‘I think he is supposed to be interviewing me. Not the other way around.’
‘Are you going to tell him about me? What you’ve asked me to do? What I’ve found out?’
Diana stopped in her tracks and looked at her.
‘What do you think?’
Rachel gazed over Diana’s shoulder, fixing her sights on a distant line of trees as she
struggled with the dilemma.
‘Look, we want to help the police, the coroner’s office, but if you tell them what we know, what we suspect, then it’s just going to give people an excuse to pack Julian’s death into a tidy little box.’
‘You mean Julian died of heartbreak,’ Diana said bitterly.
Rachel found it hard to contradict her. Diana had brought her back to England to find answers, and Rachel had discovered a more potent reason for Julian’s death than the teenage depression his family seemed to be accepting. Julian’s pregnant mistress was dead. That felt like the end of the road, the reason for his suicide they had been looking for. Rachel knew how easy it would be to stop things right here. Confess about Madison’s pregnancy. Diana would be devastated, but it would decrease the Denvers’ chances of a successful challenge to the will. Charlie meant everything to Diana, and obviously she would want him to inherit her husband’s legacy.
‘Was he in love with Madison Kopek?’
‘I don’t know.’
They stood up from the bench and started walking back to Bayswater.
‘I’m sorry about what happened the other night,’ Diana said finally.
Rachel didn’t respond.
‘I was wrong to react the way I did. I was just hurt and angry and humiliated . . .’
‘I’m sorry too. I was insensitive. I was caught off guard. I didn’t think. Typical me, eh?’
Diana shook her head. ‘Turns out you’re a better person than my husband.’ She was obviously referring to Tuscany.
‘He was drunk, and men like sex,’ replied Rachel obliquely.
‘When you told me about Julian’s mistress, I wasn’t surprised,’ said Diana. ‘We didn’t have sex any more. He was spending more and more time in London. But I always thought he loved me. To find out he might have killed himself over another woman sort of crushed me.’
Rachel knew right then that she could not tell her about Madison’s baby. She had to find another reason, another answer. As Ross had pointed out on her first visit to Clapton: tell her what she wants to hear. She’s been through enough pain.
‘When are you coming back to Somerfold?’
‘I’ll come back with you.’
‘Good,’ Diana said quietly. ‘After the coroner’s visit, I wondered if you could come and look at something with me.’
‘Sure. What is it?’
‘There’s a café in the village run by a widow. It’s run-down. I was thinking of investing in it. Adam thinks I need a project, and I think he’s right. I’ve bloody missed you, you know.’
‘I’ve missed you too.’
‘Did you ever think of calling me?’
‘All the time,’ said Rachel honestly. ‘I have a good life in Thailand, but it doesn’t feel quite right because my family isn’t in it.’ She looked down at the path, not wanting to admit that there was a selfish element to this story. Liam’s parents, his siblings, had all been over to see him in Ko Tao. They called at Christmas, and sent parcels for his birthday. Rachel had friends with whom she celebrated her birthday, and Songkran, the Thai New Year. But she often felt lonely, isolated, without back-up. Sometimes she thought that she could free-dive to the bottom of the ocean and if she never resurfaced no one would notice or care. Not really.
‘You have Liam. What’s the story there? He was very protective of you when I showed up asking questions.’
‘Was he?’ she asked more animatedly.