The Mermaids Singing th-1

by Val McDermid

  It may be that he is normally unable to spend long with his victims because of the other demands of his life, demands which altered over the Christmas period. These are more likely to be work-related demands than domestic ones, though it is possible that he is in a relationship with someone who returned alone to their family at Christmas, thus giving him time to spend with his victim. Another possibility is that the extended time he spent with Gareth Finnegan was a bizarre Christmas present to himself, a reward for the good performance of his previous ‘work’.

  The short space of time that elapses between the killings and the dumping of the bodies suggests that he does not use drink or drugs to any significant degree during the torture and murders. He would not risk being stopped by the police for erratic driving while he has a body in the boot, whether alive or dead. Also, although he appears to have used his victims’ cars on occasion, it is clear that he also has a vehicle of his own. The chances are that this is a reasonably new vehicle in good condition, since he can’t afford to take the chance of being stopped in a routine police check.

  Tony hit ‘save’ on his computer and sat back with a satisfied smile. This was as good a place to stop as any. Tomorrow morning, he’d complete the detailed checklist of characteristics he’d expect to find in Handy Andy, and outline proposals for potential courses of action by the police officers on the case.

  ‘You done?’ Carol asked.

  He turned to see her leaning back in the chair, her pile of folders closed. ‘I didn’t realize you’d finished,’ he said.

  ‘Ten minutes ago. I didn’t want to disturb the flying fingers.’

  Tony hated others studying him the way he studied them. The idea of being a patient on the receiving end of his own probing was one of those nightmares that he woke from in a sweat. ‘I’ve had it for tonight,’ he said, making a copy of his file on a floppy disk which he then pocketed.

  ‘I’ll give you a lift home,’ Carol said.

  ‘Thanks,’ Tony said, getting to his feet. ‘I can never be bothered bringing the car into town. To tell you the truth, I don’t much like driving.’

  ‘Can’t say I blame you. The city traffic’s hell on wheels.’

  When Carol pulled up outside Tony’s house, she said, ‘Any chance of a cup of tea? Not to mention a pee?’

  While Tony put the kettle on, Carol slipped upstairs to the bathroom. She came downstairs to the sound of her own voice issuing from his answering machine. She paused at the foot of the stairs, spying on him as he leaned against his desk, pen and paper in hand, listening to his messages. She enjoyed her growing sense of familiarity with his face and the lines of his body. Her voice ended and the machine beeped. ‘Hi Tony, it’s Pete,’ the next voice announced. ‘I’ve got to be in Bradfield next Thursday. Any chance of a bed and a beer Wednesday night? Congratulations on getting on board the Queer Killer investigation, by the way. Hope you catch the bastard.’ Beep. ‘Anthony, my darling. Wherever can you be? I’m lying here, longing for you. We’ve got some unfinished business, lover boy.’

  At the sound of the voice, Tony straightened up and he turned to stare at the machine. The voice was husky, sexy, intimate. ‘Don’t think you can – ’ Tony’s hand shot out and cut the voice off abruptly.

  So much for not being involved with anyone, Carol thought bitterly. She stepped forward through the doorway. ‘Let’s just forget the tea. I’ll see you tomorrow,’ she said, her voice cold and brittle as ice on a winter puddle.

  Tony whirled round, panic in his eyes. ‘It’s not what it seems,’ he blurted out without thought. ‘I’ve never even met the woman!’

  Carol turned out of the doorway and walked down the hall. As she fumbled with the lock, Tony spoke coldly. ‘I’m telling you the truth, Carol. Even though it’s actually none of your business.’

  She half turned, found a smile from somewhere and said, ‘You’re quite right. It is none of my business. Till tomorrow, Tony.’

  The closing of the door reverberated through Tony’s head like a jackhammer. ‘Thank God you’re a psychologist,’ he said bitterly as he slumped against the wall. ‘A layman might have really buggered that one up. You really believe in making the job a piece of piss, don’t you, Hill?’

  F ROM 3"DISK LABELLED: BACKUP. 007; FILE LOVE. 011

  When Gareth half smiled at me on the tram, I was convinced that my dreams were on the point of fulfilment. Because of an unexpected crisis at work, and all the extra overtime that entailed, I hadn’t been able to follow him for more than a week.

  His image had lulled me to sleep when I came home at all hours from work, and his voice throbbed hungrily in my ears, but I needed to see him in the flesh. I’d set my alarm clock to give me plenty of time to be outside his house before he left for work, but I was so exhausted I slept right through it. When I started into wakefulness, I realized my only chance was to catch up with his tram a couple of stops further down the line.

  The tram was pulling in as I ran on to the platform. I eagerly scanned the first section, but couldn’t see him. Anxiety rose in my throat like bile. Then I saw his gleaming head, sitting right by the door of the second carriage. I pushed through the crowd and managed to stand right next to him, my knees brushing his. At the physical contact, he looked up. His grey eyes crinkled at the corners and a smile flickered on his mouth. I smiled back and said, ‘Sorry.’

  ‘No problem,’ he said. ‘This tram gets busier by the day.’

  I wanted to continue the conversation, but for once I could think of nothing to say. He returned to the Guardian and I had to settle for watching him out of the corner of my peripheral vision while I pretended to stare out at the passing cityscape. It wasn’t much, I know, but it was a start. He had acknowledged me; he knew I existed. Now, it could be only a matter of time.

  Shakespeare got it right when he said, ‘The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers.’ That way at least there would be fewer liars at large. Even the words sound the same; lawyer, liar. I should have expected nothing else from a man who speaks one day for the plaintiff, the next for the defendant.

  I’d parked just round the corner from Gareth’s house, where I could watch him come home without being seen, thanks to the tinted windows of my jeep. His house had no hedge, so I could see right into his living room from my vantage point.

  I knew his habits by now. He arrived home just after six, went through to the kitchen for a can of Grolsch, and returned to the living room where he drank his beer and watched TV. After about twenty minutes, he’d fetch some food from the kitchen – pizza, TV dinner, baked potato. Cooking clearly wasn’t his forte. When we were together, I’d have to take over responsibility for that side of our life.

  After the news, he’d leave the room, presumably to do some work in another room of the house. I imagined law books arrayed on pine shelves. Then, he’d either return to the TV later in the evening, or walk down to the pub on the corner for a couple of lagers.

  Gareth needed someone to share his life, I thought as I waited for him to come home. I was just the person to do that. Gareth was going to be my Christmas present to me.

  At a quarter past five, a white Volkswagen Golf slipped into a parking place just beyond Gareth’s house and a woman got out. She leaned back into the car and picked up a briefcase bulging with files and a shoulder bag. I thought she looked vaguely familiar as she walked down the pavement. Petite, light-brown hair pulled back in a heavy plait, big tortoiseshell glasses, black suit, white blouse with a froth of lace at the throat.

  When she turned in at Gareth’s gate, I couldn’t quite believe it. For the few seconds it took her to get to the door, I told myself she was his estate agent, his insurance agent, a colleague dropping off some papers. Anything. Anything.

  Then she opened the flap of her bag and took out a key. My mind screamed ‘No!’ as she inserted the key into the lock and let herself in. The living-room door opened and she dumped her briefcase by the settee. Then she was gone again. Ten minutes later, sh
e was back, wrapped in Gareth’s big white towelling dressing gown.

  Frankly, I was with Shakespeare all the way.

  ‘Twas the season to be jolly, so I forced myself not to let my disappointment colour my mood. Instead, I concentrated on researching my next project. I wanted something appropriate to the season, some good old barbaric Christian symbolism. There’s not really a lot you can do with a manger and swaddling clothes, so I allowed myself some artistic licence and went for the other end of the life.

  Crucifixion as a form of punishment was probably borrowed by the Romans from the Carthaginians. (Interesting, isn’t it, how the Romans referred to everyone else as the barbarians…) The Romans adopted it round about the time of the Punic Wars, and initially, it was a punishment reserved for slaves only. Which seems appropriate enough, since that was the only role I expected Gareth to be fit for now. Later in the days of empire, it became a more general punishment, meted out to any locals who had the temerity to misbehave after the Romans had kindly come along and conquered – sorry, civilized – them.

  Traditionally, the felon was flagellated, then forced to carry the crossbeam through the streets to the place where a tall stake had been driven into the ground. Then he was nailed to the crossbeam and hauled up by a system of pulleys. His feet were sometimes nailed, sometimes tied to the stake. On occasion, death by exhaustion was given a helping hand by the soldiers, who broke the legs of the victim, which must have allowed him a merciful lapse into unconsciousness. For my purposes, however, I decided to opt for the more decorative St Andrew’s Cross. For one thing, it would place more interesting stresses on Gareth’s muscles. For another, should he rise to the occasion, it would make access a lot easier.

  Interestingly, crucifixion was never used as a punishment for soldiers except for the crime of desertion. Maybe the Romans had the right idea after all.

  11

  But who meantime was the victim, to whose abode he was hurrying? For surely he could never be so indiscreet as to be sailing about on a roving cruise in search of some chance person to murder? Oh, no: he had suited himself with a victim some time before, viz., an old and very intimate friend.

  Brandon stared bleakly at the sheet of paper in the typewriter. Tom Cross might have been a long way from the ACC’s idea of the perfect copper, but he’d always appeared to be a good thief-taker. Antics like tonight’s served only to raise a question mark over his whole career. Just how many other people had Cross fitted up over the years without anyone being any the wiser? If Brandon hadn’t himself bent the rules and taken Tony on their illicit search, no one would have doubted the ‘evidence’ Tom Cross had turned up. No one except Stevie McConnell would have known that two of Cross’s three ‘finds’ had arrived with him. The mere thought of the consequences of that was enough to send a prickle of cold sweat down Brandon’s back.

  Cross had left Brandon with no option but to suspend him. The disciplinary hearing that would inevitably follow would be painful for all concerned, but that was the least of Brandon’s worries. He was far more troubled about the effect on the murder squad’s morale. The only way to combat it was to take direct responsibility for the enquiry himself. Now, all he had to do was convince the Chief that he was right. With a sigh, Brandon pulled the last sheet of paper out of the machine and inserted another page.

  His memo to the Chief Constable was brief and to the point. That only left one task before he could crawl home to bed. Sighing, Brandon glanced at the clock. Thirty minutes to midnight. He pushed the typewriter away from him and started writing on a sheet of his personal memo paper. ‘To Detective Inspector Kevin Matthews. From John Brandon, ACC (Crime). Re: Steven McConnell. Following the suspension of Superintendent Cross, I will assume direct command of the murder squad. There are no grounds for charging McConnell with anything other than assault. McConnell should be released on bail pending a court date for the assault charge, and on separate bail to return to Scargill Street in a week so that we can question him further if more evidence arises. In view of his refusal to give us any information about his contacts, or any names of people he might have introduced to Gareth Finnegan and Adam Scott, we should pursue any contacts he does make. A warrant for a tap on his phone should also be obtained, on the basis of his connection to Scott and Finnegan, and the contact we now know he had with Damien Connolly in a professional capacity. Our enquiries into the four related murders should continue on a broad front, though I suggest that, following his release on bail, we maintain close surveillance of McConnell. There will be a case conference of senior officers tomorrow at noon.’ He signed the memo and sealed it in an envelope. How to make friends and influence people, he thought as he walked downstairs to the desk sergeant. Brandon prayed that Tony Hill was right about Stevie McConnell. If Tom Cross had been right to follow his instinct, it would be more than the morale of the CID that would be at risk.

  Carol slumped over the dining table, chin resting on her folded forearms, one hand tickling Nelson’s belly. ‘What do you think, boy? Is he just another lying bastard, or what?’

  ‘Prrrt,’ the cat said on a rising intonation, his eyes closed to slits.

  ‘I thought you’d say that. I agree, I know how to pick them,’ Carol sighed. ‘You’re right, I should have kept my distance. That’s what happens when you make the running. You get the knockbacks. They don’t usually come from that far out of left field, though. At least now I know why he kept backing off. Better off without him, cat. Life’s tough enough without playing second fiddle.’

  ‘Mrrr,’ Nelson agreed.

  ‘He must think I’m brain dead, expecting me to believe that a total stranger leaves messages like that on his answering machine.’

  ‘Rowrr,’ Nelson complained, rolling over on to his back, batting her fingers with his paws.

  ‘All right, so you think it’s ridiculous too. But the man’s a psychologist. If he was going to make something up to explain the fact that he’d lied to me, he’d make it a damn sight more plausible than funny phone calls. All he had to say was that it was somebody he’d finished with who wouldn’t take the message.’ Carol rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, yawned and stood up in one languid movement.

  The door to the boxroom Michael used as a study opened and he stood framed in the doorway. ‘I thought I heard voices. You could talk to me, you know. At least I answer you.’

  Carol gave a tired smile. ‘So does Nelson. It’s not his fault we don’t speak cat. I didn’t want to disturb you; I could see you were working.’

  Michael walked over to the drinks cabinet and poured himself a small Scotch. ‘I was only play-testing, trying to spot the glitches in what we’ve done so far. No big deal. How’s your day been?’

  ‘Don’t ask. They’ve moved us over to Scargill Street. It’s a hellhole. Imagine going back to doing your calculations on an abacus, and you get the picture of my current working environment. The atmosphere’s shit, and Tony Hill’s spoken for. Apart from that, everything’s magic.’ Carol followed Michael’s example and poured herself a drink.

  ‘Want to talk about it?’ he asked, perching on the arm of one of the sofas.

  ‘Thanks, but no thanks.’ Carol swallowed her drink in one, shuddered at the kick of the spirit and said, ‘I’ve brought you a set of pictures, by the way. How soon can you take a look at them?’

  ‘I’ve scrounged some computer time with the software tomorrow evening. That do you?’

  Carol put her arms round Michael and gave him a hug. ‘Thank you, bro,’ she said.

  ‘My pleasure,’ he said, returning the embrace. ‘You know how I love a challenge.’

  ‘I’m going to bed,’ she said. ‘It’s been a long one.’

  No sooner had Carol turned out the light than she felt the familiar thud of Nelson landing on the foot of the bed. It was reassuring to feel his warmth against her legs, though it was no substitute for the body she’d hoped for earlier in the evening. Of course, as soon as her head hit the pillow, her sleepiness vanished.
The exhaustion was still there, but her mind was racing. Please God, by tomorrow afternoon, the awkwardness between her and Tony would have evaporated. The sting of humiliation would still be there for her, but she was a grown-up and a professional. Now she knew he was off limits, she wouldn’t place him in a difficult position again, and now he knew she knew, maybe he’d be able to relax. Either way, the profile should provide more than enough neutral ground between them. She could hardly wait to see what he’d come up with.

  On the other side of the sleeping city, Tony too lay in bed, staring at the ceiling, tracing imaginary road maps in the cracks round the plaster rose. He knew there was no point in switching out his bedside lamp. Sleep would elude him, and in the darkness, he’d start to feel the slow choke of claustrophobia closing in on him. Counting sheep had never appealed; the slow watches of the night were when Tony Hill became his own therapist. ‘Why did you have to ring tonight?’ he murmured. ’I like Carol Jordan. I know I don’t want her in my life, but I didn’t want to hurt her either. Hearing your blandishments on the answering machine must have felt like a smack in the face, after me saying there wasn’t anybody in my life.

  ‘An outsider would say we hardly know each other, everything that happened tonight was an overreaction. But outsiders don’t understand the bonding, the intimacy that springs out of nowhere when you’re working closely together on a manhunt, when the clock’s ticking the next victim’s life away.’

  He sighed. At least he hadn’t blurted out the one thing that might have convinced Carol he wasn’t lying, the truth he’d so carefully kept locked inside himself. What was it he told his patients? ‘Let it out. It doesn’t matter what it is, speaking it is the first step in taking away the pain.’

  ‘What a load of crap that is,’ he said bitterly. ‘It’s just another one of the tricks in my magic bag, designed to legitimize my prurient curiosity, tailored to unleash the twisted minds of the fuck-ups who are driven to act out their fantasies in a way society can’t accommodate. If I’d told Carol the truth, said the i-word, it wouldn’t have taken my pain away. It would only have made me feel even more of a worthless piece of shit. It’s all very well for old men to be impotent. Men my age who can’t get it up are a joke.’