Take Two (A psychological thriller)

She walked past him and he followed her through the hallway and into the kitchen. ‘Can I get you a drink?’ she asked. ‘I was going to open a bottle of wine.’ She pulled open the fridge door and took out a bottle of Chardonnay.  ‘You don’t know where she keeps her corkscrew, do you? I’m still finding my way around.’

‘This is the first time I’ve been here,’ he said.

‘Really? I got the impression you two were close.’

‘She said that?’

‘In a manner of speaking.’ She opened a drawer but it only contained cutlery. ‘You know, generally I get screw-tops so I don’t have this problem.’

Richards pointed at a rack of green-handled cooking utensils hanging from a rack to the left of the Aga. In the middle was a corkscrew.

‘Excellent,’ she said, reaching for it. ‘Now, why don’t you make yourself useful and find a couple of glasses while I open this.’

Richards started opening cupboards and at the third attempt he found the wine glasses. He put two down on the marble counter and Jenny poured wine into both.

‘What did she say about me?’

Jenny laughed. ‘I was teasing you,’ she said. ‘Your name was in her Filofax, that’s all. But I saw you’d seen her for lunch last Friday and that she was seeing you yesterday on your boat so I put two and two together.’ She nodded at the kitchen door. ‘Come on, let’s use the sofas while we play catch up.’

Richards picked up his glass and followed her back into the sitting room. There were two overstuffed blue and white striped sofas either side of the fireplace and Jenny dropped down onto one.  She was an identical twin but Richards knew he would have no problem telling them apart. It wasn’t just the Australian accent, Jenny spoke faster than her sister and her body language was somehow bigger and more expressive.  He sat down on the sofa opposite her and crossed his legs. ‘I’m surprised your sister didn’t mention you,’ he said, ‘not even to say you were the black sheep.’

‘I wasn’t that much of a black sheep, really,’ said Jenny. ‘And you don’t know where she is?’

Richards shook his head.

‘You saw her yesterday, right? On your boat?’

‘She told you that?’

‘It’s in her Filofax. I got in this morning and she was supposed to be meeting me at the airport.’ She shrugged. ‘It’s not the first time my darling sister has let me down, so I got a black cab.’

‘Have you called the police?’

Jenny frowned. ‘Why would I do that?’

‘Well, she’s missing, isn’t she?’

‘I don’t know she’s missing. She comes and goes, does Carolyn. She’d hardly thank me for calling the police if she’s staying in the country with friends.’ She sipped her wine. ‘So how long have you known my sister?’

‘Not long,’ said Richards.

‘She was on your boat, right? Yesterday?’

‘Yeah we had drinks.’

‘You didn’t take her out to sea and drop her over the side did you?’

Richards frowned. ‘Why would you say something like that?’

‘Joke,’ she said. ‘But I know what my sister can be like. There have been plenty of times when I’ve wanted to throw her out of a moving car.’

‘Well, she was fine yesterday. We had a few drinks and then she left. I called her a few times today but there was no answer so I thought I’d pop around and check if she was okay.’

‘Have you slept with her?’

Richards felt his jaw drop and he closed his mouth and shook his head in amazement. ‘How can you ask something like that?’

‘She’s family,’ said Jenny. ‘God, you’re such a prude. It’s not as if I was going to ask you what positions you used or whether or not you used a condom.’

‘I suppose this is what passes for polite conversation in Australia, does it?’

She laughed. ‘We do tend to call a spade a spade,’ she said. ‘But seriously, are you her boyfriend?’

‘I went out with her a few times,’ said Richards.

‘And you like her?’

‘Yes, Jenny, I like her.’ He sipped his wine.

‘Well that’s good to know,’ she said. She sat back in the sofa. ‘Do you think I should call the police?’

‘I don’t know, you probably know her better than me,’ said Richards. The last thing he wanted was for her to call the cops but he could hardly tell her that.  ‘Her mobile’s off, but I suppose that doesn’t mean anything.’

‘How was her drinking?’

‘Her what?’

‘Her drinking. She’s got a bit of a drink problem. You didn’t know?’

‘She seemed fine with me,’ said Richards.

Jenny drew her legs up underneath herself. ‘She’s good at hiding it. But she’s been in rehab a couple of times. She signs herself in for a week or two and that works, for a while at least.’

Richards nodded slowly. Carolyn had been a fairly heavy drinker when she was with him, that was certainly true. But she hadn’t seemed like an alcoholic and had certainly never been drunk in his company. ‘Like I said, she always seemed fine with me.’

‘Maybe you were a good influence,’ said Jenny. She held up her wine glass. ‘Hell, I’m not one to talk. I love my wine.’

‘Carolyn preferred red,’ said Richards.

Jenny frowned. ‘Preferred?’

‘Yeah, she always asked for red.’

‘You said preferred. Past tense.’