‘What about her family, did she take you to meet them?’

‘Again the answer is no. I was not particularly bothered about meeting her family if I am honest.’

‘Why not?’ I think I may just be back on track, at least in appearance.

‘I could tell we were into different things and I find the whole business of meeting parents rather intimidating. Especially when you consider how wealthy her father is.’

I couldn’t begin to guess how much Old Man Niemeyer was worth, but then again, money isn’t my God. So long as I have enough bucks to get by from week to week I’m happy. How much or little other people have is their business, not mine.

An accountant like Chalmers will be obsessed with money and will no doubt have a pretty good handle on where in Casperton all the money, and the power accompanying it resides.

Being as he is such a prissy fellow, I figure appealing to his decency will get me some answers. Unless I’ve misjudged him, Chalmers’s moral code won’t allow him to be deceitful on matters which don’t directly affect him.

‘Is there anything else you can tell me that may help catch her killer?’

Chalmers talks for a couple of minutes. I don’t think anything he says is helpful but I let him finish just in case.

27

Next on my list of people to see is Pete Lester. I know Pete from his occasional visits to the Tree. He is a big guy with a cheerful nature and ready grin.

He’s also living embodiment of beauty only being skin deep. Few are the times I’ve seen him without some girl or other in attendance, despite him looking as if he’d fallen from the top of the ugly tree and hit every branch face first on the way down.

As I drive across town, my brain chews at the implications of Kira’s words like a starving rat.

You’re no Jake Boulder.

Whichever way up I stand those words, in any context I can think of, they always return me to the same conclusion. Kira Niemeyer had fallen deeply in love with me. Not the usual hearts and flowers love the gift card industry markets. Hers was the bat-shit crazy obsessive kind of attraction which poisons common sense and taints reason until you have a twenty-four-carat stalker on your tail.

What astounds me more than anything else is the way I’d been left unaware of her true feelings. To my mind I was little more than a booty call or a friendly conversation when our paths crossed.

That Kira had possessed such a depth of feelings for me is a haymaker from a world champion. Whenever we’d gotten together she’d exhibited none of the typical signs of clingy or nesting behaviour which so terrifies both Alfonse and me.

On the contrary, her behaviour often verged on being aloof or distant.

Realisation dawns on me as I pull into Pete Lester’s yard and climb out of the Mustang. Kira had been two steps ahead of me.

Feminine instinct, her natural intelligence or some other factor had warned her of the result of trying to ensnare me into a proper relationship. Recognising my ingrained bachelordom, she’d played a different game – always leaving the door open for a return while seeming indifferent to my response.

Looking back at our liaisons, I realised just how much she’d set the pace and tone. Kira and I had been good together. We both knew it and yet neither of us had wanted to make it a regular thing.

At least that’s what I had always thought.

How the hell had I gotten it so wrong? Not picked up even the slightest hint she’d fallen so hard for me?

I see Pete and a couple of his men loading a pickup with timber windows. As I walk across they begin tossing ropes across the pile.

‘Hey, Jake. Whatcha after?’ A squint-toothed smile follows his words.

‘I’m here to ask you a few questions.’

‘No sweat. What’s your problem, dry rot? Termites?’

‘Alfonse and I are investigating Kira Niemeyer’s murder.’

‘Better you than that dumbshit Farrage and his cronies.’ His own cronies nod agreement.

I can’t help but smile at their endorsement.

‘Thanks.’ I give a nod to the far side of his yard where his office is located. ‘Can we talk somewhere more private?’

‘We can.’ A callused thumb jerks towards his men. ‘But when I get back they’ll just ask what we’ve been talking about. And I’ll tell them. I’ve no secrets about Kira as far as they’re concerned.’

‘Fair enough.’ It isn’t but there is little I can do about it without a badge to give me authority.

Pete’s eyes narrow as he detects the difference in my tone. ‘It’s cool, Jake. I dated Kira for about three months at the start of the year. Neither of us were looking for anything more than a bit of fun and neither of us were exclusive.’

‘Can you tell me about how you two hooked up?’

‘She came on to me. I didn’t have to do anything except not piss her off.’ His smile is joined by a lecherous wink.

We talk. I ask questions, he answers them.

I learn nothing new. He finds out a few details about Kira’s murder which remove the smile from his lips.

Before I know it, I have just one question left. It is the one whose answer I have to have, but am not looking forward to hearing.

‘Who decided you two should split?’

‘I did.’

‘What did she say when you finished it?’

‘She laughed in my face and told me I was just a stopgap until the man she really wanted became available.’

I say nothing. Silence is always a good asker of questions.

It looks like Pete is going to wait me out. After a minute or so his mouth opens. ‘You want to know if I asked who she was waiting for, don’t you?’

I nod and watch him rub the stubble on his face with a meaty hand.

‘I didn’t ask. I figured she was just getting a little payback for me dumping her.’ His eyes widen as a synapse fires behind his gargoylian features. ‘This other guy does exist and you think he’s behind it. I’m right, aren’t I?’

I shake my head, reluctant to tell him how bad Kira had it for me.

‘C’mon, Jake, you can tell me. This other dude, he’s the one who killed her, isn’t he?’

‘No. It’s definitely not him.’ The force of my answer surprises me and makes him lean back as if he’s expecting me to take a swing at him.

‘How can you be so sure?’

‘Trust me. I know it’s not the person she was waiting for.’

Twenty seconds later I’m driving out of his yard trying to figure out why Kira’s obsession is messing with my head quite so much.

It is getting to me way more than it should. I had no strong feelings for her. No long-term dreams of a life together. I’m mourning her passing as that of a close acquaintance rather than a dear friend or loved one.

On reflection, I realise it’s the fact I’ve been oblivious to her designs on me that is at the root of my distress. If I’d been aware, I’d have had Alfonse forever using it to mock or humiliate me.

With knowledge comes acceptance. All I have to do is accept this new knowledge and use it to my advantage instead of letting it debilitate my thought processes.

I park at the mall and walk along Main Street until I arrive at the butcher’s.

The shop is crowded, so I stand in line and pass the time eyeing up some of the steaks. I plan to grab a couple of fillets on my way out.

A young server with a face full of spots finishes serving a soccer mom and turns to me. ‘Hi – can I help you?’

‘I’d like a word with Terrel Upson.’

‘Sorry, he’s out of town for a few days.’

My interest level in Upson spikes to a new high. ‘Where’s he gone? When did he go?’

‘I don’t know.’ He waves a hand towards a door. ‘One of the guys in the back might though.’

I gesture towards the doorway and lift an eyebrow. He nods, his focus already on the next person in line.