Chapter Twenty-one

Strike pressing the buzzer of Robert Dane's apartment building is answered by a man's voice saying, "Yeah?"

"Cormoran Strike and Robin Ellacott, Mr. Dane. Allise Goldberg gave us your address. We're hoping to have a word about Catrin Baker?"

This is met with a lengthy pause, but then, "Yeah, okay."

With a whir and a click, the door unlocks, and Strike holds it open for Robin to precede him, receiving a smile of thanks before she comments, "Sounds like he's expecting us." And then she asks, "How do you want to play this one?"

He shrugs, saying, "By ear, same as always." As he follows Robin upstairs, he continues, "Which reminds me, I've been meaning to tell you, that thing we have where we just know what to do when we're working, that's what I want in our home life too. If we can manage that, I think we'll know that we're forever."

Robin casts him a warm smile, and says, "You mean like Nick and Ilsa, how they finish each other's sentences and prepare dinner without a word being spoken?"

"Just like that, only with less bickering. You and I don't really argue much."

With a light laugh, Robin asks, "I presume that's not a complaint?"

"No. It's taking some getting used to, but I like it."

Robin stops on the first landing and turns to face him, saying, "Me too. And you've reminded me of something I've been meaning to tell you; with Matt, there was so much arguing, especially the last few years. I was absolutely exhausted by the effort of trying to keep the peace. And I want you to know, being with you..." Strike waits patiently while she struggles for the right words, and she soon continues, "It feels like I can finally breathe. I don't mean that we'll never argue. Of course we sometimes will, but I'm not afraid, because I know you'll forgive me afterwards."

Strike grins and teases, "We'll see, Ellacott. We'll see."

They're still kissing when a door opens above them, so Robin quickly releases Strike and heads up the stairs to a bewildered Robert Dane, looking much the same as his photo, plus a few pounds. He greets them, "Thought maybe you got lost."

Robin ignores the gentle jibe and makes the introductions before adding, "Thanks for this."

Dane steps aside so they can enter his flat, saying, "I haven't got long, and the baby's asleep, so you'll have to keep it down."

Noting that he doesn't seem nearly as amenable as his former girlfriend—perhaps because of the surprise visit—Robin enters first, saying, "No problem. We'd just like to go over your statement of the night Ms. Baker disappeared."

Dane quietly shuts the door, saying, "Yeah, okay. But I don't have anything to add." They're seated and he's offered a nod of consent to being recorded when he asks, "Whaddya wanna know?"

Notepad and pen in hand, Robin suggests, "Perhaps you could relive the evening that Ms. Baker vanished, as much as you can recall, anyway."

With a nod, Dane says, "Well, I got to Allie's around seven, and she seemed upset, so I asked why, and she told me about the argument with Cat. You know she had that thing about people eating or drinking?"

Robin nods, saying, "Misophonia, yes. I gather it was a bad argument?"

Dane's gaze darts away and then back to Robin as he says, "I didn't see it, of course. But, like I said, Allie was upset, so I suggested leaving for Cornwall immediately, give Cat a chance to cool off."

Strike interjects, "You suggested it?"

His brow crinkling in concern, Dane says, "Uh, yeah, I think so. Why, did Allie say different? It could have been her." With an unconvincing smile, he adds, "It was a long time ago."

Strike waves away his concern and says, "It certainly was." Gesturing for him to continue, he adds, "Sorry to interrupt."

Dane takes a breath and says, "Right, well, I got Allie calmed down, and_"

Robin interrupts, "How?" At his obvious confusion, she asks, "How did you get her calmed down?"

"Oh, I, uh...well, like I said, we came up with the idea of leaving early, which cheered her up. And, by the time we'd packed the car, she was fine. I offered to have a word with Cat, but Allie vetoed that idea. Cat would blow up quick, but she settled down quick too."

Strike asks, "Did Cat every blow up at you?"

There's a flicker of fear in the young father's eyes as he reveals, "One time. I, uh, kind of provoked her after she told me I was making a racket eating crisps. See, I didn't know then that she had some kind of illness. I just thought she was being a pain in the arse, so I was a bit of a jerk about it."

No mention of this is in the case report, so Robin asks, "A jerk how?"

"Sort of laughed and deliberately chewed louder for a few seconds."

Writing in her notebook, Robin then asks, "How did she react to that?"

"She didn't say anything, just looked like she was gonna blow her top, but then she spun on her heel and went to her room." With a slight shrug, Dane continues, "Like I said, I'm not proud of it, but the rest of that evening was uneventful. Allie asked me not to do it again though, what with Cat being her landlady as well as her flatmate. In fact, I apologised next time I saw her, and promised never to do it again. After all, I didn't want to make trouble for Allie."

Strike nods, asking, "Did you ever witness trouble between them?"

Dane vigorously shakes his head, saying, "No, never. Cat knew she had a problem, and made that clear from the get-go. Allie accepted that and was happy to comprise where necessary, to keep the peace. With Cat working nights, mostly it went just fine. I'm not sure why it didn't that evening."

Strike remembers a seemingly inconsequential detail from the file, and reveals, "Her noise-cancelling headphones were broken."

For the first time since they arrived, Dane looks relaxed and even laughs a little before saying, "That's it? You mean, this all could have been avoi...I mean, fuck, that would explain it. But why wouldn't the cops mention that?"

Wondering what, specifically, could have been avoided, Strike suggests, "Because their job was to gather information, not share it." And then he says, "Anyway, please continue; you'd calmed Allie and come up with the idea of leaving early..."

Dane nods, saying, "Right. Of course, we were pretty fucking late getting to her parents, but they'd left the back door unlocked and a light on for use, so it wasn't a problem. And they were wrapped to see her the next morning. It was shaping up to be a lovely weekend until Brynn called Allie." With a wave of his hand, he concludes, "And then the shit hit the fan."

Strike looks up from his notebook to ask, "What time did Brynn call?"

"Uh, we'd eaten lunch, so...I guess early afternoon? I don't really remember, sorry."

Strike smiles and says, "That's close enough. And this was the first time you'd met the parents?"

"Uh, yeah, actually. I mean, we'd talked about it, but Allie didn't get home very often. It's so far away."

Strike huffs a laugh and says, "Tell me about it." Nodding to Robin, he reveals, "We're off to Cornwall this weekend." He's ready for it, so shows no reaction to Dane's sudden fear, merely frowning slightly as he asks, "So, you got to Sancreed at what time?"

Squirming in his seat, Dane says, "Uh, I'm not real sure. I was shattered by then. We just crept into Allie's old room and crashed."

Robin can see sweat forming on Dane's brow, so she knows Strike is on the right track, and asks, "How long had you and Allise been together at this point?"

Dane's gaze snaps to hers as he says, "Huh? Oh, about a year, give or take."

Robin writes nonsense in her notebook, to give Strike an opening, and he asks, "You weren't living together?"

Looking increasingly uncomfortable, Dane says, "No, that was part of the deal with Cat, her illness or whatever it was meant she could cope with one boarder, so long as they're neat like Allie, but not more."

Only now wondering, Robin asks, "Why did she even need one flatmate? As leaseholder of a two-bedroom in London, she was hardly struggling."

Dane nods and says, "I understand the leasehold was inherited, and she wasn't actually making that much money with the phone sex stuff. I'm sure she could have, but she was hoping to get back into bookkeeping, I think. Allie would know for sure."

Angry with herself for asking him a question that seems to have eased his anxiety, Robin tries to get them back on track with, "How did it go, meeting her parents?"

She can see it's worked, because he rubs his forearm while answering, "Good, I think. I mean, you'd have to ask them what they thought, but it seemed to go okay."

Strike asks, "What did you do in the morning?"

"The morning?"

"Of the Saturday after Cat disappeared."

Dane licks his lips and says, "Oh, we, uh, we slept in, but woke in time for brunch with her parents. Why do ya need to know that? Cat had already vanished by then, right?"

Strike shrugs and says, "Just getting the complete picture."

Dane suddenly stands, saying, "Well, I've answered your questions, and my partner will be home soon. She doesn't know about any of this stuff, so if you could...?"

Strike stands and picks up his phone, but doesn't yet stop the recording as he says, "Of course. We appreciate your cooperation. I'm sure Brynn Morgan will too. I just have one final question." When Dane looks to him, he asks, "Did you kill Catrin Baker?"

Dane's jaw clenches in distress or anger, and he simply says, "No."

Robin also stands, and then asks, "Did you help dispose of her body?"

This time Dane's face is flushed when he replies, "No, I fucking didn't. I've told you what happened, and I'd like you to go now."

The partners are all smiles and head towards the door as Robin says, "Well, thank you for your time, Mr. Dane. We shouldn't need to visit again, but might call with further questions."

Everything about him expressing reluctance, Dane nevertheless restates, "Okay, but I don't have anything to add."

Perhaps glad to be rid of them, he bothers to shake hands during the farewells, and the detectives don't speak until they're out of the building, where they both start to speak at the same time, and then laugh. Strike gestures for Robin to go first, so she asks, "I presume you mentioned our visit to Cornwall for his reaction?"

"Yeah. Did you see it?"

"Not really. He was looking at you. Was he scared?"

Strike nods, saying, "Just about shit himself. I think you might be right; the argument between the two women ended badly enough that they had a body on their hands. And I think Catrin Baker's final resting place is somewhere in or near the Goldberg's farm."

"Except for their alibi. CCTV from the street shows them loading his car and setting off. Other footage and phone records confirmed that they then headed to Cornwall. No anomalies on his car's sat nav. There's simply no way either of them could be the murderer."

Strike smiles and asks, "You change your mind?"

Robin also smiles and says, "No. I think Allise killed Cat, though it probably wasn't premediated, and her boyfriend helped her dispose of the body. Did you notice, after the revelation about the headphones, he was saying that 'all this' could have been avoided, but caught himself?"

Nodding, Strike says, "I noticed. Very interesting, that. I didn't want to push him on this first meeting, but that was very interesting indeed."

"Yeah, I thought exactly the same thing." Hoping he won't be offended, Robin continues, "You know, we could pay her parents a visit this weekend."

Strike laughs and points out, "You do remember that these few nights away are in fact our honeymoon, or the closest we're likely to get?"

Still without meeting his gaze, Robin says, "I remember."

After a few seconds, Strike asks, "You'd seriously rather work than have a honeymoon?"

He doesn't sound upset, so she finally looks at him, to see only love looking back at her, so she shrugs and says, "I'm not really a fan of honeymoons; my last one was a disaster."

Strike approaches and wraps his arms around Robin, smiles down at her and says, "Well, you know me, so long as there's food and sex, I don't care what else we do."