‘Look, I’m not judging, but it doesn’t sound like you know much more than when I spoke to you at Nicholas’s party.’
Alex saw her face darken. He had been trying to help, trying to gently point out that Lara was chasing a ghost. He’d seen it happen to friends on the paper or in the police again and again. Eaten up by frustration and disappointment when they couldn’t solve a case or a story. Alex wanted to stop her pain, but clearly Lara didn’t see it that way.
‘Sandrine was my best friend, Alex. I won’t stop until I find out what happened to her.’
‘She was my friend too, and…well, I think we know what happened to her.’
He paused a moment, wondering if he should just keep quiet. But he couldn’t. Lara deserved to hear the truth.
‘Lara, I spoke to Superintendent Wilson at Charing Cross two days ago. There were no fingerprints of anyone else at the Wallace Square apartment. They’ve spoken to neighbours, but no-one heard or saw anything unusual and the police found alcohol and anti-depressants in Sandrine’s blood stream.’
‘I know all this,’ said Lara, her lips tight.
‘Okay, but I also spoke to a detective in Bishopsgate – the place where Jonathon Meyer was killed? It was the third mugging in that area in six weeks. Meyer’s watch and wallet were stolen, the wallet was found ditched a few streets away with the money and credit cards removed. A classic opportunistic snatch according to the copper. He reckoned the muggers were just waiting for some rich guy to come out of the bar alone. He was just unlucky that he smashed his head when he went down.’
‘Simon Meyer thinks it’s suspicious too.’
Lara’s face was pale. Alex waited, unsure whether to proceed.
‘You encouraged me to look into it, remember?’ said Lara, tension evident in her voice.
‘Yes, I said give it 48 hours and if you haven’t found anything by then, give it up.’
Lara stared out to sea, refusing to meet Alex’s eye.
‘You want to know what I think?’ he said as gently as he could. ‘I think Meyer was killed by a random mugger and I think Sandrine was a brilliant, complex person who was struggling with depression. Are there loose ends and inconsistencies? Yes, of course. But were they both murdered over some trafficking story we have zero evidence about? I don’t think so.’
‘That’s what you think, is it?’ she said, a look of contempt in her eyes.
‘Simon Meyer is grieving. You are grieving. You’ve both lost someone you love and we all need to make sense of that. But I care about you too Lara, and I think you need to step back from this. You need to let her go.’
Alex felt a stinging slap on his cheek. He jerked back, one hand cradling his smarting face.
‘How dare you tell me how to feel?’ she yelled. Her eyes were wild and Alex took a step away, fearing another slap. ‘You really believe Sandrine killed herself? Bullshit, Alex! Bullshit!’
Alex wanted to respond, but he could see Lara was out of control. Alex had spent hours at her side during the Felix Tait trial when she had been under intense pressure. Through all the lies, frustrations and a vicious cross-examination by Tait’s barrister, Lara had stayed calm, composed – totally in control. But this had sent her over the edge.
‘When did you become one of them, Alex?’ she hissed, jabbing a finger down towards the lower deck. ‘You used to be so strong, so bloody committed. When you were stationed in Beirut and Aleppo, you would go anywhere – across minefields, under wire – anywhere to get to the truth, to tell the stories those bastards down there didn’t want told.’
Alex glanced across at the partygoers staring at them.
‘Lara, stop,’ he said.
‘No Alex, I will not stop. This was our friend. Our friend. I will not stop until I find out exactly who hurt her. Then I will hang them out to dry. What are you going to do, Alex? Are you going to do anything, or are you just going to forget all about her?’
He patted the air in a calming motion.
‘Just listen to me,’ he said. ‘People can spend a lifetime searching for answers to a tragedy and they never find them. It never brings a person back. All that happens is that they get more hurt. I don’t want that to happen to you.’
Lara’s eyes narrowed.
‘Do you ever stop and look at what’s happened to you, Alex? Who you’ve become? There was a time when you’d never give up on a story. Now you and Darius spike more stories than you print. Why? Because they involve a friend or an advertiser.’
‘Lara, that’s not true.’
‘Isn’t it? And now you want me to stop chasing this story down. Because it’s hard. Because you’re not getting enough answers fast enough. Because you just don’t care enough.’
‘I don’t have to listen to this,’ snapped Alex, finally losing his temper.