Jane was taken aback. ‘Gosh, I’m sure you’re right, but I can’t really even think about that right now.’ She hung up her coat on the coat stand.
Eddie led her into the kitchen where there had been a great improvement. Tiles had been put up behind her sink unit, everything was plumbed in, her fridge freezer was installed, and Eddie pointed out the new plug sockets.
Jane put her briefcase down on the table and smiled. ‘It looks terrific... thank you.’
Eddie smiled. ‘I have a few new estimates from Archie regarding the bathroom and he’s left a lot of leaflets for you to look over and decide what you would like him to do.’
Jane sighed and pulled out a chair.
‘Do you want me to take a look over the electrics upstairs? Also, Archie reckoned you could do with a new boiler?’
Jane sighed. ‘Oh goodness, I’ve not had time to even think about that. Maybe I should just settle up with you both for the work done to date and then have a meeting about the other stuff — though I did leave a note to say that my bath leaked last night.’
‘Yes, I know. Archie took a look and replaced a pipe that was the obvious cause, but you do have a very damp area beneath the bath, and he reckoned you would be better to get the carpet out and have some tiles or hard flooring put down.’
Jane nodded as she sifted through the invoices, then opened her briefcase and took out her cheque book.
‘Please, sit down,’ she said, as she began to make out the cheques.
Eddie sat down opposite her. ‘I have a few jobs lined up, as I said to you yesterday, but I can make time late afternoon or early evening if you want me to check upstairs. I think Archie is available in a couple of weeks, but he’s gone over to do a new build for a couple expecting their first baby.’
Jane passed Eddie his cheque and then put Archie’s into an envelope. ‘Shall I post this, or can you give it to him?’
‘Post it — I might not see him for a few days.’
Jane added the address from the invoice and slipped it into her briefcase to post in the morning.
‘Well, thank you for staying. I promise I will give all your suggestions a lot of thought.’
‘Good, but you won’t want to be sanding floorboards if you’re redecorating. It’s best to get them done first ’cos the sanding creates a lot of dust.’
‘Oh right, yes, of course.’
‘What you do is rent the sanding machine...’
Jane frowned. ‘What? Oh, yes... I’m sorry, I can’t really think about it right now. I’ve had one of those days at work and I haven’t quite got the energy to focus on anything else.’
She was annoyed with herself for losing control in front of Eddie, as she felt close to tears. Eddie stood as if to leave, but hesitated.
‘Do you want to talk about it?’
‘What?’
‘Sometimes it’s good to get stuff off your chest... means it doesn’t get on top of you.’
‘Well, I think it’s already got on top of me,’ Jane admitted. ‘And on literally my second day I think I have already rubbed my boss up the wrong way. I was given a bit of a lecture... it sounds stupid, but I felt that I had made great headway only to feel humiliated by him. It’s just hard for me to get my head around it. I mean, I didn’t want any praise, but I had succeeded in making major steps forwards. But you have to go by the rule book and God forbid you use your own initiative... you’re considered not to be a team player.’
Eddie just nodded sympathetically, having no idea what she was talking about, but when she suggested they have a vodka tonic he accepted, allowing him to demonstrate the new ice box in her fridge. She fetched the bottle of vodka, and he opened the bottle of tonic.
‘You need to do a grocery shop,’ he said, closing the door of the empty fridge.
‘I know, I know... it’s just something else I can’t think about at the moment. This case I’m working on has really taken precedence over everything else. In all honesty, it’s the last thing I wanted to have to deal with after my previous investigation.’
Eddie poured two large vodka tonics and sat down opposite Jane. She let out a long sigh.
‘Thank you... this is just what I needed. Cheers!’
‘I find it easy working alongside my dad,’ Eddie said. ‘Although he can be a pain in the arse sometimes. But being my own boss is what I like best. When I was starting out at my first job with a big company I used to get run ragged, but Dad insisted I get the best training and qualifications because in a few years he’ll be retiring. Then I’ll have my own company — and I’m planning on getting a good team of blokes — people like Archie, plus maybe a carpenter... make it a tight little business.’
Jane took another long sip of her drink. It was always the same. When people asked if you want to talk about something that’s bothering you, they ended up doing all the talking themselves. But maybe that was what she needed.
‘Are you married?’ she asked Eddie, abruptly changing the subject.
‘Me? No way! I’ve only just bought my flat and I want a few quid in the bank before I commit myself.’
‘Play the field, do you?’ Jane asked.
He laughed, sounding embarrassed.
They had both almost finished their drinks and Eddie pushed his chair back as if to leave.
‘Let’s have another one,’ she said, already feeling less anxious and rather enjoying his company. He was not like any of the officers she knew, or any of her previous lovers. There was an innocence to him, or perhaps it was just honesty.
‘I shouldn’t really ’cos I’m driving. But let me fix you one and I’ll just have a tonic.’
He stood at the fridge extracting some more ice cubes and asked about her last investigation. Jane dismissed it, saying that it was a long, tedious inquiry into the discovery of a nun’s body that had been found when a convent had been converted into luxury flats.
‘Been there a long time, had it?’ he asked, handing her the replenished glass.
‘Yes, three decades. So I was brought onto this new case because I’m now the expert. Only this time the victim’s only been dead for five years. Anyway, we think we’ve identified her.’
Eddie seemed genuinely interested, asking how they went about the process of identification. Jane explained about dental records and then how their inquiries had led them to the conclusion that the victim had been chained and left in an old air-raid shelter. Jane had not intended going into such lengthy details or bringing up the tragic discovery of the mummified baby, but Eddie listened so attentively that it all just seemed to come out.
‘Blimey — no wonder you were feeling a bit down when you got home,’ Eddie said finally. ‘Me, I finish the job, go home and sleep like a baby. But people like you dealing with all this terrible stuff every day must have a hard time putting it out of your mind at the end of the day.’
‘Yes, sometimes it is hard, Eddie,’ Jane agreed.
‘Well, I’d better be getting home,’ he said, putting on his leather jacket.
‘OK, thanks for listening,’ Jane said. ‘I’ll be in touch very soon to discuss the rewiring upstairs. And I’ll also contact Archie after I’ve made a decision about the bathroom.’
‘OK... I’ll wait to hear from you. Thanks for the drink.’
Jane remained sitting at the table as he let himself out, having left the spare key she had given him on the kitchen draining board. She poured the last of the tonic water into her glass and topped it up with vodka. She walked slightly unsteadily up the stairs to her bedroom before flopping down onto her bed. She wasn’t thinking about Samantha Forgham or the mummified baby anymore, but how soon she could get Eddie to begin work.