A Good day to die

33

Was this what it was all about? The murder of a child. Was this what so many had died for? Somehow, it still didn't seem right. Paedophiles are furtive creatures; capable of forming into well-organized groups, and certainly responsible for some shocking crimes. But to be able to muster this sort of ruthlessness (and against men too rather than vulnerable children); to hire killers to snuff out their enemies, and then snuff out the killers themselves… I just couldn't quite buy it.

But at least I now had something to go on. If a girl between the ages of eight and thirteen had disappeared in southern England in the six months before Ann was taken into custody, I would find out about it. Dr Cheney had said she'd tried to think back and had come up with nothing, but by her own admission she hadn't been putting her life and soul into it. And the police, had they? DCI Barron had come here to see Dr Cheney, but seemed to have left without moving any further forward, since there'd been no follow-up inquiries. Sometimes it's surprising how often investigating officers can overlook facts that don't immediately fit with their theories on a crime, and understandably. On first glance, the murder of Asif Malik and Jason Khan had nothing to do with the out-of-date witness account of an alleged murder of an unidentified child seven years earlier. Only when you had my perspective of events was it possible to see the link.

But Dr Cheney was right. Without any real evidence, it was going to be hard to prove anything against anyone. If I could track each of the individuals down, I could impose my own justice, but I was one man operating alone, and if my true identity was discovered, it would take me out of the equation for ever. What was needed was something tangible to point the police in the right direction. And the only people who could provide this were Andrea Bloom and her boyfriend, Grant, both of whom, I was certain, had been told something by Ann, possibly in the days before her death. Something that they were now too scared to talk about.

Outside, a wet blanket of darkness had enveloped the surrounding fields, and it was raining hard. I hurried back to the car, jumped inside, and drove away.

And a single, worrying thought kept going through my head.

Did Tomboy Darke know more than he was letting on? I got back into the West End at half past six, having endured a nightmare journey up the M3, and dropped the car back at the rental garage. As soon as I'd left there, I phoned Emma, wanting to catch up and let her know what I'd found out.

But when she answered I knew something was wrong.

'Oh, Dennis, thank God you've called.' She sounded distraught and it was obvious she'd been crying. I was surprised at the intensity of my concern for her.

'Emma, what is it? Tell me.'

'I got a visit today. From two of Tyndall's men.'

My throat went dry, and suddenly I could hear my heartbeat. 'Jesus, what happened?'

'It was when I was leaving work. I was just getting into my car when they came out of nowhere: two big men in leather jackets. They dragged me into a side road and…' She stopped for a moment and sounded as if she might cry again, but after a couple of seconds, she composed herself. 'One of them put a knife to my throat.'

'Did he hurt you?'

'No.'

I silently thanked God.

'He pressed it against my neck but he didn't cut me. He was grinning the whole time and he didn't even bother trying to hide his face. The other one was twisting my arms behind my back. Then the one with the knife told me that this was going to be my last warning. Any more articles about the Malik/Khan shooting and they were going to kill me.'

'Did they say they were representing Tyndall?'

'They didn't have to. I knew they were.'

I didn't argue. It was difficult to think who else would have threatened her like that. 'Are you OK? Where are you now?'

'I'm back at home. I'm fine.'

'You can't stay there alone. I'll be over in twenty minutes.'

'No, don't. Please.'

'Why not?'

She sounded edgy. Not right. 'I phoned Simon… DCI Barron… after what had happened, and he's arranged police protection for me. There's two officers in a patrol car directly outside the door and they're staying there until I leave tomorrow morning. I'm getting out of the city for a few days, Dennis. Going back to my parents' farm until things die down a little. You understand, don't you?'

I was gutted. Like the worst kind of lovesick fool, I'd had this idea on the drive back that I'd be spending a nice evening with Emma discussing the case over a bottle of wine before having a repeat performance of the previous night's lovemaking. But I didn't say any of this, because she was right. It was best she laid low for a while. 'Of course I understand. I hope I'm here when you get back.'

'Do you think you will be? What did you find out today?'

I gave her a brief rundown of the meeting with Dr Cheney and what she'd told me. I also told her that DCI Barron had already been to see her. 'He never mentioned anything to you about it?'

'No,' she said, sounding surprised. 'Not a word. I had no idea he was pursuing that line of inquiry.'

'She never heard from him again, anyway.'

'So what's your plan now?' she asked.

I told her that I was going to see if I could back up Ann's story by checking whether any girls had gone missing during the period she'd described. 'I'm also going to go back and talk to Andrea Bloom, Ann's friend. She knows something, Emma. I'm sure of it.'

'But why are you so sure she hasn't told you everything?'

'I was a copper a long time. I can just feel it. She's hiding something. So's her boyfriend. If what they've got is good, I'll try and persuade them to go to the police and make a statement. Then they might start to look more closely at Ann's past. At the moment it's the best I can think of. But don't say anything to DCI Barron about any of this, though. OK?'

She seemed surprised. 'Why not?'

'I'd rather it was kept quiet for now. If I get anywhere, you can tell him then.'

'All right, but be careful, Dennis. You're sailing very close to the wind. And if they do end up treating Ann's death as a murder, what's going to happen with you?'

There were still a few loose ends to tie up, of course. Maybe a visit to Theo Morris of Thadeus Holdings, and even to the enigmatic Nicholas Tyndall. But soon, I hoped, my part in all this would be over. 'I think I'll go home,' I told her.

'I hope we get a chance to see each other again.'

'So do I,' I said, and I meant it.

'But if we don't… Well, I don't think I could call it fun, but I'm glad I met you. Take care of yourself, please.'

'And you, Emma. And don't be tempted to hang around. I really wouldn't want anything to happen to you.' I felt like saying something else, something along the lines of how much I cared about her, but I held back.

'I've learned my lesson,' she told me. 'Goodbye, Dennis. And good luck.'

'Goodbye, Emma.'

She rang off and I stood staring at the phone for a while, thinking that fleeting romances were the story of my life. Two years ago, when I'd been in Siquijor Island, I'd met an Australian girl in her thirties who was passing through on her way home. She'd been travelling the world for six years, and was on the last leg of her journey when she shipped up at our place and got a room for a few days. We didn't see a lot of Western women in the Philippines. It wasn't really on the backpackers' trail and it had the sort of moderately dodgy reputation that meant it was usually avoided by women travelling on their own. So Christine had been a breath of fresh air. We'd got talking in the bar on her first night, and I'd taken her out diving the next day. She'd had that relaxed attitude to sex that I've always admired in a woman, and since we'd been the only two on the boat, we'd ended up making love amongst the diving equipment. We'd spent the next week very much together, with me giving her a tour of the island, and her telling me about her travels and the places she'd seen. It had been fun. More than fun, it had been one of those blossoming romances that I'd experienced so little of in my life, and I'd even been thinking about finding some way to follow her to Australia.

But I was kidding myself. In the end, it had just been a fling to her, and seven days after she'd arrived, she kissed me on the lips, told me to take care of myself, and walked out of my life for ever. Just one in a long line of goodbyes.

I knew this would be the last I saw of Emma, but in a way it felt right. She was too young, too pretty, and if I'm honest, too good for me; and since there was no chance of anything ever coming of our relationship, it was best that we parted now, before things got serious.

I walked back to the hotel room and had a shower. The water was lukewarm so I was only in there two minutes and was cold when I got out. I got dressed and lay on the bed, and thought about my next move. I was tempted to go out and have a few drinks, maybe back in Ernie's pub, but I wanted to be fresh the following morning.

I looked at my watch. Seven twenty. I picked up the mobile to call Andrea Bloom, then realized I didn't have a number for her. I asked myself whether it was really worth a trip over to Hackney now to see her, but the alternative was lying in this shitty hotel room staring at the cracks in the ceiling, and in the end that wasn't much of an alternative, so I forced myself up off the bed. I needed food. Then I'd be on my way.