he said slowly. “But they were both single scullers, and it never occurred to me that there was anything more to it. Are you certain? Did Freddie—” He stopped, and Doug saw by the sudden wariness in his eyes where the thought had taken him.
    “Did Freddie know?” Doug finished for him. “If he had, would he have been jealous?”
    “I— No. I don’t know. I don’t think so.” Milo looked into his mug as if the sludge at the bottom might yield an answer. “Becca and Freddie—they were comfortable together. Sometimes they seemed more like siblings. And it was Freddie, after all, who strayed from the marital fold, not Becca.”
    “But she left him ?”
    “After that, yes. Or maybe I should say, after them .”
    “Freddie had more than one affair?”
    “Freddie can’t help being charming,” Milo said, with an indulgence that made Doug wonder if everyone gave Freddie Atterton free passes for bad behavior. “And to be fair,” Milo went on, “with her job, Becca hadn’t much time for him.”
    “What about the rowing? She must have been very focused on that, as well.”
    “Not until this last year. I thought she’d given it up for good, to tell you the truth, although she kept her membership here for social reasons. Then, in the spring, she bought a boat. But she was secretive about her training. She kept the shell here, but she didn’t go out with the crew. Oh, she rowed the occasional piece on the weekend, but I could see she was holding back, coasting. I think, now, that she was just checking out the competition.”
    “So when did you decide she was serious?” Doug asked.
    “Couple of weeks ago.” Milo looked out at the view over the river, and Doug thought that he was uncomfortable, even a little embarrassed. “I timed her.”
    “Without her knowledge?”
    “It’s not illegal, Sergeant,” said Milo with a hint of sharpness. He seemed to have recovered his composure quickly enough. “It was just a small conspiracy with one of the rowers. This was after one of the boys let slip she’d bribed a few of them to help her move weights and an erg into the cottage. I was . . . curious. It is my job, after all, to see what my crew is up against.”
    “And?”
    “She was better.” He met Doug’s eyes again.
    “Would she have rowed for you?”
    “Maybe. But Becca was never exactly a team player. And the other women wouldn’t have been happy with her coming in and riding roughshod over their positions.”
    “Tricky, then,” Doug said.
    “Not really. If Becca had wanted to race on her own, and had the means to do it, she wouldn’t have worried about hurting anyone’s feelings, including mine.”
    “Disappointing for you, after all the work you’ve put in with your own crew,” suggested Doug, in his best attempt at Kincaid-style casualness.
    “What?” Milo gave a bark of laughter.