Fallen Gods

Forty-Three

"You're quite sure I'm not going to hear from him?" Andrea asked. They had found a corner table in the bustling Brown's, only a few yards along from 121 George Street, and were waiting for the lunch they had ordered to be brought to them.

"As sure as I can be," Stevie answered. "Maggie… Superintendent Rose, spoke to him and his solicitor and advised him that the investigation's still open, that you're a witness and that he's still a suspect. He'd be spectacularly stupid to come anywhere near you after having his card marked as clearly as that, and I don't think he is."

"Do you still think it was him who phoned me?"

"To be honest, Andrea, I'm not sure any more; his story now is that someone else must have used his phone to make that call."

She frowned for a second. "But if it wasn't him, that means…"

He nodded. "I know what it means, but I really don't think you need to worry. It's our thinking that you were lured along to that exhibition as a fall…" he paused, and smiled '… girl. That hasn't worked. Fine. So what possible reason could the man have to try it on again?"

She looked at the table as she pondered what he had said. "Yes. I see the logic in that. So you're telling me to forget it altogether, keep taking the tablets and get on with my life?"

"Exactly. As a bit of added security, I'll give you my phone numbers.

If we're wrong and it does happen again, you should call me right away."

"Okay' She looked at him, coyly. "Does that mean that there'll be no more surprise invitations to lunch?"

He grinned back at her. "Not necessarily. I have got a life outside CID, you know. I'd like to be your friend, Andrea, instead of your investigating officer. I'd like to get to know you, in an ordinary situation."

Her blue eyes flashed at him. "What, both of me, you mean?"

"I prefer this model, but I'm game for anything."

"I'll bet you are. You might find getting to know me a frustrating experience. I'm not really one of your modern girls. I'm a virgin, you know." She frowned, severely.

"What?" he shot back. "Both of you?"

A short, snorting laugh exploded from her. "I may have two personalities, but that's as far as it goes. Sorry to sound so priggish; what I meant was that I've never had a proper relationship with a man before."

"You mean an improper one?"

"God, I can't say a thing to you." She put her hand to her mouth and gasped. "Did you hear that? I just took His name in vain. Steven, you're having a bad influence on me already."

"Sounds promising."

"I'm promising nothing."

"And I'm not asking for anything, other than to be your friend."

"Okay, take me to the cinema, then."

"What do you want to see?"

"Lord of the Rings:

"Deal. When?"

"Tomorrow. Two dates in one day might be rushing things a bit."

"I'll pick you up at seven." He took a card from his pocket and handed it to her. "There; Stevie Steele in your hands. That's every phone number I've got, office and private. The home ones are ex-directory, so don't leave it lying about."

"I'll keep it in my Bible," she said, casually, 'just to be safe." He had to look closely at her, to be sure she was joking.

A sound at their side caught his attention; a waiter stood ready, with their lunch.

"Steven," Andrea began as he picked up his cutlery. "About the fire.

Since it wasn't a convenient crazy like me, and since you're discounting the man who phoned the newspapers, have you any idea who burned the silly picture?"

"Not a clue."

"So what will you do next?"

"We'll probably look at all the people who could have taken the lad's mobile and used it to make the call to you."

"How many?"

"To be exact, one hundred and forty-two. A hundred and nineteen if we leave the partners out of it."

"How long will that take?"

"That depends on a few things; on how many of them gave us statements on Saturday, on how many we have to re-interview, on how many officers we use to do it."

"So I might be stood up tomorrow night?"

"Not a chance. Even detective inspectors get time off. Besides, there's another factor I didn't mention; that's how lucky we get. You never know, the first person we interview might confess."

"Did you think you were lucky when you saw me on those tapes? That is, not me, her. Oh, you know what I mean."

"I know, and did we ever think we'd got lucky! Especially when we found out who she was and what she'd done."

"Are you sorry you weren't?"

He laid down his fork, reached across and took her hand. "Who says I wasn't?"

A blush came to her cheeks. "I know I was," she whispered. "The others would just have locked me up, wouldn't they? It was you who stood up for me, wasn't it?"

"Not alone. Maggie did too."

"Then thank her for me."

She started to explore her lentil salad, and Steele turned his attention to his tagliatelle de la casa. "Can I ask you something else?" she exclaimed, when she was near the end.

"Could I stop you?" he countered.

"Why are you sure that burning the picture was a religious protest?"

"It's the only possible motive, Andrea. Can you suggest another?"

"No, I can't, but…" She paused, as if she had thought better of whatever it was she had been about to say.

"But what? Go on."

"Och, it just seems to me that it was awful well planned, that's all.

Someone who does something like that is a fanatic, right?"

"Right."

"Do fanatics plan things that well? When I, she, no, I, did what I did, there was no planning involved at all. I made the device then wandered like a sore thumb into their service, and tried to plant it in what was supposed to be an unobtrusive manner. It was a nonsense from the start. I was simply driven by my voice telling me to do it. What happened in the Academy, on the other hand, was planned like clockwork and executed perfectly. If the person who did it is a schizophrenic like me, it would have been a shambles. You ask Adam Broadley if you don't believe me." "I might, but not because I don't believe you. Go on." "This was done by a clear-thinking methodical person with technical knowledge. That doesn't fit the fanatic theory, as I understand it. Fanatics are the sort of people who walk into places and blow themselves up. This person planted the device in secret, triggered it and got away scot free. Not only that, he set me up as, as you put it, a fall girl.

"So while you're interviewing all these people, why don't you ask yourselves at the same time, why else this might have been done?"