‘If you say so.’
Declan was chuckling to himself.‘See you soon my friends. Hi, Morgan.’
‘How did you know I was here?’
‘I’m on speakerphone and I would bet that dinosaur Ben wouldn’t know a thing about connecting his phone to Bluetooth, and I can hear that you’re driving.’
He hung up before he could hear Ben cursing him. ‘Cheeky bastard.’
She was laughing. ‘He has a point though. I suppose we may as well get it over with.’
‘Yes, can you ring the boss and let him know where we’re going?’
‘Coward.’
It was Ben’s turn to laugh. He shrugged but didn’t bother to argue back with her.
THIRTY-EIGHT
It was dusk by the time Morgan and Ben arrived at the side entrance to the mortuary. The car park had only been half full because the hospital appointments were almost over for the day and visiting hours not yet started. Ben had parked the car with ease which made a change from the usual driving around for twenty minutes waiting for someone else to pull out of a space. Morgan pressed the video doorbell and smiled at the tiny camera, and moments later the door was opened by Susie, sporting a shaved head. If Ben’s reaction to her usual crazy hair colours was normally uncomfortable, this was next level. He stared at her.
‘Oh, my gosh. Are you ill, Susie? I didn’t realise.’
Susie squinted at him, looked to Morgan, then realised what he was saying.
‘No, I’m quite well, thank you, Ben. I fancied a change. It was a bit of a mess; all the bleach and colouring had made my hair so brittle and in terrible condition, so I told my hairdresser to shave it off so I could start again. I’ll tell you what though, it’s bloody freezing. I’ve never worn a hat so much.’
To give Ben his due, he looked mortified. Morgan grinned at her. ‘I like it, you really suit it.’
‘Declan hates it, he keeps calling it my coming out, mid-life crisis even though I’m not even thirty.’
Ben shook his head. Morgan laughed.
‘Is he allowed to talk to you like that?’ Ben asked her.
Susie shrugged. ‘He’s not wrong though, is he? It is a bit full-on, but I don’t mind. It’s saving me a fortune on hair colours.’
‘He’s looking at it from a supervisor point of view. If Ben said that to you when you worked for him, he’d be up in front of the bosses in no time at all, and in front of a disciplinary.’
‘Ah, but you lot can’t change the colour of your socks without getting in trouble, can you? It’s so strict. It’s only me and Declan and he doesn’t mean it in a nasty way; it’s how we are with each other. I mean he’s the gayest guy I’ve ever worked with. If he denies that he listens to theWickedsoundtrack on his lunch break, don’t believe him. I’ve caught him multiple times.’
Morgan snorted. ‘Wicked?’
‘Yep, ask him how many times he and Theo went to the cinema to watch it.’
‘I will.’
Susie turned and looked Ben straight in the eye. ‘Tell me what you’re currently reading.’
Panic washed over his face, and he shook his head. ‘I’m not, I’ve been too busy, but I have a couple of old school James Herbert books on my list.’
Susie turned to Morgan. ‘He’s getting better at this. So which James Herberts are you reading, Morgan?’
‘MoonandHaunted; I readThe FogandThe Magic Cottageyears ago. I picked these up in a bookshop in New York.’
‘Oh my God, I forgot about New York. Was it everything you imagined?’
‘Susie, what is this, a book club meeting, or are we working?’ Declan’s voice echoed down the empty corridor.
