"Not a bribe. Just-help."
"From you?" That laugh again; the cool little trill I had found so enchanting. I realized I was digging my nails into my palms.
"Two days ago," Cassie said, "we arrested Damien Donnelly for Katy's murder."
A fraction of a pause. Sam leaned forward, elbows on his knees. Then: "Well. It's about time you took your mind off your love life and paid some attention to my sister's case. Who's Damien Donnelly?"
"He says he was your boyfriend, up until a few weeks ago."
"Well, obviously, he wasn't. If he had been my boyfriend, I think I would have heard of him, don't you?"
"There are records," Cassie said carefully, "of a lot of phone calls between your mobiles."
Rosalind's voice froze over. "If you want a favor from me, Detective, then accusing me of being a liar isn't really the best way to go about it."
"I'm not accusing you of anything," Cassie said, and for a second I thought her voice would crack again. "I'm just saying that I know this is your personal business, and you don't have any reason to trust me with it-"
"That's certainly true."
"But I'm trying to explain how I can help you. See, Damien does trust me. He talked to me."
After a moment, Rosalind sniffed. "I wouldn't be too excited about that. Damien will talk to anyone who'll listen. It doesn't make you special."
Sam nodded, one quick jerk: Step one.
"I know. I know. But the thing is, he told me why he did this. He says he did it for you. Because you asked him to."
Nothing, for a long time.
"That's why I asked you to come in," Cassie said, "the other night. I was going to question you about it."
"Oh, please, Detective Maddox." Rosalind's voice had sharpened, just a touch, and I couldn't tell whether this was a good or a bad sign. "Don't treat me as if I'm stupid. If you people had any evidence against me, I'd be under arrest, not standing here listening to you cry about Detective Ryan."
"No," Cassie said. "That's the thing. The others don't know yet, about what Damien said. If they find out, then yeah, they'll arrest you."
"Are you threatening me? Because that's a very bad idea."
"No. I'm just trying to…OK. Here's the thing." Cassie took a breath. "We don't actually need a motive, to try someone for murder. He's confessed to doing it; we've got that part on the record, on video, and that's all we really need to put him in jail. Nobody needs to know why he did it. And, like I said, he trusts me. If I tell him he should keep his motive to himself, he'll believe me. You know what he's like."
"Much better than you do, actually. God. Damien." Possibly this is a testament to my stupidity, but I still had the capacity to be taken aback by the note in Rosalind's voice, something far beyond contempt: rejection, utter and impersonal. "I'm really not worried about him. He's a murderer, for heaven's sake. Do you think anyone will believe him? Over me?"
"I believed him," said Cassie.
"Yes, well. That doesn't say much for your detective skills, does it? Damien's barely intelligent enough to tie his own shoelaces, but he came out with some story and you just took his word for it? Did you really believe that someone like him would be able to tell you how this actually happened, even if he wanted to? Damien can only handle simple things, Detective. This wasn't a simple story."
"The basic facts check out," Cassie said sharply. "I don't want to hear the details. If I'm going to be keeping this to myself, then the less I know the better."
A moment's silence, as Rosalind evaluated the possibilities of this; then the little laugh. "Really? But you're supposed to be a detective, of some sort. Shouldn't you be interested in finding out what actually happened?"
"I know as much as I need to. Anything you tell me won't do me any good anyway."
"Oh, I know that," Rosalind said brightly. "You won't be able to use it. But if hearing the truth puts you in an uncomfortable position, that's really your own fault, isn't it? You shouldn't have got yourself into this situation. I don't think I should be expected to make allowances for your dishonesty."
"I'm-like you said, I'm a detective." Cassie's voice was rising. "I can't just listen to evidence about a crime and-"
Rosalind's tone didn't change. "Well, you'll just have to, won't you? Katy used to be such a sweet little girl. But once her dancing started to get her all that attention, she got awfully above herself. That Simone woman was a terrible influence on her, really. It made me very sad. Someone had to put her in her place, didn't they? For her own good. So I-"
"If you keep talking," Cassie snapped, too loudly, "I'm going to caution you. Otherwise-"
"Don't you threaten me, Detective. I won't warn you again."
A beat. Sam was staring into space, one knuckle caught between his front teeth.
"So," Rosalind resumed, "I decided the best thing would be to show Katy that she wasn't really anything that special. She certainly wasn't very intelligent. When I gave her something to-"
"You are not obliged to say anything unless you wish to do so," Cassie broke in, her voice shaking wildly, "but anything you do say will be taken down in writing and may be used in evidence."
Rosalind thought about this for a long time. I could hear their feet crunching in fallen leaves, Cassie's sweater grating faintly against the mike at each step; somewhere a wood dove cooed, cozy and contented. Sam's eyes were on me, and through the gloom of the van I thought I saw condemnation in them. I thought of his uncle and stared back.
"She's lost her," said O'Kelly. He stretched, heavy shoulders rolling back, and cracked his neck. "It's the bloody caution that does it. When I was coming up there was none of this shite: you gave them a few digs, they told you what you wanted to know, that was good enough for any judge. Well, sure, at least we can get back to work now."
"Hang on," Sam said. "She'll get her back."
"Listen," Cassie said at last, on a long breath, "about going to our boss-"
"Just a moment," Rosalind said coldly. "We're not finished."
"Yes we are," Cassie said, but her voice wavered treacherously. "As far as Katy goes, we are. I am not going to just stand here and listen to-"
"I don't like people trying to bully me, Detective. I'll say whatever I like. You're going to listen. If you interrupt me again, this conversation is over. If you repeat it to anyone else, I'll make it clear to them exactly what kind of person you are, and Detective Ryan will confirm it. Nobody will believe a word you say, and you'll lose your precious job. Do you understand?"
Silence. My stomach was still heaving, slowly and horribly; I swallowed hard. "The arrogance of her," Sam said softly. "The fucking arrogance."
"Don't knock it," O'Kelly said. "It's Maddox's best shot."
"Yes," Cassie said, very low. "I understand."
"Good." I heard the prim, satisfied little smile in Rosalind's voice. Her heels tapped on tarmac; they had turned onto the main road, heading down towards the entrance of the estate. "So, as I was saying, I decided that someone needed to stop Katy from getting too full of herself. It really should have been my mother and father's job, obviously; if they had done it, I wouldn't have had to. But they couldn't be bothered. I think that's actually a form of child abuse, don't you-that kind of neglect?"
She waited until Cassie said tightly, "I don't know."