'Did you know John was unwell?' he demanded before kicking himself. She wasn't going to answer to something like that.
'Excuse me?' she snapped, glaring at him while she visibly seethed at the hidden accusation.
'That's not…' He put on a show of sighing, hoping she'd buy the apology and excuse. 'That's not how I meant it.'
She sat silent for a long moment, and Gordon was sure he'd blown it, but she surprised him. 'Then what did you mean, Gordon? And make it good.' She leaned forward, the little blue figure fritzing as it readjusted.
'Brains said that it seems like John was "unwell." I can't remember how he put it or what it was called—it had some long name—but point is, he thinks that there would have been signs of this before everything kicked off. Like, long, long before.'
'And you want to know if I had noticed anything and never mentioned it?'
'Well… yeah, I guess.'
She frowned at him. 'John was a little more distant than normal, but you know as well I as do that he goes through phases. People get too much for him, and he cuts everyone off. I assumed it was one of those that had gone on a little longer than normal.'
'So he was acting strange before "this"?'
'Perhaps if you bothered to talk to him, you might have noticed something rather than having to accuse me of keeping secrets?'
He started to defend himself but paused. She was right, he hadn't bothered to check in on John for too long. He'd left it to someone else to take care of.
'Yeah. I know. I screwed up. But I'm trying to fix this now. Okay?'
She looked away, watching something as if she'd been called.
'I have to go. Scott's back.'
'Okay. Say hi to them for me…?'
She smiled. 'Of course. If I think of anything, I'll tell you.' She hung up, leaving Gordon to look at the phone in his hand. He wasn't lying when he said he wanted to fix things.
At least he didn't think he was.