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deserved it, but my foster dad talked me into spending it wisely. Funny, isn’t it, for a couple of seconds, you’re thousands of pounds richer and in a blink you’re as poor as a Kentucky fried mouse.”
    “What? You’ve spent it already?”
    “I bought my house. Well, put down a deposit and took out a mortgage I can’t afford.”
    “Your house,” said Rey. “You bought your house?”
    “Yes.” I laughed. “I didn’t think the landlord would’ve let it go, but the market was kind to me. He’d purchased it as an ex-council property and he couldn’t wait to get it off his hands.”
    “You never struck me as the venture capital sort,” said Rey.
    “I’ve never had any capital, that’s why.” I smiled to myself. The house wasn’t “capital,” anyway, not to me. It was a tiny bit of land where I could be myself. I had planted a sapling, in celebration, and I intended to sit under my black poplar tree when it was twenty years old and able to shade me from the noon sun. “The repayments are crippling. I’m having to sell my car because I can’t afford to run it. At least, I would sell it, if I had a willing buyer. And I’ve taken a Saturday job. Like I’m a school kid. Can you believe that?”
    “I don’t believe it,” said Rey. “You seemed to work all hours anyway.”
    “Behind the bar at the Curate’s Egg. I’m quite enjoying it.”
    “Doesn’t that put a damper on your social life?”
    “It’s a pub, bean brain. I’m there this evening, if you want proof.”
    “Love to, but Sabbie, we’ll be working into the night.” His hand slapped my upper arm, as if I was his mate. “Thank you for coming in. The public’s support on this one is crucial; every tiny scrap of evidence. Whoever did this will feel the full weight of the law, and that’s a crushing blow, believe me. Gary was my colleague and my friend and some bastard has just shot him through the head. I need to make an arrest soon.”
    “Through the head? This was a someone who knew how to use a weapon?”
    He didn’t reply. He was pursing his lips as if he realized he’d allowed classified information to seep past them.
    “Do you have any idea who shot him?”
    “Not a clue. But that’s how we usually start. No clues.” He grinned. “And then someone like you comes along and starts the ball rolling.”
    “Not much of a ball.”
    “Don’t knock it. There’ll be coppers crawling round St. Mary’s before the hour’s out and I’ll be one of them.”
    “I saw you on the telly,” I said, more to keep him from leaving than anything else. “When you found that woman.”
    “Yep, fifteen seconds of fame due to a Jane Doe. Hope it was my best side.”
    “You sound like every hard-nose cop! It’s an unsolved death so it’s okay to forget her because she wasn’t ID’d. You never hear about it on the news anymore.”
    “Might be a dead donkey to the press, but murder cases are always active until they’re solved. You can quote me on that.”
    “It’s sad. That the people who loved you don’t even know you’re gone.”
    “Maybe no one loved her.” He crushed half his cigarette into the wall and swallowed the last of his coffee. I surreptitiously tipped mine over the back of the wall and handed him the empty cup. He walked over to the bin and threw them in. He’d be gone so soon.
    I stood up as he came back. “You never pop round anymore.”
    “To be honest, I was starting to feel guilty. Like I was using you as a greasy spoon stop on the way to work.”
    “Impudent wretch.” I gave him a playful slap on his hand, aware it might be the last time I touched him.
    “I didn’t mean …”
    “Honestly, sometimes I’m overrun with eggs.”
    “Yeah. I recall.” Our breath was white in the cold air, and we were standing so close it mingled. It was hard to believe that we’d never kissed.
    “You seeing anyone?” he asked, rushing over the question as if he didn’t want me to hear it.
    “To be honest, since