‘Kinnear?’

‘On the floor bleeding,’ Danny said. He sounded pleased. ‘Like, wow.’

Thirty-Six

A very subdued group left for home late that afternoon. Statements had taken forever, Naomi thought and the ‘neutral ground’ set for the meeting between Danny and his mother turned out to be a spare interview room at the police station. She had not been there, didn’t really know how it had gone, but Sharon Fielding had spoken to her afterward and said thanks and nice to meet you and she’d make sure Danny stayed in touch and all the usual stuff.

Patrick seemed more satisfied. He told Naomi that Danny’s mum had agreed to his coming to stay for a while. So, she supposed, that was all right then.

‘Do you think he’ll make it?’ She meant Kinnear. She didn’t have to say who.

Alec shrugged, then remembered that wasn’t enough and said. ‘Don’t know. Not sure if I care.’

‘I care.’

‘Why? He would have killed you without a thought.’

‘I know, but I’m not like him.’

‘We’ve been through this before,’ he said softly, remembering the events of the previous year.

‘I know.’

They drove in silence for a little while, Naomi thinking of all the things that would have to be sorted out. The money, whether or not it jeopardized Alec’s legacy, the trial that would come if Kinnear survived. She had shot him in the chest, it seemed, punctured a lung but missed the heart. Then shot him in the shoulder as he fell.

Everyone else seemed impressed but Naomi didn’t see how she could have missed anyway from just a few feet away and it wasn’t as if she’d thought about it. One thing they did know – but she wasn’t sure that knowing was an improvement – was the way Rupert had died.

It was a heart attack, brought on by the threat and stress and the anxiety of what Kinnear had put him through. Derek Reid had described it, told how Rupert had fallen down, clutching at his chest and gasped for breath.

‘He didn’t ask for pills,’ Reid said. He was adamant about that. ‘He never asked for any pills.’

‘I think I might sell the house,’ Alec said. ‘That’s if I get to keep it, if you see what I mean.’

She nodded. ‘We could buy somewhere closer to home,’

‘We?’

‘Unless you’ve gone off the idea, but I want a nice wedding, Alec. All the fuss.’

He laughed. ‘I’ve only been asking you for the past … how many years? What made you say yes now?’

‘What’s wrong? Have you got cold feet?’

‘Couldn’t be warmer.’

She reached out and he took her hand. ‘You’ll like being Mrs Friedman,’ Alec said.