Private London

Chapter 43

I took a sip of tea.

It was awful. Too much sugar, too much milk. I made a tutting sound and got a reproachful look from Alison Chambers.

She was now sitting next to me on the bed. A businesslike notebook open on her lap, on the pages of which she was writing businesslike notes, I assumed. The nib of her Mont Blanc fountain pen appeared to scratch into the paper a tad deeper than was probably necessary.

‘The tea not to your satisfaction?’ she asked coolly.

‘It’s not PG Tips, I can tell you that much,’ I said.

‘And this isn’t the Ritz either, if you hadn’t noticed. It’s the Paddington Green nick.’

‘Yeah, I did notice that. The last time Kirsty took my trouser belt off on our wedding anniversary she didn’t take the shoelaces as well!’

I looked down at my brogues. Without the laces the tongues of both shoes flopped out like those of overheated dogs.

‘You don’t seem to be taking this seriously, Dan. So I am not sure I can help you.’

‘Oh, I’m taking this deadly seriously, I can assure you.’

‘You bring a woman into this country under a false passport. You enter your so-called god-daughter into the same college as her, also under a false name, but at least that’s not a crime so far as I know.’

‘Nor me,’ I agreed.

‘But you had Chloe working for you, didn’t you?’ Alison pressed angrily.

I didn’t respond.

‘And now the girl you smuggled in illegally,’ she continued, ‘has been kidnapped and you refuse to tell the police a damn thing.’

‘I’m taking the Fifth.’

She sighed, exasperated. ‘This is Paddington Green, Carter! Not Prairie Fart, Idaho. You don’t have the option to take the Fifth. There is no Fifth!’

‘You know, your eyes really do go green when you’re angry.’

‘For God’s sake! Are you even listening to me?’

‘Like they said when I was arrested, Alison, I don’t have to say anything.’

‘Well, you bloody do to me! And stop with the flip bloody act, Dan. I know you’re beating yourself up about what happened to those girls. I know you’re angry and want to get out there and do something about it.’

Alison knew me pretty well. ‘I do.’

‘And I am trying to help you do that. So why don’t you throw me a bone here?’

I sighed and shook my head. ‘If you don’t know then you can’t be compromised.’

‘Then what am I supposed to do?’

‘Nothing. I’ll take care of it.’

‘How?’

‘I don’t know.’

The door opened and Kirsty walked in. She looked at us both for a moment without speaking.

‘Isn’t this cosy?’ she said finally. ‘The Thin Man and his lawyer. All we need now is a little dog and it would be a perfect picture.’

Kirsty was a big fan of old black-and-white films.

‘Are you going to charge my client?’ asked Alison, a degree of frost creeping into her voice.

Kirsty smiled but there wasn’t a lot of warmth in it, either. ‘Client?’ she said, rolling the word around on her tongue as if trying it on for size and not finding it to her liking.

‘If you have something to say, how about we expedite matters and simply say it, Kirsty?’ said Alison.

Kirsty looked at me, ignoring her. ‘Just so you know. It was never my idea to arrest you in the first place.’

‘Fair enough.’

‘The second murder and now this abduction. My hands were tied. The big guns were wheeled in and my boss DSI Andrew Harrington ordered you brought in. There’s promotion written all over this case.’

‘I see.’

‘No way around it. You brought her here under a false passport, Dan. There’s stuff going on that you know and we don’t. And that’s not right.’

I nodded. Hard to argue with her. ‘Sorry.’ I said simply.

‘So… is there anything you want to tell us?’

I shook my head. The message had been very clear. If the police became involved then Hannah would be hurt. Hurt in ways that did not bear thinking about. There was no option.

‘Then you leave me no choice…’ said DI Webb.

‘Than to do what?’ asked Alison Chambers.

‘Than to let you go,’ said Kirsty. Surprising the pair of us.