Page 91 of The Impossible Fortune

‘You’ve helped us before,’ says Chris. ‘We’ve worked together.’

‘You’re not dealing with the Thursday Murder Club any more,’ says Grandad. ‘You’re dealing with the Ritchie family.’

Kendrick wonders if he will be a Ritchie now, and not a Lloyd. He’d like that.

‘Don’t do anything stupid, Ron,’ says Chris. ‘If somebody kills you, I’ll have Elizabeth on the phone.’

Chris is saying this with a little laugh, but Kendrick also hears that he’s worried. Kendrick doesn’t think that anyone will kill Grandad, but if a policeman is worried, perhaps he should be too? If his dad is gone forever, and Kendrick dearly hopes that he is, his family is quite small now. Mum, and Uncle Jason and Grandad. What if one of Kendrick’s jobs is to keep everybody safe?

‘Last chance, Ron,’ says Donna. ‘Please, let’s all help each other.’

‘Sorry, Donna,’ Grandad says. ‘You know how we feel. Talking to the police is the worst crime of all.’

Kendrick is proud that his grandad is so strong, but something is niggling at him. Because, while he knows that talking to the police is wrong, he also knows now that it’s not the worst crime of all.

50

‘Do you suppose you and Donna will get married?’ says Elizabeth, as Bogdan takes down a light fitting in her kitchen.

‘Maybe if she asks,’ says Bogdan.

‘Perhaps she’s waiting for you to ask,’ says Elizabeth.

‘No,’ says Bogdan, taking the new fitting out of a John Lewis box. ‘She’s in charge of that sort of thing.’

‘I see,’ says Elizabeth. ‘And what sort of thing are you in charge of?’

Bogdan shrugs. ‘The bins, I suppose. And being in love with her.’

‘Oh, yuck,’ says Elizabeth.

Bogdan clips the new light into place. ‘How much you pay for this?’

‘I don’t know,’ says Elizabeth. ‘It was on the website.’

Bogdan, happy with his work, pushes himself down from the kitchen island.

‘Does that look nice?’ Elizabeth asks. ‘I’m not very good at knowing.’

Bogdan looks up at it. ‘It’s okay. Stephen would like it.’

‘That’s the main thing,’ says Elizabeth.

‘John Lewis though,’ says Bogdan, shaking his head at the box. ‘You should have asked me. I get you one half the price.’

‘Stephen bought everything from John Lewis,’ says Elizabeth. ‘I wouldn’t know where else to buy things from. I just click and there they are.’

‘Always ask me,’ says Bogdan. ‘I get anything you need from builders’ merchant. Anything I can’t get, I make.’

‘Stephen bought everything from John Lewis,’ says Elizabeth. ‘And I like to keep him happy. So I’ll spend the extra.’

Bogdan sits on a kitchen stool. ‘You look happier. Not happy but happier.’

‘They don’t tell you, Bogdan, no one tells you.’

‘About death?’

‘About death,’ says Elizabeth. ‘Take every word anyone has ever written about grief. Every line every poet has ever written. Every word of every friend who breaks down in front of you, every tear you’ve ever seen shed. Take the whole lot of them and throw them down a well, and you wouldn’t even hear them hit the bottom.’