Authors: Helen Black
‘Ouch.’
A burly nurse pulled the suture tight.
‘Nearly finished,’ she said, and dug the needle once again into the soft flesh.
Lilly closed her eyes and winced. What sort of train track was being laid?
‘My God, it’s the bride of Frankenstein.’ Miriam poked her head around the cubicle curtain. The nurse tutted at her audience but didn’t ask Miriam to leave.
At last she cut the thread and held up a mirror for Lilly to see. Although the skin was slightly raised, Lilly had to admit it was a very neat job. The nurse’s sausage fingers had been unexpectedly deft.
‘Wow,’ said Lilly, ‘you should have been around when I gave birth to my son.’
The nurse wrinkled her nose. ‘I prefer to stay at the North Pole.’
The three women laughed.
* * *
Lilly confirmed once again that she was up to date with her tetanus jabs, collected one bottle of antibiotics and another of pain relief, and signed herself out of the hospital.
‘I wouldn’t have thought your job was so dangerous,’ said the nurse.
‘I’m getting a new one,’ Lilly replied. ‘Knife-thrower’s assistant.’
The nurse gave a half-smile and went back to her needlework. Lilly headed out of the ward but took a right turn before the exit.
Jack was leaning against the vending machine at the hospital entrance, his arms crossed high on his chest. He didn’t look at Lilly but fished deep into his pocket and pulled out a handful of coins, which she grabbed like a grateful addict. She fed the machine and a Kit-Kat took its dive to freedom, followed closely by a Mint Aero and some Milky Way Magic Stars.
‘For Sam,’ she muttered through a mouthful of chocolate, and made her way out.
Lilly was surprised to find it was still broad daylight. Somehow she thought the day had long since passed. Funny how major things can happen in such a short space of time. Earthquakes, plane crashes, murders, they all passed in minutes, less time than it took someone to wash their hair.
A brisk wind was gaining momentum. Lilly let the chill dance around her.
‘What happened, Lilly?’ asked Miriam.
‘We don’t need to talk about this now,’ said Jack.
His tone was gruff, his body stiff. Clearly, he had not forgotten the letter.
Lilly wanted to speak but found she had nothing to say. She turned away and shivered.
From behind, Lilly felt the weight of Jack’s jacket being placed over her shoulders. She pulled it around her, grateful for the comfort of Jack’s familiar smell as much as its warmth. ‘It’s fine. I don’t really know what happened. I arrived at Parkgate and he must have been waiting for me there, but I didn’t see him until he put a knife in my back.’
‘Jesus,’ Jack muttered under his breath.
Lilly put her hand on his arm with the lightest of touches. He tried to force a smile and she left her hand there. ‘He tied me up and took me to number 58.’
‘What did he want?’ asked Miriam.
Lilly paused. What
did
he want? ‘He’d made a connection in his mind between me and Grace and kept saying we’d both tried to get in his way.’
Miriam opened her eyes wide. ‘Do you think he killed Grace, after all?’
‘He couldn’t have,’ said Jack. ‘He has an alibi.’
‘He could have got someone else to do it,’ said Miriam.
Lilly opened the second bar of chocolate and popped half into her mouth. ‘I don’t think he had anything to do with it. He was genuinely shocked when I told him Grace had been to see her MP.’
She took a last bite and screwed the wrapper into a ball. ‘Could you give me a lift to Lancasters?’ she asked Jack.
‘The pub?’
‘Mmm,’ Lilly said. ‘I’ve a meeting with counsel and the shrink in there, and I’m late.’
Jack shook his head, but it was in resignation not refusal. ‘You should rest.’
‘I will.’
Jez and Sheba were settled at what had become their usual table. Unlike Lilly they seemed well at home in the smart surroundings, smoking Marlboro Lights and sharing jokes.
That morning Lilly had planned that this would be their last meeting, on this case at least, but now all thoughts of pulling out of the case were abandoned. For the first time in weeks she felt like her mother’s daughter. She had seen off an armed attacker with a strength, both physical and mental, that had surprised her. It had been a glimpse of her inner resources, which she was sure could be further mined to help Kelsey. And there was something else, something tugging in her mind. Something she couldn’t put her finger on.
When he saw her in the doorway Jez waved, his eyes cheery, but then looked puzzled at the sight of Miriam and Jack. When she got closer and he could see the fresh dressing on her cheek and her limp, he frowned in what Lilly took to be concern. She couldn’t help feeling a little buzz at the thought that he might have feelings for her, however minuscule. All this power had definitely gone to her head.
‘Something tells me there’s been a development,’ he said.
They listened intently as Lilly relayed the morning’s events, Jez shaking his head in disbelief, Sheba nodding hers in encouragement to continue the story.
Jez fixed Jack with a pointed look. ‘You’ll charge him this time.’ It sounded like an imperative, not an enquiry.
Jack bristled at the unfairness of the statement. It hadn’t, of course, been his fault that Max had walked last time, but Jez didn’t know that.
‘He’s still in hospital at the moment. Jackie Chan here gave him quite a whack, but as soon as he’s fit he’ll be taken to the station and he’s under police guard till then,’ said Jack.
Jez nodded stiffly as if Jack’s answer were just about good enough. ‘And what about Grace’s murder? Surely this points to him as the most likely suspect?’
The others answered as one. ‘No.’
‘He was in custody at the time,’ said Jack.
‘He didn’t know Grace had spilled the beans,’ said Miriam.
‘He doesn’t fit the profile,’ said Sheba.
‘Okay, okay,’ said Jez, his arms open in surrender.
‘I think it was the other man involved,’ said Lilly.
‘I thought we’d decided that wasn’t likely,’ said Sheba.
‘But not impossible,’ said Lilly. ‘You said so yourself, and my only alternative is Kelsey and I’m not yet ready to give up on her.’
They all nodded, even Jack.
‘But we’re no nearer to finding out his identity than before,’ said Sheba. ‘All we know is that Grace seemed to know this man and, given her line of business, I suspect she knew more than one or two.’
Lilly smiled so broadly she felt her cheek smart. ‘I know his name.’
Everyone turned to Lilly open-mouthed.
‘Max said his name was Barrows.’
Barrows was silently drowning as the man from MI5 spoke. Hermione had always loathed the security services but conceded they were a necessary part of political life. They were supposed to protect the national interest, but since the days of Thatcher they had been used by each successive prime minister to protect the government from those who would harm it, not just by sarin gas or mortar attack, but also by rumour and scandal.
The man was thin and pale, his hair the colour of dirt, his features instantly forgettable. No wonder Hermione referred to them as spooks.
‘What was the man’s name again?’ asked Hermione.
‘Max Hardy, madam.’
Hermione shook her head and turned to her husband. ‘It doesn’t ring a bell with me. Could he be one of your patients, darling?’
Barrows was unsure what to do and it was a feeling he couldn’t stomach. He dare not lie in case they’d already checked the clinic’s records.
‘I don’t recall the name,’ he said, ‘but I’ve seen so many people over the years one doesn’t remember them all.’
The spook nodded as if this were a perfectly reasonable answer.
Hermione poured some tea. She seemed a picture of calm but the lid of the china teapot rattled, alerting Barrows that she was anxious. He assumed the other man had seen it too. They were trained for that sort of thing.
‘What exactly has this person done?’ he asked.
The spook set down his cup without the merest chink as it touched the saucer.
‘He attempted to kill the solicitor for Kelsey Brand. Apparently it’s not the first time.’
‘That’s awful,’ said Hermione, ‘simply awful. Perhaps he’s one of these vigilante types.’
‘Perhaps,’ said the spook, and helped himself to a biscuit. ‘But that still doesn’t explain why the last call received by his mobile phone was from your husband.’
There was an uncomfortable silence punctuated only by the slight clicking sound of the spook’s jaw as he chewed.
‘Darling,’ said Hermione, her voice shrill, ‘didn’t you have your mobile stolen last week?’
‘Yes,’ said Barrows.
‘There we are, then,’ she sang.
The spook finished his biscuit. As he swallowed Barrows watched his Adam’s apple move conspicuously.
‘There we are, then,’ he repeated, and got to his feet. ‘Of course we’ll go through Mr Hardy’s phone records for the past year or so. If we need anything more we’ll be in touch.’
Hermione showed him to the door, but Barrows couldn’t even get to his feet. When she came back she no longer looked nervous, her face was grey and stony.
‘Hermione,’ Barrows stammered, but she held up her hand to stop him.
‘I thought I made it very plain that if you did anything to embarrass me, then this’, she opened her arms, encompassing their home, their marriage, their life, ‘would be over.’
He nodded and pulled himself to his feet. Though his legs felt leaden he forced himself to walk out of the room and out of the house. Hermione didn’t even watch him go.
‘The problem is,’ said Jez, sloshing wine into five glasses, ‘it’s a pretty common name.’
‘Did it come up in the case papers?’ asked Miriam.
Lilly sighed. ‘Maybe, but there are thousands of documents, it would take us forever to find it if it’s there.’
Jez took a gulp of his wine and shook his head. ‘Uh uh.’ He reached into the slim black attaché case by Sheba’s feet and pulled out a pristine ring-binder. Every sheet was hole-punched and aligned precisely, the edges littered with multicoloured tabs.
‘My sister cross-references everything, and I’d be shocked if she hadn’t a list of names mentioned in alphabetical order.’
Lilly was awe-struck.
‘I have issues, okay,’ said Sheba, and passed Lilly a long list of names.
Lilly ran her finger down the line. ‘Bagshot, Bajari, Ball … Here it is, Barrows, page 199.’
Sheba flicked to the page and passed the file to Lilly. It was a psychiatric report, not on Kelsey but on Grace during her time in care. Lilly checked the author.
‘He worked in The Bushes years ago when it was a home for disturbed children,’ said Lilly.
‘Now it’s a home for children with disturbed parents,’ said Miriam.
‘It was back then, but no one had the balls to say it,’ said Jack.
‘Let’s not get sidetracked,’ said Jez. ‘Let’s get back to the shrink.’
‘What’s his first name?’ asked Sheba.
‘William,’ said Lilly.
Sheba threw her arms up and her head back. ‘I met him once at a conference, he was jittery and smelled of sick. He used to be quite big in behavioural stuff in the early Eighties, but there was a whiff of scandal and he went into private practice.’
‘What sort of scandal?’ asked Lilly.
Sheba raised her eyebrows. ‘They say he got too close to the children in his care, if you get my drift.’
‘What happened to him?’ asked Lilly.
Sheba shrugged. ‘As I said, he went into private practice.’
‘The bastard swept it under the carpet,’ said Miriam.
‘I wonder where he is now?’ asked Lilly.
‘Living a life of misery, I hope,’ said Jez.
Sheba gave a hollow laugh. ‘Sadly, men like that always bounce back. He’s married to that politician with the cardboard hair.’
Lilly jumped to her feet, sending two glasses of chardonnay onto the floor. ‘Sorry,’ she called to the waitress as she hopped to the door, aware that Jack was only feet behind her.
Jack stood at the door to the clinic with a skeleton key. Lilly had always imagined a single pick-like implement with mythical powers and was disappointed to see a myriad of keys, from small to huge, but all unimpressively key-like, hooked onto a silver ring.
‘This could take hours,’ said Lilly.
Jack sifted through the keys and isolated a small brass one. ‘Not if you know what to look for,’ he said, and opened the door.
Lilly raised her eyebrows at him.
‘Misspent youth,’ he explained, and they made their way through the reception area.
‘Strictly speaking, this is none of your business,’ said Jack.
‘The hell it’s not,’ said Lilly.
‘I mean it’s police business,’ he said.
She took hold of his hand. ‘Lucky I brought one along.’
From outside the clinic had seemed empty, but they could hear sounds from the room that seemed most likely to be Barrows’ office. Jack put his finger to his lips and they crept to the door, then there was an almighty bang as Jack kicked it open.
‘That’s twice you’ve done that today,’ said Lilly, pleased to find them both full of surprises. Not only was she the sort of woman who could kick some serious ass, the man she fancied beat down doors when the need arose. Who said the South made you soft?
Inside the office Barrows was nowhere to be seen, but his wife, Hermione, was behind his desk emptying a bottle of fluid into a bin full of videotapes.
Hermione looks up at the door. ‘That was unnecessary.’
‘Where is William Barrows?’ asks Valentine.
‘Such melodrama.’
Hermione’s glare is cold, and so is her tone. She knows that everything is at stake. Her career, her marriage, her life.
She turns to the man. ‘And who, may I ask, are you?’
‘You know who I am,’ says the solicitor angrily. ‘And you know why I’m here.’
Hermione ignores the solicitor and smiles at the man.
He flashes his badge. ‘Sergeant Jack McNally.’
This time the solicitor shouts, ‘Where is William Barrows?’
‘He’s away,’ says Hermione.