Forget Me Not by Luana Lewis

could seem stand-offish. Is any of this relevant?’
    I have no idea what DS Cole is looking for. My mouth is dry again and I take a sip from my bottle of water. DS Cole waits in silence, as if to encourage me to keep talking. But she doesn’t write anything down.
    ‘Ben and Vivien were devoted to each other,’ I say. ‘They’d been married for ten years and from what I could see, their marriage was a strong one. One of those that would have lasted.’
    For the first time, DS Cole looks uncomfortable. She rubs the cropped hair at the back of her neck.
    ‘In this type of investigation,’ she says, ‘a certain amount of sensitive information tends to come to light, regardless of whether or not it’s relevant to our inquiry.’
    ‘I see.’ I tap my fingertips against the Formica table top and look across at the kiosk, where a bored teenager with dyed-black hair and eyebrow piercings is texting on her mobile phone.
    DS Cole changes her position in the chair, pressing her hands down on the seat on either side of her. ‘A witness has come forward to say they saw Vivien and Ben having an argument,’ she says. ‘This would have been on the day before Vivien died, while she and Ben were visiting a jewellery shop. We also have information that Ben didn’t spend the night at home. He checked into a hotel overnight.’
    ‘I don’t know what to say. I’m … I’m shocked.’
    ‘You didn’t know?’ DS Cole says.
    ‘No. Are you sure about all of this?’
    She nods.
    ‘I’m not surprised to hear they argued, but I find it hard to believe that Ben would walk out on Vivien and Lexi. That would be completely unlike him.’
    My daughter spent her last night on earth alone
.
    ‘But if your daughter was a private person, then there are things she may not have shared with you?’
    ‘Yes. But then I know Ben, and I’ve seen the way he is with his wife and daughter. He was devoted to them. They were his life. Ben puts his family before everything.’
    I can’t tell whether DS Cole is convinced by what I’ve said. But it is the whole truth.
    ‘Are you aware of anything that was a source of conflict between them? Something so serious that Ben
would
walk out?’
    ‘No,’ I say. ‘I’m sorry. I really have no idea.’
    I think of Isaac. He probably knows more than I do about the state of their marriage. DS Cole is staring at me, as though she’s hoping I might remember something.
    ‘Did Vivien by any chance tell you about plans for an important dinner at her home on the night before she died?’
    ‘No,’ I say. ‘Look, DS Cole, please, can you tell me what this is all about? Quite frankly, you appear to know more than I do about the state of my daughter’s marriage.’
    She takes pity on me, and answers my question, at least in part. ‘We understand,’ she says, ‘that there was supposed to be a catered dinner for thirty people at your daughter’s home the night before she died. The dinner was related to a significant business transaction, a merger between Ben’s company and another investment firm. But Ben cancelled at short notice, telling his clients that he had to leave the country on business. He has subsequently told us that he and Vivien had argued and she’d then refused to host the dinner. That was the real reason for the cancellation. He says that after they argued, he left your daughter at the jeweller’s, had a few drinks at a pub and checked into a hotel near his office. He stayed there overnight. To cool down.’
    ‘So Ben told you about the argument himself?’
    ‘Yes. But only after a colleague came forward to tell us about the cancelled dinner plans and the fact that Ben had said he was out of the country when he wasn’t.’
    ‘I see. Did Ben say why they’d argued?’
    ‘Apparently there was a disagreement over a piece of jewellery – an expensive piece your daughter wanted. Ben said he’s been having a tougher time than usual with his cash flow, because he’s invested most of his