The Secrets of Pain

59

Darth Vaynor and Elly Clatter arrived in the CID room simultaneously, Bliss ejecting from his office, all caffeined-up.

‘I’m not wearing this, son. Not like she can hide in a cupboard under the frigging sink.’

‘Last her dad knew,’ Darth said, ‘she was living with a bloke in a flat in Belmont. We turn up there, front and back, only to find the guy in the sack with somebody else. Didn’t know where Victoria had gone. Didn’t seem too upset, mind.’

‘Just grateful he’d still got both eyes. How long since she went?’

‘Days. “Duh, whatever day this is” – that kind of guy, you know? Observant.’

‘Right.’ Bliss looked around. ‘Where’s Rich? I want this frigging city dismantled.’

Elly Clatter said, ‘Francis, if I could just-’

‘ What? ’

‘BBC are here. They-’

‘No! Tell them to piss off. Tell them we’ll let them know soon as-’

‘Francis.’ Elly’s hands on his shoulders. ‘They know. It’s all over the Net. Carly Horne was with some of her mates when Karen picked her up?’

Karen came over, nodding. Bliss moaned.

‘Kid’s a big social networker,’ Elly said. ‘There’s now a Friends of Carly Facebook site, campaigning for her release?’

Bliss let out his breath in a slow rasp. If he ever came face to face with the little twat who invented Facebook…

‘So what that means is?’

‘Sky,’ Elly said. ‘And BBC News 24. So far.’

‘What it also means,’ Karen said, ‘is that wherever Victoria is, she’d have to’ve gone blind and deaf not to know we’re looking for her. Meanwhile, Carly’s denying everything and Joss is saying very little. Time for you to have a go, boss?’

‘Yeh,’ Bliss said. ‘I think it could be.’

Mentally sharpening a knife on a steel.

A mile or so before Ledwardine, Merrily’s phone chimed and she pulled onto the verge.

‘I don’t know quite what you were expecting,’ Fiona Spicer said, ‘but I’ve just been given the results of the post-mortem.’

It was as though her voice was in a straitjacket.

‘Natural causes.’

‘Oh.’

If he’d been younger,’ Fiona said, ‘they’d be using terms like… if I can say this… Idiopathic Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy? I’m told it means a sudden, inexplicable heart attack. In an older man, even one as fit as Sam, it’s… less inexplicable.’

‘Had you… any reason to think he had a heart problem?’

‘No, and if he had I’m not sure he would’ve told me. He liked to deal with his own problems. As you know.’

‘Yes. How do you-?’

‘Angry. Cheated. Angry that he won’t see his daughter married.’ Finally, fissures of a deep grief under her words. ‘Cheated by his God. Nobody to blame but his damned God. Can you understand that?’

‘Yes. I can understand it. Fiona-’

‘I’ve a few other people to call. And Emily’s arrived. Our daughter. And her fiance. I suppose that means they’ll release his body, so we can… Perhaps I could call you tomorrow, if that’s convenient – I do remember what Good Friday involves for a vicar.’

‘Whenever you like. If I’m in church, I’ll call you back as soon-’

She’d gone. Would not share the sob. Merrily put the phone on the dash and told Lol. Felt like she’d been kicked.

‘I realize people can go for years without knowing they have a heart condition, but this is… There may still be an inquest, but it’ll be a quickie. No reason for anything to come out. Not now.’

She picked up Lol’s hand, below the bandage. Since he’d told her about his minutes of fear inside Byron’s compound, she’d felt they were together again, in a deeper sense. Flitting in and out of one another’s energy fields, like neurotic damsel flies. It must not go on .

‘I was thinking I could leave it for a while. Until after Easter. See if it made any more sense. Now… if I don’t do something now.’

Lol squeezed her hand, as if to show he still could.

‘Start by telling James.’

‘About the possible re-emergence of an ancient Roman pagan cult and the possible involvement of a retired SAS trooper in the theft of a bull?’

‘We both know what you can tell him.’

‘Lol, I hardly like even to mention it out loud.’

‘You mean bull?’ Lol said. ‘ Mansel Bull?’

Merrily put on her sunglasses and started up the car.

‘Thanks for saying it first.’

‘Watch much TV, Carly?’

Carly looked up, ebony hair still slanted defiantly across one eye.

Bliss said, ‘Bet you’ve seen all them women’s-prison reality shows. Could be worse inside, couldn’t it? Get to wear your own clothes, have yer hair done, decorate the cell.’

‘Think you’re scaring me?’ Carly said.

‘Of course they’re a bit misleading, them shows. They only talk to the mouthy prisoners, the ones who’re a bit of a laugh. And speak English. No point in following one of the many smouldering, resentful East European ladies on Her Maj’s guest list.’

‘I fear you’re sailing perilously close to racist shores, Inspector,’ Mr Ryan Nye said.

Everyone’s favourite duty solicitor, all glossy black hair and geek specs. Interesting how the smarmy twat was always first out of bed for something newsworthy.

Bliss shook his head.

‘You know me better than that, Mr Nye. I’m just thinking how aggrieved certain migrant ladies in the slammer might feel at having to share a landing with someone who set up two of their innocent compatriots to get murdered.’

‘Innocent, bollocks!’

Carly halfway out of her chair. Bliss smiled.

‘Had it coming, did they? Look, Carly, I’m just giving yer a chance to make things easier all round. We’ll have the DNA matches up soon, and that’ll be that. Though I think it’s only fair to tell you that poor little Joss has already seen the light.’

Ryan Nye looking at him, trying to work out if he was lying. Bliss just looked sad.

‘It was that ugly scratch just below the left shoulder blade that did it. No wonder she was wearing a high-necked sweater. You got any scratches anywhere, Carly? We can get yer a plaster and a dab of Germolene. Should I summon a doctor and a nice police lady to hold your clothes?’

‘I never…’ Carly wrapped her arms around her chest. ‘You listening? You won’t find no DNA ’cause I never touched either of them women.’

‘Could be you never did, Carly, but that doesn’t make a lorra difference nowadays. Whether or not you struck any of the fatal blows, you still helped engineer a double murder. The courts draw few distinctions any more. You were involved, kid.’

Bliss paused, the flat of a forefinger angled thoughtfully under his bottom lip.

‘Now, it could be you didn’t realize it would get that far. If you were able to convince us of that, it might help you no end. Though pairsonally, Carly, I’d find it hard to credit, ’cause your attitude so far has been unremittingly cocky with norra hint of remorse. The attitude, in fact, of someone who feels the world can only be a better place without the likes of Maria and Ileana Marinescu. Someone almost proud of her-’

‘No!’

‘ Yes.’

Carly said nothing. Bliss was also silent for a while. Coming on like he was thinking something out. Giving it nearly half a minute before he said, ‘How well do you know Victoria Buckland, Carly?’

Now was that a little shudder?

‘See, we know Victoria of old, and she’s gorra hell of a talent for self-preservation. The very last person to put both hands up and say, No, no, it’s all down to me, officer, those kids had nothing to do with the actual violence, I’m a grown woman, me, and there’s no way I’d let young girls take the rap for smashing anybody’s-’

‘Inspector…’

‘Mr Nye?’

‘Perhaps we could save some time. May I have a word in private with my client?’

‘Absolutely, Mr Nye,’ Bliss said. ‘I’ll be just outside, if required.’