TOYL

been asking me to come over for a while.’
    ‘And did you have a good time?’
    ‘It was good while it lasted. I was only here in the end for a few days.’
    ‘Why’s that?’
    ‘Oh, I need to sort something out at home.’
    ‘That’s a shame, to come all that way just for a few days.’
    ‘Couldn’t be helped. I really do need to get back.’
    ‘Must be important.’
    ‘It is,’ he replied. ‘So, why did you go to Canada? To see your son?’
    ‘Okay,’ she said, knowing full well that he’d just slammed the door on that part of the conversation. ‘We’ll talk about me for a while. I was over to see my new granddaughter.’
    ‘That’s nice.’
    ‘It was very nice. She’s beautiful. Alex – that’s my son – has such a wonderful family now. I just wish my husband had been alive to see it.’
    ‘Sorry about that,’ Will said.
    ‘That’s okay,’ she said, smiling. ‘Anyway – he might not be around to see anymore, but I can still feel his love. I love him now as much as I ever did, and I know that he loves me back.’
    ‘It must be great,’ Will said, ‘to feel so close to someone, even though they’re gone.’
    ‘Isn’t it the same for all those who we love? Just because they’re not here in front of us doesn’t mean they’re gone.’
    ‘I wish I believed that,’ he lamented. ‘My mum died a few years ago. But I don’t feel like you do. She’s dead and that’s that.’
    ‘What about the people you love that are still alive?’
    ‘I don’t really get on with my dad,’ he admitted. ‘But I do love my sister – she’s the person I love the most. We’ve always been really close.’
    ‘Well, that’s good,’ she said. ‘Isn’t it?’ she added, noticing Will’s solemn expression.
    ‘Oh, yes, of course,’ he said. ‘It’s just that, well, I don’t know whether… I have to tell her something, and I think that after I do everything will change.’
    He stopped, suddenly feeling emotional.
    ‘It’s okay,’ she said, ‘you don’t need to tell me anything.’
    He turned to look out of the window and tried to wipe away a tear as subtly as possible. He hoped he wouldn’t just crack up in this flying tin can, where there was no chance of escape.
    ‘I’m fine,’ he said.
    ‘Maybe it would help to talk about it,’ the lady suggested.
    He shook his head. ‘You wouldn’t want to know.’
    ‘Maybe I do,’ she replied. ‘Look, if you’re embarrassed about whatever it is, don’t be. Once we get off this plane you’ll never see me again.’
    Will looked around, not quite believing that he was even considering telling a stranger his secret. But the lady was right – they wouldn’t meet again. And he needed to tell someone – to release all the built-up pressure that had been boiling away for years. She didn’t even know his name, and he wouldn’t have to give her the full details. He noted that the passengers in the seats in front and behind were wearing headphones as they watched the in-flight movie. The man on the other side of the lady was asleep. They wouldn’t be overheard.
    ‘Okay,’ he said. ‘I’ll tell you.’

44

    Emma and Stuart watched as Detective Inspector Gasnier leafed through the set of photographs as if he was reviewing a poker hand.
    ‘And you had no idea that these photos were being taken?’ he asked, paying particular attention to a photograph of Emma from her apartment window.
    ‘No,’ Emma replied. ‘Well, except for the couple of photos he took up on Primrose Hill.’
    Gasnier maintained his poker face. He then placed the photographs on the coffee table and took a seat across from them, next to his colleague.
    ‘So who did you say this man was?’ he asked.
    ‘His name’s Eric,’ Emma said.
    ‘But no surname?’
    ‘No,’ Emma replied, infuriated that he had asked that question twice in less than five minutes. ‘And I don’t know where he lives. But he always hangs around up on Primrose Hill.’
    ‘How did you get these photographs?’
    ‘We took them from him,’ Stuart interjected. ‘I took them.’
    ‘Forcibly?’
    ‘I didn’t hurt him,’ Stuart clarified. ‘I just wanted to get the film.’
    ‘Did you,’ Gasnier mused, rather ominously.
    ‘We thought that he could have been the person from last night,’ Emma said.
    ‘But none of these photos match the ones from last night?’ Gasnier asked.
    Emma shook her head. ‘No.’
    ‘Emma,’ he said. ‘I appreciate that this is a really bad time