Page 56 of Private Lives

‘So what makes you think this wasn’t an accident?’

‘The police report says that Amy was wearing high heels when she was found at the bottom of the stairs. But I’m not sure she was wearing them when she fell. For a start, she only had one nail painted and it must have been wet when the shoe went on because there was polish on the inside leather of her shoe.’

‘What does that prove? She could have been painting her nails and then had to rush out. She grabbed some heels, she was in a hurry, she stumbled.’

‘She was in leggings and a T-shirt when they found her. Stuff to lounge around in. Not to team up with a pair of Jimmy Choos. My sister would never wear her Choos with her comfy clothes.’

She looked back at Anna with embarrassment.

‘I know, it sounds like I’m clutching at straws, doesn’t it? I can see no one’s going to believe any of that in court or anything, but I knew my sister and it just doesn’t add up to me.’

‘So why didn’t the police treat her death as suspicious?’

Ruby shook her head sadly.

‘I don’t know.’

Anna looked at her watch again. She felt bad letting the poor girl down, but she really didn’t have time for this.

‘Listen, Ruby, I’d love to be able to help you,’ she said, trying to keep the irritation out of her voice. ‘But this isn’t my area of law and besides, you really haven’t given me anything I could work with. You said on the phone that someone famous killed your sister. Either you tell me everything or I’m really going to have to go.’

‘I don’t know who to trust.’

Anna put her hand over Ruby’s.

‘You can trust me, Ruby. Just tell me what happened.’

Ruby took a deep breath.

‘My sister had started going out with a famous actor, I told you that. I was excited at first. Asked her to get me his autograph. But then after they’d been out, she didn’t want to talk about him. She told me he was an idiot and that they’d had an argument and she didn’t want to see him again.’

‘So?’

‘So she rejected him. And I bet famous people don’t like that. I bet he went round to her house and they had another row and, well, the next thing we know, Amy is dead.’

‘You know he went round?’ she asked, puzzled.

‘No. But it all makes sense. People are usually killed by people they know, aren’t they?’

‘Yes, but . . .’

‘What about the shoe? The nail polish? I think he went round to her flat, and at some point he pushed Amy down the stairs. Maybe it was an accident but he wasn’t going to take the blame for it. I think he put the high heels on her feet to make it look like she fell, and left the flat.’ She was twisting her hair furiously around her fingers.

‘Was Amy’s boyfriend interviewed at the inquest?’

She nodded.

‘He claimed they had split up by the time she died.’

Anna’s hopes of this turning out to be anything worth skipping lunch for were rapidly dwindling.

‘You’ve not told me. Who was Amy’s boyfriend?’

‘Ryan Jones.’

Anna just blinked. The name meant nothing to her.

‘You know, Ryan Jones,’ said Ruby. ‘He plays Jamie in Barclay’s Place.’