My Family and Other Suspects by Kate Emery

Author:Kate Emery [Kate Emery]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
Published: 2024-08-30T00:00:00+00:00

‘I thought you were down at the dam.’

This is, you don’t have to tell me, not a great line. It’s not a denial. It’s not an excuse. It’s straight up self-incrimination and I really thought I’d be better than this in a crisis. I’m disappointed in myself.

‘I’m back.’ His face, which normally tends towards blandly benign, is crinkled into an expression that might be anger. It might even be rage. ‘What are you doing in my room?’

I could point out that this really isn’t his room and it’s really not even Aunty Bec’s room and if it’s anyone’s room but GG’s it’s closer to being my dad’s room than his, which makes it closer to being my room than Shippy’s, but of course I don’t say any of that because there’s still a chance I can just walk away from this.

‘Sorry, I was just looking for, uh, a tampon.’

This is more like it. Obviously, it makes no sense at all that I’d be looking for a tampon in Aunty Bec’s shoe, but I’m operating, for the second time tonight, on the instinct that anything to do with periods makes dudes like Shippy profoundly uncomfortable. I may have failed with Dad (who, now I come to think about it, always stocks up on period knickers for me when they’re on sale in the supermarket, so what was I even thinking?) but Shippy seems like a guy who could be brought undone by the phrase heavy flow.

Except Shippy is either more enlightened about menstruation than I thought (unlikely) or he doesn’t believe a word I’ve said (more likely), because he doesn’t seem remotely bothered. Instead, he chooses this moment to notice the letter in my hands. His eyes go to Aunty Bec’s running shoes and I know I am more screwed than Ali that time her mum discovered her secret TikTok account (it was actually super wholesome, dedicated to where to find the best banh mi in Perth, but do you think her mum wanted to hear that?).

‘Where did you get that?’

He knows the answer, so I don’t bother saying anything, I just stand up and shuffle backwards as he comes further into the room, shrinking it, instantly. The door is still open, but he’s between me and it and there’s a vein in his neck that’s suddenly as thick and dangerous as a dugite.

‘Give it to me.’ This is not a pass the salt or make us a cup of tea kind of a request. This is a demand.

Over Shippy’s shoulder I can see the empty hallway. Did Shippy come back alone? I desperately want Dad, but I’d settle for Aunty Bec, who, even if she did have something to do with GG’s death, surely wouldn’t let Shippy actually hurt me. Not like this, anyway. Probably not. Would she?

I try to do something brave, the kind of thing a real girl detective in a book might do, safe in the knowledge that she’s the hero of the story and will definitely

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