Page 38 of A Murder is Going Down

‘I don’t know,’ Patrick says. Then he says the thing I really wish he wouldn’t. ‘That’s what we’re trying to find out.’

‘Who’swe?’ Elena asks.

‘What?’

‘You said that’s whatwe’retrying to find out.’

Patrick is clearly trying hard not to look at me, but I can’t pretend I don’t know what they’re talking about.

‘Me and Patrick,’ I say, and heads turn my way so fast that I regret everything. ‘But we’re not really aweor aninvestigation,’ I add, possibly making it worse. ‘We’re worried that you’ll be left without anything, Elena, so we thought we could, uh … poke around.’ Cue flaming red cheeks.

Elena looks at me and her expression is so unguardedly touched that, for a moment, I want to cry. ‘You’re very kind,’ she says, smiling at me before offering Patrick a watered-down version. ‘But, guys, please stay out of it. The police will figure out what happened, even if that means that I miss out on some money.’

‘It’s not fair for you to get nothing,’ Patrick says.

‘I’m not sure life is supposed to be fair,’ Elena says, and I wonder if I’m the only one looking at her wheelchair.

‘We’ve already found out some things,’ Patrick says.

‘What?’ Elena asks.

I’m wondering the same thing.

‘One of the guys who was at the house the night Felix died – I had a chat to him at the party the other day and he—’

Michael interrupts. ‘You’re having parties?’

‘It was really more like a salon,’ Aunty Sam says.

‘It was for Heidi to meet some of Felix’s friends,’ Elena says, then gives me a look that makes me think she’s no longer so sure about that.

‘Anyway,’ Patrick says loudly, ‘I talked to him about what Felix was like that night and he said something kind of interesting.’

‘Which was?’ Michael says.

‘He said Felix was talking about wanting to go to the movies.’

‘And?’

‘If he was making plans to go to the movies, would he really have killed himself?’ Patrick looks at me like he wants to know what I think.

What Ithinkis that if Felixwasplanning to kill himself – and I’m not convinced that he was – then he’d hardly broadcast the fact. I’ve read that people planning suicide can seem happy before they do itbecausethey have a plan. I don’t say any of this, just like I don’t ask Elena if she’s having an affair.

Michael shakes his head. ‘Patrick, let it go,’ he says.‘Our sister needs us to be her support system, not collecting cigarette butts from the stoop in case it’s a clue.’

‘What’s a stoop?’ Aunty Sam asks the wine in her glass. ‘I’ve heard the word, but I’ve never quite understood it. Is it just a step?’

‘Then there’s my phone,’ Patrick goes on. (I don’t think he knows what a stoop is either.)

‘What is it about your phone? I texted you, like, ten times today and you didn’t get back to me,’ Michael says.

‘It was stolen,’ Patrick says. ‘I’m going to have to buy a cheapo replacement off Facebook Marketplace and probably get stabbed in a car park while I’m making the exchange.’

‘I’m sure it’s not stolen,’ Aunty Sam says. ‘Did it have a passcode on it?’

‘When did your phone get stolen?’ Michael asks at the same time and it’s this question Patrick answers.

‘At the party – sorry,salon. But only after Heidi and I took pictures of the house and the area where Felix fell or was pushed,’ Patrick says.