Page 52 of A Murder is Going Down

‘I’ve only got a thirty-minute parking spot, so what do you want to know?’ Adam says to Patrick as we sit down.

‘We want to know about the affair,’ Patrick says.

‘How do you evenknowabout that?’ Adam says, his voice going so low and whispery that even Lilia might struggle with this one.

Patrick hesitates, possibly not wanting to reveal the flimsy evidence that’s allowed us to jump to some mega conclusions. ‘We heard her on the phone to you,’ he says.

Adam doesn’t look guilty, only confused. ‘Heard who on the phone?’

‘Elena.’

‘Elena?’

‘Talking to you.’

‘You heard Elena talking to me on the phone?’ Adam seems to be having trouble following the conversation. Is it possible he’s having a stroke? He’s in his twenties, seems fit and healthy enough, but he’s also clearly struggling to understand what Patrick’s saying.

Patrick is starting to look panicked, like he’s losing control of the conversation and can’t work out why. ‘Elena told you not to come to Heidi’s aunt’s house, but you turned up anyway. She told you she loved you on the phone.’ I wonder if Patrick, like me, can hear just how shaky the whole thing sounds out loud.

‘Who do you think I’m having an affair with?’ Adam asks, just as the waiter appears with our coffees. The waiter gives Adam an alarmed look and bangs the cups down so recklessly my hot chocolate swamps the saucer. He doesn’t offer to stick around to clean it up, for which I think we’re all grateful.

‘Elena,’ Patrick says. ‘My sister,’ he adds, as though there might be a world full of Elenas with whom Adam could conceivably be having an affair.

Adam laughs. ‘This is so stupid,’ he says. ‘I should have known. But when you said you knew about the affair I just assumed.’

‘You’re not having an affair?’

‘Not with your sister.’ Adam laughs again, apparently genuinely amused, which is a bit of an insult to Elena, honestly.

Patrick seems unbothered by this attack on his sister’s desirability. ‘You would deny it. It gives you a motive.’

‘For what?’

‘If you were sleeping with my sister, that gives you a reason to have killed Felix.’

Obviously, that’s when the waiter returns with Patrick’s melting moment. The biscuit skitters across the plate as he dashes back to the kitchen, whether to fill in the kitchen staff on this fresh development or call the police, I can’t say.

Adam’s not laughing now. ‘I thought Felix’s death was an accident.’

‘We’re not sure what it was,’ I say, ‘but we think it might not have been an accident after all.’ Then, before Adam can ask me why and force either of us to go through our less-than-compelling evidence (such as Patrick’s phone goingmissing and Felix’s non-suicidal personality), I continue. ‘Adam, if you’re not having an affair with Elena, who are you having an affair with?’

Patrick’s a step ahead of me. Kind of. ‘Was it Felix?’ he asks. He sounds excited, possibly because if Adam was seeing Felix on the side, it would still give him a motive for murder.

Adam laughs again. ‘I met Felix for the first time the night he died. I’m not that slick. It’s, um, his name is Haruto.’

‘Haruto?’ Patrick says. ‘He was at the party too, right?’

‘Yeah.’

‘So, he was there with you?’

‘No. We work together.’ Adam picks up his coffee cup and takes a couple of generous gulps.

‘Why’s your relationship a secret, though?’ I ask.

‘He’s married.’

One table over Ben spills his water glass.