‘Please go through to the living room and make yourself comfortable,’ she said a little formally. ‘I found some of Eva’s toys from when she was younger for Robbie to play with.’
‘Great,’ Emily said. Taking hold of Robbie’s hand, she steered him into the living room while Alisha went into the kitchen to make tea.
Laid out on the rug by the hearth was a collection of brightly coloured early years activity toys. They were similar to the ones Robbie had at home with buttons and knobs that could be turned and pressed to make different sounds, music, numbers, words and letters. Robbie toddled over to investigate as Emily sat on the sofa and looked down the garden. While her own garden was very bare in winter – a sea of lifeless twigs and brown earth – this garden was largely evergreen, with a screen of shrubs all around the edges forming a tall hedge. The one she’d cut between their gardens was shorter than those on the other two sides and she felt another stab of guilt. But she hadn’t known then that they were there to stop prying eyes from seeing Eva.
‘Please help yourself,’ Alisha said, returning with a tray set with tea and a plate of pastry savouries.
‘Wow. You’ve been busy,’ Emily enthused, impressed. ‘These look delicious.’
‘It was nice to cook something different. Eva’s food is very simple and Amit often eats at work.’
Emily took a couple of the pastries and put them on the plate Alisha gave to her, together with tea in a white bone-china cup and saucer.
‘What about Robbie?’ Alisha asked. ‘Does he want anything?’
‘He’s all right for now, he’s just had lunch.’ Emily settled back, took a sip of her tea and a bite of one of the pastries. ‘Very nice,’ she said. Alisha smiled, pleased. ‘So, you worked out how to switch off the cameras, well done. And you know how to switch them on again?’ she asked.
‘Yes. It’s simple when you know how. I’d never had a reason to learn how to use it before.’
‘You seemed very worried that Amit might find out.’
‘He …’ she stopped.
‘Yes?’ Emily prompted.
‘Amit has a lot on his mind and he can sometimes become angry over little things, but everything is all right, really. It was nice of you to help me.’
Emily gave a half-hearted nod. ‘No worries.’ Perhaps with time Alisha would confide in her. ‘What exactly does Amit do in that outbuilding?’ she asked as she had before. ‘I know you said it was research to try to find a cure for your illness, but how?’
‘I don’t know the details,’ Alisha replied, avoiding Emily’s gaze. ‘And I don’t ask questions.’
‘You’re very good. I’m sure I’d ask,’ Emily returned with a small irreverent laugh.
‘But you’re different to me,’ Alisha said, and looked sad. ‘You’re more confident and do as you wish. You feel you can speak your mind.’
‘Too much sometimes,’ Emily said. ‘So tell me to shut up when you’ve had enough.’
‘I wouldn’t do that,’ Alisha said seriously. ‘I am pleased you came. But I honestly don’t know what Amit does in his lab and I wouldn’t question him.’
‘Ben is jealous. He calls it a man cave. He wants one,’ Emily laughed.
‘I’m sure Ben would much rather spend his time with you and Robbie in the evenings and weekends than in a building at the bottom of the garden.’
Emily saw Alisha’s hurt and disappointment. ‘Yes, I suppose he would really,’ she said quietly and took another sip of her tea. ‘I’ve accepted Tibs isn’t coming back,’ she said, changing the subject.
‘I am sorry. Will you have another cat?’
‘Maybe in the future, although Ben would like a dog.’
‘It’s such a pity she didn’t come home. When I found her collar, I was hopeful it had just come off and she would return.’
Emily set her cup in her saucer and stared at her. ‘You found the collar? I thought Amit found it?’
‘No, I found it just outside our back door. Amit returned it to you.’
‘It wasn’t in the road then?’
‘No. Didn’t Amit explain?’
‘Yes, but I’m sure he said he’d found it in the road.’
‘You must have misunderstood. It was outside our back door. I was putting out some rubbish and found it by the bin.’
‘I see,’ Emily said thoughtfully. ‘I don’t suppose it matters.’
‘No,’ Alisha agreed.
But it did matter.
‘Why would Amit lie about where and who found Tibs’ collar?’ Emily asked Ben that evening. She had told him she’d seen Alisha briefly when she’d taken a parcel there.
‘I don’t suppose he lied on purpose,’ Ben said with a small sigh. ‘It was probably just a mistake. The bloke got home knackered from work and his wife started going on about the cat collar and that he had to return it. So he quickly scribbles a note and pushes it through our letter box, then you rush round and cross-examine him. He says he found it in the road, which is the most likely place if a cat has been run over. It was a mistake, that’s all. No evil intent.’
‘But Alisha never goes out as far as the road. How could he make that mistake?’ Emily persisted.
‘What are you talking about, Em?’ Ben said testily. ‘She came here once, didn’t she? Of course she goes out sometimes. Just not very far as she’s ill.’
She looked at him and realized how ridiculous it must sound if you didn’t know the full story – that Alisha couldn’t go out, not so much because of her illness but because she had a severely disabled daughter whom she couldn’t leave. There was no doubt in Emily’s mind that Alisha’s version of events was true and, for whatever reason, Amit Burman had lied, but she knew she needed to let it go. She was starting to sound obsessive, and Ben’s comment about Amit arriving home from work knackered and his wife going on at him about the cat collar was surely a dig at her.
‘Sorry, I won’t mention it again.’ She kissed his cheek. ‘Tell me about your day at work.’
It mattered, Alisha also thought that evening, and it had worried her since Emily had left. It had plagued and dominated her thoughts. She’d done her best to hide her surprise and concern when Emily had told her what Amit had said about Tibs’ collar, but after Emily had gone she’d found it impossible to think of anything else. She felt unsettled, anxious and couldn’t understand why Amit had lied to Emily. Without doubt he had known he wasn’t the one who’d found the cat collar, and she’d told him exactly where she’d found it. So why had he told Emily he’d found it in the road? Had he forgotten what she’d said? Unlikely. He rarely forgot anything and he’d taken the collar round straight away; there hadn’t been time to forget. ‘I’ll return it,’ he’d said, snatching it from her and placing it in an envelope.
Alisha liked Emily a lot, she acknowledged. She seemed a genuine sort of person who could be relied upon, and she trusted her not to tell anyone – even Ben – about Eva. She was pleased they were becoming friends; indeed, Emily was the only friend she had now. Amit had seen to that, telling her old friends she was too ill to meet them or come to the phone, so eventually they’d stopped calling. But now she had Emily, and it felt safe having her telephone