Shooting in the Dark

still something else. You’re warm, but you’re not burning your fingers.’
    ‘Something else?’ said Marie. ‘A gorgeous young lady in peril. That would normally be enough to get his teeth into. What’s missing? She would be... vulnerable in some way. She’s an unattached, gorgeous young lady?’
    ‘Yes, but you’re still not there. And whether they’re attached or not hasn’t made much difference in the past.’ Marie laughed. ‘Are we talking extremes here, Celia? Like an unattached, gorgeous, and far-too-young lady in peril with a built-in tragedy. She’s handicapped in some way. A one-legged gorgeous lady?’
    ‘No, you’re not going to get there,’ said Celia. ‘She’s blind, and she’s got an exotic name, and she wears clothes to die for, and she’s rich as well, I wouldn’t wonder. She’s all the other things you said, as well. I think I liked her.’
    ‘And is she a possible soul-mate for the chief detective?’ Celia smiled wryly. ‘Well, dear, they’re all possible.’
    ‘Especially the young and the beautiful.’
    Sam put the phone down and came over to collect his coffee. He picked up the mug with his left hand. ‘You talking about me?’
    ‘Is there anything else in here to stimulate a girl’s imagination?’ Marie asked.
    ‘We were speculating about your love life,’ said Celia. ‘Doesn’t seem to be a lot happening on that front.’
    ‘There’s the physiotherapist at the hospital,’ Sam said. ‘Seems like a possible.’
    Marie and Celia exchanged glances. They both smiled. Sam eyed them both, Marie first, then he passed on to Celia. ‘I’m not gonna fall for this,’ he said. ‘You two trying to set me up with someone?’
    ‘We’d decided you don’t need any help,’ Marie said. ‘That’s right. I don’t. If someone comes along, you’ll be the first to know. In fact, if past form is anything to go by, you two’ll probably know before I do.’
    Marie looked at Celia, and they both fell on each other, peels of falsetto laughter filling the office.
    While Sam, sitting on the corner of a desk nursing his right hand, told them about his interview with Angeles Falco, the others grouped themselves around him. Celia maintained her position by the coffee pot, Geordie sprawled in a chair, his long thin legs spread wide apart. JD had moved towards Marie, but had pulled up short before he reached her. It was as if he sensed an invisible barrier which he was not to cross.
    There had been a time, when they first met, that Marie had fallen for JD in a big way. But he came with too many problems for her to handle. Marie’s counsellor, and Celia, most of her friends, all said she was too fussy, that the perfect man never happened. JD wasn’t that bad, he was kind and he kept himself clean, didn’t overdo the booze. Most women in her position would’ve settled for him. But Marie wouldn’t settle for anything. JD was fine, she could work with him; if it came to it, they could spend time together after office hours, but she didn’t want to find herself sharing the same bed with the guy. No, please.
    Unfortunately, JD still thought there was a chance for him. Marie had told him several times that he had passed out of her sexual landscape, but he couldn’t grasp the concept. For a writer, the guy seemed to have a distinct difficulty with the language.
    ‘You mean you don’t want to screw me,’ he’d say.
    ‘Absolutely not. The only thing on offer here is friendship. Talking. Full stop. For physical contact to happen your life would have to be in danger.’
    ‘But we could have a meal together?’
    ‘Not with candles. And not in the evening. No dinner. We could have lunch together.’
    He’d sigh. ‘What about movies? Do we have to se movies in the afternoon?’
    ‘Yeah, and on the front row.’
    ‘You could have a word with the manager, maybe he’d arrange to leave the house lights on.’
    ‘I want everything to be straight,’ she’d say. ‘There’s never going to be anything sexual about this relationship.’
    ‘You might change, Marie. After a while things could seem different.’
    ‘No.’
    ‘Why d’you have to be so rigid?’
    He couldn’t take it in. By making sex a no-go area, she was aware that it became a more attractive proposition to him. Forbidden fruit. If she made her body available to him, he’d probably be sniffing around other women, especially the groupies who followed his band. But that wasn’t the answer for Marie. And