‘Thank you,’ Cate says, although she knows she does not.
‘Let me get you a coffee. What would you like?’
Cate doesn’t have the energy to argue about who should be buying the coffee so she just smiles and says, ‘A small Americano please. With warm milk.’
She settles into an armchair and glances at her phone. There’s a message from Georgia.Mum?
Then another one:Mum. Can I make a cake tonight? Can you buy flour? And eggs?
Then two minutes later:And soft brown sugar. Love u.
Cate replies with a thumbs-up emoji and puts her phone away.
If anyone had told her a few years ago that one day Georgia would be the least of her problems, she would not have believed them.
Elona returns with an Americano for Cate and a mint tea for herself. ‘So,’ she says, ‘how’ve you been?’
‘Oh, God, you know,’ Cate begins. ‘All a bit high drama. As you may know?’
Elona nods effusively. ‘I heard, yes.’
It occurs to Cate that Elona probably cleared her diary in the thirty seconds after receiving Cate’s message.
‘So, what’s been going on?’ Elona asks.
‘Well, you know they’ve arrested the guy? The one who lives opposite us?’
‘Yes. I read that. Wow. And what do you think? Do you think it was him?’
‘Well, it certainly looks that way, doesn’t it? Though I read somewhere that it was him who told the police about seeing Saffyre there. Why would he have done that if he did it? If he hadn’t said anything, they’d never have known she was on our street. They’d never have looked in that building plot; they’d never have found her phone case and the blood. It all seems a bit strange.’
‘Unless he wanted to get caught?’
‘Well, yes, I guess that’s possible. But still, something doesn’t seem quite right to me.’
‘So, what’s your theory?’
Cate laughs nervously. ‘I don’t have one. I just have an anti-theory.’
Elona smiles, blankly, clearly hoping for more.
Cate changes the subject. ‘So, how’s Tilly. I haven’t seen her for quite a while.’
‘No,’ says Elona, her eyes dropping to the leaves in her tea. ‘No. She’s become a bit of a homebody. Doesn’t really like going out. Probably the weather. You know. The dark nights.’
‘When did this start?’ she asks. ‘The not going out?’
‘Gosh, I don’t know. A few weeks ago, I suppose. Since the New Year. She’s just …’ She pauses. ‘She just seems happier at home.’
‘Does it seem …?’ Cate begins and then pauses to find the right words. ‘Do you think maybe it had anything to do with that night? The night she was leaving ours. When she said the man had grabbed her.’
Elona looks up at Cate. ‘You know, the thought did occur to me.’
‘And?’
Elona shrugs. ‘She swears blind that nothing happened. That she made it up.’
‘It’s weird, though, isn’t it? The timing of it? And now it turns out that all the sex attacks in the area this year were kind of similar to what she originally said happened to her?’