Page 68 of The Bookshop Ladies

‘Right,’ Robyn said, pulling herself up in the bed. God, in her Lisa Simpson pyjamas she looked like a twelve-year-old. She tore off the fluffy pyjamas and slipped into her jeans and the cashmere jumper her mother had given her the previous Christmas. She’d hardly ever worn it, keeping it for best, but tonight, well, if Will Newsome had managed to findAlice, then this might be as close as she’d get to an occasion to show it off. In spite of her weariness, there was a spring to her step as she went downstairs.

‘Hey,’ he looked at her and she felt his eyes linger for a minute on her; she put it down to complete exhaustion if he was still on duty.

‘Well, you must have news, although, I certainly didn’t expect a house call, so…’ she looked around the kitchen for a moment, ‘too late for coffee?’ she asked.

‘Never too late for coffee when you’re a detective.’ He laughed. ‘I’ve got good news and,’ he stopped for a minute, as if gauging how to break something to her, ‘more news,’ he said tactfully as he lowered himself into a kitchen chair. And when Robyn turned to hand him the cup of coffee, she had a feeling that she should sit down too. He pulled out the chair next to him and patted it for her. ‘Really, I think you do need to sit down to hear this, we have a really good image from CCTV of the person who turned up with your book…’

*

In the four years Robyn had spent in university in Dublin, she’d only stepped into a police station once and that was because her flatmate’s bike had been stolen from outside a nearby shopping centre.

Her memory of the police station was grim. Dirty green walls, tired posters on neglected boards and a desk sergeant with an air of apathy that did little to inspire hopefulness and plenty to make you never want to come back again.

Columbus Street Garda station was nothing like that. It was a newly built station and even though Will had led Robyn through a staff entrance, she had a feeling that the front reception resembled a bank lobby more than a neglected sanatorium. They’d driven up first thing in the morning, stopped for coffee on the way. ‘Police coffee will kill you quicker than any drug lord,’ he told her as they made their way through a warren of bright corridors which seemed endless, but the carpet smelled as if it had just been rolled out of the shop and the walls were sparkling white without so much as a scuff on them.

‘Hey,’ they were greeted by a young female guard who Will knew from Garda Training College. Once the niceties were over, she led them to a long narrow conference room where the copy ofAlicesat in a plastic bag on the table. ‘So, here’s the plan, Harry Foley has already made a positive ID this morning, but Will says you don’t want to press formal charges?’

‘Yes, I’m sorry, I know, you’ve all gone to a lot of trouble, it’s just…’ How could she put it into words?

‘Actually, you’ve done most of the work yourself,’ Will said and his colleague nodded.

‘He’s right, you know, if only every case were so straightforward.’ She shuffled some papers that she’d brought in with her. ‘Now if Will couldn’t talk you into letting us charge him, I don’t suppose I will.’ The guard smiled. ‘Anyway, we have the guy here, so if you’re ready to do this, we can get it over with now…’

‘I’m ready.’ Robyn took a deep breath. She wasn’t ready, the truth was, she could never be ready for what lay ahead, but the alternative was so much worse. She looked at Will, who was smiling at her. She had a feeling he was willing her to be brave and to be strong. With that, there was a loud knock on the door.

‘Come in,’ Will said, his voice far sterner than the tones she’d grown used to over the last few days.

‘Oh!’ Kian stood in the doorway. It felt as if time stood still. Robyn felt something small snap deep in her soul – she would give anything to undo what Kian had done. This was what betrayal felt like and if Robyn had thought she’d ever experienced it before, she knew now, nothing had ever hurt like this. ‘Robyn.’ He took a step forward. His expression was a mixture of shame and fear, but if she was honest, she’d say mostly fear. Her name hung frozen on the air. Perhaps they both knew that it was one of those rare moments in life where you look back and think of the before and the after. And no matter how much you try to convince yourself, everything hinged on those pivotal seconds. Their next words meant moving to a place that was unthinkable only a day earlier. Nothing would ever be the same again. ‘I’m so sorry, Robyn, I don’t know why I did it, I mean, I wasn’t going to actually steal it, Imogene said…’

‘Don’t,’ Robyn whispered and found she couldn’t look at him. ‘Don’t make it worse.’ She hardly heard her own voice and yet it seemed to echo around the whole station.

‘NO, no, really, I didn’t plan to keep it, I was going to get it valued and bring it back and then, maybe you and I…’ Huge, pathetic tears began to run down his cheeks. Robyn had never seen him cry before. ‘I mean, you and I, it was always going to be us, just the two of us, wasn’t it? That’s what you’ve always wanted.’

‘Oh Kian.’ He was right, he was so totally right, and a small part of her wondered if he’d known all along how she felt about him. ‘It was never going to be you and I.’

‘But you were in love with me?’ he said, a hint of indignation creeping into his voice and, next to her, she felt Will stiffen.

‘That was before, I haven’t been in love with you for quite a while, sure aren’t you head over heels in love with Imogene now?’

‘Imogene, hah!’

‘Well?’

‘It’s over,’ he said and he moved a little closer to the table, his eyes drawn toAlice. ‘I’m glad it’s over, if I’m honest, and,’ he looked between the two guards, ‘the truth is, taking the book, that was all down to Imogene, her brilliant idea.’

‘But you brought it to be valued with Harry Foley…’ she said softly.

‘He’s ancient, he’s made a mistake, honestly, these guards put two and two together and they came up with me, but it’s not what it looks like at all.’

‘You’re on CCTV, leavingAlicein Harry’s shop, telling him it’s your book, looking for a quick valuation, looking for a quick sale…’ Robyn’s throat was dry. Watching the footage on Will’s phone had been like a form of slow torture. With every word, she felt herself die a little more inside.

‘I…’ Kian didn’t seem to have realised; now, suddenly, all colour drained from his face. He looked truly terrified. ‘I can’t be charged with this, I mean, we’re friends, like family almost, it’ll ruin my career, Robyn, you know that, don’t you?’

‘I know that.’

‘Come on, it’s all a big mistake, I was just…’ But he ran out of words, because there was no real way out of this. She’d called him the morning it went missing, beside herself with worry, he could have told her then. He should have told her then. Instead, he’d let her agonise over the last few days until now. In hindsight, he’d been as cool as a breeze and with that memory, an icy wave washed over Robyn. Betrayal.

‘You’d never have given it back, would you?’

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