The Therapist(47)

‘So, what we need to find out is who could have sneaked past Oliver into the house.’ I flush, realising I said ‘we’ and not ‘you’. ‘The person Nina might have been having an affair with.’

‘Exactly.’

‘What I don’t understand is why everyone was so quick to condemn Oliver, and why nobody wants to believe that someone else could have killed her. Do you think they’re protecting somebody?’

‘Yes,’ he says softly. ‘I do.’

‘Someone from here – from The Circle?’

‘Why else would they close ranks?’

‘It’s true that they don’t seem to like me asking questions about Nina,’ I say. ‘Tamsin especially. She was Nina’s best friend and she really didn’t like me going to see Lorna.’ I stop, realising I’ve said too much.

‘It’s understandable, if she was Nina’s best friend. Does Tamsin have red hair, by any chance?’

‘Yes, how do you know?’

‘Because Nina often spoke about her to Helen, but Helen couldn’t remember her name and I wasn’t sure which one of Nina’s friends she was.’ He consults his phone. ‘There was another friend who used to go to yoga with them.’

‘That would be Eve, my immediate neighbour.’

He nods. ‘Eve Jackman. Does she have a partner?’

‘Yes, her husband, Will.’

‘I’ve got here that they moved in about five months before Nina was murdered.’

‘That’s right.’

He looks up. ‘There’s another friend then, someone Nina had known for longer.’

‘That would be Maria. You know, married to Tim, except that he calls her Mary because she went to a convent school,’ I say dryly.

He gives a slight smile. ‘Ah yes, that Maria. Maria Conway and her husband Tim.’

‘Yes.’

He finishes tapping into his phone and slides it into his pocket. ‘Thank you,’ he says, getting to his feet. ‘And once again, please don’t do anything that you don’t feel comfortable with. The last thing I want is to put pressure on you, so I won’t be contacting you. If anything comes up and you feel able to tell me, you have my mobile.’

I don’t bother telling him that I’m not going to be around much longer. ‘Give my best wishes to Helen,’ I say.

‘I will, thank you.’

I close the door behind him and lean against it, aware that the thought of not seeing him again is bothering me more than it should. There’s something about him that I find reassuring. He’s solid, the sort of person you could rely on if things got tough, and I wonder if his relationship with Oliver’s sister is more than platonic. I go over what I told him, wanting to make sure that I hadn’t said anything to feel guilty about. I hadn’t repeated what Eve told me yesterday, about the falling out between Nina and Tamsin, because I’m not sure why she told me, and with Lorna’s warning stuck in my mind, I prefer to be cautious. I wish I knew if she actually whispered anything. It doesn’t matter, I realise, I’m leaving. But there are still a few personal ends that I want to tie up before I go.

I call Leo. He picks up straightaway.

‘Alice, thank you for phoning.’ His relief whooshes down the line and I remember that I’m meant to be letting him know if he can come home tomorrow. He’s going to be pleased when I tell him that he can – but maybe not so pleased when I tell him that I won’t be here.

‘Why did you jump when I mentioned Nina having an affair?’ I ask.

I can hear his mind adjusting itself away from what he thought I was phoning about, to why I’m actually phoning.

‘Because you insinuated that maybe he was responsible for Nina’s murder.’

‘So?’

‘It’s just that when I played tennis with Paul on Saturday, he told me that Nina used to see quite a few of the men from The Circle.’

I frown. ‘Do you mean in her role as a therapist? Because I don’t think she’d have been able to see them in that capacity, if they were friends or neighbours.’

‘No, not as a therapist. She helped them out with other stuff, Will with his lines, Connor with his whiskies, that sort of thing.’

‘That doesn’t mean she was having an affair with either of them.’

‘I never said she was.’

‘How did you come to have this conversation with Paul, anyway?’

‘I just happened to ask him what Nina and Oliver were like. He said that they were both really nice people, always helping others out. Oliver used to help the older residents with their gardens, do odd jobs for them.’ He pauses. ‘All I’m saying is that a lot of people here were close to Nina, men as well as women, which is why I don’t think you should be going around talking about her having an affair and then saying you think he might have murdered her, like you said to me.’

‘But if it was someone else who murdered her, don’t you think he deserves to be brought to justice?’

‘Well, yes, of course.’

‘Even if it turns out to be someone from The Circle?’

There’s a pause and I can almost see the two deep lines between his eyes that appear whenever he frowns. ‘Is there something you’re not telling me?’