Faithfully: Chase & Halshaw #1 (21 page)

“Hello, Mrs Hitchins,” said Halshaw, softly. “Mind if I come
in for a minute?”

Jackie Hitchins shrugged and grunted.

“Thank you,” replied Halshaw, pulling up a chair next to the
bed. “How’s Darren doing today?”

His mother shrugged again.

Halshaw looked across at the figure in the bed, and was
surprised to see a pair of heavy-lidded eyes gazing back at her from between
the bandages.

“Hi Darren,” she smiled. She turned to his mother. “Has he
been conscious long?”

“Couple of hours.”

“Have you been with him all the time?”

“Yeah. Threw a sickie, didn’t I?”

“I don’t blame you. I’d probably have... yes, Darren?”

Darren’s eyes were open wide, and a series of grunts came
from somewhere deep inside.

Jackie leapt to her feet and laid a hand on his forehead. “
Shhh
, my darlin’,” she soothed.

Darren continued to grunt urgently.

“What’s the matter
wiv
‘
im
?” asked his mother, a look of wild alarm in her eyes.

Halshaw suddenly realised that Darren’s eyes were fixed on
hers.

“I think he’s trying to tell me something,” she said. “Is
that right, Darren?”

Darren’s grunts softened and faded, but his eyes remained
fixed on Halshaw’s.

She thought for a moment. “OK, Darren,” she said. “I know
you can only answer yes or no. So I want you to do something for me. I’ll ask
you a question, and you just blink your eyes once for yes, twice for no. OK?”

Darren stared blankly at her.

“Remember, one blink for yes, twice for no. Want to have a
practice?”

Blink.

“Good boy!” exclaimed Jackie.

Darren glanced at his mother, then back to Halshaw.

“Right. Are you ready?”

Blink.

“Here we go, then. First question. Do you need anything?”

Blink
blink
.

“Do you need a bedpan, darlin’?” his mother interjected.

Blink
blink
.

Halshaw glared at Jackie, before looking back at Darren. “Is
it about what happened to you?”

Blink.

“Was it Dmitri?”

Darren hesitated, and then blinked once.

“Just Dmitri?”

Blink
blink
.

Halshaw leant forward intently. “How many others? Oh, sorry.
Was it one more person?”

Blink.

“More than one?”

Blink
blink
.

“Do you know his name?”

Blink.

“Shall we try and spell it?”

Blink.

“OK. Hold on a moment.” She pulled out a notebook and pen
from her handbag.

“Right. Let’s start with the first letter. Was it A?”

Blink
blink
.

“B?”

Blink
blink
.

“C..? D...? E...?”

Blink
blink
... blink
blink
... blink
blink
...

Amy and Chase settled themselves at a corner table in The
Yorkshire Gray, a large glass of Pinot Grigio and a pint of Foster’s in front
of them. The threadbare pub was quiet, with only the occasional fanfare from a
neglected fruit machine to interrupt them.

“Have you moved back into your flat now?” he asked.

“Yeah. Last night was the first time I slept there since it
happened. It wasn’t easy, being there all by myself, but I did it.”

Chase smiled. “Good for you.”

“Mum wanted me to stay with her a bit longer, but Kelvin and
Bruce told me not to be such a Jessie.”

“Kelvin and Bruce?”

“My friends in Edinburgh, Inspector. Kelvin’s English, Bruce
is Canadian, but they both go all Scottish on me when they think I’m being a
wimp.”

“I don’t think you were being a wimp, Amy.”

“Oh, I don’t know. You should have seen me.”

Chase smiled and took a pull of his lager. “How long have
you worked at Logistical?” he asked.

“Two and a half years, more or less.”

“Joined straight from University, did you?”

She chuckled. “No, Inspector. After graduating I went
travelling for a while, with a girlfriend. Then I worked for one of the banks
at Canary Wharf for a few years. The money was good. Some of the people there
were really nice. But I didn’t much like the job itself. Or the commute. Or the
sexism, come to that. So I decided to leave. Just as well, really. A few months
later I’d have been out of a job.”

Chase revised his estimate of Anna’s age upwards yet again.
“Have you always worked for Bryn Lewis? Since you joined Logistical, I mean.”

“No. I started working for Bryn about eighteen months ago.
Before that I worked for Portage.”

“Was that when you met Paul McKinley?”

She grimaced. “He told you about that, did he?”

Chase smiled. “His side of the story, yes.”

“Did you believe him?”

“I believed him when he said that you and he were an item
for a year or so, yes,” he said cautiously.

“That much is true,” she replied. “We started going out
together not long after I joined Portage. I was flattered, you know, that a
senior guy took such an interest in me. He’s good looking, too, and to begin
with he was great company. But after a few months the novelty kind of wore off,
and I began to realise what a tosser he was.”

“Did you know he was married?”

“Yes. But Paul told me his wife was about to come out as a
lesbian.” She grinned. “Mum and I say we should have ‘mug’ tattooed on our
foreheads.”

“Ever met her? His wife, I mean?”

“Once, yeah. At a Christmas dinner, a couple of years ago.”
She smiled again. “I’ve never been mentally undressed by a woman before. That
was why I believed Paul at the time.”

“But not now?”

“They’re still together, aren’t they? Maybe she’s bisexual
or something. I don’t know.”

Chase nodded thoughtfully. “McKinley told us that things started
to go wrong when you got the job working for Bryn Lewis. Is that correct?”

“Pretty much, yeah. Paul encouraged me to go for the job,
said it would be a good career move. He helped me prep for the interview and
everything. But after I got the job I think he wished he’d applied himself.”

“And things between you were never the same again?”

“That’s right, Inspector. That was when it all started to
turn to shit.” She looked at him intently. “Like relationships always do,
sooner or later.”

“I can relate to that,” he replied gently. “And since
then...?”

“Boyfriends? None at all. It was pretty horrible, breaking
up with Paul, and I’m in no hurry to repeat the experience.”

“What about one night stands? Casual flings?”

Amy glared at him. Chase looked back at her expectantly and
said nothing.

“OK,” she sighed eventually. “I guess you had to ask me
that. The answer is precisely two, neither of which are relevant.”

“Why not?”

“Because one was at Uni, the other was when I was working in
the City.”

“Go on.”

“If you must know, I slept with one of my mates at Uni. It
was after a party, we’d both had a fair bit to drink, and it seemed like a good
idea at the time. In the morning we decided it wasn’t such a good idea after
all. We’re still friends, though I haven’t seen much of him since he got
married and moved to Dubai.” She smiled. “I don’t think his wife likes me very
much. Shame, really.”

“And the other one?”

“There was this guy I used to work with at Canary Wharf.
Simon, he was called. A merchant banker. In both senses, as I soon discovered.”

Chase smiled encouragingly.

“He was an older guy, but handsome, charming, you know.
Loaded, too. He kept asking me out, and eventually I agreed. We went out
together a few times, drinks after work, dinner, and so on. That was fine. But
when we finally went back to his place…” She shuddered. “I don’t want to talk
about it, Inspector.”

He smiled sympathetically “Bad, was it?”

“Very. You have no idea!”

Chase longed to enquire further, but managed to resist the
temptation. “So no-one since Paul McKinley?” he asked instead.

She shook her head.

“Not even Bryn Lewis?”

“God no! Whatever gave you that idea...? Oh, of course. I
bet Paul told you that was the only reason I got the job.”

“Something like that, yes.”

“That’s bollocks, Inspector. I got that job on my own
merits, fair and square. I mean, I’ve noticed how Bryn looks at me sometimes.
He’s nowhere near as subtle as he’d like to think. But he’s never said or done
anything inappropriate. We get on pretty well, in fact.”

“Is he having an affair with anyone at Logistical Group?”

“Not that I know of, Inspector. Although he’s had his wicked
way with every girl in the building, if you believe some of the old women...”

“Old women?”

“Frank and Paul, people like that. You know, gossip bloody central.”

“I see.”

“Anyway, if he was up to something, no one would ever find
out.”

“Why not?”

“Di
Rodway
. She’s like a cross
between a guardian angel and a Rottweiler.”

Chase laughed, and took a slurp of his lager. “Have you had
any more texts?” he asked.

“Only one,” said Amy. She held out her phone.

You’re just his bitch

Chase looked up at her. She looked back at him coolly. “When
did you receive this?” he asked.

“This morning. I was having my weekly one to one with Bryn
at the time.”

“Where were you?”

“In the coffee shop.”

“Did you show him?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“I couldn’t be arsed, basically.”

“How do you mean?”

“I’d have had to explain about the other texts, and why I
hadn’t told him before. And then he’d have flown off the handle and made a huge
drama out of it all.”

“What’s wrong with that?”

“Oh, it’s not that big a deal. It’s just sad, really.”

Chase said nothing.

“Does that sound weird, Inspector?”

“Not at all,” he replied quickly. “Let me ask you something
else. When did you last see your father?”

Her eyes opened wide in surprise. “Dad? Why are you asking
about Dad?”

“His name came up in connection with another investigation,”
Chase answered. “I told my colleague he lived in Spain now, but she wondered
whether he’d been back in the UK recently.”

Amy nodded. “Some dodgy property deal, was it? That sounds
like Dad.”

“Why do you say that?”

“I know what he’s like, Inspector.” She smiled softly. “He’s
my Dad, and I love him, but I know just what he’s like. I’m not stupid.”

“Have you seen him in the last year or so?”

“Twice. Once was about this time last year, when we met up
in Covent Garden for lunch. That was really nice. The other was two, no, three
months ago. He was over here on business, and he spent the last night of his trip
at the Edwardian, at Heathrow. I went over there to have dinner with him. It
wasn’t a great success, I have to say.”

“Why not?”

“He was very pissed, Inspector, and I made the fatal mistake
of talking about Mum.”

“No love lost, is there?”

“They despise each other, to be honest. I’m just piggy in
the middle. Dad’s desperate for me to take his side, of course.”

“What about your Mum?”

“She confides in me, yes, but she never tries to make me
take sides.”

“But you can’t help it?”

She shook her head emphatically. “Dad treated Mum
appallingly for years, and when she’d finally had enough he refused to give her
what she was due. It took the threat of legal action to get him to cough up. It
was a horrible time for her.” She shrugged. “And me.”

Chase smiled sympathetically. “How is your Mum, anyway?” he
asked.

“OK, I guess.” She sipped her wine. “Listen, Inspector. What
happened between you and her last night?”

“Why don’t you ask her?”

“I have done, and she won’t tell me. But she was so excited
when I phoned her from Edinburgh airport on Sunday afternoon, and ever since
she’s been, like, totally down in the dumps.”

“Do you think she’d want me to tell you?”

“How do I know? But she’s all I’ve got, Inspector, and I
can’t stand to see her so unhappy.”

Chase smiled. “OK. To be honest, Amy, I don’t really know
what happened myself. We went for dinner at a restaurant. The meal itself was a
bit of a disaster, I suppose, but we were having a really good time. At least,
I thought we were...” His voice trailed off, and he took a long pull of lager.

Amy smiled encouragingly. “Which restaurant did you go to?”

“Chez Bertrand. Far end of Wycombe Street, near South Bourne
station.”

“I know it. Overpriced and rubbish, I’ve always thought.”

“Oh, I don’t know. I’d been there once before and it was
really good.”

She shrugged. “Anyway...”

“It all seemed to be going pretty well at first, as I said.
But then I remember asking something about you. She got up, said something
about there being someone else at the table, and stormed out.”

“Didn’t you go after her?”

Chase sighed. “Of course I did. But by the time I got
outside she was into a taxi and away.”

She peered at his bruised and grazed cheek. “Did she do that
to you?”

“What? Oh, this? No! Like I said, it’s an occupational
hazard.”

She smiled. “What did you ask her?”

He shook his head. “It wasn’t anything important. I was just
trying to make conversation. It was about you, that’s all I can remember.”

She took another sip of wine. “I was afraid of that,” she
sighed.

“What?”

“Look. Mum’s got a bit of a hang up about me.”

Chase’s eyes opened wide in surprise.

“Well, not me exactly,” Amy continued, “but she doesn’t
think anyone would be interested in her rather than me.”

“I can’t see why. She’s a seriously beautiful woman.” Still,
he managed not to add.

Amy shrugged. “You know that, Inspector. I know that. But
Mum...”

“Why, for heaven’s sake?”

She smiled roguishly. “You’ll have to ask her that.”

“How can I? She won’t talk to me.”

“Have you tried?”

“Yes. I’ve tried to phone her a dozen times. I’ve left
messages, I’ve sent texts. I even put a note through her door. No luck.”

“Maybe you should go to her house. Talk to her face to
face.”

“When? Tomorrow sometime?”

“No. Not tomorrow. Now.”

“Now?”

“Now. Before you bottle out.” She drained her wine glass and
grinned. “And you can drop me off at home on the way. You remember where I
live, don’t you?” She stood, slung her
holdall
over
her shoulder, and marched out of the pub, followed by several pairs of hungry
male eyes.

Chase downed the last of his lager and hurried after her.