1 The Cuckoo's Calling

He guessed that it would needle her if he crossed what she evidently saw as an
invisible line between them; she did not think that sitting at a table with her gave
him a right to her conversation. She scowled, and Bristow rushed to fill the
uncomfortable pause.
“Yes, Ursula’s married to Cyprian May, one of our senior partners.”
“So I’m getting the family discount on my divorce,” said Tansy, with a
slightly bitter smile.
“And her ex will go absolutely ballistic if she starts dragging the press back
into their lives,” Ursula said, her dark eyes boring into Strike’s. “They’re trying
to thrash out a settlement. It could seriously prejudice her alimony if that all kicks
off again. So you’d better be discreet.”
With a bland smile, Strike turned to Tansy:
“You had a connection with Lula Landry, then, Mrs. Bestigui? Your brotherin-law
works with John?”
“It never came up,” she said, looking bored.
The waiter returned to take their orders. When he had left, Strike took out his
notebook and pen.
“What are you doing with those?” demanded Tansy, in a sudden panic. “I
don’t want anything written down! John?” she appealed to Bristow, who turned
to Strike with a flustered and apologetic expression.
“D’you think you could just listen, Cormoran, and, ah, skip the note-taking?”
“No problem,” said Strike easily, removing his mobile phone from his pocket
and replacing the notebook and pen. “Mrs. Bestigui—”
“You can call me Tansy,” she said, as though this concession made up for her
objections to the notebook.
“Thanks very much,” said Strike, with the merest trace of irony. “How well
did you know Lula?”
“Oh, hardly at all. She was only there for three months. It was just ‘Hi’ and
‘Nice day.’ She wasn’t interested in us, we weren’t nearly hip enough for her. It
was a bore, to be honest, having her there. Paps outside the front door all the
time. I had to put on makeup even to go to the gym.”
“Isn’t there a gym in the building?” asked Strike.
“I do Pilates with Lindsey Parr,” said Tansy, irritably. “You sound like
Freddie; he was always complaining that I didn’t use the facilities at the flat.”