Carter squirms in his seat. “I’m afraid things are a little busy around here today—”
“In Hope Falls?”
“Strangely, yes.”
“Did someone steal a fishing net?” I thought that was funny but he doesn’t laugh. “Look, I’m sorry to burst in here out of the blue, but I wanted to talk to you—”
“And normally I would love to catch up with…”
“An old friend?” I suggest, trying to help him out.
“Exactly. It’s just that now is not a good time. I’m very—”
“Busy? In this sleepy village where you said nothing ever happens?”
“A woman is missing,” he says as though trying to impress me.
“It’s almost always the husband,” I remind him. Then I take a sip of my coffee and perch on the edge of Carter’s desk. He looks appalled and stares at me as though I might be dangerously stupid. Dangerous, yes. Stupid, never.
“Sorry, but I don’t have time to catch up today,” he says, standing and stepping away from the desk I am sitting on. He grabs his coat from the stand. “There is a new detective in town—they picked one hell of a first day—and I’m heading out to meet them now. So you’ll have to excuse me—”
“Before you go, there is something I need to confess,” I tell him, and his eyes dart to my stomach. “I’m notpregnantif that’s what you’re thinking,” I say, unable to hide the horror of such a thought from my voice. He breathes a visible sigh of relief and I can’t help feeling insulted. Carter’s patience has clearly expired and he heads toward the door.
“I don’t have time for this, whateverthisis—”
“It was you who put the idea in my head,” I say.
“What idea? Could we perhaps do this another time? I can’t be late meeting the new detective.”
“That’s what I’m trying to tell you. You already have.”
It takes so long for the penny to drop I’m surprised he passed the entrance exam.
His mouth forms a perfect O and opens and closes like a goldfish.
I almost feel sorry for him.
Almost.
“You can still call me Birdy, but officially it’s DCI Olivia Bird. I’m your new boss.”
24CARTER
“You’rethe new detective in Hope Falls?” I ask.
She can’t be. This must be a mistake. Anything but the truth.
“Well, Hope Falls and some neighboring towns and villages, but I’ll be based here.”
I stop and stare at her but I don’t answer. I take in the long plaited dark hair, tweed jacket, white shirt, and skinny jeans. The red leather satchel on her shoulder looks more like something a child would take to school, and along with all the rings on her fingers, the tattoo on her hand, the great big bloody wolf by her side, this woman does not look like a detective. Let alone a senior one. Despite advertising for a senior detective forsix monthsand finding nobody suitable, my bosses refused to promote me. Even though I’ve been here for years. And now, instead of giving me the job I deserve, they sendher? This isn’t happening. She cannot be my new boss and I can’t seem to find the right words. Then a few wrong ones rush out all at once, tripping over themselves.
“Is this a joke?”
It sounds ruder out loud than it did in my head, but the corners of her mouth turn upward into what passes as a smile.
“I know, it’s madness,” she says. “I’ve heard they let women vote these days too, and as if that weren’t bad enough, now there’s afemaleDCI in Hope Falls. What is the world coming to?”
“But that would mean that you’re my—”
