by Celina Grace
She looked up, smiling brightly. Chloe was looking at her rather keenly, and for a moment, Kate wondered uncomfortably if the other woman had read her mind. She was a good cop, after all, used to seeing what other people were trying to hide.
“About time for your bed, young man.” Andrew was holding his arms out for his son. Kate relinquished his soft little body reluctantly, and she and Chloe waved ‘bye-bye’ to him as he was carried from the room.
The food was good but quite plain and unpretentious. That surprised Kate, given her memories of the fine dining she used to enjoy whilst going out with Andrew. But then, looking at the comfortable mess lying around his house, the house she remembered as once painfully neat and ordered, she had to admit that he’d changed. She thought of her own house, also neat and ordered, and just the way she wanted it. Could she change too? Should she? Did she even want to?
It was an effort not to fall silent with all the emotional examination she was subjecting herself to. She made an effort to join in the conversation, which was actually quite interesting. Andrew and Juliet had met out in Sierra Leone, when they were both working for Médecins Sans Frontières, the medical charity, and they were sharing their reminiscences of the different parts of Africa where they’d worked and travelled. It turned out that Chloe had been to several of the places they’d mentioned and the three of them were getting along like a house on fire. Having never so much as set foot on the continent, Kate was unable to contribute much, but she made herself nod enthusiastically at points in the conversation where she felt it was demanded.
All in all, the evening passed a great deal more pleasantly than Kate had anticipated. Having Chloe there helped – when Chloe Wapping wanted to be sociable, she could be very sociable – but Kate was also conscious of the fact that she’d faced up to a situation that she could and would have avoided if it had been up to her. That always made you feel better about yourself, she thought, as they said their goodbyes at the end of the evening.
“You’re welcome to leave your car at my place if you want,” she told Chloe as she drove them home.
“Thanks, Kate, but I’m fine to drive. I only had a few glasses early on.”
“No problem, then.” They’d reached Kate’s house by this point and Kate concentrated on reversing into the space outside her house, always a bit tricky. “Do you fancy a cup of tea or something before you go?”
Chloe considered and then glanced at her watch. “All right, then. It’s not the witching hour just yet. Why not?”
Merlin twined around Kate’s ankles as she made the tea. It was far too late to make up a fire in the living room – it had been so warm for the past few days that Kate hadn’t even bothered to bring in more firewood – but it was a little chilly to be sitting around, so Kate flipped the switch for the central heating and listened with satisfaction as the boiler roared to life.
The two women flopped onto opposite sofas and reached for their mugs of tea.
“Thanks for inviting me,” said Chloe. “They’re nice, aren’t they?”
“They are,” Kate admitted. “I was worried it was going to be a bit awkward but—”
“Why?”
“Oh, you know. An ex-boyfriend and all that.”
“But that’s ancient history, isn’t it? You surely don’t still fancy him?”
“No!” said Kate, shocked. “It’s not that—”
“Yeah, I know. But as it turned out, it was fine, right?”
“Right.”
They sipped their tea in silence for a moment. Kate saw Chloe’s gaze go to a photograph on the mantelpiece, one of a smartly dressed Kate and Tin with their arms around one another, grinning into the camera.
“Where was that taken?”
“Rav’s wedding,” said Kate.
“Oh.”
There was another silence. Kate had the impression that Chloe was bracing herself to say something. “What?” she asked.
“Oh, nothing.”
“No, come on. Spit it out.”
Chloe looked at her. Then she put down her mug. “It’s nothing – it’s none of my business anyway but – I was just wondering how things were going with Tin.”
“With Tin?” Kate asked blankly.
Chloe looked uncomfortable. “It’s just, I know you’re going out to see him soon...”
With a jolt, Kate realised that her flight was fast approaching. She hadn’t even started packing or getting currency or anything, really.
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Right. It’s just – he wants you to move out there, right?”
“Yes.” Kate was wondering where Chloe was going with this.
Chloe looked even more uncomfortable. “Are you – are you engaged to him?”
Kate was startled. “No.”
“He hasn’t asked you?”
“No,” said Kate. She was aware of some sort of uncomfortable emotion beginning to unfold, tightening the pit of her stomach.
Chloe looked down at her hands. “Look, this really is none of my business,” she said, almost in a mumble. “But – well, you’re my friend, and I’d feel bad if I didn’t say this. You can tell me to sod off, if you like. It’s just – well—”
“Spit it out,” Kate said again.
Chloe looked up. “I think if you go out there, move out there, and you’re not married or even engaged, or have any sort of recognition from Tin about the sacrifice that you’re making for him, I think you’re in a very vulnerable position.” She was silent for a moment and then added “That’s all.”
Kate blinked, trying to get a hold of her feelings. “That’s all?”
Chloe dropped her gaze to her hands again. “That’s just my opinion.” She went quiet again and then burst out “Look, if you move out there, you’re giving up your job, your house, your friends, your family, God knows what else, and for what? For a man who won’t even make any kind of commitment to you? Christ, Kate, can’t you see that?”
In the silence that followed, Merlin leapt up onto Kate’s lap and curled himself into a comma shape, his black tail flicking.
“You’re right,” Kate said, after a long, uncomfortable silence.
“What?” said Chloe. Hope peeped into her expression.
“It’s none of your business.”
Chloe’s face fell. “Well, yes, I know that—”
Kate struggled for a moment not to say something she’d regret. She found her hand stroking Merlin’s silky black back compulsively, over and over again. It cost her something to say what she said. “I appreciate you giving me your thoughts.”
Chloe managed a wry smile “But just sod off, eh?”
Kate breathed out, momentarily closing her eyes. “Look, I don’t want to argue with you—”
“Well, me either—”
“Look, it’s late. Let’s—” She stopped herself from saying ‘let’s talk about it tomorrow’. She didn’t want to talk about it to Chloe again, ever. “Let’s leave it for now.”
“Okay,” Chloe said miserably. “Look, I’m sorry—”
Kate got up, dislodging Merlin. “Let’s just – let’s just forget it. Okay?”
“Okay.”
They exchanged wan and awkward smiles. Then Chloe said, more formally, “Thanks for a nice evening.”
“You’re welcome.”
“See you tomorrow, then.”
Kate saw Chloe to the door and watched from the porch to see her get safely into her car. Chloe waved as she drove away, but her smile was still strained. Kate waved back and then closed and locked the front door. Then she stood in the darkened hallway, head bowed and breathing deeply, fighting the impulse to head-butt the door.
Chapter Ten
Kate was somewhat relieved on entering the office the next morning to see that Chloe wasn’t at her desk. Briefly wondering where she was, Kate said good morning to Rav and Theo, waved at Olbeck, encased behind his glass office wall, and picked up the plastic folder of the print outs that Josh had given h
er yesterday. She’d made some progress the day before, but there was still more to do. She took herself off to an empty office, needing some peace and solitude to concentrate on the task.
After lunch, she headed for Olbeck’s room and knocked at his door.
“Got a minute?”
“For you, Kate, anytime.”
Kate grinned and sat down on the opposite side of his desk. She realised suddenly that last night had been the first time Olbeck and Jeff had managed to attend an adoption information evening together. She hastened to ask him how it had gone.
“Oh, fine, fine. I think so, anyway. There’s still a hell of a way to go, though.” Olbeck rubbed a hand over his jaw. “I’m starting to get a bit nervous, actually.” He caught Kate’s eye and grinned sheepishly. “All right, a bit more nervous.”
“You’ll be fine,” said Kate. She felt as if she were parroting that platitude but the simple truth was she wasn’t sure what else to say.
“So, what was it you wanted to talk to me about?”
Kate recalled why she had knocked on his door. She spread the computer print outs on his desk, fanning them out. “I went through all of these – all the messages between Simon Farraday and this mysterious mermaid sixty-eight.”
“Right,” said Olbeck, clearly waiting for more.
“Well, they first made contact about six months ago. He messaged her on the 4Adults site, and it looks like they agreed to meet up pretty quickly, within a week or so.”
Olbeck’s eyebrows went up. “Really? He didn’t mess around, our Mr Farraday, did he?”
Kate ignored the interruption. “Anyway, from the looks of it, they’ve been meeting fairly regularly ever since. At least monthly. It sounds as though they were making most of their arrangements off the site – probably by mobile phone – but they do still talk to one another through the website as well.”
“Right.”
“I think mermaid sixty-eight is a woman. No, I’m sure of it. She’s obviously married, with several older children, because she mentions them briefly, now and again, in her messages.”
Olbeck shuffled through the printouts, trying to read for himself. “Well, hopefully Josh or whoever will have found out who she is by now. Don’t you need a credit card for signing up to this site? She should be easy to trace.”
“Yes, I know. I’m heading down there now to see what’s what.”
“Great. Get me a name and we’ll head straight out for an interview, if we can get hold of her.”
Kate nodded and stood up, gathering together her papers. “There’s just one thing...”
Olbeck looked up sharply. “What?”
“Well—” Kate hesitated. “It’s just – if this mermaid sixty-eight is our killer, why wait six months to do it? They’ve been meeting in secret for that long. And why kill him? What’s the motive?”
“Come on, Kate, we can’t possible speculate about that until we actually see the woman.”
“I know. It’s just – that last message between the two of them. He’s obviously going to get trussed up in all that stuff before she even arrives. So it’s not as if he’s afraid of her or anything.” A thought suddenly struck Kate. “Hang on, can you even handcuff yourself without help? Remember that spy case in London, the one where that poor guy was found zipped into a bag?”
Olbeck made a puzzled face. “Eh?” Then his face cleared. “Oh yes, that one. Well that was dodgy as hell, wasn’t it? Big cover-up by MI5, if you ask me. Anyway, given our case here, I doubt Simon Farraday could have snapped both those cuffs on by himself. Maybe he was just going to get as - well, immobilised as he could before she arrived?”
Kate made an impatient noise. “Well, anyway. That bit’s probably not important. But Simon Farraday died because someone struck him on the head in a frenzy. As if they’d gone mad with rage. If that was this mermaid person, what on Earth did Simon Farraday say to her to make her react like that? Because if – if she’d targeted him for some reason of her own, and she was always planning to kill him – why then? Why like that?”
The two of them stared across the desk at one another for a long moment. Then Olbeck sagged back into his chair. “This case,” he mumbled. “I tell you, I could do without it, right now.”
“Tell me about it.” Kate hugged the plastic folder to her. “And I’m off to New York at the end of the week.”
Olbeck groaned aloud. “Oh, God, I’d forgotten. Great. Is anyone covering for you?”
“I thought Anderton was going to try and get someone on secondment while I’m away. It’s only for five days.”
“Five days!” Olbeck churned his hair with his hands in a manner reminiscent of Anderton. “Oh well, I’m sure we’ll manage. I know you’ve had it booked for a long while. And you must be looking forward to seeing Tin.”
“Oh yes,” Kate said automatically, but after she said goodbye and went back to her desk, she wondered whether that was really the case. Of course I want to see him, she told herself, stealing a look at Chloe’s empty desk. Curse her friend. She’d put all sorts of bad ideas into Kate’s head. Then her innate sense of fairness made her reconsider. Was part of the reason she’d been so angry with Chloe because she knew, deep down, that Chloe was speaking sense?
With an irritated sigh, Kate flung the plastic folder onto the seat of her chair and made for the doorway, hoping that Josh had at least managed to find a name for their prime suspect.
As it happened, Josh was away from his computer. Sighing even more heavily, Kate left a Post-it note on his computer, had a quick look for Sam, who was also nowhere to be seen, and, shaking her head, climbed back up the stairs again to the office.
Chloe was back at her desk by that point, and she and Kate exchanged slightly embarrassed smiles as Kate sat back down again. There was a moment’s awkward silence before Chloe cleared her throat. “Morning, bird.”
“Morning. Bird,” said Kate, unable to help a grin. “What’s new?”
Theo looked up from his own desk. “I’ve been going back through all the CCTV footage. The whole of the past fortnight.” He rubbed his eyes as if for emphasis. “Feel like I’m going blind.”
“That won’t be the CCTV footage,” said Kate, getting up and giving him a wink. Theo laughed. Kate walked over to join him. “So, any more on our mysterious woman?”
“Nope. Nothing untoward at all. A couple of women go into the house the day before the murder but they’re obviously the cleaners.”
“Why ‘obviously’?”
Theo gave her a look. “Because they’re carrying mops and buckets and a vacuum cleaner? Anyway, they come out again after a couple of hours, and they’re not seen again. There’s no one, apart from Mia Farraday, on the morning of the day the crime was discovered, that even enters the house. Apart from the woman the night before.”
Kate pulled up a chair and sat down next to Theo. “Let’s see.”
She waited as Theo tracked down the correct file and watched again as the grainy footage unfolded. The two of them watched the blurry outline of the woman push open the front door of the townhouse and disappear from view.
“You’ve double checked the other camera, the one in the lane behind the house?” checked Kate.
Theo sighed. “Yes.”
“Where did she go?” Kate asked, softly, almost to herself. Then she sat up a bit. “What about Simon Farraday?”
Theo looked at her in consternation. “What about him?”
Kate rolled her eyes. “Well, when did he get there, that night?”
Theo’s expression gradually developed into that of a man who’d just realised he’d made a major faux pas. “Ah...” he began, uncertainly.
“Oh come on,” said Kate. “Tell me you checked for him, too.”
“Look, I’ve just about gone snow blind looking for this bloody bird. I haven’t had a chance to check for matey yet—”
Kate looked at him. “Come on, Theo. Anderton’s going to want to know, even if we don’t. And we do.”
As she walked back to her desk, her phone started ringing. Chloe looked across to see if Kate was going to answer it, and seeing her colleague hurrying back to pick up the receiver, nodded to herself.
“Hello?” said Kate.
“Oh, hiya, it’s Josh. I’ve got a name for you. Mermaid sixty-eight, you know.”
“Yes, I know.” Kate fought the urge to roll her eyes. “What is it, then?”
She wrote down the details Josh gave her, although he would put it all on an email as well. Kate didn’t want to wait for that. She dashed back over to Olbeck’s office, waving her bit of paper. He looked up so quickly that Kate realised he must have been subconsciously looking out for her all morning.
“You got it?” was all he said. Kate nodded, smiling. “Excellent. Come in here, then, and we’ll see if we can get hold of her.”
Chapter Eleven
“Melanie Houghton,” said Kate, reading from a print out of the email that Josh had sent her an hour ago. She looked down at her lap as Olbeck drove them out of central Abbeyford and towards the suburb of Charlock, and the combination of reading and the car’s motion was making her feel a little sick. She looked up and out of the window, winding it down a few inches to get some fresh air.
“You okay?”
“I’ll be fine. I just can’t read in cars.”
“Well, you won’t have to navigate.” Olbeck looked at the changing image on the sat nav. “We’ll be there in fifteen minutes.”
Kate lay her head back against the headrest, breathing deeply and beginning to feel a bit better. “This is so odd, this case. I mean, it really is. If – if this Melanie is our killer, and she tracked Simon Farraday down for whatever reason of her own, why—” Kate broke off abruptly. “No, even that doesn’t work. Simon Farraday contacted her. Not the other way round.” She rubbed her forehead in frustration.
