Inspector Rames

Chapter 56

I had my work, and I had Alex. I was happy with that.

Perhaps an integral part of me was missing. Whatever it was, it didn't run in the family: my mother and father had enjoyed parenting, and my older sister was desperate for children of her own.

The insistent buzzing of my tabphone stopped Cyra mid-children-speech. I turned to the pegs, where I'd hung up my leather jacket, and pulled it out of my pocket. Cassia was calling.

I rejected her request for a video call and selected the option for us to communicate via audio link only. No one but Nina had been allowed to see my wedding dress. It wasn't just Alex who I wanted to surprise.

"Hi, Ambie," Cassia said. "Is now a good time to talk about the post-mortems?"

"Sure." I'd be too busy watching Diaries of a Fiancée when I got home.

"I still can't tell for certain who was killed first. What I do know is that Iberia Mills had coffee and breakfast before she was murdered, which tallies with the recorded time you found on her coffee machine. Also, while I initially thought the killing blow would have been one of the wounds on her head, I now believe that it was one of the blows to her chest. Some of the strikes went much deeper than I thought. Technically, you're dealing with two deaths by stabbing."

"Stabbing?" I repeated. "Well, well. The murderer finally has an M.O. after all."

Cyra raised an unimpressed eyebrow.

"Ruby Beaumont also had a surprise," Cassia continued, "because she'd been stabbed in the back as well as the chest -- I didn't get to see for myself while we were at the scene. The depth and width of the wound suggests that it was done with the same knife."

"That engraved cake knife. Ethan and Iberia..." I noticed Cyra starting to scowl. "Okay, thanks, Cassia. I have to go -- I need to take my wedding dress home. I'll see you tomorrow at my hen party?"

"Of course. You're going to love it!"

The call cut off, leaving me with a knot of dread in my stomach. I wasn't too sure about that.

"Cassia is your sister?" Cyra checked. "The one who's organised your hen party?"

"Nina is actually in charge of the hen party," I said. "But I think all three of my bridesmaids planned it, really."

"Oh, isn't that lovely?"

More like absolutely terrifying.

***

I returned to my flat not long afterwards with the dress -- although it was not actually my flat anymore, but our flat, because Alex had moved in with me. Located in a brownstone block on a quiet road just a few minutes from the police station, it stood as a tall shadow in the dark. I scurried inside and rode the lift up to my floor.

Faint voices drifted down the hallway when I opened the front door. I poked my head into the living room and saw Alex on the sofa with a mug of coffee, watching Diaries of a Fiancée on his tabphone.

"I'm back," I said.

He looked up with a smile. "Hello. How did that go?"

"Great." I crossed the threshold so that he could see the dress I was holding, hidden away in a white zip-up bag. "I have it. But no peeking."

"Hmm." His lips quirked a little more, his smile turning mischievous. "I'll try my hardest."

"If you look, I'll set Mitzy on you."

"Your threat is empty. Mitzy loves me."

That was true. Alex had once been wary of my cat, but he showed no sign of it now. The two had really taken to each other. In fact, Mitzy probably loved him more than me.