He Knows Your Secrets

by Charlie Gallagher

  Harry was back to looking humoured. ‘Good job Maddie. No one ever got anywhere near that man. It wasn’t just the women who worked for him that thought he was untouchable. I think a lot of us thought the same. We didn’t reckon on you. He certainly didn’t.’

  Maddie didn’t take compliments well, even less so when they were coming from Harry. She never knew quite how to react. She smiled dumbly and the moment turned quickly awkward. Harry turned for the stairs back to the office.

  ‘You didn’t really mean it, did you?’ he called back. ‘When you said that we would send some rookie detective down there to finish off the interview?’

  ‘I didn’t at the time, Harry. I was just trying to send him a message, kick him while he was down. But right now it doesn’t seem like a bad idea. I seem to have just realised how tired I am.’

  Harry stopped on the stairs to face back down. ‘It was a long night. I don’t see him wanting to talk to anyone for quite some time anyway, and even if he does, he can wait. I’ll get the team to go to CPS with what we have. We’ll get a holding charge, no problem. That gets him into prison while we work out the rest. The last I saw, there were nine charges being investigated — ten if you include the attempted murder of Libby’s boyfriend. I don’t think anyone’s considered that yet. To be honest, we still don’t really know how many victims might come out of the woodwork. We’ll remand him tonight. I don’t see him ever coming back out.’

  ‘And that’s just him, boss. We need to do the same with Benny and we have a stabbed man cuffed to a hospital bed whose day isn’t about to improve . . . And there’s the whole ugly mugs list . . . Jesus, there’s so much to do . . .’

  ‘There is. And it will get done. But you chopped off the head of the snake, Maddie. Those girls are safe now. We’ll come back to it this evening feeling a lot fresher than we do right now. Go home. Get some rest.’

  Maddie nodded. She had been running on adrenaline in that interview, quite literally fuelled by her hatred for the piece of shit sitting opposite. Both of them. But her day wasn’t done yet. Not quite.

  ‘Sounds wonderful. I just have one last visit to do before I can go home.’

  ‘Visit? What visit?’

  ‘Taruc’s wife. Our taxi driver. I can’t forget about him, about his wife. I need to talk to her. I need to tell her that he was completely blameless — wrong place, wrong time.’

  Harry sighed. ‘I thought the same. We can offer her a few more answers now at least. It doesn’t have to be you though, does it?’

  ‘It does. I think it does, at least.’

  ‘It’s not going to make a difference, it won’t be some magical cure to the pain that family is feeling. You know that, right?’

  ‘I do. But when this is finished, when it is confirmed that Freddie Rickman is never coming out of prison I’m going to go back and give her every detail, if she can stand it. And if she can’t, I’ll wait until she can. There’s a bigger picture. Taruc was part of that. It doesn’t make it right but he didn’t die for nothing.’

  Harry seemed to hold back his first response. ‘You’re right, he didn’t,’ he said eventually. ‘That’s a difficult message to deliver at any time, but when you’re exhausted . . .’

  ‘It has to be now. There’s already enough keeping me awake without this hanging over me too.’

  ‘What else? This is done, Maddie. For now at least. Building the casefile and securing—’

  ‘Adam called,’ Maddie blurted out. She regretted it instantly. She had wanted to tell him but now wasn’t the time.

  ‘Adam Yarwood?’ Harry said. Maddie didn’t reply. ‘He’s okay, then?’

  ‘Enough to speak over the phone.’

  ‘And what did he say?’

  ‘That he would like to see me.’

  ‘Tonight?’

  ‘No! Who knows when — weeks, months.’

  ‘Then you’ve got nothing to stay awake for. Go home and get some sleep, for goodness’ sake.’

  ‘That’s it! No stern advice or words of wisdom about staying away from people like Adam Yarwood?’

  Harry started moving up the steps again. He lingered on the last one before he would turn out of sight. He looked slightly humoured.

  ‘Advice? Wisdom? Since when have you listened to any of that DS Ives?’

  Harry did now step out of sight. Maddie heard the beep as he passed through another security door. She still lingered on the stairs, already picturing Mrs Taruc Mardin standing in front of her while she tried to give a clear explanation of how she had come to lose her husband. She owed her that. She couldn’t finish her day until it was done.

  And Harry was right about Adam Yarwood too. He was a consideration for another day.

  Chapter 36

  Friday

  The breeze was stronger that morning, the view of France clearer. White wisps of cloud seemed to move so quickly over her head that the sky was like a time-lapse video as she stood on the edge of the grassy verge.

  Kelly Dale moved forward. There was still some of the cut grass left, it was brown and brittle and it floated backwards in the wind when she disturbed it with her feet. She could see the woman’s back as she sat on a bench that stood out as looking brand new, the wood showing none of the weathering of the neighbouring benches. Beyond it she could now see more of the flat ocean. It looked to be made up of horizontal lines of differing blues and greens. It was beautiful.

  Kelly ran her hand slowly over the back of the bench. The woman was over to the right, her long hair was down and the breeze was delighting in moving it in every direction as it caught in the swirls rising up and over the lip of the cliff. The edge was further away than it had looked from the road. The woman had a small dog on her lap. Its nose twitched, flitting between millions of moving scents.

  ‘You got my message, then?’ The seated woman had a voice. Still she looked away. The breeze seemed to move the words around. The woman lifted a flask into view and Kelly smiled at the back of her head. She moved around to sit next to her. She kept her back straight, her eyes still forward over the shuffling colour chart laid out in front. The dog pushed its wet nose under her arm and it made her flinch.

  ‘I did.’

  ‘I’m glad you came.’

  ‘I wasn’t going to.’

  ‘I didn’t know if you would. Not yet anyways.’

  Kelly didn’t reply, she didn’t know what to say. Maybe she was just done talking.

  ‘I introduced myself the last time we met but you weren’t listening so well. You had a lot on your mind. My name is Margaret. Margaret Throughgood — and this, of course, is Molly. She’s my Bichon Frise and she has a cold nose and a good aim!’

  Kelly smiled but she still didn’t speak.

  ‘I know that you’re Kelly Dale. The nice detective told me that. She also said that you’re an extraordinary woman and that you’ve had an extraordinary couple of days.’

  ‘I’m nothing of the sort, I can tell you that. I was backed into a corner and I fought my way out. Anyone can do that. What’s extraordinary is someone who wasn’t backed into a corner, someone who planned for a long time to do something amazing. To sacrifice themselves for the good of a lot of people. For me.’

  ‘Now that does sound extraordinary. Did you want some coffee?’ Margaret poured some of the steaming liquid into the cup. The breeze forced the scent on Kelly. It smelled delicious. Her smile got wider, still directed out towards the sea.

  ‘You remember what I told you about bad things happening when I drink?’ Kelly said. ‘I don’t want to tempt fate.’

  ‘Drink? What sort of a lush do you think I am? This is just coffee, I’ll have you know. I do remember what you said. You also said that you like to carry around the empty of the last thing you drank from — to remind you of how it always ends badly. Well, I rather like this flask!’

  ‘Okay then.’ Kelly took the drink. She brought it just close enough to her lips to realise it was molten hot. She moved it away again.

&nb
sp; ‘Have you seen it?’ the woman said.

  ‘No.’ Kelly’s grin dropped away a little. ‘I almost don’t want to. I know it’s going to sound silly but . . . it was the last thing . . . the last thing she did for me. That’s it, then.’

  ‘I don’t agree. You’re a very young woman. I have a few . . . well, a lot of years on you. They come with experience. You have no idea how much she’s done for you. Extraordinary people have that about them. Much later you’ll be doing something in your life, going through something and suddenly you’ll realise that you’re better prepared because of them. Your girlfriend . . . she sounds like the sort of person that will never leave your side, one way or another. I have an ex-husband like that, for all his faults. I wouldn’t see this as the last thing she did, more a reminder that you’re a better person because of your time with her. And now you can have a better life.’

  Kelly leaned forward. She took a breath and turned. The bronze plaque was right in the middle of the highest slat, between the two women. It looked brand new to the point of being out of place. The letters were embossed, a trick of the light made them look black in places. She ran her fingers over them, absorbing the words. She had promised herself she wouldn’t cry, but a tear escaped to be buffeted by the breeze.

  I’LL BE THE SKY

  AND YOU BE THE BIRD.

  HM 4 KD.

  ‘Perfect!’ Kelly sniffed. ‘We used to come up here just to watch the birds. The sky just seems bigger here and the birds seem free to go where they please. She used to write some poetry. She was good, I mean she would never have me say it. She wrote one for me. She said she wanted to be the sky for me . . .’ Another tear fell to the wind. ‘So I could be the bird.’

  ‘Well . . .’ Margaret grunted as she got to her feet. ‘These are private times. Do you want me to leave the coffee with you? I’m only over the road? You can take as long as you like.’

  ‘No, thank you. I have to be going myself. I have an appointment. I have a funeral to arrange. I just wanted to come up here first, to see it for myself. I’ll be back, though, whenever I need to.’

  Margaret beamed. ‘It seemed to just appear! But she’ll always be here now. I might not be but, all the time I am, you feel free to knock on my door for a coffee, you hear me?’

  ‘Thanks again . . . Margaret.’

  She waved Kelly away. ‘Don’t mention it. I hope the funeral stuff goes well. Not something you should have to be arranging for your partner. Not at your age.’

  ‘Actually, this one’s for my mum.’

  ‘Your mum! My goodness, you have had a rough time.’

  Kelly’s smile was still genuine, her eyes followed a gull as it rode an upsurge of warm air.

  ‘A rough week, maybe. But the rest of my life doesn’t look so bad now does it? Now I get to be the bird.’

  THE END

  ALSO BY CHARLIE GALLAGHER

  MADDIE IVES

  Book 1: HE IS WATCHING YOU

  Book 2: HE WILL KILL YOU

  Book 3: HE WILL FIND YOU

  Book 4: HE KNOWS YOUR SECRETS

  LANGTHORNE POLICE SERIES

  Book 1: BODILY HARM

  Book 2: PANIC BUTTON

  Book 3: BLOOD MONEY

  Book 4: END GAME

  STANDALONE NOVELS

  MISSING

  THEN SHE RAN

  HER LAST BREATH

  RUTHLESS

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  HE IS WATCHING HER. BUT SHE ISN’T DEAD.

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  GLOSSARY OF ENGLISH SLANG FOR US READERS

  A & E: Accident and emergency department in a hospital

  Aggro: Violent behaviour, aggression

  Air raid: an attack in which bombs are
dropped from aircraft on ground targets

  Allotment: a plot of land rented by an individual for growing fruit, vegetable or flowers

  Anorak: nerd (it also means a waterproof jacket)

  Artex: textured plaster finish for walls and ceilings

  A Level: exams taken between 16 and 18

  Auld Reekie: Edinburgh

  Au pair: live-in childcare helper. Often a young woman.

  Barm: bread roll

  Barney: argument

  Beaker: glass or cup for holding liquids

  Beemer: BMW car or motorcycle

  Benefits: social security

  Bent: corrupt

  Bin: wastebasket (noun), or throw in rubbish (verb)

  Biscuit: cookie

  Blackpool Lights: gaudy illuminations in seaside town

  Bloke: guy

  Blow: cocaine

  Blower: telephone

  Blues and twos: emergency vehicles

  Bob: money

  Bobby: policeman

  Broadsheet: quality newspaper (New York Times would be a US example)

  Brown bread: rhyming slang for dead

  Bun: small cake

  Bunk: do a bunk means escape

  Burger bar: hamburger fast-food restaurant

  Buy-to-let: Buying a house/apartment to rent it out for profit

  Charity Shop: thrift store

  Carrier bag: plastic bag from supermarket

  Care Home: an institution where old people are cared for

  Car park: parking lot

  CBeebies: kids TV

  Chat-up: flirt, trying to pick up someone with witty banter or compliments