Page 108 of We Chase Shadows

Steve’s phone rings, and he glances down. Amy.

‘I should …’ he says. ‘I’m sorry, I should get this.’

‘Of course,’ says Georgie.

‘And, listen,’ says Steve, ‘I’m going to talk as if I’ve just been to the dentist.’

Georgie shrugs this off as if it’s the most natural thing in the world.

‘A-a-m-my,’ says Steve, thickly.

‘They’ve found a body at the castle,’ says Amy. ‘Hitman, I think. Young guy. It’s a mess. Brains everywhere. Get over here.’

Steve looks at Georgie. ‘I’m so sorry to do this to you. But they’ve just found a body.’

Georgie looks panicked. ‘Not Vern?’

‘Not Vern,’ says Steve, putting a reassuring hand on her shoulder. ‘Some kid with his head blown off.’

‘And if I could just take you through our specials today,’ says the waiter.

56

Whoever the man was, he had made it past both moats, so you had to give him credit for that at least. He had found himself a vantage point behind a copse of trees and dug in. His little hiding place couldn’t be seen from the house, but had a perfect view of the entrance. It’s exactly where Amy would have dug in if she was planning to kill someone.

She looks down at the man, bleached blond hair, eagle tattoo, back of his skull blown off. That wouldn’t have happened to her, she’s pretty sure of it, but not everyone is her.

‘When did you hear the shots?’ Amy asks. She had stepped out of her car and straight into the middle of a crime scene.

‘About 12.30,’ says Lee. Amy would have made a note of the exact time if she had been there.

‘12.33,’ says Ernesto. ‘I was in the garden, and I ran straight in to get my weapon.’

‘That’s when you rang me,’ says Rosie.

‘I was with Vern in the … uh … the big room with the sofas,’ says Lee.

‘Drawing room,’ says Rosie.

‘We looked at each other,’ says Lee, ‘Ernesto and me, and we both said “gunshots”.’

Ernesto nods. ‘And Vern says, “Of course gunshots, any idiot knows those are gunshots.”’

‘But you hear gunshots all the time in the country,’ says Lee. ‘We meant real gunshots. We both thought they sounded wrong. Like a revolver, and too close.’

‘It wasn’t a farmer shooting a duck,’ says Ernesto. ‘Or a cow.’

A small revolver would make sense of the head wound. Small gun, up close. Amy sees Rosie’s gates opening for a car. It’s Steve. She needs him to help her figure out what’s happened here.

‘Where’s Vern?’ she asks.

‘We took him to the safe room,’ says Lee.

‘I don’t have a safe room,’ says Rosie.

‘Where you keep your booze,’ says Ernesto.

‘My wine cellar,’ says Rosie. ‘Oh, he’s safe.’