Dead Man's Grip

112

It was the first really warm day of the year, with the thermometer in Brighton hitting seventy-five degrees, and the beaches of the city, along with its bars and cafés, were crowded. Roy Grace and Cleo returned home after a short walk with Humphrey, mindful of the instructions of the consultant gynaecologist that Cleo was not to do too much exercise.

Then they sat on the roof terrace of her house, Grace drinking a glass of rosé, Cleo with an elderflower cordial and Humphrey gnawing on a chew.

‘So what happens next with Carly Chase? Your suspect is presumed drowned in Shoreham Harbour and Tony Revere’s mother is dead, right?’

‘They’re diving and dragging the harbour. But it’s pretty murky down there. You can’t see anything with underwater lights, so you have to do it all by sonar and feel. And there are some pretty strong currents. A body could get pulled out to sea very quickly.’

‘I thought they floated to the surface after a few days?’

‘Takes about a week for the internal gases to build up. But if they do surface, say at night, with the tide and wind in the wrong direction, they’ll go on out to sea. Then eventually they’ll sink again, and when they do, they’ll get picked clean by fish and crabs and lobsters.’

‘What about Tony Revere’s father?’

‘I’ve spoken to Detective Investigator Lanigan in New York. The guy who could be the problem going forward is his wife’s brother – the dead boy’s uncle, Ricky Giordino. With his father, Sal, locked up in jail for the rest of his life, realistically, it sounds like this guy is the one to watch. Lanigan thinks he’s the man who probably hired the killer in the first place. We’re going to continue with protection on Carly Chase and her family for a while, but I personally don’t think the threat is as severe now.’

Cleo placed Roy’s hand on her swollen abdomen and said, ‘Bump’s busy today.’

He could feel their child moving around.

‘Probably because you just ate a chocolate ice cream, right? You said he always becomes energetic when you eat chocolate – and that he’s probably going to become a chocaholic.’

‘ He? ’ she said quizzically.

Grace grinned. ‘You’re the one who keeps going on about all these old wives’ tales, that if your baby’s high up, or sticking out a lot, it’s going to be a boy.’

She shrugged. ‘We could easily find out.’

‘Do you want to?’ he asked.

‘No. Do you? You didn’t last time we discussed it.’

‘I will love our child just as much whether it is a boy or a girl. I’ll love it because it is our child.’

‘Are you sure, Roy? You wouldn’t want it to be a boy, so he could be an action man like my hero, Roy Grace? The claustrophobic who goes down a deep tunnel. The man who’s scared of heights who climbs power stations? The crap swimmer who dives into a harbour and saves a boy’s life?’

Grace shrugged. ‘I’m a copper. Sometimes in my job you can’t make choices based on what you’re afraid of or not. The day you do is the day you wake up and know you’re in the wrong career.’

‘You love it, don’t you?’

‘I didn’t love climbing down that ladder into the tunnel. And I was shit scared climbing up on to the power station roof. But at least young Tyler’s going to be OK. And to see his mother’s face when we took her to him at the Sussex County, where he was being checked over – that was something else. That’s why I do this job. I can’t think of any other job in the world where you could make a difference like that.’

‘I can,’ Cleo said, and kissed him on the forehead. ‘It doesn’t matter what job you do, you’d always make a difference. You’re that kind of person. That’s why I love you.’

He gave her a sideways look. ‘Do you?’

‘Yup.’ She shrugged and sipped her drink. ‘You know, sometimes I wonder about you and Sandy.’

‘In what sense?’

‘You told me that you tried for several years to have a child, without success, right?’

He nodded.

‘If you had succeeded, what would have happened? Would you and I – you know – be together?’

‘I’ve no idea. But I can tell you one thing, I’m glad we are. You’re the best thing that ever happened to me in my life. You’re my rock.’

‘You’re mine too.’

She squeezed his hand. ‘Let me ask you something. Did Sandy ever call you her rock?’

Roy Grace hugged her. After some minutes he said, ‘You know what they say about the past being another country?’

Cleo nodded.

‘So let’s not go there.’

He kissed her.

‘Good plan,’ she agreed.