‘Norbury shouldn’t have died,’ said Simon with feeling. ‘Soon as Angela McCabe was murdered, Norbury, as her best friend, should have had round-the-clock protection. It’s bullshit to say no one was sure it was pairs of best friends Billy was going for when Linzi and Rhian—’

‘Don’t harp on, Waterhouse,’ Proust snapped. ‘What’s done is done. What wasn’t done – well, there’s not much that can be done about it now. Billy was not, at that point, known as Billy. The friends pattern only revealed itself after Norbury was killed.’

‘No, it didn’t. To anyone who had their eyes open—’

‘Let it go, mate.’ Wing patted Simon’s knee. Simon swung his leg away.

‘So where does all this get us?’ Proust asked. ‘Anywhere at all? We had two decent motives for Angela McCabe, none for anyone else, unless you count vague suggestions of racism for Linzi Birrell, which I don’t. But since all the Culver Valley racists, in any case, have alibis, as does Russell McCabe, as does Gisela Bloor, we have … nothing. We’re up a well-known creek, it seems to me.’

‘The Culver Valley has to be significant,’ said Simon.

Everyone looked at him.

‘Pairs of best friends – fine, maybe Billy’s motive is friendship-related, but there are pairs of best friends all over the country. Two, one in each pair, from our patch – that can’t be a coincidence.’

‘With only two pairs, it can, I think,’ said Neil Dunning. ‘Course, if there were to be a fifth and sixth victim—’

‘Let’s hope and pray that doesn’t happen,’ said Sam. ‘Even if we never catch Billy, that’s a price worth paying to avoid more murders.’

‘No.’ Simon said. ‘We don’t make deals like that, even in our minds. We hold out for both – no more murders, and Billy behind bars.’ Or Billy dead, he added silently.

Chapter 5

5

from Origami by Kim Tribbeck

Shall I tell you the least disappointing thing Liam ever did? He bought me a brilliant birthday present, the best thing anyone’s ever given me.

Big deal, you’re probably thinking. Isn’t that what lovers do – give gifts that you treasure forever, or at least until you decide you’d rather wrap your thighs around somebody else?

Well, no. If those lovers are Liam, then that is categorically not what they do. That’s why I said ‘least disappointing’. Liam, I’m sorry to say, is a disappointing man. Let’s put it this way: he would never be asked to stand in for Cyrano de Bergerac. If there was ever a conversation along the lines of: ‘Cyrano’s gone AWOL – can anyone think of a man who’s equally able to convey romantic passion with eloquent brilliance?’, I guarantee no one would pipe up with, ‘Yes, of course! There’s Liam Sturridge from Rawndesley!’