‘She said she had a good feeling about this house,’ said Joy. She smiled guilelessly up at Logan. ‘She said it felt safe. Isn’t that a lovely thing to say?’
‘Yeah, it is, so I was just asking Savannah if her ex-boyfriend knew where she was staying.’ Logan met his mother’s eyes. Joy liked to put on her dippy act but she wasn’t stupid.
‘He doesn’t know where she is,’ said Joy. ‘And he’s got no way of finding out.’
‘Don’t worry,’ said Savannah. ‘He can’t track me down. I didn’t even bring my phone when I left.’
‘Yes, and we’re going to find a time to go over to her apartment to pick up Savannah’s things when he’s at work,’ said Joy. She spoke as if she were planning a lunch.
‘You’re not going there, Mum,’ said Logan.
‘Oh, yes, I’ll probably stay in the car. Your dad will go inside with Savannah. Just to be on the safe side.’ His mother looked up at him, brightly, craftily, and Logan felt himself slide inevitably forward on the course of action his mother had already set for him.
‘I don’t think Dad should go either,’ said Logan. He sighed. There was no way out. He looked at Savannah and tried to make himself sound gracious, not sulky. ‘I’ll take you.’
‘I don’t need anyone to come with me,’ said Savannah. ‘I really don’t.’
‘Your brother can go too,’ said Joy to Logan. ‘Safety in numbers. That’s a good idea.’ She said it in a warm congratulatory manner as if it were Logan’s good idea. ‘You and Troy can help Savannah scoop everything up and get out of there quick smart and that will be the end of that!’
Would it be the end of that? ‘Isn’t Troy in America?’ asked Logan.
‘He flew back this morning,’ said his mother. ‘You can all three go over to Savannah’s place tomorrow once he’s over his jet lag.’
Troy would be appalled. Logan’s mood lifted fractionally at the thought.
‘You should go around eleven, I think. Avoid peak hour. You’ll have time before you teach your two pm class.’
Logan wanted to say, Maybe I’m doing something else tomorrow morning, Mum, but then his mother would demand details.
‘No. That’s okay. I appreciate the offer but I’ll go on my own,’ said Savannah, and Logan wanted to laugh because she had no idea how pointless it was to resist once his mother had decided something was going to happen. ‘Once your mother has momentum no-one can beat her,’ Stan always said, and he was talking about tennis but every single thing Logan’s dad said about tennis could also be applied to life.
‘I’ll go on my own,’ said Savannah.
‘No you will not, darling,’ said Joy. Steel in her voice.
Game to Mum, thought Logan.
chapter twelve
Now
‘How would you describe your parents’ marriage?’
Detective Senior Constable Christina Khoury flipped the page in her notebook and studied the man opposite her: Logan Delaney. The second of Joy Delaney’s four grown-up children. Thirty-seven years old. The slouched posture and relaxed drawl of a surfer dude, but the watchful eyes of someone with an agenda. Looked like a gardener but apparently taught business studies. She and Ethan were interviewing him in the lobby of the community college where he worked. He said his next class started in twenty minutes.
They sat across from Logan in low vinyl tub chairs with a small round table in between them. A noticeboard behind Logan’s head advertised evening courses: So you want to do your own soft furnishings? So you want to write a memoir? So you want to master small talk? So you want to get married? Some people actually did a course to get married? She must remember to tell Nico about that. Or maybe not. He might want to do the course. He had random bursts of enthusiasm for bizarre activities.
‘I’d describe their marriage as normal,’ answered Logan. ‘Good.’ He rotated his right shoulder forward and then backward. ‘They’ve been married nearly fifty years.’
‘Shoulder trouble?’ Christina pretended to care. She cared about finding out what had happened to this man’s mother.
‘It’s fine.’ He stilled his shoulder and sat up straighter.
‘So, they’ve been married nearly fifty years. That’s a long time.’
‘It is.’
‘Obviously every marriage has its ups and downs, its conflicts,’ she said, and waited.