They both look at me.
‘We’re flying back with KT.’
‘You’re having a funeral back in Nottinghamshire?’
I don’t want to complicate things by telling them about the cremation because I know they’ll want to come, and Mum and Dad want family only, just the three of us, the four of us with KT, so I just nod. ‘We’ll have a service in Nottingham.’
‘I wish I could make it,’ says Violet. ‘I wish I could afford to fly over for it, I really do. Maybe I can write a letter and you can place it in the hole with the casket or something.’
‘Maybe.’
Scott doesn’t say anything.
‘I saw on the news about the pillow,’ says Violet. ‘I’m so sorry, Molly. Katie was such a great person.’
‘Yeah, she was,’ says Scott.
‘It’s on the news already?’
‘Since last night. Caught it on NBC.’
‘The police believe the perpetrator was someone KT trusted,’ I say. ‘They might need to interview you both again, I think. Did either of you have a key to her apartment?’
‘I have a key,’ says Violet. ‘She had a few extras cut when she moved in, said she was terrible for losing them, and how her landlord in London charged her crazy dollars for changing the locks, or withheld her deposit or some bullshit. Wait, I’ve got it here.’
She shows me her keyring.
‘I don’t think I got a key,’ says Scott.
‘You don’t think?’ says Violet. ‘Dude, you know if someone gives you a key to their place. It’s the kind of thing you remember.’
‘OK, OK, then I don’t have one. No big deal. I don’t have it. What about the douchebag living in the basement, the kid who followed her around? He’d have a key – why don’t the cops talk to that guy?’
‘I think they are,’ I say.
‘If he did it, I will kill him with my bare fucking hands,’ says Scott. ‘I will rip him—’
I cut him off. ‘Do either of you guys know about KT’s trips? To Monaco, to Aspen, to St Kitts?’
‘It was through the school, I think,’ says Violet.
‘No, it wasn’t,’ says Scott sucking the last of his papaya juice through his straw. ‘’Cos we argued about it when she went to Aspen that time. It was part of her scholarship programme. They did a bunch of trips each year, her and the other students.’
‘That when you put your fist through her wall, Scott?’ says Violet.
‘It didn’t go through her wall.’
‘What?’ I say.
He crushes his plastic cup in his hand.
‘I thought she came back from Monaco with a hickey. Any guy would freak out if he saw that on his girlfriend’s neck.’
‘Only it wasn’t a hickey,’ says Violet.
‘A bruise or some shit,’ says Scott.
‘Where did the bruise come from?’ I ask.
‘I don’t know,’ he says. ‘She said it was some kind of rash. Skin irritation.’
‘So, not actually a bruise.’
‘I wasn’t on the trip, Molly. I don’t know what happened out there. But I didn’t like the people on that scheme,’ says Scott.
‘You meet any of them?’ I ask. ‘The organisers or students?’
He shakes his head. ‘No. I just got a real bad vibe. Flying girls around, always girls, on a private plane. What the hell kind of academic scholarship do you call that?’
‘One I’d sign up for in a fuckin’ heartbeat,’ says Violet.
‘Ever hear the name James Kandee?’
‘No,’ says Scott.
‘Maybe,’ says Violet. ‘Katie might have mentioned him.’
‘I think he’s behind the scholarship. Some kind of international party guy hiding behind a fa?ade of philanthropy and green energy initiatives.’
‘Sounds like a dick. Look, I have practice, I gotta go.’ He stands up and looks at me. ‘Molly, I just want to say again how sorry I am about Katie. We only went out for a few months, you know, but I really liked her. I’m sorry.’
We have a brief hug and he has the hardest chest and arms I have ever touched in my life. I feel shallow for noticing but I can’t help it. His arms wrap around me effortlessly and he smells of sandalwood.
‘Thank you,’ I say. ‘And thanks for showing KT around New York. She always had great things to say about you.’
That’s not quite true: she mentioned once that he was cute but clingy, like a big puppy.