Page 115 of Better the Devil

He opened the door.

The girl was standing there, arms folded, like she’d been waiting for him to return.

‘Olivia—’ he began, but she was already moving, already on the march, already sweeping past him out into the corridor.

‘Don’t,’ she warned. She turned her face away as she picked up pace, hurrying in the direction of the lift. ‘Please, just don’t.’

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

Logan stoodby the window in his office, watching Shona’s car pull out of the car park and onto the bypass.

Olivia had refused to speak to him. Shona had barely said two words.

‘What a mess,’ he mumbled, as a downpour blurred the world beyond the glass.

‘Knock-knock!’

Logan bristled at the accent. Or maybe just at the brightness of it.

‘DCI Reeve,’ he said, turning to greet his visitor.

Reeve’s eyes reacted in surprise to this, but his grin continued undeterred. ‘What happened to Buck Howdy?’ he asked. ‘I liked Buck Howdy!’

Logan remained stoic and stony-faced. ‘Can I help you?’

‘Rough day, huh?’ Reeve ventured.

‘Aye. You could say that.’

Reeve nodded his understanding. ‘Hazard of the job, I guess.’ He stepped fully into the room and let the door close at his back. ‘I spoke to your suspect. Bosco Maximuke. He said he did it.’

‘Oh?’

‘Yeah. But, he didn’t.’

‘Oh.’ Logan thought back to the encounter in the corridor. ‘He was worried Olivia was going to be blamed for it?’

‘That’s the vibe I got, yeah,’ Reeve confirmed. ‘But the stuff he knew he could’ve picked up anywhere. Couldn’t actually tell me much of anything when it came to the details. Got most of ’em wrong, in fact.’

‘Right. OK. Well, thanks for stepping in.’

‘No problem,’ Reeve told him. ‘“Neighbours will be there for one another.” Right?’

Logan grunted. ‘That a Bible thing?’

Reeve laughed. ‘No, it’s aNeighboursthing. The Australian soap opera? It’s from the theme tune. I caught a rerun from, like, the Eighties one day, and now I’m hooked. Let me tell you, I amrootingfor Scott and Charlene.’ He held up his hands, like he was fending off an attack. ‘Please, no spoilers, though. I’ve still got, like, forty years of episodes left to go.’

‘Aye, well, you’ve watched more than I have,’ Logan said, turning back to the window.

‘What? You’ve never seenNeighbours?Oh, man, you have missed out!’ Reeve told him.

Logan didn’t laugh. The silence stretched out between them until it was a chasm taking up most of the room.

Reeve’s smile faded slightly, though he kept it propped up at the corners. When he spoke, some of theaw-shuckshad gone from his voice.

‘Look, I don’t exactly know what happened out there,’ he began. ‘But?—’

‘Then don’t,’ Logan said. ‘Please. Just… just don’t.’