Page 83 of All I Want for Christmas

‘Hell of a day,’ she apologized. ‘Not sure I’m the best company, to be honest...I probably should have cancelled rather than subject you to—’

‘I’m glad you didn’t,’ he said quickly. ‘Tell me what happened. Was it something to do with your research project?’ He looked genuinely interested, but she couldn’t utter a word about the real drama: Max Lorensen’s behind-the-scenes manoeuvrings around the ownership ofHer Childrenwere strictly confidential.

‘...Well, in part. I found a necklace that was the same as the one being worn by the woman in the painting, and from that there was a bit of a domino effect: the necklace could be linked to a photograph in the collection, which then gave us a name, so I’ve spent all afternoon starting to piece together the woman’s life story.’

‘So then, it sounds like it was a good day?’

‘Well, there was other stuff too, but...’ Her voice trailed off. The diversion at the Christmas market felt like a lifetime ago and she had left the carousel, still wrapped, on her worktable at the archive. She hadn’t wanted to bring it out here tonight and she wasn’t sure she wanted to bring it home, either. The last thing she needed was memories ofhimin her own bedroom.

‘Yeah, but a necklace, a name...! You’re practically done.’

Darcy was taken aback by tonight’s passion. There’d been no sign of this excitement in him last night.

‘Well, I still don’t have complete certainty that the woman I’m now researching is the woman in the painting. It’s probable that she is, but I have to stay open-minded; go where the evidence leads and not just surmise what happened.’

‘You sound like a pathologist.’

‘That’s funny, I was likened to a detective earlier too. Good options to bear in mind if the professorship doesn’t work out, I guess.’

‘Of course it will. Brilliance awaits!’ he said confidently.

She looked back at him. He seemed different tonight. More assertive, almost cocky. ‘Actually, I’ve got a question perhaps you can answer,’ she said, remembering something she had seen earlier in the files. It was the sole reason she hadn’t cancelled on him tonight. ‘It’s something medical – and I know you’re a vet, but you have to learn the biology for humans first, don’t you?’

‘Yes...shoot,’ he said, making gun fingers at her.

‘Okay. So, very sadly, she drowned, my lady.’

‘Oh,’ he winced. ‘Plot spoiler.’

She hesitated, her gaze falling to the wine bottle. It was well under half full. ‘I know, sorry. But then, apparently, her husband died three days later. Well, no – not apparently. He did die three days later. A seemingly otherwise healthy, youngish man...’ She tapped her finger on the table. ‘Don’t you think that’s a little too much of a coincidence?’

‘How old was he?’

‘Thirty-four.’

Aksel pulled a considered face. ‘That is pretty young to just drop dead. Do you know what was given as the official cause of death?’

‘On his death certificate, it’s down as stress cardiomyopathy.’

He looked genuinely surprised. ‘Really? Interesting.’

‘What is that? Did he have a heart condition?’

‘It’s otherwise known as Broken Heart Syndrome.’

Her eyes widened. Helle Foss had been right? ‘So that’s actually a thing?’

Aksel nodded as he drank more wine. ‘It’s rare, but it can happen – sudden, acute stress weakens the heart muscle. I had a golden retriever suffer it once when her companion dog waskilled in a car accident. She became deeply depressed and passed away a few days later. The owners were distraught.’

‘Oh no.’

He shrugged. ‘Grief shouldn’t be underestimated; it can place a huge toll on the body.’

Grief. Reputations. So many things not to underestimate, she thought. ‘When I was told this originally and it was insinuated he’d died of a broken heart, I thought that was just the person making up fairy-tale endings.’

‘Is someone dying ever a fairy-tale ending?’

‘Touché,’ Darcy smiled.

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