A Body in the Bookshop

by Helen Cox

  ‘Redmond’s a sweet enough lad, but he’s not believable as a criminal mastermind. Besides anything else, Redmond had worked with us for several years. Ricci was a newcomer. An outsider. The trouble coincided with her joining us. It seemed more believable, I thought. Especially when you two didn’t hit it off and Holt tried to frame you for the beating. But I promise you, I didn’t expect any of it to go this far. I just wanted to have something to show for all these years of work. But the situation just kept getting worse and worse.’

  ‘Look,’ said Charley. ‘You’d lost everything and couldn’t see a way forward, a jury will have some sympathy for that.’

  ‘And Oakes, I didn’t mean to kill him. I need you to know that. I need you to tell Marion.’

  ‘You can tell her yourself,’ said Charley.

  ‘I went there, to the shop, in a balaclava and threatened him. I wanted to try and create someone – a fictional suspect – to pin the death of Alim on so nobody else would get hurt. I used the hammer so it would look like the same person who had attacked Alim also attacked Donald. But the bugger tried to run and when I caught up with him he started clawing at the mask. He got hold of it, he was going to see my face. He was going to know what I was doing. So I hit him. Harder than I meant to, and he didn’t get up.’

  Evie’s eyes started to fill with tears. Percival had done some unforgivable things but all of them, it seemed, were born out of desperation. There was something profoundly sad about how unnecessary this had all been. Nobody had needed to die. It was just a big mess.

  ‘Sir,’ Charley said, her voice growing sterner. ‘Get down off the ledge. We can work something out.’

  ‘No, no, no,’ Percival shook his head. ‘There’s nothing left for me now.’

  And with that Noah Percival heaved himself off the ledge and a scream of terror filled the air.

  Thirty-Seven

  ‘Noooooo!’ Charley screamed out. She leaped towards the ledge and a moment later her whole body shunted forward against the wall. She shrieked in pain and remained bent double, leaning over the edge.

  Evie dropped Hamilton to the ground and ran forward. To her astonishment, Charley had managed to grab Percival’s wrist. She had both hands clamped around him but her fingers were white from the strain of holding the weight of a full-grown man as he dangled above the river twelve floors below.

  ‘Let me go,’ Percival screamed up at Charley. ‘Let me go, Banks, it’s what I deserve. You know it. I know it. Just let me go!’

  Evie tried to reach for his other hand but Percival swatted her away, jerking his body and causing Charley to cry out again with the pain of holding onto him.

  ‘Let me die, please,’ Percival pleaded. ‘Let me die, I’m begging you. I can’t go on. I can’t go on after what I’ve done. Just let go.’

  Tears were streaming down Charley’s face and her teeth were gritted.

  ‘Let me die, please, let me die,’ Percival continued to beg. To her surprise, Evie thought she saw one of Charley’s hands relax enough for Percival to drop an inch from her grip.

  ‘Charley, no,’ Evie screamed, grabbing Percival’s wrist.

  ‘He wants to die,’ Charley said through her tears. ‘He deserves to die, doesn’t he? I’ve already saved his life once today. Do you think Amira Buruk would have left him alive?’

  ‘You’re not her,’ Evie said. ‘Charley, listen. I know that after all he’s put you through, letting go of his hand would be the easiest thing in the world, but your job isn’t about what’s easy. You aren’t about what’s easy. You’re about what’s right.’

  Slowly, Charley’s eyes met with Evie’s.

  ‘If you let go of him, if you let him die, you will regret it. I know you will. Because I know who you are. You couldn’t live with that any more than I could.’

  Charley scrunched her eyes shut as though trying to concentrate hard on something.

  ‘Trust me,’ Evie said. ‘I need you to trust me.’

  Charley opened her eyes then and a frown crossed her face. Using the ledge as leverage she began to tug Percival back up. Evie grabbed hold of Percival’s other arm; he tried to break free but Evie clung on for all she was worth and heaved and heaved. Still his body hung part way over the balcony and no matter how hard they both pulled he wasn’t budging.

  ‘Evie!’ Kitt called, from somewhere behind them.

  ‘Kitt,’ Evie shouted back. ‘Help! It’s Percival.’

  Just a few moments passed before her friend was by her side, and Grace was with her.

  ‘Oh dear God,’ said Kitt looking down at Percival.

  ‘What happened?’ Grace gasped.

  ‘Bit of a long story,’ said Charley. ‘Perhaps we could drag the man back over the ledge and answer questions later?’

  Kitt reached down and managed to grab the waistband on Percival’s trousers while Grace grabbed the back of his shirt.

  ‘Isn’t Halloran with you?’ asked Evie. ‘His help wouldn’t go amiss right now.’

  ‘He’s on his way up,’ said Kitt. ‘In the meantime, let’s do what we can, eh? One . . . two . . . three . . .’ The four of them pulled and pulled until they heard Percival’s limp body thud down onto the paving stone. The second he was back on solid ground, Percival hunched over and wept. Both Evie and Charley were bent double, panting with the effort of saving his life.

  Evie couldn’t have said how long it was, a few moments or five minutes, before the balcony door burst open and Halloran and Redmond appeared.

  ‘What happened?’ Halloran asked, rushing over and putting a gentle hand on Kitt’s back. ‘Are you all OK?’

  ‘He just tried to take a skydive off the roof without a parachute, but I’m OK,’ said Charley. ‘I’ve read him his rights – where’ve you two been?’

  ‘I were a bit late tut’ party as it was,’ said Redmond. ‘And when I got ’ere I ’ad to deal with a crisis on the first floor.’

  ‘As did I,’ said Halloran.

  ‘Oh no,’ said Charley. ‘Amira Buruk?’

  ‘Apparently she escaped custody,’ said Halloran.

  ‘What?’ said Charley. ‘So she’s in the wind?’

  ‘We’ll track her down,’ said Halloran. ‘The security guard she attacked is on his way to hospital but his wounds are mostly cosmetic.’

  ‘Bloody hell,’ said Charley, exasperated. ‘I had her.’

  ‘You’ve had a lot to deal with,’ said Halloran, his eyes riveting on Percival.

  ‘I hear you’ve been doin’ all you can to send me down for yer crimes, sir,’ said Redmond, as he placed a pair of handcuffs on Percival.

  Percival looked up at Redmond. ‘I’m sorry,’ he said, as more tears fell. ‘I’m so, so sorry.’ With the help of Halloran, Redmond heaved Percival off the ground and walked him back through the balcony door.

  Charley watched after him, wiping tears from her cheeks as she did.

  ‘Is Holt going to testify against Percival?’ asked Charley.

  Halloran nodded. ‘Is he! He practically fell over himself to cut a deal with us. A slimy good-for-nothing if ever there was one.’

  ‘You are talking about the man I could have been betrothed to,’ said Grace with a smirk.

  ‘If he did offer you a ring I’d check it against the database for stolen valuables,’ said Halloran.

  Grace giggled. ‘Lucky I was here to help pull Chief Superintendent Percival back over that balcony but then, I was sure that if I went along with Kitt something crazy would happen; she lives life on the edge, you know?’

  ‘Grace,’ said Kitt. ‘Do you not think I’ve been put through quite enough for one day without the added teasing?’

  ‘You know you secretly love it. You know you couldn’t live without me. You know your life would just not be the same without Grace Edwards.’ Kitt’s assistant made a dramatic show of putting her h
ands on her hips in much the same way the superheroes did in film posters.

  Kitt closed her eyes and shook her head.

  ‘Percival says he lost lots of money to Holt in an investment,’ said Charley.

  ‘Holt doesn’t know how Percival found out about his affair with Olivia but given that he and Olivia have hardly been discreet around that pub on the Wetherby road I doubt it was difficult information for Percival to come by.’

  ‘What will happen to Ricci now?’ asked Kitt.

  ‘Well, if what we think is correct, and Percival has been framing Ricci all along, then she’ll be released,’ said Halloran. ‘She has vehemently denied all of the allegations, and her version of her trip to the hospital to see Alim, among several other details, differs greatly from Percival’s and Wilkinson’s. According to Ricci, it was he who was left alone with Buruk.’

  ‘That’s why Percival didn’t invite Wilkinson into our covert investigation,’ said Kitt. ‘He was the only one besides the suspect who knew the truth about what happened at the hospital.’

  ‘I dread to think how Percival would have kept Wilkinson quiet once he learned Ricci had contested that part of the story,’ said Halloran. ‘Ricci also claims she had no intention of getting a patio put in.’

  Kitt shook her head. ‘All this time we thought he was helping us crack the case, and he was pulling the strings. Remember when he sent us to Bootham Bar Books and told us to look out for anything odd – he knew the bookcase would stand out to me. He put it there to cover the blood spatter and then led us to it to pin it on Ricci.’

  ‘According to Ricci, the scarf we found at her house covered in blood went missing a few days ago. The likelihood is Percival stole it so he could use it to frame Ricci,’ said Halloran.

  ‘But what about the man who used Alim’s credit card in Helmsley?’ said Grace.

  ‘It could be an accomplice of Percival,’ said Charley. ‘But I think it’s much more likely that Kitt was right about that being a disguise. Percival was quick to dismiss that theory. There probably was no accomplice. Just him wearing a ridiculous moustache. We’ll know more in the coming hours though.’

  ‘I hope so,’ said Kitt. ‘But before we get off this rooftop and in out of the cold, I do have one more question.’

  ‘What’s that?’ asked Evie.

  ‘What the hell is that thing?’ Kitt said, pointing to Evie’s bear, which had been cast to the floor in the fray.

  ‘That,’ Evie said, ‘is Hamilton the Third and you are rude.’ She went over to where the bear was lying, picked him up off the ground and rested him on a stray chair sitting near the doors to the balcony.

  Kitt looked at Charley askance. ‘You took her to the Teddy Bear Tea Rooms, didn’t you?’

  ‘I might have, aye.’

  ‘Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear,’ Kitt said, shaking her head as she walked towards the door. ‘This is going to be the start of a slippery slope.’

  Evie turned back to Charley and ran a hand through her hair. ‘I’m so proud of you,’ she said and leant in for a kiss so deep it made her heart feel like it might thump its way out of her ribcage. As her tongue met with Charley’s, Evie knew some of the others might turn back and see but she was far too lost in the magic of kissing her new girlfriend to care.

  ‘Ahem.’

  Evie and Charley broke off their kiss and turned to see Halloran standing in the doorway.

  ‘I hate to interrupt, Banks,’ Halloran said, ‘but you do realize the last person back to the nick is buying the drinks?’

  Charley frowned at Halloran. ‘Oh don’t be so childish, sir.’

  The inspector smirked and turned to go back inside. The second he was out of earshot, Charley turned back to Evie. ‘Grab your bear and make a break for the stairs. If he makes it back before we do we’ll never hear the end of it.’

  Giggling, Evie reached for Hamilton the Third, took Charley’s hand in hers and ran back inside, out of the cold.

  Thirty-Eight

  Misty fields scrolled past the window as the Middlesbrough train juddered along the track towards the small market town of Thirsk. There, Evie would disembark, leaving Kitt to travel another thirty or so miles north solo. It had been a week since the showdown on the rooftop of the Ryedale Hotel and the pair were travelling home for Christmas. Though Evie could have driven back to Thirsk in Jacob alone, she much preferred to spend the journey with her friend. After recent events this was truer of this year than any other.

  ‘Is it really necessary for the bear to sit with us?’ asked Kitt. ‘There are luggage racks overhead, you know?’

  ‘Hamilton the Third is not luggage,’ said Evie.

  ‘Fine,’ said Kitt. ‘Just so long as you don’t expect me to address it directly.’

  ‘You address Iago directly,’ said Evie, nodding at the cat carrier that was sitting on the table between them.

  ‘Iago is at least animate, if unfriendly . . . aren’t you darling?’ Kitt said, looking down at the yellow eyes peeping between the plastic slats in the carrier. A disgruntled hiss, likely due to the uncouth manner in which Iago was being forced to travel, was all she received in return.

  With a faint smile Evie watched the scenery roll by the window and put her head in her hands. ‘God, what a couple of weeks it’s been.’

  And it had. According to Charley, every member of York police station had breathed a collective sigh of relief when Superintendent Ricci was forgiving about her wrongful arrest. She had, however, been understandably keen to get all the paperwork in order as quickly as possible to officially charge Chief Superintendent Noah Percival with the blackmail of Holt, alongside the murders of Alim Buruk and Donald Oakes. When a pair of sunglasses matching those worn by Percival’s alleged accomplice were found in a bin outside his home, he had no choice but to confess that it was he who had bought all those suspicious items from the shop in Helmsley in order to frame Ricci.

  Evie was distracted from her thoughts by a high-pitched rendition of ‘I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus’. She looked across at Kitt’s holdall, where something inside was twitching in time to the music.

  ‘For goodness’ sake,’ said Kitt, unzipping the bag and setting the dancing Christmas tree Grace had bought her down on the table until it had finished its performance.

  ‘Why did you bring that with you?’ Evie asked with a chuckle.

  ‘If you worked with Grace, you’d soon learn there comes a point when you’ll do anything for a quiet life,’ said Kitt. ‘She made a big thing about me taking it home with me to “enjoy” over the festive period.’

  ‘God, what is she like?’

  ‘There’s not enough time between here and Thirsk to answer that question. It’s good to see a smile on your face though. I hope you’re going to be able to enjoy your Christmas, after everything,’ Kitt said, eyeing her friend.

  ‘I’m going to do my best. Have you been sleeping?’

  ‘The nights have been fitful but I have had some sleep. You?’

  ‘Not really,’ said Evie. ‘I might sleep a little easier if they’d caught up with Amira Buruk.’

  ‘I know – who knew there were people out there more slippery than Jarvis Holt?’ said Kitt.

  Evie chuckled. She wasn’t surprised to learn that Holt had cut a deal for all charges against him to be dropped in exchange for his testimony against Percival. Grace, who had spent the week pretending that she was going to visit him in prison so they could reminisce about the ‘good times they’d shared’ was disappointed when that charade had had to come to an end. For Evie’s part, she wasn’t convinced there was any situation that man couldn’t weasel his way out of. Percival, on the other hand, would not live out his sentence if he didn’t get parole. Given that Percival was responsible for two counts of murder, perhaps that was as it should be but Evie couldn’t help but feel a little sad about it all. Percival had had a nob
le career, until the very end.

  ‘Cheer up, love,’ said Kitt. ‘At least poor little Wilkinson’s off the hook, eh?’

  ‘That’s something. Although, we never did find out who Amira Buruk’s police source was.’

  ‘You’re suggesting it might be Wilkinson?’

  ‘No,’ Evie said, smirking at the idea. ‘But I’m just saying, there’s still a chance there’s someone at North Yorkshire Police we can’t trust.’

  ‘Mal has been fixated on that point too, and I’ll tell you what I told him: Amira Buruk is the kind of person who’ll say whatever suits her when it suits her to say it. She probably just wanted you to believe she had an officer in her pocket to rattle you. I wouldn’t be surprised if the whole thing was fiction.’

  ‘If that’s true, how did she find out about Percival?’ asked Evie.

  ‘I don’t know,’ Kitt admitted. ‘Possibly by having someone follow Holt, or us . . . for all we know she’s bugged Holt’s home. After everything, I’m not sure if I’d put anything past her.’

  Evie shuddered. ‘I prefer to think that maybe Ruby just read the tarot cards for her.’

  ‘Oh don’t,’ said Kitt. ‘Ruby was in the library yesterday connecting the cards she read to what had come out in the press about Percival’s arrest. She was only there an hour but it was impossible to get any work done while she was.’

  Evie chuckled. ‘I bet you enjoyed that. To be fair, there were some parallels between her case and the reading.’

  ‘Yes, on a very non-specific level,’ Kitt said with a grudging smile. ‘Which is why, no matter how much she begs, I’m never going to let her tell me her twisted version of my future with Mal.’

  ‘I can’t entirely blame you for that. But I’m sure Halloran appreciates having you around to comfort him at this difficult time.’ Evie teased. ‘I’m surprised you’re not taking him home to meet your parents this Christmas.’

  ‘Do you ever listen to a word I say?’ said Kitt. ‘I told you, we’re taking it slow.’