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‘We have to be careful. We can’t upset Grace. Boyd already had words with me over it.’

‘Oh, so that’s why he went off in a huff. You were rocking the boat with his sister. Figures.’

‘Why does it figure?’

‘Don’t take offence, but as much as Boyd loves and respects you, his sister is blood. His last surviving family member. I imagine she’s as close to his heart as you are, if not closer.’

She felt miffed at this, but then reality hit her. Kirby was right. She held her children closer to her heart than anyone else. No one could break that bond, not even Boyd. It had come between them during her last case, when they’d discussed buying a house together. She’d felt they’d got over that hurdle, but her life was never straightforward. She negotiated one obstacle, and before she could catch her breath, another reared its head, blocking her path forward.

She’d overcome worse.

She’d overcome this.

61

‘Grace, where can we find Bryan?’ Lottie asked as nicely as she could manage, not wanting to rattle Boyd’s sister more than she’d already done. She had warned Kirby to let her do the talking.

Grace was sitting at the table threading flowers, some dried, into a small wreath, possibly a headpiece for her wedding. Tiny green leaves and discarded colourful petals were strewn over the worktop. The kitchen smelled of a forest infused with a simple blossom scent. All it needed was a few butterflies and bumble bees and you could be outside among the trees.

She looked up warily. ‘What do you want with him?’

‘Just a chat.’ Lottie squirmed under her steely gaze. Grace seemed to have a way of reading her mind, just like Boyd. ‘Listen, Grace, he knows more about this locality than we do. We just want to pick his brain.’

‘I’m from round here too, so ask me your question.’

‘It’s to do with the case that Kirby is working on back home.’

‘Oh, so another top-secret mission.’ Grace dropped the flowers and stood, shoving her chair noisily in against the table. ‘It sickens me, you know. How you work. It’s all a mystery, until it’s not.’

‘Huh?’ Kirby said, sniffing loudly.

Grace ignored him, her eyes throwing daggers at Lottie. ‘Mark has left you, hasn’t he?’

‘No, you have it all wrong,’ Lottie protested, but Grace wasn’t listening.

‘He’s my brother. My only relative. I love him, even more than he loves me. I know I’m not a very expressive person. Not a hugger or kisser like most people nowadays. When did all that malarkey start in this country? It was not long ago that a simple handshake was the norm.’ She turned up her pert nose before a wave of hurt traversed her features. ‘I can’t bear it when I see Mark in pain. He nearly died from cancer, and you stood by him. I respected you for that. Now he is hurt in his heart and you let him drive off alone. He was in a terrible state after your walk with him this morning. What did you say to him?’

‘Nothing.’ Lottie wished she could sink through the flagstone floor. She couldn’t take much more of Grace’s words, her piercing eyes, her loathing. ‘Nothing of significance to cause him to get upset and leave.’

‘Oh, for God’s sake, I might look stupid to you, but I am far from it. I notice things. I pick up vibrations. In here.’ Grace thumped her chest. ‘I picked them up when he came back in after whatever argument you had. And do you know something else? I also picked them up between you and Ann Wilson this morning. So, Lottie Parker, don’t treat me like I am an imbecile. You have run my brother from your life and you have also annoyed my fiancé.’ She paused as if reordering her thoughts. ‘Tell me this minute, whatisgoing on with Bryan?’

Lottie had never heard Grace raise her voice in all the time she’d known her. But she didn’t know Boyd’s sister very well. She pulled out a chair and sat. Kirby remained standing, looking from one to the other, wordless.

‘Sit, Grace.’ Lottie pointed to the seat opposite.

‘I am perfectly fine standing right here, thank you very much.’ Grace picked up a tea cloth and wiped it over the counter before twisting it round her fingers. She was far from fine, Lottie noted. At last she gave in and sank into the chair.

‘You should sit down too,’ she said to Kirby. ‘You’re making me nervous standing there like a lost sheep.’

‘Ah, I’m grand.’ But he must have seen Lottie’s pleading eyes, and he did as he was told.

‘Now, what is all this palaver about?’ Grace asked.

Lottie would have loved a coffee, a glass of wine. A pill. Anything to smooth the path for what she had to say. But she had to plough on without artificial fortification.

‘You know Bryan was in Knockraw as a boy?’

‘Yes, he told me. Only this week. I was annoyed with him, but I understand that he never wanted to revisit that part of his life. I respect him for that.’