Evil in Return by Elena Forbes Page A

well,’ he said, thoughtfully.
    ‘I have an instinctive feel for people. It’s why I do what I do.’ She let her hair drop and clamped her mouth shut as though slamming a door.
    ‘What else can you tell me?’
    ‘What do you mean?’
    He leaned forwards towards her and spread his hands. ‘Look, given what’s happened, there must be something that came out of your conversations that I should know.’
    ‘I don’t think so.’
    ‘There has to be something, even if it seems trivial.’
    There was a beat before she answered. ‘No. Most of the time we talked about the past. Look, I’ve told you everything I know. Now I really must be getting on. If I don’t go home and email my copy, my editor’s going to crucify me.’
    Frustrated, he ran his fingers through his hair and stared at her for a moment. She had every right to walk out the door and no doubt she knew it, but he couldn’t let her go that easily. Instinct was telling him she was keeping something from him. Maybe it was information about Joe Logan – it was even possible that she didn’t understand the value of what she knew. Or maybe it was just the simple fact that she had slept with him. That she’d used him. He wasn’t there to make moral judgements. All that mattered was whether or not it had any bearing on the murder, but he had no idea how he was going to get it out of her.
    ‘What can you tell me about his second book?’ he asked abruptly.
    Her eyes widened a fraction. ‘His second book?’
    ‘Yes. I understand he was working on another book. You must have discussed it.’
    ‘Naturally it was one of my questions. I mean, how do you follow something like Indian Summer ? I thought it must be pretty difficult as a first-time writer to live up to something like that.’ She frowned and put her head to one side. ‘Why are you so interested in all of this? What the hell does it matter?’
    ‘Please answer the question. What did he say?’
    ‘He said he’d started something but he wasn’t ready to talk about it.’
    ‘What, not even to you?’
    ‘He was really cagey, like it was something precious he was guarding, something sensitive.’
    ‘So, he didn’t trust you?’
    She hesitated and bit her lip, staring hard at him before replying. ‘In the end, I got it out of him. I suppose I can tell you. I mean now he’s dead, he’s hardly going to write it, is he?’
    ‘Go on.’
    She sighed. ‘He was writing some sort of a thriller. OK?’
    ‘A thriller?’ He couldn’t help sounding surprised.
    ‘Yes. About a man, an English teacher, like Joe, whose best friend is involved in some sort of a conspiracy or cover-up. Then the friend gets bumped off and the teacher has to find out what really happened and clear his friend’s name. It all sounded a bit of a cliché . . .’
    ‘What sort of conspiracy?’ he said, trying not to sound too interested.
    ‘Search me. As I said, he wouldn’t tell me. Worried I’d steal his idea, maybe.’
    Hopefully, Logan’s laptop would give them everything they needed. Not wanting to arouse her curiosity any further, he changed the subject. ‘Did you tape your conversations?’
    ‘He wouldn’t let me. He said he didn’t like hearing the sound of his voice. He said it put him off.’
    ‘But he was an actor. Didn’t you find that a bit strange?’
    ‘Sure. There were a lot of strange things about him.’ She shifted in her seat still holding his gaze. ‘What’s going on? What are you not telling me?’
    ‘I told you before, I can’t give you any more details.’
    ‘There’s a personal motive. That’s what you’re saying, right? That’s why you’re so interested in his private life, in what he said and did in the last few weeks. That’s why you’re grilling me.’ She gave a husky laugh and leaned back against the cushions.
    What could he say? There was nothing more to be gained from talking to her and he stood up, Minderedes following suit. ‘I can’t say anything ahead of the press