need a mouth to tell you who came through the door.”
When that taxi turned into the estate I parked two streets back and told Nia to keep her belt on.
And a few minutes later Troy came round the corner, not in his suit any more.
Old jacket. Work gloves. A red petrol can in one hand and a crowbar in the other.
And I stopped breathing.
Before I rang it in I rang his mother, in case she knew anything, and Chelo picked up on the first ring with one word.
“Troy?”
And when she worked out it was me her voice changed completely. “Mari? Aren’t you meant to be at work?”
And I asked whether he had rung her, and she said, almost in a whisper: “Take Nia and don’t complicate this. My son is under a lot of pressure.”
I had not told that woman anything.
