Page 61 of Someone in the Water
‘Are you sure about this?’ she says quietly when Lola sidles up next to her. ‘I’d prefer it to just be the two of us having dinner tonight.’
Lola rouses her best smile. ‘I thought it would help you move on. A reminder that everyone else has got on with their life, so you can too.’
‘Hey, Lola. Frankie.’
Lola turns at the sound of Dom’s voice. ‘Thanks for coming, guys. Mum’s really pleased you could make it.’
Harriet smiles, but it’s nothing compared to Dom’s beam. Lola guessed last night that Dom still has a thing about her mum, and it’s even more obvious now. It’s a long time to hold on to those feelings – especially as it doesn’t seem like her mum returns them – so he must have fallen for her hard that summer. But is that relevant to Izzy’s death?
‘The table is ready,’ Raphael calls out from the bar entrance. ‘Shall we go?’
‘No need to be so rude,’ Anna tuts, but she turns towards the restaurant, beating him to the door. There doesn’t seem to be much love lost between them – which might be a sign that something happened between Raphael and Izzy all those years ago – but why didn’t Anna leave him? Was it about marriage values? Patrick? Or because Anna got her revenge in a different way?
Lola frowns as she follows the others. Maybe this is going to be harder than she thought.
Lola
28th July
An hour and a half later, their plates have been cleared, and Lola calculates that enough wine has been drunk for her to turn the conversation towards Izzy.
‘I guess it’s not long now until the anniversary of Izzy’s death,’ she starts, her eyes flitting between their faces as subtly as she can manage.
‘Thursday,’ Harriet says, nodding. ‘Two days after …’ She looks at Jack. ‘Never mind.’
‘Why are you talking about Izzy?’ Jack asks gruffly. Their eyes catch and Lola has the sense that he can see right through her. ‘It’s not like you knew her. Or were even born then.’
‘I guess I like murder mysteries,’ Lola says, flustered by the directness of his question.
‘But it wasn’t a murder,’ Dom reminds her. ‘It was a tragic accident.’
Raphael shifts in his chair and stares at Frankie. ‘We all know how she died.’
Shit. This isn’t going according to plan. Lola needs to steer the conversation away from her mum. ‘Isn’t the anniversary the same day as the gathering you’ve organised for Salvo?’ The question is partly to change the subject, but she has also been thinking about the coincidence, and whether it implicates Raphael. Except why would he draw attention to Izzy’s death if he was involved in it? Is there any chance that Salvo killed her and confided in his son, and this gathering is some kind of macabre celebration of him getting away with it?
Raphael nods, crosses his forearms, and leans them on the table. ‘The 31st of July is an important date in Corsican history,’ he explains. ‘It’s just ancient folklore, but the old boys still like to believe in it.’ He pauses. ‘My father believed in it.’
‘Ah, you mean the famous mazzeri legend,’ Harriet says. ‘I still remember that gruesome procession on Bastille Day. I read up on the myth after that summer.’
Lola notices how colour drains from her mum’s face. Could Bastille Day be another difficult memory for her? She narrows her eyes in concentration. Didn’t that newspaper article say that Raphael’s uncle was shot dead on that night in another Corsican town?
‘Hang on,’ Harriet continues, turning to look at Frankie. ‘You were the expert back in the day, I seem to recall. Didn’t your dad used to tell you mazzeri stories when you were little?’
‘Yeah, sometimes,’ her mum mutters, threading her napkin between her fingers.
‘So what is the mazzeri legend?’ Lola asks, feeling left out.
‘The mazzeri are Corsican sorcerers with the power to kill people in their dreams,’ Jack says, with an icy tone. ‘That’s right, isn’t it, Frankie?’
‘Actually no, that isn’t right,’ Raphael butts in impatiently.
Lola tilts her head. Why is Raphael coming to her mum’s rescue? She turns to look at Jack’s taut expression. Is he the real villain here after all?
‘You know, there’s an amazing painting of a mazzeri scene in the shop,’ Harriet says. ‘Have you seen it? Do you know the one I mean, Dom?’
‘No, sorry, I haven’t been in the shop in a while,’ Dom says. ‘Anyway, I don’t know why we’re arguing about Corsican folklore.’
‘I think some Corsicans use the legend to remind everyone how ruthless they can be,’ Anna says, looking sadly at her empty wine glass, then reaching for the bottle. ‘One of many excuses, that is.’
