Page 58 of Fire Must Burn

‘Pickard,’ said Iris. ‘Kevin Pickard and Bruce Cater. Both were at Pembroke with Tony. The Unholy Trinity, they used to call themselves.’

‘Why?’

‘Oh, just some stupid nickname Pickard thought up. They had an act at parties, singing dirty satirical songs in three-part harmony, often bringing in the names of faculty members or fellow students. They thought they were amusing.’

‘Were they?’

‘More cruel than funny, in my opinion, but Pickard was hugely rich and very well-connected, so people would laugh to stay on his good side. Either I’ve burned away my taste buds or I’m getting used to the curry now.’

‘I told you you’d be hungry. Was Nancy ever featured in one of these songs?’

‘I never heard first hand, but there was gossip of a particularly vicious reference in one dedicated to the girls of Newnhamsung at some secret club gathering. There was a fair amount of sniggering among the stupider sex afterwards.’

‘Were you included in that one?’

‘Maybe,’ said Iris, shrugging. ‘Probably. Who cares?’

‘How long after that song was Nancy’s death?’

Iris finished her glass.

‘Not long,’ she said, holding it out for another refill. ‘I know what you’re doing, by the way.’

‘What’s that?’ Gwen asked as she mixed another and handed it to her.

‘You’re trying to get me drunk so I will reveal what you suspect is some dark secret I’m concealing from those times,’ said Iris. ‘Well, it won’t work. I have been trained for just such an approach. My ability to keep mum is directly proportionate to my capacity for alcohol.’

‘Iris, whoever tried to kill Tony may try again,’ said Gwen. ‘Surely that’s crossed your mind by now.’

‘Of course, it has,’ said Iris. ‘And I’m sure it crossed Parham’s as well. He’ll be having a constable guarding Tony’s room.’

‘That only covers the near future,’ said Gwen.

‘Yes, well, Tony ought to be on the alert now, don’t you think?’ snapped Iris. ‘If this stems from … from anything in the past, then it’s his responsibility to–to—’

‘To do what? Defend himself from more petrol bombs?’ finished Gwen. ‘How does one do that exactly? And what if the next attack turns out to be more thorough and less defensible? Parham will either find this attacker soon, or he won’t and will have to move on to the next priority, but Tony will be in a long, slow recovery, and no one is going to be guarding him full-time. But if his attacker is caught—’

‘If we catch him, you’re saying.’

‘Yes. If we catch him, then Tony will be safe. I think that’s worth doing.’

‘How do we go about doing that?’

‘I don’t know enough about what happened to answer that – yet,’ said Gwen. ‘I need you to enlighten me.’

‘The thing is, I don’t know for certain,’ said Iris.

‘Why not?’

‘Because I was sound asleep in bed with Tony when the screaming started,’ she said. ‘By the time we got to that part of the house, everything was over.’

Gwen looked across the table at her for a long time.

‘I thought you said you weren’t lovers,’ she said finally.

‘I said I didn’t think that word applied to us,’ said Iris. ‘Not as it is generally defined.’

‘But you went to bed with him. You said things never got that far.’