Doors Without Numbers (35 page)

Morris leant forward, his elbows resting on the table. “Illegal earnings perhaps? It would explain why nothing was declared.”

The two men pondered in silence before Morris sighed heavily. “But this is all conjecture. Harris must know more than he let on at the beginning. There is a reason why he asked for your help Hammond, we need to know what the real reason was. You said his daughter tried to dissuade you from helping him?

“She was protective of him. That’s understandable, considering his diagnosis.”

“I’m keen to talk to her about her Father but she has refused to speak to anyone other than yourself Hammond so if you could help us by talking to her that is a start. It doesn’t help that her Father has gone wandering. There’s a team searching for him and we sent her home in case he returns there.”

Hammond agreed to co-operate but he was unsure how to proceed. He didn’t know how much Kathleen knew about her past. If she had spent her earlier years with Goodchild and the foster children, it would explain why Harris didn’t want her to know Hammond was investigating their suicides. It was possible that Kathleen had been taken away by Harris as a child because he had tried to protect her from a life of neglect or it could be that he wanted custody of his own daughter. Either way, Hammond knew he would have to tread carefully. The last thing he wanted to do would be to unleash suppressed memories.

He left Morris alone in the office. He had done his best avoiding Kathleen but she was obviously expecting to hear from him. He debated whether it was too late to phone her, but decided he had no choice. She picked up the phone immediately.

“I apologise for bothering you.” He said. “I’m calling because I need to speak to you.”

Kathleen didn’t seem surprised by his call, but she was obviously upset.

“Can you come over?”

He agreed. It would take a while, he was unable to drive he explained.

“Get a taxi. I’ll pay. Just get here as soon as you can, please Wallace.”

Hammond made his way downstairs to wait for the taxi and decided to call Jenny to tell her he would be home late. He didn’t want her alone in the house and suggested she stay at Mary’s until he got back. Jenny’s response was negative, but she promised to call him if she saw anyone hovering outside. It wasn’t what he wanted to hear but he accepted it. Jenny wasn’t his daughter; there was no reason for her to respect his wishes. She was old enough to make her own decisions, even if her stubbornness threatened to be her own downfall.

The taxi drove him up to the porch where Kathleen stood waiting for him. She watched Hammond’s clumsy exit from the back seat but showed no surprise on seeing his plastered ankle. Instead she paid the driver and led him into the house. A uniformed officer was seated on a chair inside the hallway. He acknowledged Hammond with a smile before the sound of his radio crackled and beeped. He excused himself and walked towards the back room to answer his colleagues enquiries.

“No news?” Hammond declined Kathleen’s offer of a hot drink.

Kathleen shook her head and stopped mid way to the kitchen to light a cigarette. Her hands were shaking and it took several attempts before the flame caught. She took a deep drag and turned her head away from Hammond to exhale.

“Nothing. I was going to drive around but they told me to stay here in case he comes back.” She inhaled more smoke. “Damn it! I feel so useless!”

Hammond placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “I know, but believe me, staying here is the best thing you can do. There’s people looking for your Dad, they know what they’re doing. You have to have faith.”

Kathleen’s eyes met his and she gave a nod before stubbing her cigarette. She repeated her offer of a drink and excused herself as he reminded her of his earlier refusal.

“What happened?” he asked.

“I left Dad alone this afternoon, I needed to go to town and he was sleeping in his armchair. I was gone about an hour or so, when I got back around four, Dad was agitated, he was in his office...”

She stopped talking and exited the kitchen where they had just walked and instead turned back towards Harris’ office. They entered the small room, where only a few weeks previously Hammond had sat whilst Harris had reminisced. Harris’ office looked as if it had been turned over, papers and books were on the floor. The photo-frames that had been left face down were also on the floor, devoid of pictures. Pieces of shattered glass lay by their feet inside the door where one of the picture frames had been thrown.

“Did you leave a window open when you left? Had someone broken in?”

Kathleen looked at him surprised by his presumption. “No. Dad did this. He was throwing everything around, shouting and slamming things about. I don’t know what got into him. I tried reasoning with him, tried to calm him, but he screamed at me to leave him alone so I called the Doctor.”

Hammond looked enquiringly at her. Morris hadn’t mentioned this when he had told of his earlier conversation with Harris’ G.P.

“I thought Dad was having some kind of episode, I didn’t know what to do. Anyway, whilst I was distracted on the phone, Dad walked out.”

“You haven’t seen him since?”

“Of course not! Why do you think there is a search team looking for him!” She quickly apologised for snapping at him before lighting another cigarette.

“Kathleen, are you aware that the Police want to question him?”

Kathleen looked at him squarely in the eye. “Yes. I do. I don’t know why but I guess you have something to do with it. Why the hell would you send the police round to question a man with a mental impairment?”

Hammond was aware that standing in the doorway of Harris’ ransacked office wasn’t the best place to have the conversation he had in mind. He suggested they move to the living room. She followed him meekly and sat herself on the sofa. Hammond looked at his watch, it was past midnight. Harris had been missing for seven hours.

“Kathleen...” Hammond paused. He was about to question her about her time with Goodchild when he had an idea. He changed direction in his conversation. “Do you have a recent photo of your Dad? Something that can be used to show people and ask whether they have seen him?”

Kathleen nodded. “Yes, I gave the Search team one earlier.”

“Do you mind if I take a look?”

Kathleen handed him a photo album. He pretended to look at the later photos but then deliberately turned to the front of the book where the earlier photographs were. He found a photograph of a younger Harris with a white haired woman. She wore a blue evening gown that brought out the blue in her eyes. Hammond looked up at Kathleen. It was no surprise to him that there was no physical resemblance between the two women, but it helped to turn the conversation around to the topic he wanted to discuss. “This is Elizabeth?”

Kathleen nodded. “Yes, it was taken three years before she died.”

Hammond pretended to admire the picture. “I never met your mother. I worked with your Dad when she was ill but she died soon after.”

Kathleen didn’t take the bait. Instead she smiled politely and took the photo-album from his lap.

“I’m sorry Wallace, I can’t think straight.” Unexpectedly, Kathleen started to cry. Hammond didn’t know how to comfort her. Much as he would have liked to have persisted with his questioning, he knew it wasn’t the right time. Instead he waited whilst she composed herself.

“I should go, you’re exhausted. I’ll come back in the morning.”

Kathleen grabbed his arm. “No! Wallace, please don’t go. I really need some company.”

She leaned forward until her body pressed against him. He automatically put his hands around her back. He hesitated for a second, he sensed they were heading for unchartered waters. At this point a wise man would have firmly said his goodbyes. But Hammond wasn’t thinking rationally. Whether it was his exhaustion or simply a moment of weakness, he couldn’t decide but he found himself agreeing to her request.

“
He who would gain his life must be willing to lose it.”
Henry Havelock Ellis. The Dance of Life. 1923

Making love to Kathleen was different to how Hammond would have expected it to be. She was a beautiful woman, there was no denying it. She could not have lived thirty eight years without recognising the effect she had on the opposite sex, yet she revealed herself to him with hesitation and nervousness. As he held her he was aware that despite the intimacy of their embrace, there was a sense of separation, as if her mind was elsewhere. Her head was turned away from him as he kissed her neck and stroked her limbs but she uttered no sound. Her lack of response gave him the impression that she had no sensation, or worse, that she wasn’t pleasured by him and the thought made him feel pressured and unable to perform. Eventually she straddled him and he came quickly, but he was aware that she had not climaxed with him. Afterwards she lay with her back to him as his arm rested over her breasts. They were disturbed by the sound of discreet knocking on the bedroom door. Kathleen wrapped herself in a bathrobe slung over a chair and left Hammond alone. He heard mumbled conversation from the other side of the door and wondered what to do. He should leave, He knew he had made a mistake staying. He started to get dressed as Kathleen re-entered the room. She looked surprised to see he wasn’t in bed and asked him why he was dressed. He changed the subject by asking her if there was any news on her Father.

“They’re calling off the search until the morning, it’s getting too cold for the search team to stay out there.”

Hammond studied her expression. He didn’t want to leave her in a state of anxiety.

“Kathleen, you need to sleep. The search will continue in a while.” He sat on the bed and collected his shoes that had been kicked off earlier.

“So that’s it. You’ve had your fun and now you leave.” Kathleen’s voice was steely. She turned her back towards him as she walked towards the en-suite bathroom. Hammond took a stride towards her and reached out what he intended to be a reassuring hand but then stopped. Her robe was loose around her neck and exposed the top of her shoulder. Before he could stop himself, he pulled the robe further away from her back to take a closer look. On her shoulder blade was a small mark that seemed familiar. As he drew his finger over the scar, Kathleen jerked herself around angrily and saw the expression on his face that registered shock. She realised her mistake, and pushed his hand away, but it was too late. He had first seen the mark on Mark Callum’s autopsy pictures and again on the photo of Salima Abitboul. It couldn’t be a co-incidence. The scar on Kathleen’s shoulder was the same size and shape as the one he had seen on Salima’s shoulder as she had stood with her back to the mirror in the picture. The only difference with Mark Callum’s scar was that his hadn’t healed after his mark was inflicted, leaving an excess of fibrous tissue.

“Kathleen, what’s that mark on your shoulder?”

Kathleen ignored him and began to walk away from him, but he stopped her and forced her to face him.

“I need to know, Katie!” He used her childhood name deliberately; he was tired of walking on eggshells. He needed to know if she remembered her time with Goodchild, if her scar was a reminder.

Kathleen stared back at him, her eyes were wide, her mouth open as if she was trying to think what to say. Eventually her anger took over and she pushed him away from her, pulling her robe tight around her neck.

“If you don’t leave me alone Wallace, I swear I will scream rape, it will take one second before the officer outside will come in through my door. How will that look to your buddies at the station?.”

Hammond looked at her shocked. In that instant he realised how stupid he had been. She was right. No-one would believe he hadn’t forced himself on her, there was nothing to prove she had consented or even instigated their lovemaking.

Hammond took a step back and allowed her to move away. He wondered what would happen if he opened the door. Would the officer see him? Would Kathleen fulfil her threat? He kept watching her as he tried to predict her next move.

As if she sensed his panic, she began to laugh. “You are a fool Wallace, an idiot! You think because you have a badge you have the right to intrude on everyone’s lives, that you can rake through people’s drawers and uncover their secrets. You don’t have that right. You are here because I asked you to be, not because I am willing for you to pry into my life.” Kathleen’s eyes flashed with fury, she came forward towards him and looked as if she was about to strike him. Impulsively he stepped back quickly. The sudden movement caused him to overbalance on his plastered ankle and he fell.

Kathleen stopped mocking him, instead she reached towards him almost tenderly. He refused her outstretched hand and managed to get himself up. It was only a matter of time before the officer outside would come to check on the noise and Hammond still didn’t know if Kathleen would carry out her threat.

Seeing his bewilderment made Kathleen calm down. She sat on the bed and looked at him silently. She reached out her hand and offered it to him as a truce. He gingerly accepted it, unsure what to do.

“I’m sorry Wallace. I’m stressed, worried about Dad.”

“I know, I am too.”

She encouraged him to sit on the bed beside her. They sat in an awkward silence.

“No-one has called me Katie for years.” Her voice was quiet, her head remained low as she looked at the floor.

“Do you remember who used to call you that?” He asked her with genuine interest.

“Of course. Mark was my only friend, he was like a brother. My shadow.” She smiled sadly and Hammond saw the tears roll down the side of her nose.

“I know you want to know all about my dark secret Wallace, but the truth is, there’s not much to tell. I lived with my mother and the children she fostered until I was twelve. My natural mother is not what you would call the maternal type, my father was around but he didn’t know how to relate to children. Lloyd offered to take me in, he and Elizabeth couldn’t have children so they offered to adopt me as their own.”