Page 32 of The Little Porto Book Club

Tiago jumps into the fray. ‘OK, let’s not lose focus here. We can argue about all of this after we solve this little mystery, eh? Our priority should be on Lucinda and finding her.’

‘Well said, Tiago.’ I must steer this ship straight, but the Gen Z–Boomer rivalry is interesting to watch. ‘From my experience reading whodunnits there is a small chance,’ I whisper so The Man in the Blue Beret doesn’t hear, ‘that we may be called in to help her in some way that might make us uncomfortable, and we should steel ourselves for that eventuality, if in fact she did choose one of the six ways in which to end her husband’s time earthside. It happens when there’s a community group involved. Tests their loyalty.’

‘Has anyone considered the possibility that Lucinda could be working? Maybe caught up with the focus group that Zephyr heard her talking about?’ Thomas says, letting out a short, incredulous laugh. ‘I’m sure there’s a simple explanation as to her whereabouts. Maybe book club bored her. Lucinda didn’t do a lot of reading, did she?’

Thomas is correct, she did not, there was mostly a lot of heavy sighing and aggressive frowning, but that’s beside the point. I’m going to have to speak plainly, and this is usually where the wheels fall off for me in social groups. ‘Thomas, I say this with great affection, you are so naive. We must face facts here. Lucinda asked someone about toxins. Toxins. Explain that?’

Thomas cradles his head and groans. ‘Sure – at a guess she’s in the medical field.’

It’s my turn to scoff. ‘And let an injury of that size on her hand go untreated, I think not.’

‘OK, perhaps she’s an academic. A scientist. A reporter. There are an unlimited number of things that are much more believable than murderer.’

‘I dunno, I think Viviane is right; when you add all the clues together so far. Guys, you know my existential dread … ?’ says Zephyr. ‘Well, it’s not so existential anymore. I bet Lucinda’s husband was like those bad guys you read about on Reddit. You know the type, rich, profusely sweats, creepy AF.’

‘Was? Was. Shouldn’t we be speaking of him in the present tense?’ old Albert says in a stage whisper.

Zephyr slaps her forehead. ‘Sorry. Sorry. I’m just saying the statistics don’t lie. And sometimes, oftentimes, women are pushed to the edge in these sorts of scenarios. It’s likely she snapped. He probably cheated on her their whole marriage and she just had enough. Understandable, men give me the ick.’

‘The ick?’ Old Albert frowns.

‘Yeah, hard pass.’ She pulls a sucked-lemon face.

The Man in the Blue Beret shifts his chair, so I make an executive decision without consulting my sidekick. ‘Let’s take this outside, shall we?’

Chapter Sixteen

The book club meander behind me chatting merrily away while I sneak looks in every direction to make sure no one is following us, simple whodunnit guidelines. You can never be too careful. The sun almost blisters the pavement it’s so hot, and I’m forced to fan my face with a hand which does very little too cool me down.

Our quick getaway is hampered what with old Albert’s bad knees and Zephyr stopping to delight every time we pass a shop selling quirky items, which if you know Porto, is very often. Now she’s disappeared into a shop selling tinned sardines in retro packaging. It’s sweet and all but why are we dilly-dallying like this when Lucinda could be in the throes of butchering a bad man?

Tiago senses my worry and gives my shoulder a gentle squeeze. ‘She shouldn’t be too long, the line is moving fast.’

‘I’ll hurry her along,’ Thomas says. ‘I’ve got to get home soon myself.’

While he goes to chivvy our Gen Z friend, Tiago leans next to me on the colourful wall and shades his face from the sun. ‘I didn’t expect they’d be on board with this, did you?’

I take a moment to consider the question. ‘The notebook of mysteries is hard to refute. And Lucinda did share with us her goal was to get out of the house more, so not returning to book club is odd.’

Could that be it? Lucinda simply decided that socialising is not for her and I’ve got my wires completely crossed? But then how do we explain the kill list? No, I’m just suffering a pang of imposter syndrome, after all, Detective Amber Quill is a tough act to emulate, it’s only natural I’ll face moments of self-doubt.

‘Right.’

‘Look at her face.’ I point to Zephyr, who is awe inspired by the interior of the shop. It’s a sight to behold, with bright bold carnival-like decor, including a striped ceiling resembling the big top in a circus and a vintage train display in the middle of the shop floor.

‘Oh, to be that free of concern.’ I turn to Tiago. ‘It’s nice to be back in Porto. It’s almost feeling like home, like I belong.’ I’m not sure why I blurt such a thing – blame the blazing sunshine – the fact that I’ve now got friends, friends who haven’t once belittled me. ‘Do you think you’ll stay here long term?’ I ask.

Tiago twists to face me. ‘It has been nice being back with my family, making friends like this. You know, you said something that really made me think …’ He tucks a stray hair back, exposing the curve of his jaw.

‘I did?’

‘Yeah, I did a deep dive about five-second videos hijacking dopamine and how they’re addictive.’ He laughs as he shakes his head. ‘I made an app that’s only exacerbated that need for more screen time. And yeah, sure, gamers loved it. I loved it. But is it the right way forward? The more I reflect, the more I see how my own world shrank to a small screen, and I realise that it’s not what I want to do. I don’t want to be the reason people don’t step outside and get fresh air, don’t talk to a human face to face. Isn’t it strange that when I was building GameCore, I didn’t see what it was doing to my own life. I had such tunnel vision, to make it a success, to be a great businessman like my dad – but for what?’

‘But you did make it a success, right? You achieved the objective.’

‘At what cost though?’

‘I’m sorry if I made you feel guilty about it. I don’t have much of a filter.’ I’m mortified that I’ve made Tiago question his passion, stolen the high from what was obviously a success.