‘And at some point he told you about how he’d slept with Alexa?’
‘Yeah.’
‘Did he say where it happened, or how many times?’
‘No, but I think it must have been more than once. He said…’
‘What?’
Toby’s eyes shift to Cody, then back to Webley. ‘He said she likes it a bit… kinky, you know?’
‘I think you can spare us the details. Did you believe him when he told you this?’
Toby shrugs. ‘I don’t know. I wanted to.’
‘You wanted to believe him? Why?’
‘He’s my friend. You gotta trust your friends, right?’
‘When did you last see Sam?’
‘About three weeks ago. He stopped going to the exercise class after that.’
‘You don’t meet up outside the leisure centre?’
‘No. I don’t even know where he lives. I only ever talked to him in the café at the centre.’ He lowers his gaze to the floor. ‘I miss him,’ he says, and then something else occurs to him. ‘If you talk to him, please don’t tell him I gave you his name, okay? He wouldn’t appreciate it.’
‘You think he’d get nasty?’ Cody says. ‘Is he the violent type?’
‘I’m not saying that. It’s just… he’s my friend, okay?’
It occurs to Cody that this man’s friends can probably be counted on one finger, and even that might be an exaggeration.
‘All right, Toby,’ he says. ‘We won’t mention you.’
11
How Deep is Your Love?
– The Bee Gees
The address given on the exercise class list for Sam Ridley is in Greasby. As they enter the village, Cody says, ‘Did you know that this place used to be called Greavesberie? It’s one of the oldest known settlements in Britain, dating from about 8,500 BC.’
‘Yeah,’ Webley says, ‘I just read that on the road sign too.’
Cody smiles. ‘Honestly, I already knew that.’
‘Sure.’
‘Okay, well, did you know that just up the road in Meols they think there might be a Viking ship buried there? It’s under a pub car park.’
‘How come you’re so full of facts about this neck of the woods?’
‘Used to spend a lot of time round here, didn’t I?’
Webley nods knowingly. ‘Ah, Devon.’
What she’s referring to is not the county, which is a long way south of Greasby, but a person. Devon was Cody’s fiancée, but she broke off the engagement. She had an excellent reason, seeing as how Cody once tried to kill her. In his defence, though, he thought she was a clown. Not clown as in idiot – he’d try to strangle a lot more people if that were the case – but clown as in one of the murderous merrymakers who slice body parts off their victims.
‘Still see her?’ Webley asks.
‘Not for a long time.’
‘So, no sign of a reconciliation then?’
‘Nope.’
Cody realises he’s not being particularly forthcoming, but he finds it a bewildering subject. He is still in love with Devon, but he’s not sure the time is right yet for trying to patch things up. He’s not even sure what she’s doing with her life now.
He says, ‘What about you? How are things with old Nosy?’
Webley gives him the evil eye. ‘His name isn’t Nosy Parker. And it’s not Parker Penn or Parker Carr, or any of the other idiotic names you keep dreaming up.’
‘Whatever. It looks like he’s keen on giving you another whirl.’
‘Giving me another whirl? You’re such a romantic, Cody. How did I ever let you out of my grasp?’
‘You know what I mean.’
