Page 169 of A Good Girl's Guide to Murder

Pip almost grimaced in reflex, but she fought it with a fake smile. ‘Oh, nothing much.’ She shrugged nonchalantly. ‘Just here to ask you how well youreallyknew Andie Bell.’

The game was paused.

Max sat up, stared at Pip, then his mum, then back to Pip.

‘Um,’ his mum said, ‘would anyone like a cup of tea?’

‘No, we don’t.’ Max stood. ‘Upstairs, Pippa.’

He strode past them and up the grand stairs in the hallway, his bare feet thundering on the steps. Pip followed, flashing a polite wave back at his mother. At the top, Max held open his bedroom door and gestured her inside.

Pip hesitated, one foot suspended above the vacuum-tracked carpet. Should she really be alone with him?

Max jerked his head impatiently.

His mum was just downstairs; she should be safe. She planted the foot and strode into his room.

‘Thank you for that,’ he said, closing the door. ‘My mum didn’t need to know I’ve been talking about Andie and Sal again. The woman is a bloodhound, never lets anything go.’

‘Pit bull,’ Pip said. ‘It’s pit bulls that don’t let things go.’

Max sat back on his maroon bedspread. ‘Whatever. What do you want?’

‘I said. I want to know how well you really knew Andie.’

‘I already told you,’ he said, leaning back on his elbows and shooting a glance up past Pip’s shoulder. ‘I didn’t know her that well.’

‘Mmm.’ Pip leaned back against his door. ‘Just acquaintances, right? That’s what you said?’

‘Yeah, I did.’ He scratched his nose. ‘I’ll be honest, I’m starting to find your tone a tad annoying ’

‘Good,’ she said, following Max’s eyes as they looked over again to a noticeboard on the far wall, littered with posters and pinned-up notes and photographs. ‘And I’m starting to find your lies a tad intriguing.’

‘What lies?’ he said. ‘I didn’t know her well.’

‘Interesting,’ Pip said. ‘I’ve spoken to a witness who went to a calamity party that you and Andie attended in March 2012. Interesting because she said she saw you two alone several times that night, looking pretty comfortable with each other.’

‘Who said that?’ Another micro-glance over to the noticeboard.

‘I can’t reveal my sources.’

‘Oh my god.’ He laughed a deep throaty laugh. ‘You’re deluded. You know you’re not actually a police officer, right?’

‘You’re avoiding the question,’ she said. ‘Were you and Andie secretly seeing each other behind Sal’s back?’

Max laughed again. ‘He was my best friend.’

‘That’s not an answer.’ Pip folded her arms.

‘No. No, I wasn’t seeing Andie Bell. Like I said, I didn’t know her that well.’

‘So why did this source see you together? In a manner that made her think you were actually Andie’s boyfriend?’

While Max rolled his eyes at the question, Pip stole her own glance at the noticeboard. The scribbled notes and bits of paper were several layers deep in places, with hidden corners and curled edges. Glossy photos of Max skiing and surfing were pinned on top. AReservoir Dogsposter took up most of the board.

‘I don’t know,’ he said. ‘Whoever it was, they were mistaken. Probably drunk. An unreliable source, you might say.’

‘OK.’ Pip shuffled away from the door. She took a few steps to the right, then paced back a couple, so Max wouldn’t realize as she moved herself incrementally towards the noticeboard. ‘So let’s get this straight.’ She paced again, positioning herself nearer and nearer. ‘You’re saying you never spoke one-on-one with Andie at a calamity party?’