Page 165 of Original Sin

‘Jello? At eleven o’clock in the morning?’

‘Jello is good any time,’ winked Jemma, plunging a spoon into the gloop with a satisfying slurp. Tess sighed and flopped down on the sofa.

‘Am I a bad person?’ she asked Jemma.

‘Why?’ said Jemma, sitting on the armchair. ‘Am I to assume you’ve just attacked Alici

a Wintrop and left her for dead?’

Tess smiled weakly. ‘No, not that, it’s just this job … Ah, sod it,’ she said, and reached for the Jello. She ate in silence for a moment.

‘What if Howard Asgill killed Olivia Martin?’ she asked quietly.

‘I thought you and David Billington were working diligently to make that story go away.’

‘But what if it’s true, Jem?’

‘I’m not sure it’s that important these days,’ she shrugged. ‘Bill Clinton’s brother was a coke dealer and it didn’t harm his career did it?’

‘It was his half–brother and Bill was already a governor,’ replied Tess quickly.

Jemma curled her feet under her and looked at her friend directly. ‘Why do you think this Olivia woman was murdered all of a sudden?’

Tess rubbed her lips thoughtfully. ‘I don’t know what happened to her. Certainly nobody has openly talked about Howard’s involvement before now, unless you count Charles Devine.’

‘Who’s a terrible old gossip.’

‘But I’ve just got a feeling that something’s not … not right here, Jem. We’re both news–hounds, aren’t we? That’s what we’d have been called in the old days. We sense stories like dogs sense blood. I’ve just got that tingle.’

‘So what’s your theory, Sherlock?’

‘Charles Devine said that Howard was rumoured to be having an affair with Olivia. We know from press cuttings from the time that Olivia’s career was on the skids, plus she had a drug habit. What if she needed money and went to Howard demanding some kiss–off from him once he got married? He kills her. Gets rid of the body.’

‘Maybe, but Tess, maybe she got abducted by aliens who’d come to see the Beatles at Madison Square Gardens.’

Tess wasn’t listening. She stood there thinking for a moment.

‘Pass me the phone,’ she said quickly.

‘Who are you calling?’

‘Dom.’

‘Dom?’ shrieked Jemma. ‘I thought you said you never wanted to see him again after he turned up last night to fuck with your mind … ’

‘He can get free hotels,’ said Tess, determined to be practical.

‘Is now the right time to be going on holiday?’

‘I’m not going on holiday,’ said Tess, putting the receiver to her ear. ‘I’m going to Louisiana. To Meredith’s family home.’

‘When?’

‘As soon as I can get on a plane.’

Jemma shook her head and slammed the jug of Jello on the coffee table.

‘Tess. For a long as we have known each other, you have always wanted to work in New York. You’ve wanted the life, the excitement, the buzz, and the Asgills have handed you that opportunity on a plate. Shit, if it wasn’t for the Asgills, I’d be back snapping celebrity cellulite as they get out of taxis. We owe them, Tess. We’re here to make sure this wedding happens, not to dredge up the past and point the finger. We’re supposed to be protecting them, not running around the country trying to stitch them up.