McDermid, Val: Trick of the Dark

'Obviously not Jay,' Nick said. 'She's the one who's walked away from all of this with nothing more severe than a suspended sentence. Her stepfather's doing life for murdering her mother, her ex is doing thirty years in a Spanish jail and Corinna Newsam's had to resign her fellowship because she kept quiet about seeing someone in the meadow. But Jay still has her shares in 24/7 and her big house in Chelsea and her lovely life.'

'Not quite so lovely now,' Charlie pointed out. 'She doesn't have Magda.'

'She doesn't? That's news to me,' Nick said.

'Did I not tell you? Magda dumped her right after she found out it was Lisa who killed Philip. She realised Jay must have known that all along and the whole thing about Joanna and Paul was just a stunt to make it look like Jay was totally devoted to her. She was devastated that they'd been put through a murder trial just to make Jay look good.'

'Even though they did do the insider trading that they're still in prison for,' Maria said, less than charitably.

'Poor Magda. Another fucked-up life, thanks to Jay and Lisa,' Nick said.

'Not entirely,' Maria said. 'Tell him, Charlie.'

'Corinna's furious. Magda's hooked up with a lesbian theatre director who's trying to get pregnant via donor insemination. We're all hoping Henry will die of apoplexy when she finally succeeds.'

'So Magda got a bit of a happy ending,' Maria said. 'And she gave all Philip's insider trading money to the oncology department where she works. We took her out to dinner a couple of weeks ago and she told us all about their lovely new facilities.'

Before he could respond, a cascade of acoustic finger-picking emerged from Nick's jacket. He snatched at his phone, swearing under his breath. 'I'm sorry, I've got to take this,' he said, jumping to his feet and heading for the door. 'Work. Sorry.'

Charlie watched him go, an affectionate smile on her face. Then she turned back to Maria. 'I'm glad the trial's over. I know there's still work to be done to get Lisa back to a proper facility in the UK, but this feels like some sort of closure.'

Maria put her fork down and gave Charlie a long level stare. 'You were in love with her, weren't you?'

Charlie felt as if a gaping pit had opened beneath her feet. 'Sorry?' she blurted out.

Maria's smile was edged with sadness. 'It's OK, Charlie. I know it's over.'

'I never-'

Maria leaned forward and put a finger to Charlie's lips. 'Sssh. You don't need to explain. I think she was your demon lover, like in folk tales. The one you have no resistance to. I'll be honest, Charlie. I was scared I was going to lose you. When I saw the way you didn't look at her in Skye, I was sure you were going to choose her over me.'

'I couldn't leave you,' Charlie said, her voice cracking under the strain.

'I know that now. But I didn't then. I'm glad you fell back to earth.'

Charlie swallowed hard. 'Me too.' As she spoke, Nick strode back into the restaurant, a relieved smile on his face.

Maria spoke quickly, determined to say her piece before he reached them. 'And if you ever think about betraying me again, you'll wish Jay hadn't stopped Lisa adding another scalp to her tally.' She gave a grim smile. 'And that's a guarantee.'