The Detective's Secret (Detective's Daughter) by Thomson Lesley

Author:Thomson, Lesley [Thomson, Lesley]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
ISBN: 9781781857694
Publisher: Head of Zeus
Published: 2015-04-08T16:00:00+00:00

40

Saturday, 26 October 2013

‘Stella I need to tell you—’ Jack started as he shut the door.

‘We’ve made a breakthrough!’ Stella had intended to confront Jack about coming to her flat, but, reassured by his email saying that he wanted to ‘take stock’ – they were a team – she let it go. Jack would have had his reasons; best not to probe.

She dropped on to the chair by his desk and swivelled to face the room. Stanley sat at her feet, eyes on Jack. She didn’t trust his mood and fished a liver treat from her anorak, popping it in his mouth. Jackie said Stanley got jealous of her giving Jack attention. Stella had disagreed. She and Jack were ships in the night – or day; she saw more of the dog so no problem. Besides, he was just a dog.

Jack went to the window, arms folded, his hands under his armpits. ‘I wanted to explain why I was—’

‘I’m cleaning Rick Frost’s house. Lulu Carr is his widow!’

‘We already know his wife is called Tallulah Frost.’ Jack pushed off the window sill. Stanley got up, tail whirling.

‘She’s using her maiden name and a diminutive of her real name. Lulu is short for Tallulah. Tallulah Frost says she wants a fresh start, like we offer at Clean Slate,’ Stella ploughed on.

‘Is this your client whose husband left her?’

‘He didn’t leave. He’s dead.’

‘She lives in Perrers Road?’

‘Yes!’ It was late; Stella forgave Jack being slow to grasp the immensity of her discovery.

‘So you were cleaning there already?’ Jack asked. ‘Before we got this case?’

‘Yes! I’ve spent hours listening to Lulu – or Tallulah. I know more than I might if we’d interviewed her, except now I don’t know what’s true and what’s made up. I told her we were working for her brother-in-law. She said he should mind his own business. He was right, no love lost there.’

‘Stella, you are the best of Wonderhorses!’ Jack spread his arms.

Stanley gave a shrill bark. Stella decided that Jackie was right about him getting possessive.

‘It’s a sign! Amongst the fabrication will be a kernel of truth. Her husband may have been having an affair. Strip away the narrative and we’ve got betrayal at the core of this case.’

Stella didn’t quite see how Jack had arrived at this conclusion.

‘Dying is like leaving. Suppose he was having an affair with this Nicola and then he died. Tallulah Frost or Lulu would feel rejected. OK, so now we have a suspect with a motive.’ He put his phone and a plastic box of dental floss on the bedspread in front of him, presumably to represent suspect and motive. ‘Lulu/Tallulah Frost finds out and chases him off the platform. She can’t accept she’s killed him so reframes it as being jilted which, as I said, is also true. I guess she’s more comfortable being the victim than the persecutor.’

‘She told her brother about the affair.’ Stella felt exhausted. There were too many facts that might be fiction. Now she understood why Lulu’s husband had left so much stuff.

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