Aftershock

Thirty-seven

‘From where you’re sat, Jack,’ Lisanne Weekes asked, ‘do I look like a fool?’

‘No. You look to me like someone who’s guilty of nothing worse than trust, and that isn’t a crime in my book. It’s a virtue, even though it can get you hurt.’

‘Like when it’s given to the wrong person, you mean?’

‘Yes.’

‘See?’ She smiled at him wistfully. ‘You do think I’m an idiot.’

‘I don’t, honestly. I don’t think that Mae Grey’s an idiot either, and from what I’ve heard of Sugar Dean, I don’t believe that she was. You’re good women, all of you, who happened to fall for a bad man. In my job, I’ve met a hundred people like you. . not all of them women, I have to say.’

They were in an Asian restaurant, near Haymarket, not far from McGurk’s office. It had not been one of its busiest nights: as their coffee arrived they were the only customers left, although the sergeant expected that there would be a late rush as the pubs began to empty.

‘Are you a good person?’

He looked at her across the table. ‘What do you reckon?’

‘I reckon you are, otherwise I wouldn’t be here. But there you are, I’ve never met you before in my life and I trust you to keep me company while your people tear my home apart.’

‘And put it back together again.’

‘I’m sure they will, as best they can, but I’ll still know they’ve been there, touching my stuff. I’m sure I’ll feel terrible about it tomorrow. Right now, it’s all a blur: I don’t really think I believe it yet.’

‘I’m sorry. Truly, I am. It’s not a job that Becky and I enjoyed.’

‘You did it very well, though. You were very kind, both of you. You’ve been kind here too. I was expecting the interrogation to go on, but we’ve talked about football, films, the Royal Family; anything but Theo bloody Weekes.’

‘We’ve asked you all we need to ask you,’ said McGurk. ‘You can interrogate me now, if you like.’

‘About him? No, he’s a rat: I don’t want to know any more about him. He and I have been cruising along for too long. Like I said, he’s been my weakness. I don’t think I’ve ever stopped to ask myself whether I love him, but sitting here now, I know that I don’t. We were young when we met, barely out of school. One thing just followed another, until we wound up married, just before he gave up his garage job and joined the police.’ She stopped abruptly. ‘You’re holding him overnight,’ she said, ‘but will he be out tomorrow?’

‘Maybe. I can’t say.’

‘If you do have to let him go, will you tell him to stay away from me?’

‘I can pass that on.’

‘But can you make him?’

‘I can’t order him not to go near you. But if he does, and he persists, you should phone me or Becky and make a complaint. His feet won’t touch the ground then. Mind you, even if he is cleared and released, his police career will still be hanging by a thread. If he’s got any thought of staying on the force, he’ll listen when he’s warned to leave you alone.’

‘Is there anything you haven’t told me about him?’

‘Yes, but you probably don’t want to hear it.’

‘You’re bloody wrong: I do.’

‘Sure?’

‘Sure.’

‘Sugar chucked him because he gave her gonorrhoea.’

Lisanne threw back her head. ‘The bastard,’ she hissed. ‘The dirty bastard.’

‘You told us about that time a couple of years ago when he didn’t see you for a bit? It was probably because he was being treated.’

‘I’m surprised he didn’t accuse me of giving it to him.’

McGurk frowned. ‘All other things aside, he’d know you didn’t have the opportunity. Remember Byron? Weekes was stalking you, Lisanne: all the time, you, and Sugar, and Mae.’

‘He’s nuts.’

‘Whether he is or not, his return to the job will depend on a psychologist’s report.’

She shuddered. ‘That’s enough. Not only do I never want to see him again, I don’t want to hear any more about him. Change the subject. Let’s talk about you instead. Are you married? I guess not, since you were free to take me out.’

‘Separated,’ he told her.

‘Do you stalk your ex?’ She put her hand to her mouth, as if to stop the question, but it had escaped. ‘God, I’m sorry, that was terrible.’

He grinned. ‘Yes, but in the circumstances, understandable. I admit that I had a problem for a couple of months; I went through the jealous phase, and I did watch the house once or twice after I moved out. But we’re fine now. The job’s been our main problem. Mary’s never liked it. Eventually she gave me an ultimatum.’

‘And you chose the police?’

‘I’m afraid so. Still think I’m a good person?’

‘I think you’re an honest one. I think Mary’s dead wrong, expecting you to give up a career you love. If you did that you’d never look at her in the same way again. . at least, I wouldn’t in your shoes.’

‘That’s what I’ve tried to tell her, but without success. She’s tried support groups for officers’ wives, we’ve tried marriage-guidance counselling. . disastrously, for the counsellor turned out to have a police record and took her side. . but nothing’s helped. I reckon we’re at the end of the road now.’

‘And you don’t sleep with her any more?’

‘No.’

‘Wise man. If you’re ever tempted, look at me and the bother that got me into.’

They were still laughing when his mobile sounded. It was Stallings.

‘That’s us done, Jack,’ she said. ‘You can bring her home now. No firearm. Nothing at all, in fact, but we’ve bagged the jacket and jeans Lisanne told us about for further examination.’

‘And the rest?’

‘Bin-bags. I’ll have someone dump them in Weekes’s place tomorrow.’

‘Okay. See you in the morning, unless you want me back at the office.’

‘Hell, no! I’m off home to debrief Detective Sergeant Wilding. Good night.’

‘Cheers.’ He switched off the Samsung and slipped it back into his pocket, then waved to a waiter for the bill. ‘That’s it,’ he said. ‘We’re out of your life.’

He paid by card and kept the receipt. ‘Theo knew about Mary and me,’ he told her, as they left the restaurant. ‘I used to be the deputy chief’s exec, and his marriage broke up at the same time as mine. “The curse of the command corridor,” they called it. It was the talk of the force for a while, went all the way round the gossip circuit.’

‘Were they saying you had a thing going?’ Lisanne laughed.

‘You’ve never met the deputy chief. Anyone whispering that even in jest would be singing soprano for the rest of his short, sad life.’

The drive back to her flat took less than five minutes. ‘I’ll walk you up,’ said McGurk. ‘I need to reassure myself that they haven’t left a mess.’

They climbed to the second floor of the old sandstone building. It had been renovated, like most of the property in the area, and the stairwell was brightly lit, and carpeted. The front door was larger than usual, but the six-foot-eight-inch sergeant still had to watch his head as he stepped inside.

He stood in the hallway as Lisanne moved from room to room; when she reappeared she was smiling. ‘It’s tidier than I left it,’ she told him, ‘and I’m not kidding.’

‘That’s good. I must get them in to do my place.’ He turned and ducked under the door. ‘Good night, then.’

‘Jack.’

He paused.

‘Would you think I was pushy if I asked if I could see you again?’ she asked.

He frowned, until his eyes gave him away. ‘I was going to give it a couple of days,’ he replied, ‘then call you. What are you doing on Friday night?’

‘Whatever you like.’

‘A meal and a couple of pubs? Pick you up about seven?’

‘Sounds good. See you then.’

He was half-way downstairs when she called after him: ‘Hang on!’

They met on the first-floor landing. ‘There’s something else,’ she said, removing, as she spoke, the necklace charm he had been admiring all evening. It was silver, like its chain, but he had been unable to see what it was meant to be. ‘I forgot I had this on. Would you put it with the rest of Theo’s stuff? He gave it to me that last Friday he was here. I want no part of it now.’

‘No problem.’ He held out his hand and she dropped it on to his palm. He looked at it in the bright light of the stairwell and felt his heart jump. The charm was small, about half the normal size, but it was, unmistakably, a representation of a cube of sugar.