by L M Krier
There was a spontaneous round of applause from the team when Steve made his slow and painful way up the stairs and into the main office, helped by Maurice. Ted went out to see him. He looked rough and in a lot of pain, but he was smiling in evident pleasure, although with difficulty, to be back amongst the team-mates he clearly thought of as friends and family. His swollen right hand was in a cast and an elevated sling, his face puffy and discoloured, eyes half closed, and he was clearly relieved to be able to sit down after climbing the stairs.
'It's good to see you, Steve. Now, you're sitting at your desk but you're not on duty and you are not to do any work at all until I have a certificate passing you as fit,' Ted told him.
'Sir, I want to do something to help,' Steve said determinedly. 'I'm part of the team, I want to be involved. If I don't do it myself, but show Maurice how to retrieve the file from Harry I was looking at, that wouldn't really count as me working, would it?'
Ted shook his head, but he was smiling. 'You're determined to get me into trouble, aren't you?'
'No sir,' Steve said earnestly. 'I'm determined to help you catch whoever killed young Aiden.'
CHAPTER Forty-nine
Ted was early for his meeting with the Ice Queen at Lyme Park on Friday afternoon. There were not many vehicles there and he picked a parking space from where he could watch any car which approached. He was keeping an eye out for her sleek BMW.
While he was waiting, a red motorbike drove into the car park. Living with Trev, Ted now knew enough to know it was a Ducati. As it parked nearby, he could see it was a 999. He watched as the rider got off and removed their helmet. As they shook out long, sleek black hair, he realised to his surprise that it was the Ice Queen herself, dressed in black leathers.
She was smiling at his surprise. 'This is my guilty little secret,' she told him. 'The BMW is fine for work but when I go out to play, this is my chosen means of transport. I know, the 999 is unbelievably kitsch and a total cliché, but it's just my sense of humour.' She looked around her then said, 'Shall we walk first and have coffee later? I've never been here so I'm relying on you to show me the sights.
'This afternoon we are going to do a bit of bonding, you and I. I keep telling you I'm not your enemy but I sense I have not yet truly convinced you. We're both off duty, so for now, and only now, I shall call you Ted and you may call me Debs. So, where do we begin?'
'If we walk up to the Cage, there's a nice view from up there. It's an old hunting lodge,' Ted said, leading the way.
'I must bring the boys here. The'd love it, plenty of room to run around.'
It was not a long walk. They chatted inconsequentially as they went. From the top, they could look out over the surrounding parkland, hundreds of acres of it. A herd of red deer grazed peacefully in the distance, totally unperturbed by the occasional passing car or walker.
'This is very nice, good suggestion, Ted.' She looked at the deer and raised an imaginary rifle, sighting on the herd. 'I don't like hunting or killing animals but, hypothetically, which ones could you pick off from up here?'
As if sensing their interest, even from a distance, a magnificent stag, furthest away from them, raised his head and looked towards them.
Ted looked at the distance and angles. 'About the same as you, I would imagine, although I'm out of practice. And you were always a better shot than me, especially with a handgun, even if I did beat you once with a long-range rifle.'
'You beat me twice,' she said. 'Thank you for being gallant and pretending not to remember. Do you miss firearms?'
The Ice Queen sat down in the grass to watch the deer, long legs stretched out in front of her. Ted sat down a short distance from her. He was still finding it hard to be totally relaxed in her company, although he was making the effort.
'Not really. I gave it up when I knew it was serious with Trev. It worried him too much.'
'I gave it up because of the boys,' she said. 'I still keep my hand in on the ranges when I can, as I expect you do.'
There was a long silence between them, then she said, 'I've been making enquiries, as I said I would. I don't know if we can get any further forward. But sometimes, these things have a way of working themselves out, even if it's not exactly the result we were looking for.'
Ted was taken aback. Her words were so like those of Green, sitting on top of the Brecon Beacons. He was still not sure what they meant.
The next silence was protracted, so much so that Ted felt obliged to fill it. He surprised himself by suddenly saying, 'I was one of David Evans' victims. When I was a kid. He raped me.'
She said nothing, just remained sitting quietly beside him, her eyes on the herd of deer. He found that her silence gave him the strength to continue. He knew he had to tell her, knew he should have done so from the outset. Out here in the open, with both of them relaxed, it suddenly became, if not easy, then possible.
'I never testified, I couldn't face it. But I haven't compromised the enquiry in any way, I've kept out of it.'
'I would never think for a moment that you would, Ted. You're an excellent officer. Perhaps a little old-fashioned and sometimes naïve, but your work is beyond reproach. You also have an uncanny way of getting people to like you, even when you are karate kicking them. Thank you for telling me.'
She didn't tell him that she had already deduced as much. She'd seen Evans' file, knew which schools he'd taught at. She'd also read Ted's CV and knew where he was educated.
'It must have made this case particularly difficult for you. I'm glad we've got enough of a case against Evans and the chief super to have them more or less in the bag. I wish I could promise you more, but I assure you I am doing everything I can.'
She left a pause for the words to sink in, then sprang to her feet. 'Where now? Can we look at the hall? I might as well do the whole tourist thing.'
Ted smiled, seeing her in a completely different light. She looked a lot younger, out of uniform, much more human without her brittle work veneer. 'They filmed Pride and Prejudice here, you know. I can show you the lake where the famous scene with Mr Darcy getting his clothes wet was filmed if you like, Debs.'
They walked across to the hall. Ted led her round to the rear, for the view of the imposing building from the far side of its famous lake. To his surprise, the Ice Queen got out her phone and said, 'Selfies! Come on, Ted, we have to do this.'
She had to bend down a little to get her head at his level, moving in close and laughing into the camera as she said, 'That's an immortal moment. Two of the force's finest marksmen, shot with a single camera.' She checked the image on the screen and said, 'That's really nice. I'll send it to your mobile, a souvenir. Hopefully it will help you to remember that the Ice Queen is not quite as frosty as you think.'
Seeing his look, she laughed and said, 'Oh yes, I'm well aware of what everyone calls me, of course. It's not entirely justified. I hope today will show you that I am a human being, and you can talk to me.'
Ted's mobile pinged as he received the photo. He looked at it on his phone. The afternoon had certainly given him a whole new perspective on the Ice Queen. He would probably never feel entirely comfortable in her presence, as he had done with Jim Baker, but he had seen a new, warmer and more relaxed side to her.
'The sunken gardens are rather fine,' Ted said, aware he sounded like a tour guide. 'Italian. We could walk through them, then on down to the Timber Yard for coffee?'
Chatting over coffee and cakes, Ted finally started to feel at ease in her company. When he caught sight of the clock in the tea room, he was surprised how late it had become. Trev would be home from work, probably starting to cook as they had not made plans to go out.
He and the Ice Queen walked back to the car park together. As she took her helmet out of the top-box on the bike, she turned to him, her tone reverting to its usual formality, and said, 'Well, Inspector, thank you for showing me this lovely place, and for your time. I hope now we can move forward as colleagues with a better understanding of one
another.'
With that, she mounted her bike and roared off across the car park, leaving Ted still feeling a bit bemused by his afternoon.
Trev was sitting in front of the television when Ted got home, with it tuned to a news channel. He was leaning forward on the sofa, his eyes glued to the screen.
'Have you heard this?' he asked, barely glancing at Ted. 'I heard it on the radio so put the news on for an update. Someone shot a royal.'
Ted absent-mindedly scooped up cats so he could sit down next to Trev. His knees suddenly felt weak. He watched the running news-feed scrolling across the bottom of the screen which confirmed that the Knave of Clubs had been shot dead whilst on an official engagement.
A news reporter was delivering her piece to camera. 'Early indications are that the shot which killed the royal visitor, here to open a sports facility, came from one of those tall buildings in the background.' The camera panned away to show where she was talking about.
'Unconfirmed reports say there was a single shot to the head. A doctor and paramedics arrived within minutes, but he was pronounced dead at the scene.'
The camera cut back to her. The background scene showed police, many of them armed, swarming all around. Ted also spotted several grim-looking men in suits, and wearing earpieces. Police tape had gone up, cordoning off the scene, and there were area cars parked everywhere, lights flashing.
Ted looked again towards the background, the buildings which had been indicated. To take a man down from that distance and angle was the work of a highly proficient sniper. To do it with a single head shot was beyond the capabilities of most but an elite few. He knew that at his peak, he could have done it, and so could the Ice Queen, but there were not many others capable of it.
Slowly he took his mobile phone out of his pocket and opened it up to the datestamped photo she had taken of the two of them together, remembering her words. 'Two of the force's finest marksmen, shot with a single camera.'
About the author
L M Krier is the pen name of former journalist (court reporter) and freelance copywriter, Lesley Tither, who also writes travel memoirs under the name Tottie Limejuice. Lesley also worked as a case tracker for the Crown Prosecution Service.
Contact details
If you would like to get in touch, please do so at:
[email protected]
www.facebook.com/groups/1450797141836111/
https://twitter.com/tottielimejuice
Acknowledgements
Thanks to all those who helped with this second book in the DI Ted Darling series – Book III coming soon.
Jill Pennington – my Alpha beta reader who encourages me to continue
Beta readers Emma Heath, Kate Pill, Mikki Ashe, Chas Stewart.
Additional editing Alex Potter.
I have also talked to a lot of people in researching this book, abuse victims, police officers, social workers, journalists, teachers and youth workers. Thanks to all of them for their input and help.
