Inspector Rames

Chapter 58

Raised voices drifted down the hallway. Following them to the kitchen, we found Brittany and Ethan.

They were standing on either side of the island unit. Ethan was facing us, his hands closed into fists on the steel. Rough words died on his lips as we appeared in the doorway, and in the silence, Brittany sniffled. She turned around, tears streaking her face. "Oh."

Clearly, neither had heard the doorbell.

"Hello," I said. "Ethan, we've been looking for you."

"I'm in the middle of something," he growled.

"No, you're not. You're on your way out of the room. But don't leave the flat -- we'd like a word with you."

He stared at us for a long moment, then left the room in two long strides and slammed the door behind him.

Brittany sank onto a stool, and we settled opposite her. The kitchen was large, but it felt strangely empty: too metallic and robust. After she'd insisted on playing hostess yesterday, I'd been expecting something more homely.

I got straight to the point. "The day before the wedding, you told Ethan that you'd slept with Iberia."

Her hands flew to her throat. "I... How do you know about that?"

"The truth always comes out in a murder inquiry. It was the summer before they got back together, wasn't it? She didn't know that you were his mother. Were you aware that she was your son's teenage sweetheart?"

"No!" Brittany's voice rose. She shot a frightened glance at the kitchen doorway and quietened it to a whisper. "William doesn't know. Look, I was never aware that Ethan had a girlfriend at school. William was always so strict that Ethan never used to tell us anything. Iberia was just my girlfriend. Later, when I met her again, no one but us knew what had happened. That's the way I wanted it to stay."

"Then why did you tell Ethan?"

"Because I was so uncomfortable with the arrangement." She passed a hand over her face. "My son, sleeping with her...not knowing what had gone on. I felt that it was his right. I was just too afraid to tell him until the last minute."

Alex braced his elbows against the table. "You were also jealous that he would get to keep Iberia for life."

"Yes. I was in love with her." Brittany hung her head. "I never stopped loving her. For Iberia, it was a summer's fling, but for me, it was a relationship. A romance." She shook her head. "One day, I forgot to remove my wedding ring before I met her. She walked away without looking back."

"You were a generation apart," I said. "She was the same age as your son."

"What do a couple of decades matter? Nothing can stop love. Age is no exception."

"But Iberia didn't love you."

"She never stopped loving Ethan." Brittany crumpled a tissue into her fist. "I should have been happy for my son. I was...I just wished it had been someone else. Anyone else."

"Were you jealous enough to harm her, Mrs Sharpe?"

She peered at me like a startled owl. "What? You can't think... I loved her!"

"What about Ruby?" Alex said. "She was involved with Ethan while he was engaged to Iberia. Were you aware of that?"

"Ruby?" Brittany's face darkened. "The bitch! No, I didn't know. I would have warned Iberia if I had."

"Did Ruby know that you'd slept with Iberia?"

"No. It was between myself and Iberia until Thursday night."