Extract

Extract from Confessions of a Female Private Investigator

It all happened quite quickly. Jane had remembered leaving her handbag down by the pool where they'd all been having something to eat earlier. It was quiet there, the lights were dimmed, and Jane made no sound. She was barefoot, having chucked her shoes into a corner to dance.

Thinking she was alone, Jane got a fright when she heard a chair scraping over the pool patio tiles. She froze, heart bumping, as she tried to peer through the dusk. She could just make out two figures standing together.

'Who's there?'

'Shit,' someone responded. She recognised the voice immediately. It was her husband.

Jane's voice tightened in her throat. She could smell perfume on the warm night air.

'John, is that you? What's going on?' she asked, squinting at the other person.

As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, Jane recognised Debbie standing next to her husband. She was surprised more than anything else. Debbie was her very best friend, all the way from high school days. And she'd been a bridesmaid at their wedding.

Jane spoke into the long, embarrassing silence.

'What's happening with you two?'