Cambridge Blue - Alison Bruce [59]
She said it in a totally matter-of-fact way, with no hint of flirtation. And, while he couldn’t imagine that flirting was her style, he also wouldn’t have minded if she’d given it a shot.
‘No,’ Goodhew agreed.
She glanced down at her hands, then back up again as though she’d had a sudden thought. ‘Actually,’ she smiled slightly, ‘I was worried at first that their relationship might put a strain on my friendship with Lorna. But I was being silly. If anything, Lorna and I grew closer.’
‘And how about Richard and Lorna? How would you describe their feelings towards each other?’
‘Happy. Not soulmates perhaps, but not far short.’
‘What else?’
Alice frowned. ‘What exactly are you looking for?’
‘Tensions, things they rowed about – not necessarily things that suggest a rift, but perhaps differences in attitude that would tell us more about Lorna.’
Alice refilled her cup, making a small ritual out of the process. Goodhew wondered if she was trying to buy time that way, or just searching for the right words.
‘Lorna was quite a liberated type,’ she continued. ‘It was something that I found at odds with our own upbringing, but it never caused me a problem. Lorna could be very outspoken, openly discussing everything from politics to women’s issues. Sometimes Richard found her point of view difficult to comprehend – but I’m sure he’s told you that already.
‘Lorna and I even talked about sex on several occasions, but sex in general, no specifics. I certainly wouldn’t want to know about my brother’s sex life. Would you want to know about yours?’
Goodhew shook his head. ‘Fair comment.’
For the first time, Alice’s attention drifted.
He left her with her thoughts for a few seconds more, then spoke.
‘How are you feeling?’
‘All right. Shocked. I don’t know really.’ She tilted her head back, as if trying to think. The muted lighting in the café illuminated one side of her face, where the first hints of crow’s feet were traced around her eyes. The effect was strange: in one half of her face he could see how she looked ten years ago, and in the other half how she might look in ten years’ time. The twenty-nine-year-old Alice looked a little too earnest, and the forty-nine-year-old a little too melancholy. He liked the current version best.
‘Sad for Richard, I suppose,’ she sighed finally.
‘Not for Lorna?’
‘Yes, of course – and for all of us who loved her. But mostly for Richard.’
Goodhew nodded and wondered if her brother was ever far from her thoughts. ‘Does the name Emma mean anything to you?’
‘No, we’ve been asked that already.’
‘I know, just double-checking. What about dogs? Did she like them?’
Alice thought for a few seconds, then shrugged. ‘No idea. I don’t remember pets ever coming up in our conversations. Why?’
‘We have some dog hair samples that we’d like to identify. They may be nothing, but we need to know if she had any connections to anyone with a dog.’
‘I can’t say for certain, of course, but I don’t think so.’
‘I will need to speak to Victoria Nugent, as well. Is she in today?’
‘Most probably, although I haven’t seen her yet.’ A shadow passed across Alice’s face. ‘Actually, there’s something you can do for me, if you don’t mind. I’ve explained why Lorna and Victoria fell out, and it was made more awkward by them working in the same building, but please try to take whatever Victoria says with a pinch of salt. She can seem very . . .’ Alice hesitated as she fished for the appropriate word. In the end she settled for ‘. . . bitter.’
They seemed at the end of their conversation when Goodhew flashed back to the start. ‘Earlier you said that you returned to the clinic last year. Where had you been meanwhile?’
‘I needed a break.’
‘To do what?’
‘Nothing, really. We’d had a loss. Our father died and I decided to spend some time sorting out the house.’
‘Richard said the house was left to all of you. Does that mean there are other siblings? Or were you and Richard the only two?’
She became very still, as if suddenly not sure which way to go next. He waited, knowing that she had realized she needed to