Retriever of Souls

by Lorraine Mace

  Paolo thought of all the paperwork he needed to clear up. If he spent the next three days doing nothing but filing and writing up reports he still wouldn’t have made a dent in the pile. His delay in answering was misunderstood.

  “What’s wrong, Paolo? I’m not coming on to you. I just don’t want to talk over the phone or while we’re both on duty,” she said.

  “Sorry, Barbara, I was just trying to reconcile spending my time going out to lunch instead of getting on with the admin tasks. Lunch just won. Where would you like to meet?”

  “Great. How does the Nag and Bag sound?”

  “Suspicious, that’s how it sounds. I haven’t been in there for ages, but I know you go quite often. I get the feeling there’s an ulterior motive for suggesting it. Am I right?”

  Barbara laughed. “Of course you’re right, but gloating doesn’t suit you. What time will you be free?”

  Paolo checked his watch. “Now’s as good a time as any. See you there in about fifteen minutes?”

  Paolo walked into the pub trying to remember when he’d last been in there. It must have been shortly after Larry and Sharon took it over, so quite some time ago. It didn’t look as if any changes had taken place in the intervening years. Larry was behind the bar and looked surprised to see Paolo.

  “Good God, what brings you in here? I didn’t think pubs were your scene.”

  He held his hand out and Paolo shook it.

  “I’m meeting a friend for lunch. She tells me Sharon makes the best pub food for miles around.”

  Larry nodded and grinned. “Sharon’s a good cook, but I hadn’t realised her fame had spread far and wide.”

  The door opened. Barbara came in and walked to the bar.

  “Hi, Paolo. Thanks for coming. Shall we sit over there,” she said, pointing to a corner table.

  “What am I, invisible?” Larry said as Barbara went to walk away.

  She turned back. “Hello, Larry.”

  Paolo could hear the anger in her tone and wished he’d said no to the lunch invite. Barbara’s greeting couldn’t have been colder if she’d been standing on an iceberg.

  Larry must have picked up on it as well because there was a decidedly acid note in his voice as he addressed Paolo.

  “Ah, now I know who you’re meeting. The raving about Sharon’s cooking makes more sense. Barbara is Sharon’s number one fan. Isn’t that right, Barbara? Although I don’t think everything Barbara believes about Sharon is necessarily true.”

  Barbara slowly looked Larry up and down. Her nose twitched as if the scent of the sewers had wafted through the room. Then she smiled and shook her head. Paolo was pleased she’d never smiled at him in that way. If Larry had been in any doubt before about Barbara’s view of him, she couldn’t have made it any clearer.

  “There are some things I know which I wish weren’t true, but there isn’t much I can do about it. Speaking of Sharon, how is she? I haven’t seen her around for ages. Last I heard she’d had yet another accident. Can I go through to the kitchen and say hi?”

  Larry glared at Barbara. “Not just now, Barbara. It’s our busiest time of the day, but I’ll be sure to tell her you were asking after her.”

  Barbara nodded. “You do that.” She turned to Paolo. “Shall we go and sit down? I’m famished.”

  Paolo followed her rapidly, retreating back to the table she’d pointed out earlier. It was as far from the bar as it was possible to be. He stood for a moment, watching her as she removed her coat and slung it on one of the chairs. She dragged out another chair and sat down, glaring in Larry’s direction. Paolo waited until she finally looked away before saying anything.

  “Well, this is going to be an interesting lunch. Is it safe for me to sit next to you?”

  Barbara forced a laugh. “Yes, of course it is. I might want to stab him with the cutlery, but you’re relatively safe.”

  Paolo dropped into the seat opposite. “Only relatively? What do I have to do to ensure complete safety? I take it that’s why I’m here? It’s not for the joy of my company, but because you want me to speak to Larry about his violence?”

  Barbara nodded. “Paolo, you didn’t see what he did to her last time. If you had-”

  “If I had I’d have arrested him for it, but I didn’t see it, Barbara. Legally, I can’t do anything. You know that as well as I do.”

  She kicked his shin hard, letting fly with her booted foot under the table. Before he could ask her what the hell she was playing at, he heard Larry’s voice and understood.

  “Have you two decided what you’d like to eat?”

  “Paolo,” Barbara said, “I know the food here. Have the bobotie, you’ll love it.”

  “Sounds weird, what is it?”

  “It’s a South African Cape Malay dish. Trust me, it’s wonderful.”

  Paolo agreed to try it out. As soon as Larry was out of earshot, Paolo turned to Barbara.

  “As I was saying...”

  “Paolo, I know you can’t do anything legally. I’m not stupid. But you could speak to Larry as an old acquaintance though, couldn’t you? Isn’t there something you could say that would make him think twice before he hits her again?”

  “Like what? You’re being naive, Barbara. Do you think just because I went to school with Larry that he’ll listen to anything I have to say? He didn’t listen to me then, so it’s not likely he will now.”

  “Paolo, please, won’t you at least try? I haven’t seen Sharon recently because Larry won’t let me anywhere near her. She’d not answering her phone and she’s never seen in here. I’m scared for her. You know how domestic violence escalates. I’m sure you’ve seen enough of it. Please, drop a threat or something.”

  Paolo sighed. “If all it took was a threat there wouldn’t be anyone still lashing out at their spouses. Don’t you think that-” He stopped. “Don’t look at me like that, Barbara. It’s not... I can’t... oh, all right. When we’ve eaten, you push off and I’ll have a chat with Larry. But don’t expect miracles,” he warned as a wide grin spread over her face.

  “I don’t,” she said. “But I’m hoping a small change now might lead to bigger changes later.”

  Half an hour later Paolo put his knife and fork together on the plate and patted his stomach.

  “She was right,” he said to Larry who came over a little while later to clear away the plates. “That was absolutely delicious. I’d love to give my compliments to the chef. Is she still in the kitchen?”

  Larry scowled. “No, she’s already gone upstairs. We were busy today and she’s tired out, so needs a lie down. Maybe next time. Would either of you like coffee?”

  Barbara shook her head and stood up, gathering her things together. “Not for me, thanks. I have a meeting in fifteen minutes. If I don’t run I’m going to be late. See you soon, Paolo. I’m sure you two have lots to talk about as you haven’t seen each other for so long,” she said with such a meaningful look that Paolo almost laughed out loud.

  He looked around the bar. “It’s quiet in here now, Larry. Why don’t you come and join me for a coffee and we can catch up on what’s been happening in our lives.”

  ***

  Back at the station Paolo reflected on his conversation with Larry. He could only hope he hadn’t done any harm. Larry hadn’t seemed to be listening most of the time, but maybe enough of Paolo’s words hit home to make a difference.

  He’d already let Barbara know about his chat with Larry, so now all that was left was to fill Matthew Roberts in on the news regarding his parentage and sibling. Finding out about his natural mother was going to be hard for someone like Matthew to swallow. Paolo smiled wryly. This could mean yet another trip to Willows.

  Picking up the phone again, he dialled Matthew’s office number. The ever-efficient Jennifer answered and put Paolo through to her boss.

  “Matthew, good afternoon. I have some news about your natural parents which I feel you should know. I-”

  “Paolo, this isn’t something I want to
hear about by phone. Why don’t you come over and tell me what you’ve found out. I’m sure you can understand that all this has been a shock for me. I would like to think that you would treat me with the same degree of respect that you’d give to anyone else in my position.”

  “Matthew, are you implying that I’m not treating you with respect?”

  “That is the way it appears to me, yes. I’m quite sure if you were going to be given news about your natural parentage that you would like to be given the information face to face and not impersonally over the phone.”

  “You’re right. When can you fit me in?”

  Paolo heard the sound of pages being turned.

  “I appear to be free for the next hour. Can you come over straight away?”

  “I’ll be there in twenty minutes,” Paolo said, cursing himself for not realising that this could be traumatic for Matthew. “I’ll see you then.”

  He put the phone down, grabbed his coat and called out to Dave.

  “We’re going to pay a courtesy visit to Matthew Roberts. He will most probably have a million and one questions, so bring your file.”

  As they walked out to the car Paolo realised Dave was no longer walking stiffly.

  “You found some magic medicine to ease the pain in your back, Dave?”

  “No, sir. I found a magic way of getting the ointment rubbed in. I’m well and truly on the mend now.”

  Paolo waited for the wisecrack about some girl being lucky enough to massage Dave’s body, but it didn’t come. He smiled to himself. It seemed Dave was learning when to keep quiet. Miracles did happen after all.

  CHAPTER 19

  Paolo and Dave went directly to the door leading into Matthew’s office rather than going via the reception and waiting area. He had made it quite clear that he wanted to see them immediately they arrived. Paolo tapped on the door and heard a curt command to enter. He opened the door to find Matthew pacing up and down in front of his desk. He looked distraught, entirely at odds with his usual ‘I’m in control of every situation’ persona.

  He stopped his aimless wandering as they came in and gave a weak smile.

  “I’m sorry I snapped at you on the phone, Paolo. I am completely on edge and I have no idea why I should be. I’m actually nervous about what you’ve got to tell me. How weird is that? I’m never anxious about anything as a rule, but this is a situation I simply don’t know how to deal with.”

  Paolo felt a measure of sympathy for Matthew he wouldn’t have believed possible and wondered how to put the man’s mind at ease. Considering what they had to tell him, it didn’t seem likely that anything he said would help for long.

  Matthew moved to the side of his office where a small couch and two armchairs were arranged around a coffee table. He sat in one of the armchairs and signalled to the other seats.

  “Won’t you please sit down? Jennifer will be bringing in coffee shortly. We might as well be comfortable while you tell me all about my serial killer brother.”

  Paolo sat on the other armchair and left the couch to Dave. “We don’t know for certain that he is the one we’re looking for, Matthew.”

  “I thought you said the killer’s DNA proved it was a sibling of mine? Or are you telling me I might have more than one brother? Dear God, is that what you’ve got to tell me?”

  Paolo crossed his legs and made himself more comfortable. “No, it’s almost certain that the brother we’ve discovered is the man we want, but we haven’t yet been able to match his DNA, so we can’t prove it at this stage.”

  “You’re talking about the legal aspect. I’m looking at it from a more personal point of view.”

  The door from the secretary’s domain opened and Jennifer appeared carrying a tray which she placed on the low table.

  “Thank you, Jennifer,” Matthew said, reaching for the coffee pot. “Please hold all calls until further notice.” He waited until she’d left the room and then passed a cup to Dave and smiled. “I see you’re clutching a file. Does it have any information I might actually want to know about, or is it full of details I’d rather you didn’t tell me?” Dave accepted the cup, but looked to Paolo instead of answering the question.

  “Oh hell, that look tells me I’m not going to like what you’ve got hidden away in there.” He handed Paolo a cup. “So which one of you is going to hold the floor?”

  As gently as he could, Paolo told Matthew what they knew about Sean and his life in Liverpool, hoping against hope that he could gloss over their birth mother’s background, but Matthew asked the question he’d been dreading.

  “So poor Sean had a terrible life while I lived a life of privilege. He must hate me for it. I think I would have loathed him if our lives had been reversed. But what happened to our natural mother?”

  Paolo sighed. “I’m sorry, Matthew, but she’s dead,” he said, determined not to go into detail unless he absolutely had to.

  “I can’t pretend to feel sad about it. I didn’t know her, had no idea whether she was even alive. Whenever I’ve thought about her, which wasn’t very often, I’d always assumed she’d died. It had never occurred to me that she might still be living or why would she have given me up?” Matthew laughed. “I’ve just realised how narcissistic that sounds. I don’t mean it like that. I just meant... I don’t know what I meant, to be honest.”

  Matthew stared at the wall for a few seconds. Paolo stayed silent, happy to give him time to digest what he’d heard so far.

  “When did she die? She couldn’t have been very old.” Paolo hesitated. The words prostitute and murdered formed in his head, but refused to come out of his mouth. Matthew had handled the news very well so far. It seemed almost cruel to tell him the rest.

  “Oh God, Paolo, you really need to work on your people skills. I can see the wheels turning in your brain trying to work out the best way to break something unpleasant to me. Now I’m really concerned. Did she die from something that might affect me? Is there a hereditary disease I should be worrying about?”

  Paolo shook his head. “No, it’s nothing like that. She was murdered.”

  “Christ! Where? How?”

  Paolo told Matthew how Catherine Andrews met her end.

  “So she might have been killed by her own son?”

  Paolo nodded. “We don’t know for sure yet, but it seems likely.”

  Matthew stared at the wall again, but then, almost as if a further unpleasant thought had forced its way to the surface, he turned his head slowly in Paolo’s direction.

  “But all of the victims featured on the news have been prostitutes. Why would... was she... oh Christ, Paolo, come on, spit it out. Was my natural mother a prostitute?” Paolo thought back to his school days when he would have given anything to be able to humiliate Matthew, to dish out the kind of spite that Matthew gave to others. Now, all these years later, here was his chance and all he wanted to do was protect the man as much as he could. He nodded in answer to Matthew’s question.

  “Paolo, I can see by your face that there’s more. It’s something worse, isn’t it? What the bloody hell could be worse than what I’ve already heard?” He swallowed. “What else have you found out?” Matthew asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

  Paolo told him about his mother’s prison term and why she’d been sent down. Matthew looked shattered. He dropped his head in his hands and stayed that way for several minutes before looking up again.

  “I’d like you to leave now, Paolo. Please, just go.”

  “There is one more thing, Matthew. It’s also possible that Sean is watching you. Has been watching you for some time. We don’t know where he is, but the fact that he came to our town to kill women suggests that it was to be closer to you for some reason. You could be in danger. What I’d like to do is arrange for someone to watch over you. Are you okay with that?”

  Matthew shook his head. “No, I’m not okay with that. You think I want someone following me around? Checking out my every movement?”

  “It’s for
your safety. We don’t know why Sean is here. He might have been setting you up so that it appears you committed the murders. He might be waiting for a chance to hurt you in some way. We simply don’t know.”

  Matthew stood up. “I’ll take my chances. Many of my clients have been badly treated by the police, Paolo. I don’t intend to lose their trust by having a policeman logging their visits to me.” Paolo went to interrupt, but Matthew held up a hand to stop him. “I said no and I meant it. If I find that you’ve had anyone following me without my permission I swear to God I’ll have you fired from the force. My clients deserve their privacy and I won’t have you invading it.”

  The previous atmosphere of friendly cooperation was gone in an instant. Matthew had reverted to type and there was nothing more Paolo could do. He signalled to Dave that they were leaving.

  “Matthew, I’m sorry you feel that way,” Paolo said holding out his hand. “We wouldn’t have been watching you to see which clients were coming in and out, but simply to keep you safe should Sean have you down as a target.”

  Matthew managed a weak smile and took Paolo’s hand. “Do I look like a prostitute? I appreciate the concern, Paolo, but my clients must come first.”

  Paolo nodded. “I don’t suppose Sean will make contact, but if he does, don’t arrange to meet him. Or at least, do arrange to meet him but don’t go unless you’ve told us about it so that we can pick him up.”

  Matthew nodded. “The sooner you find him the sooner my life can go back to normal. Don’t worry; I want him found and locked away as much as you do.”

  Matthew walked with them to the door leading into the corridor, but stopped with his hand on the handle.

  “Thanks, Paolo.”

  “For what? I haven’t exactly made your day with my news.”

  Matthew smiled at him. “No, you haven’t, but you haven’t rubbed my nose in it either. I appreciate the fact that you tried to spare me most of the unsavoury details. I’m just glad that my mother, the woman you and everyone else knew as my mother, isn’t alive to hear about that woman’s background. I doubt my parents would have chosen me if they’d known what she was. My mother loathed prostitutes, you know.” He opened the door. “If she’d had her way, they would all have been rounded up and left to rot somewhere.”