Monday morning …
KATE WALKER WALKED into the intensive-care room. Patricia Hunt was in her usual place by her husband’s side, keeping vigil. Dr Lily Crabbe was writing up some notes on Geoffrey Hunt’s chart, then hung it back on the rail at the base of the bed. She smiled briefly at Kate and stifled a yawn with her hand.
‘Busy night?’ asked Kate.
‘Always is.’
‘Good morning, Kate,’ said Reverend Hunt with a warm smile.
‘You seem much better today, Geoffrey.’
‘He’s on the mend,’ agreed Lily Crabbe. It was only yesterday, Kate remembered, that the registrar was telling her that she didn’t think he would make it.
‘Bit of a scare last night. But looks like we have the infection beaten.’
‘It’s a miracle,’ said Patricia.
The registrar headed off and Patricia stood up. ‘I am just going to get him a cup of tea. Would you like one, Dr Walker?’
‘Why don’t I walk with you, Patricia? Good to see you looking so well, Geoffrey. You take good care of yourself.’
‘I will, thank you, Doctor.’
Kate walked out with Patricia to the vending machine at the end of the corridor.
‘Pneumonia can be a dangerous thing for a man of his age. He’s been very lucky.’
‘I know.’
‘I looked at his X-rays, his chest X-rays.’
‘Yes?’ Patricia fished out a fifty-pence piece from her purse.
‘His name’s not really Geoffrey Hunt, is it?’
The older woman dropped the coin, but didn’t seem to notice it as it clattered to the ground.
‘What do you mean?’
‘I got his brother’s medical records. The man in the ground had a perfectly uninjured rib cage. The X-rays I looked at here last night showed an old bullet wound. A wound to the chest. Geoffrey’s brother had such a wound. He got it in Zambia trying to defend some children, according to the report I read.’
‘He did defend those children! They lived because of him.’
‘And so did he! Didn’t he? I’m guessing that it was Geoffrey we found in that unmarked grave. I’m right, aren’t I? The man back there is his brother Jeremy.’
Patricia looked at her grim-faced. What are you going to do?’
‘I don’t know yet,’ said Kate gently. ‘Why don’t you tell me what happened?’
‘There were accusations that Geoffrey had been molesting young girls.’
‘I know.’
‘It wasn’t the first time. He had a problem, I begged him to get help and he said that he had. That he had never actually touched any of the girls. Just looked at them.’
‘Go on.’
‘It was too much. I told him that I was going to divorce him. I told him I was going to report him to the police. He became very angry. He had been violent to me in the past, had been abusive. But I held my ground. He couldn’t be allowed to continue hurting those poor children. He hit me.’
‘And so you shot him?’
‘No, Doctor,’ the older woman sighed. ‘He shot himself. I guess I drove him to it.’
‘You didn’t drive him to do anything, Patricia.’
‘Jeremy was visiting, like I said. He found me in a state of absolute shock and said he would take care of everything. He always loved me, Kate. I knew that. I chose the wrong brother.’
‘So what did Jeremy do?’
‘In covering up for the vicar, the Church had demanded his early retirement. If his suicide was discovered, the whole sorry story would be exposed. Jeremy didn’t want to put me though that. He said he would take on his brother’s identity. Nobody need ever know. So we buried him that night in sanctified ground.’
‘And the gun he used?’
‘It was their father’s service revolver, from the war. God knows why they’d kept it. Jeremy buried the gun in our garden. We laid a slab over it and put a birdbath there. He said nobody would ever find out.’
‘And if they hadn’t decided to demolish the church, probably nobody would have done.’
The older woman looked at Kate, her eyes moist with tears. ‘No real harm was done, was there? If this all comes out now, it could kill him.’
‘Were you in love with Jeremy?’
Patricia nodded her head. ‘I know it was wrong. But yes, I loved him, Kate. Almost from the first day I married his brother.’
Kate patted her hand. ‘Don’t worry, Patricia, I’m sure everything will be okay.’
‘But how can it be? We’ve drawn Geoffrey’s pension all these years, it wasn’t much but …’ She trailed off, distraught. ‘And they have found the body now. Sooner or later it will all come out. You can’t take care of that.’
‘No, I can’t,’ said Kate. ‘But I know a man who can.’
Diane Campbell stood at the open window watching the uniforms clear the snow from the car park once more. The sky overhead was a brilliant blue, however, and the sun was shining brightly.
She smiled at Delaney as he came into her office.
‘Full statement from Michelle Riley. Pretty much as you guessed. Five of them from the support group. Became something of a drinking club. Sharing their sorrows, their anger. Then one night at The Castle, after reading about another suspected rapist walking free from court, they decided to not just get angry but to get even. Vigilante style. John Garland’s idea. They’d each pick a card, and whoever was selected they had to kill. Not the person who had raped them, however, so no trails would lead back to them.’
‘First rule of the Murder Club.’
‘Only when it came to Michelle’s turn she got cold feet. Wouldn’t do it.’
‘So Garland did it for her, I guess. Pushed Michael Robinson under the train.’
‘That’s why he wanted Stephanie Hewson to lie in court, let him off. So that he could get to Robinson. It was his cousin who beat him up in jail originally. Only he got transferred.’
‘John equals Jack.’
‘Yep.’
‘What’s the verdict on Garland?’
‘They think he’ll live.’
‘Shame.’
‘Oh, yeah. But they also think he’s going to be severely brain damaged.’
Delaney didn’t look particularly displeased at the news.
‘How did you know he’d take her to the Scout hut, Jack?’
‘I didn’t.’
‘Lucky guess?’
‘He’d been fixating on Stephanie Hewson. The rape. Newspaper accounts pinned to the wall. Pictures of her. Pictures of Kate. Same hair, same colouring.’
‘He was acting out his fantasies?’
‘Tried it before and it didn’t work. But he had seen me with the woman he was obsessed with and this fixation was escalating out of control. If he couldn’t have Stephanie Hewson, then Kate would do. Kill two birds with one stone. If he was re-enacting what happened to Stephanie last Christmas, then he’d take Kate to the hut.’
Diane put another cigarette between her lips. ‘That was a good call.’
‘Maybe I had some help.’
Diane looked at him curiously, but his face was impassive.
‘Are you going to give me one of those cigarettes?’ he said.
Kate walked up to Bible Steve’s bed, a bunch of grapes in her hand. Laura was sitting beside him. She looked a lot better. Fresher, less haunted. Kate dangled the grapes in front of Steve. ‘Bit of a cliché, I know. But …’ She placed the grapes on his bed. ‘I hear you saved a man’s life last night, Steve, by adjusting his oxygen levels.’
‘My name isn’t Steve.’
‘I know. It’s Stuart. Stuart Gregor.’
‘Yes.’
‘You remember now?’
‘His memory is coming back, parts of it anyway,’ said Laura.
‘Eight years ago there was a massive pile-up and an overturned coach on the motorway outside Reading,’ said the homeless man. ‘Seven people were killed. Thirteen people seriously injured. It was chaos at Reading General that night and a surgeon who had been drinking heavily was operating. It was me, operating without assistance, without theatre nurses, and a twenty-three-year-old blonde woman with the face of an angel and fractured ribs died because of it.’
‘Except you did have assistance, didn’t you, Mr Gregor? You had a young, newly qualified doctor on surgical rotation called Angela Laura Chilvers with you. After the woman died, there was a full enquiry. Only you had vanished. Nobody knew who you were. You didn’t even know who you were.’
‘It wasn’t his fault,’ said Laura. ‘None of this was his fault.’
‘Because you didn’t stop him from operating?’
‘The young woman who died that night had severe rib injuries, a haemothorax. The blood was draining into her chest area and literally suffocating her. She was in incredible pain and would have died. Stuart had to perform a chest drain. Only his hands were shaking so much he couldn’t place the tube correctly in her throat. So I did it.’
‘You performed the procedure?’
‘Yes, and let Stuart take the blame.’
‘I left her alone,’ said Stuart Gregor.
‘You went to find another surgeon. Only I didn’t think there was time. So I went ahead anyway. I positioned the tube incorrectly. I hit her heart. By the time Stuart came back to say help was on its way, she was already dead. He thought she had died from the crash injuries, and I didn’t tell him otherwise. He left there and then. I never got the chance to tell him the truth. Look what I did to him. I ruined his life.’
‘It’s okay. I was your supervisor, Laura.’
‘I used you. And ruined you, Stuart.’
‘I loved you, Laura.’
‘I know. And I slept with you and used you to further my career. A woman is dead, and you very nearly died because of it.’
‘Isaiah said, “Remember not the former things. Nor consider the things of old. Behold I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.”’
‘Are you sure you didn’t lead a double life as a vicar?’ asked Kate with a wry smile.
‘I was educated for thirteen years at a Catholic school, Doctor. They used to beat these things into you.’
‘I’ve heard that.’
‘I might have forgotten nearly everything else out there on the streets, but the Bible has been hardwired in here.’ He tapped the side of his head.
‘I wish I could go back in time, Stuart. I would do things so differently,’ said Laura, tears pricking her eyes.
The elderly man took her hands and shook his head. ‘You are a healer now. You have made your own way in the wilderness. Just think of the lives you have saved. Regret nothing, lass. I made my own bed. I knew you were gay, but I didn’t care. I used you, I was your supervisor and I abused my trust. You should have just told them the truth. Nobody would have blamed you. Everything was just a terrible accident.’
‘When I saw what I had done to you the other night, I couldn’t forgive myself, Stuart. I tried to save her life, but I destroyed yours instead.’
‘There is nothing to forgive. Nobody had to show me the way to drink, my angel. Believe me, the demons were in my head long before we ever met. Falling in love with you didn’t make me what I am, but what you are is why I fell in love with you.’
‘I’m sorry.’
Stuart Gregor looked over at Dr Walker. ‘What are you going to do?’
She smiled. ‘It’s really nothing to do with me, is it?’
‘Don’t worry, Kate,’ Laura said, her cheeks wet with tears, her hands still held in the surgeon’s clasp. ‘I’ll make things right. I promise.’
Jack Delaney walked along Edgware Road with Sally Cartwright beside him. ‘This sunshine keeps up, the snow will all be melted by Christmas, sir,’ she said.
‘I wouldn’t bank on it, Sally. Besides, I promised Siobhan a White Christmas.’
‘Was that wise, sir?’
Delaney laughed. ‘I’m not sure if many of my decisions fall into that category.’
They turned into the side street and walked up to a female, uniformed police sergeant with a younger constable who were drinking mugs of tea with a homeless couple.
‘Morning, sir. Good work last night.’
‘Thanks. These the two?’
‘Yes sir, Mr and Mrs Stubbs.’
‘Is there a reward?’ asked the man.
‘There might be,’ said Delaney. ‘Depends what you can tell us.’
The man gestured at the uniforms. ‘The bobbies have been out and about asking if anybody saw anything last Friday night.’ He rubbed his thumb and fingers together. ‘Thought there might be some coin in it.’
‘Just tell us what you saw.’
‘Well me and the missus, we was here. With Bible Steve and the young lass. I don’t know her name.’
‘Meg,’ said Delaney. ‘Her name was Meg O’Brien.’
‘The four of us were just here, for the warmth, you know. And Bible had got lucky. Made a big score. He had whisky and was passing it around. Later on the police came and took him away. Blonde woman and a miserable, old geezer.’
‘Go on.’
‘Well we stayed there for a bit. Then the old lady closed up the Chinese restaurant about ten-thirty. Half an hour after that, a bunch of the Chinese came back.’
‘What Chinese?’
‘I don’t know, the waiters, cooks.’ One of them had a leather jacket on. Thought he was Elvis fucking Presley.’
‘What were they doing there?’
‘They come back to play cards and that funny game with the little bricks.’
‘So what happened?’
‘They told us to clear off. I think Bible really pissed them off when he pissed all over their front window.’
His wife chuckled.
‘And did you move?’
‘Not at first. We was still a bit bladdered, to be honest. But Elvis, he gets out these couple of sticks with a chain in the middle and we figured we’d best get out of there.’
‘Nunchuckas,’ said Sally Cartwright.
‘I beg yours, darling?’
‘It’s what the sticks are called,’ said Delaney, walking over to the restaurant. As they went in, Dongmei Chang’s nephew shouted over his shoulder.
‘Go away, we’re closed!’
‘You’re going to be closed for a very long time, sunshine!’ said Delaney.
The Chinese man looked round and the snarl on his face disappeared. Then he turned tail and raced off to the kitchen.
‘Get him, Constable!’ shouted Delaney. The young uniform charged after him followed by the sergeant, both of them flicking their asps out as they ran.
‘Aren’t you going with them?’ Sally asked.
‘Stuff that for a game of coconuts,’ said Delaney. ‘I’m getting too old for this malarkey.’ He put a cigarette in his mouth and patted his pockets. ‘Have you got a light, Sally?’
‘No, sir!’
‘Never mind,’ said Delaney and picked up one of the restaurant’s paper matchbooks from one of the tables and lit his cigarette.
Hampstead, north-west London. Christmas Eve.
THE SKY WAS mostly clear, a few clouds drifting past the waning moon. The moon had a crisp white colour that night, twinkling stars in the background. All it needed was Santa on his sleigh riding in front of it, and it could have been the poster shot for a Disney film. Santa comes to Hampstead.
Delaney took one last puff of his cigarette, flicked the lighted end into the snow, then put the stub in the bin outside Kate’s kitchen door.
Through the glass in the door Delaney could see that Kate was making mulled cider. An old recipe she claimed came from some distant Norfolk relative. Delaney had never been a fan of mulled wine, but Kate had promised to convert him. His daughter Siobhan was helping her make it. Her laughter was as musical as ever. Delaney stood for a moment just watching them. Not aware that a smile had crept across his face. He thought back to last Christmas, what he could remember of it, and couldn’t believe where he was now. He hadn’t believed he could fall in love again, but he had.
He cursed himself for being all kinds of fool and took out his mobile phone.
When the familiar female voice answered he smiled and slipped another cigarette in his mouth. He moved away from the window and leant against the wall.
‘Hi, sweetheart,’ he said. ‘It’s Jack. I’ve got an early Christmas present for you.’
Kate held out the spoon of the cooled liquid and let Siobhan take a tiny sip. Siobhan considered for a moment, her brow furrowed. ‘I don’t mind it,’ she said finally. ‘But I think I prefer cream soda.’
Kate laughed as the back door opened and Delaney walked into the kitchen.
‘I’m going to look at the presents again!’ said Siobhan and ran excitedly out of the room.
‘How many times does that make it now?’ asked Delaney.
‘Ooh, I don’t know. About a thousand.’
Delaney laughed, but Kate noticed the expression on his face. ‘What is it, Jack?’
‘What do you mean?’
‘There’s something in your eye. I know you by now. You’re up to something.’
‘Maybe you know me too well.’
‘None better.’
Delaney held up his mobile phone.
‘Go on,’ said Kate.
‘I just called Diane Campbell. Told her I was resigning from the Metropolitan Police.’
‘Why?’
‘Because I have brought the people I love into harm’s way and I can’t do that any more.’
‘Why don’t you just phone her back then, and tell her you were only joking?’
‘Fuck that!’ said Jack Delaney.
And kissed her.