No Help For The Dying

Chapter 11

Frank Palmer’s office in Uxbridge hadn’t changed much since the last time Riley had called. In spite of a lick of paint, which had freshened things up slightly, it still exuded a faint air of gloom, as if the walls were in need of a good chuckle. Or maybe it was the ancient, battered furniture and the fluorescent lighting which killed any potential atmosphere at birth. Palmer was standing at the window overlooking the street. He seemed unusually thoughtful and waved a vague hand towards a mug of coffee already waiting for her on his desk. She guessed he had seen her arrive.

Riley joined him at the window. As views went, she couldn’t see what he found so enthralling.

‘What’s the problem?’ Palmer turned and sat down.

‘This is surprisingly good coffee, Palmer. Did I say there was a problem?’

‘First, thank you for the compliment — the Kenyans will be deeply chuffed. Second, I could hear it in your voice when you called.’

‘Clever Dick.’ Riley had called Palmer soon after leaving Broadcote Hall. He had just finished escorting his Saudi prince through check-in at Heathrow and was on his way back to the office clutching a cheque and trying to think how to spend it.

She told him about the phone call from Henry, the follow-up, the events at the hotel at Heathrow and the brick wall she had run into at the Church of Flowing Light. When she told him the background about Katie Pyle he looked sombre.

‘Sad business,’ he said. If he was surprised by the fact that she had never mentioned it before, he didn’t say. In fact, he said very little, absorbing everything like a sponge and occasionally drumming his fingers on his knee. It was one of his old de-briefing tricks, leaving her to do all the talking and probably saying far more than she might have intended. In the end he waved his hand in the air. ‘This Henry Pearcy bloke. You said you didn’t know much about his private life; for instance that he was a churgoer. Does that mean he wouldn’t have known much about you, either?’

‘We were colleagues, not bosom buddies.’

‘And Katie’s disappearance?’

‘I never told him. It wasn’t something I talked about. It was hardly my best journalistic moment.’

‘You were young and inexperienced. Don’t beat yourself up over it.’ It was Palmer’s usual pragmatic approach: change it if you can, if not, get over it and move on. ‘Not that I’m saying you’re not still young.’

‘How tactful.’

‘Yet this Henry calls Donald in the middle of the night, looking for you because there’s a mystery bloke trying to contact you. During which, he mentions a missing girl by name — a name you say he couldn’t — shouldn’t — have known.’ He looked at her apologetically. ‘Sorry — I need to spell out the blindingly obvious. It gets the grey cells working. Going over old ground often yields surprising nuggets.’

‘Henry mentioned Katie by name, yes. But when I asked if this mystery caller did, he said not. I think that was a mistake.’

‘Unless he actually discovered you had been assigned to the story originally.’

‘I don’t see how. I only met Henry about a year afterwards. By then it was history. And the paper closed years ago.’

‘I see. And this bloke… the one he said was looking for you; no clues about what he wanted other than to talk about Katie?’

‘That’s right. Henry said he’d tell me about it face to face. He sounded stressed.’

‘Maybe he realised he’d said too much.’ Palmer held her look with a steady gaze, doing what he did best, which was to question everything and tease it apart. She suddenly knew how wayward members of the British army must have felt when he was in the Special Investigations Branch.

‘But why would he lie?’ Now she was doing it, only she wasn’t yet convinced that Henry had done anything wrong. It was becoming clear that he’d not been entirely truthful, either about still working or telling her everything he knew about the caller. But maybe his intention had been simply to meet up with Riley and tap her for work.

‘Good point. But without him to tell us, or this mystery man turning up, we’re never going to know.’ He yawned. ‘So where do we go from here, boss?’

‘You mean where do I go. I wanted to pick your brains, that’s all. I can’t pay you. And as stories go, this might fizzle out into nothing.’

‘You don’t have to pay me. Call it reciprocal co-operation. I might need your help one day. We’ll work something out. Cook me a meal, iron my socks… something menial.’ He grinned and stood up. ‘I’ve got some contacts in the Met. I could ask around, see if they’ve got anything on the dead woman. Might be worth having a look round Pearcy’s gaff, though.’

‘On the grounds of?’ Riley didn’t bother arguing with him; he’d insist on sticking his nose in whether she wanted him to or not. Besides, he was good at this sort of thing.

‘On the grounds that if somebody else found it worthwhile paying a visit, then we should, too. Anyway, people rarely disappear without leaving something behind.’

‘But he hasn’t disappeared. He’s with the Church of Flowing Light.’

Palmer looked cynical. ‘Yeah, right. And whose word have you got for that?’

Riley felt a rush of relief. At least Palmer shared her feelings about de Haan and Quine — and he hadn’t even met them. She had previously dismissed the idea of going back to Pinner. But Palmer brought with him a wealth of experience and a fresh perspective, and might uncover something she would have missed. She recalled writing Henry’s address on the missing person flyer, and showed it to him.

He looked at the address long enough to memorise it, then glanced at the photo on the front. He was about to pass it back, then did a double-take. ‘Christ — I know this kid.’ He checked the name. ‘If it’s the same one, her old man was an Air Commodore in the MOD. He’d been given the job of a desk jockey… something to do with procurement.’

‘Are you sure?’

‘Definite. I remember the name. He brought her down to a test firing on the Salisbury ranges a few years ago. I was there to boost security and he asked me to look after her while he was out watching squaddies make banging noises. She was a nice kid.’

‘According to her family, so was Katie Pyle.’