“Well, it smells delicious,” said Theo. He removed his jacket and placed it on the back of a kitchen chair. “When will it be ready?”

“When I add a bit more salt,” said his mum. “How was your day at work? Have they given you a new case yet? You deserve more cases now, you know that don’t you? They promote you, which means they think you’re deserving of that promotion. That means better cases. You’re getting better cases, aren’t you?”

“Don’t worry about me, Mum.” He sat down on a chair at the kitchen table and poured himself half a glass of wine, gulping it down in one swallow. The post sat in a pile and he flipped through the various letters.

Agneta placed three plates and three sets of cutlery down in front of her husband. Theo spread the plates around the table.

“What, are only the three of us eating?” he asked.

“The rest have prior engagements,” his mother replied, placing bread in one corner of the table.

“Father?”

“Father’s watching the match at the pub, says he’ll be home in a half hour but you know he’ll be back late. Dalia, Frank, and Milos have gone to the circus.” She retrieved the pot of soup off the stove and placed it on a pot warmer.

“The circus? Really? Who goes to the circus anymore?”

“Well, Milos has taken to tigers and lions as of late, and when he saw the advert on the telly, wouldn’t let it go until his mother took him. Tigers and lions, oh, I don’t like them. Noisy, smelly creatures. I don’t know what he imagines them to be like. It’s not like he can touch them or ride them or hug them, they’re not the animals he sees on the cartoons. One roar and that’ll put an end to it.”

“Oh, mother, what harm will it do the boy to see the animals? He’s seen the tigers at the zoo. Let’s eat now.”

Agneta removed her yellow apron with embroidered lemons and laid it across her lap. It was an apron he bought her as a gift when she baked him a lemon cream pie. She probably didn’t remember the occasion, but he was glad she wore it again.

“I hope it tastes all right,” Agneta said.

“I’m sure it tastes as good as it smells.” Theo dished out soup for the three of them. His wife watched him take a few spoonfuls of soup.

“How is it?” Agneta asked, wide eyed.

“It’s not sweet, not at all. I think it’s delicious.” He quickly polished off the bowl to prove it. “Just as good as Mum cooks it. Maybe even better.”

“Oh, I don’t know about that,” said his mother. “So, tell us about your new case.”

“An older man was found stabbed in his front garden.”

“How old? Was he older than your father? I tell him—your father—that it’s not safe. Just the other day the Charlie’s store was vandalized. Mr. Charlie is eighty-two and hasn’t done anything but help the community. What is this world coming to? So who did it?”

“I don’t know yet, Mother.”

“You’ll catch the killer, my son. You’re so smart.”

“Well, I hope so. Sometimes I feel like I’m running backwards.”

“What does that mean?”

“Not quite sure, but when I find out, I hope I’ll be able to run forwards.”

Chapter Fifteen

Liam Foxton dropped his keys and the take-away on the worktop and threw the Carlsberg into the fridge. He went over to his phone but there were no messages. There were never any calls. Even though he didn’t expect Sophia to ring him up, he hoped she would. At least to discuss the car situation. Why did he bother paying for home phone service?

“Make yourself at home,” he told the girl who had just laid her handbag on his sofa. “I’ll dish up supper.”

A pang of guilt hit him as he watched her slowly make her way around the living room, examining his belongings. Every time he brought a girl to his flat, he felt this way. God, he missed Kendra. She was the only woman he felt truly at ease with. When he was married to her, he enjoyed coming home. They would prepare a home-cooked meal together, it didn’t matter what kind of day they had. She understood him and didn’t ask stupid questions. Now he lived in a shell of a flat he hardly recognized. The flat contained things he had brought home from the shops but he wasn’t sure it was really him that bought them.

“This is a really nice place you have here. Have you lived here long?”

“Almost three years.” He had moved to the flat shortly after Kendra’s death.

“Where did you get all these posters on your wall? Do you like them?” the girl asked.

Yes, of course he liked them. Why would he collect things he didn’t like? Liam smiled at the girl before replying, “I collected them from various shops around London. Some are the original but others are replicas.”

His mobile buzzed. A text from Sophia. Don’t come. Will contact you tomorrow about the Merc.

“How many are there?”

He looked up. “Sorry?”

“Oh, I asked how many posters you have.”

He shrugged. “Maybe a hundred or so.”

“Well, I like this one.” She pointed at the Invasion of the Saucer Men. “Aha, and this one is funny too.” She pointed to The Monster That Challenged the World.

“Yeah, they’re great.” He wasn’t really interested in the conversation. He’d had the same one with all his guests. On occasion, he was tempted to take them off his walls. After he dished up the food, he held up her plate.

She pranced to the kitchen in her stockings. “I had to get out of my shoes. After hours in four inch heels, my feet are dead.” She wiggled her toes. “Anyway, the food looks delicious. Where should we eat?”

“On the settee if that’s all right with you.”

It must have been all right for she quickly sat down and happily held the plate of food on her lap. Liam didn’t own a dining room table. He normally ate on the sofa while watching the telly or over his sink. After grabbing two beers from the fridge, he sat down next to her.

“Dig in . . .” He meant to say her name but bloody hell if he could think of it. Sarah? Susan? Something with an S. Or was it a W? Wanda? He shook his head. She had a fine arse; that’s all he remembered about her in the office. He had planned to say no when she asked him for a drink but today she wore that fine red skirt. In the end, she didn’t talk much on their drive home, she just fiddled with the dials on the radio in Sophia’s car and adjusted her lipstick in the mirror.

“Care for a beer?” he asked.

“Sure.”

Liam handed her a beer. “Most girls don’t like beer.”

“No, I like it.” With all her might, she tried to unscrew the top.

“You have to use a bottle opener on that one.”

She pranced into the kitchen again. With a quick flip, the top flew off onto the floor. As his guest bent over to retrieve the green top, Liam leaned over to have a look. Perfectly fine. She turned her head to look at him and caught him. He gave her a smile.

“You like what you see?”

So, the woman was not as simple as he made her out to be. She stood and laid the top on the counter with a plunk. “So, why do you like collecting beer bottles?” She pointed to the bottles on the fireplace mantle.

“I suppose it stems from laziness really. I put old ones up there instead of throwing them away and slowly I’ve been adding to the collection. Not sure what I’m going to do with them. The cockroaches have made quite a nest up there.”

She laughed. Yes, of course she would. And he still didn’t know her name.

They ate while watching Creature of the Black Lagoon. On one bathroom break, Liam rummaged through the girl’s bag and found out her name was Sarah. He felt so much better. Now he could sleep with her if he felt like it.

“You haven’t touched your beer,” he said when she returned.

“No, I do like it I just prefer to sip rather than take gulps. Why? How many have you had?”

He looked down at the three nearest his plate. So he drank. He was a man, three was nothing.