Page 97 of The Impossible Fortune

There are so many suspects that Elizabeth just doesn’t buy in this case. Davey Noakes, Lord Townes, Joanna’s husband – she can’t see any of them as the culprit. Perhaps she’s wrong?

The others are waiting to hear from her, and Elizabeth is aware they need something to go their way. As her doorbell rings, Elizabeth knows that everyone is hoping that Jamie Usher might be that something. If they can find out whyHolly Lewis rang him that night, everything, the murder and the money, might unlock.

‘You want me to be threatening or nice?’ Bogdan asks.

‘If I’m being nice, you be threatening,’ says Elizabeth. ‘But if I start being threatening, you be nice. Be the exact opposite of me.’

‘And if he tries to kill you?’

‘Unleash hell,’ says Elizabeth. She walks to her front door, opens it and sees Jamie Usher looking at door numbers. ‘You found us, Mr Usher, do come in.’

Jamie looks nervous as he steps over the threshold. Signs of nervousness are always a red herring in negotiations, because guilty people are always nervous, but innocent people are always nervous too. It gets you nowhere.

‘Do take a seat,’ says Elizabeth pleasantly. ‘This is my friend Bogdan.’

Bogdan scowls at Jamie. If you tell Bogdan to play ‘good cop, bad cop’, he will do it without question. On one level his look is chillingly threatening, but he looks so absurdly handsome when he does it that the impact gets a little lost.

‘Thank you for seeing me,’ says Jamie. ‘I just … you’re not a family history researcher, are you?’

‘No,’ says Elizabeth.

‘Okay,’ says Jamie. ‘Okay. The police were at my house.’

‘That’s annoying,’ says Elizabeth.

‘I don’t like the police,’ says Jamie.

Bogdan leans forward and stabs a finger at Jamie. ‘My girlfriend is a policeman, you scumbag.’

Elizabeth mouths ‘Bit much’ to him, and he leans back and mumbles, ‘Policeofficer.’

‘What do you suppose they were doing there?’ Elizabeth asks. ‘Could you hazard a guess?’

‘I could hazard a few guesses,’ says Jamie.

‘I bet you could,’ says Bogdan, coldly. That’s a bit more like it. The quieter Bogdan is, the scarier he is.

‘But it’s funny they should turn up a couple of days after you did,’ says Jamie. ‘Is that a coincidence?’

‘No,’ says Elizabeth. ‘Not a coincidence at all. I confess we came to see your wife, but you proved to be much more interesting. To me, and to the police as well.’

‘What do you know about me?’ Jamie asks. ‘What is this?’

What is this? Well, that’s very much the question of the day. Jamie is going to give them nothing until Elizabeth gives him something first. Sometimes it’s best to jump straight in.

‘Holly Lewis,’ says Elizabeth.

Jamie stares at her blankly. Elizabeth sees that Bogdan has balled his hands into fists. She has seen Bogdan punch people before and, though it’s not something she would admit in polite company, she enjoyed the sight tremendously.

‘Nothing?’ Elizabeth asks.

‘Holly Lewis?’ repeats Jamie. ‘Nope, nothing. What is she saying I’ve done?’

‘She’s saying nothing,’ says Elizabeth. ‘She’s dead.’

‘The dead don’t speak,’ growls Bogdan. He’ll have heard that somewhere. A film.

Jamie looks directly at Elizabeth. ‘Why did you come to see me? Or my wife? Have I upset you in some way?’