Fury: (A Kate Redman Mystery: Book 11) (The Kate Redman Mysteries) Page 9

  The doorbell went yet again, and Kate hurried to answer it. She opened it to see Olbeck standing there, with a giant plastic knife apparently sticking out of his head.

  “It’s a strong look,” said Kate, laughing and hugging him.

  “That’s what I thought.” Olbeck handed her a bottle of wine. “Sorry Jeff couldn’t make it too, but we didn’t want to get a babysitter.”

  “It’s fine. I understand. Come on in.”

  She walked with him to the living room where Anderton spotted him and yelled “Mark!” with a note of pure delight in his voice. Kate smiled as she watched her friends and fellow officers standing in her living room. All of them finally back together again. It was a good feeling.

  The party went on until the early hours, which Kate counted as a success. She’d avoided having her neighbours complain about the noise by inviting them, although Janet had only managed two small glasses of wine and left at about ten thirty. Quite respectable for an eighty year old though, thought Kate. She and Anderton had fallen into bed at about 3am, far too drunk to shag, and now, the next morning, were nursing their hangovers with bacon sandwiches and strong coffee.

  “This is the worst part of parties,” said Kate, groaning at the state of her house. “Clearing up afterwards.

  “I’ll help,“ said Kate’s friend Hannah, who’d been the only one to stay the night as she lived too far away to get back the previous evening.

  Kate smiled at her. “Thanks, Hannah.”

  Hannah flopped onto the available sofa with a sigh. “God, I’m getting too old for parties.”

  “Don’t be daft. Look at my neighbour, Janet. She’s eighty and she came dressed up as a pumpkin.”

  “True. It was good to see Jay and Laura again, it’s been ages.”

  “I know,” sighed Kate. She was close to her brother and his wife but over the last few years, she’d barely seen them. They lived busy lives in London and she—well, when did she ever really have the time to do anything?

  Anderton heaved himself to his feet with a groan. “Right, let’s do this. Get rid of these bloody leaves for a start.” He kicked out at them with a rustle. “Ouch. My head.” He looked wistful for a moment. “It was good to see everyone again. Be back with the team.”

  Kate half-smiled. Was now the time to suggest that, if he missed it so much, he might want to return to work? Would he be able to, though? She looked across at Hannah, who was sitting back with her eyes closed, and decided against it. That was a conversation for another time.

  “Come on,” she said, getting up herself. “Brooms at the ready. Us witches always have plenty of brooms.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  “So, who did you disappear off with then?”

  Chloe, sitting across from Kate, looked smug. “His name is Roman.”

  “Roman?” Kate considered. “Interesting but…good. I like it. Was he the dark one?”

  “Yep. With the beard.”

  Kate nodded. “Impressive, nice work. Are you seeing him again?”

  Chloe looked even more smug, if it were possible. “Got a date tomorrow.”

  “I’m proud of you, bird.” Kate held up a fist in solidarity. “I am definitely considering this party a success.” She grinned at her friend, who winked back. “Now, let us turn our attention off this enjoyable subject and back onto work.”

  She took a long pull of coffee and regarded her to-do list. Whitehaven, that was the first thing. She brought up the telephone number and began to dial. Then, a thought occurring to her, she put down the receiver and hurried over to Rav’s desk.

  “Rav, hi. Any luck with finding the manufacturer of that statue yet?”

  Rav looked up. “No, not yet. I’m trawling the internet though. Why?”

  Kate pulled up a convenient chair and sat down. “It just occurred to me on the way to work. What if it’s homemade? I mean, somebody is a sculptor or an artist and they actually carved it themselves?”

  Rav put up his eyebrows. “I hadn’t thought of that.” He pushed his chair back and walked over to the whiteboards where the crime scene photos were taped up. “Come on, we’ll have a look.”

  Kate and Rav perused the photographs of the statue. Rav looked so closely his nose almost touched the paper. “It could be,” was his final conclusion. Kate peered again and nodded.

  “I agree. It’s well done but it could be hand made.” She looked at Rav as a further thought occurred to her. “What if the killer made it?”

  Rav’s eyebrows shot up again. “Yeah,” he said, slowly. “But…I’m not sure how much further that’s going to get us.”

  “Search for sculptors, stonework artists, something like that?” Kate suggested.

  “Yeah. Okay. That’s a possibility.”

  Kate gave him a thumb up. “You can have that one for free.”

  Rav grinned. Kate skipped back to her desk and reached for the telephone.

  She spoke at some length with a DI Warner, who was chatty and warm, even if the resulting conversation didn’t exactly help her.

  “Oh yeah, it was a bloody balls-up from start to finish,” DI Warner said. “Before my time here, of course,” he added, somewhat hastily to Kate’s mind. “But I’m not sure that you can consider Linda Scott a viable suspect. Those threats were made directly after the court case, when Greeling had just walked free. Emotions were running high on all sides.”

  “Right,” Kate said, cursing silently in her mind. “So, she was never charged with anything?”

  “No. No point. The poor woman had just lost her grand-daughter.”

  “I hear she tried to sue the force?”

  “No. Again, she threatened to. But it was never going to happen. She had no money, for a start.” DI Warner sighed. “There was a serious case review, lessons learned, you know the sort of thing.”

  “Yes, I know,” said Kate. She asked DI Warner a few more questions but it was becoming clear that this was something of a dead end, so eventually, she thanked him for his time and said goodbye.

  Kate leant back in her chair, tapping her pen against her chin. What now? She felt that familiar sense of frustration, of blockage, when a case seemed to be stuck immovably with no clear sense of how to proceed. She sighed and got up to make herself and Chloe a coffee.

  Was it worth trying to head up to Whitehaven? Apart from the statue, it appeared to be the only link between the two victims, and it was a tenuous one at that. Kate handed Chloe her mug and sat back down again, irritably tapping her foot against the bottom bar of her desk.

  A memory of Theo’s suggestion came back to her and she shook her head in annoyance at herself at having forgotten. Kate turned to her computer again.

  “Chloe, who’s covering looking for similar cases, you know, other statues found?”

  Chloe looked startled. “Don’t know, bird. Don’t think anyone’s even got onto that yet – too many other things to do.”

  “Okay. Thanks.” Kate scribbled on her to-do list, just in case that idea faded from memory entirely. Look at murders in Whitehaven area around time of Amanda Cahillan being there. As she looked up, she caught sight of Olbeck’s empty office and sighed. She missed him. I’ll call him later on, she promised herself. She also wondered about his empty office. Now she was a DI… was it worth proposing to DCI Weaver that she take over his office, just while he was on leave? Did she actually want to, though? She looked over at Chloe, her funny, attractive friend, and over at Rav. She would miss the banter, that was inescapable. Oh well. Kate parked the thought for another day and turned back to her computer, ready to begin the hunt.

  **

  That evening, on leaving work, Kate remembered she’d promised herself to call Olbeck. Instead, she texted him, asking if she could pop around. When his text pinged back sure, come for dinner, she drove to the supermarket, mindful of her earlier mistake in bringing chocolate for the children. Instead, she perused the aisle of baby food and nappies, looking for something healthy and suitable for a nine month old
. She settled on some organic biscuits in the shape of friendly animals, and an educational toy for Harry. Then she chose a decent bottle of wine and some olives for the grown ups.

  This time, Olbeck and Jeff’s house was much quieter than the last time she’d been there. Kate realised that that was because it was now past eight o’clock and both children were in bed. Jeff opened the door, wearing an apron and holding a dripping wooden spoon.

  “Hello, darling. Mark said you’d be round.”

  Kate kissed his cheek and handed over the bag of gifts. “Sorry, it’s late notice I know, but I never seem to see you these days.”

  “Yes, I know. Sorry I couldn’t make the party, but you know, we don’t want to leave the kids with babysitters yet—”

  “It’s fine, don’t be daft.”

  “Mark’s just putting Harry to bed. Come through and have a drink.”

  The kitchen and living room weren’t in quite the chaos that they had been on Kate’s last visit. There was a plastic bucket of toys over by the fireplace and a muslin cloth dropped on the carpet but, other than that, the room looked normal – and inviting to Kate, tired as she was. She dropped onto the sofa with a sigh and stretched her legs out.

  Jeff came in with a glass of red wine for her. “You’re looking well, Kate.”

  “Thanks.” She smiled at him as she took her drink. Jeff was looking tired but happy himself; dark circles under his eyes but a relaxed look to his face. “How’s it going?”

  They talked about the children for several minutes until Olbeck’s footsteps could be heard in the hallway. He came in and walked straight up to Kate to give her a hug.

  “Hey. So glad you came over.”

  Released, Kate made her own appraisal of him. He was unshaven and dressed in tracksuit bottoms and a hoody, but, like Jeff, looked both relaxed and exhausted.

  “Harry wants you,” he said to Jeff, who groaned and wheeled around to leave the room.

  Olbeck sat down next to Kate. “So, how’s it going at work?”

  It was Kate’s turn to groan. “Frustrating. Don’t seem to be getting anywhere with anything.”

  “God, I remember those days.”

  “Do you miss work?” Kate, having remembered Anderton’s wistful remark after the party, wanted to know.

  “Yes. I actually do.” Olbeck ran a hand over his stubbled jaw. “Being a parent is tiring. Now I understand it when people say they go to work for a rest.”

  “But it’s okay, though?” Kate asked, suddenly anxious. “I mean, it’s going okay?”

  Olbeck smiled. “Yes, it’s fine. It’s a real challenge though, I won’t lie.”

  “And you and Jeff… You’re okay?”

  “Sure. We don’t have five minutes to spend together anymore, but I suppose that’s normal when you’ve got two under five.”

  “It probably is.” Kate got up and gave him a hug. “You’re doing brilliantly. I’m proud of you.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  “Thanks for dinner,” Kate said, getting up from her dining table and taking her plate to the dishwasher. “I must say, I’m getting spoiled with all this home cooking.”

  “Well, I’ve got the time now.” Anderton pushed his chair back and stood up. “I like the fact that you appreciate it, though.”

  “I do.” Kate gave him a grateful kiss. “Now, I really have to go through these files.”

  “Are these the murder cases in Whitehaven?”

  “Yes, or close to it.”

  Anderton pulled up a chair and sat down next to Kate. “Let me help.”

  Kate pushed over the folders. “Be my guest.” She reached for the top file and opened it. Merlin jumped up into her lap and curled up like a black, furry comma. She watched Anderton studying the files, his hand absentmindedly churning his hair as was his habit.

  On impulse, she said “Can I put my cards on the table?”

  Anderton looked up and smiled. “Yes. Okay, yes. I agree. We should move in together.”

  Kate felt her mouth drop open. “What?”

  “Oh, that wasn’t what you were going to ask?”

  “No, it wasn’t!”

  “Oh.” Anderton smiled again. “Well, I still think that it might be worth talking about at some point.”

  Kate blew out her cheeks. “Yes, you’re probably right. Wow.”

  “I’ve been thinking about it for a while. But you’ve been so busy, it just never really seemed to be the right time to mention it.”

  “Okay, I have thought about it too,” admitted Kate. “But I didn’t mention it, because I wasn’t sure it was what you wanted.” She made a giant effort to gather her thoughts back on track. “Anyway, let’s have that conversation another time. But soon.”

  “Okay. What were you going to say?”

  Kate leant forward and took his hand. “What do you think about going back to work?”

  She felt his hand tighten in hers. There was a short silence.

  “Ah.” Anderton withdrew his hand and sat back. “That was unexpected.”

  Kate felt her stomach tighten at his tone, but she pressed on. “It’s just…I saw you at the party. With everyone. You even said it was good for us all to be back together again.”

  Anderton sighed. “If it was that easy, Kate…”

  “I know it’s not that easy.” Kate swallowed, thought better and then thought again. “I know you…you’ve perhaps lost confidence. I don’t see how you could not have done—”

  “I haven’t lost confidence.” Anderton sounded angry, and Kate felt her heart sink. She should not have brought this up.

  “Okay. All right. Maybe I shouldn’t have said anything.”

  “No. Maybe you shouldn’t have.”

  They regarded each other with solemn faces. Then Anderton appeared to shake himself.

  “Perhaps I’ll stay at mine tonight.”

  “Oh, don’t be like that—”

  “I’m tired, Kate.”

  On the verge of saying something provocative, Kate folded her lips together. I’m learning. She took a deep, deep breath. “Okay. Perhaps you should.”

  Anderton looked faintly surprised, as if he’d been expecting her to argue with him. Kate forced herself to smile at him. “We’re all tired, Selwyn.”

  She scarcely ever used Anderton’s first name. Nor did anyone else. For most of the officers at the station, Anderton was their former DCI’s given name. It had taken Kate weeks once they were romantically attached to actually ask for his Christian name, and even now, she tended not to use it, mostly because it made him wince every time she did.

  “Oh,” said Anderton. “Like that, is it?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You only ever call me Selwyn when you’re extremely pissed off with me.”

  It was Kate’s turn to sigh. I’m too old and too tired for all this drama, she told herself. “Seriously, why don’t you go home? I’m knackered, and I’ve got all this work to get through.”

  **

  They kissed goodbye at the door, but it was perfunctory. Kate watched him drive away with a coiled knot of anxiety in her stomach. They had had fights before, of course they had, but this felt…different. Was it because something had fundamentally changed between them? Or was it because Kate had refused to rise to the bait, for once?

  Kate shut the front door and locked it, conscious of a rising dark mood. She stomped into the kitchen and poured the last of the red wine from the bottle into her glass. Merlin coiled like smoke around her ankles.

  “Bloody men,” said Kate, to him. She sat back down at the table and spread the case files out so she could look at them properly. Was this really the right time to do this? She was exhausted, emotional and she’d had two—she took a large gulp—nearly three glasses of wine. Her bed appealed. But there was something else tugging at her, something she’d had since she first walked through the doors of the Abbeyford station all those years ago. She wanted to solve this case. The victims always deserved justice.
>
  Something else occurred to her and her fingers tightened on the stem of the wine glass. If these two cases were connected, if the killer in both cases was the same, then what if there were going to be more?

  Kate took another large gulp and bent her head to the table, trying to focus. Her argument with Anderton was almost forgotten.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Kate was the first in the office the next morning, despite a bad night’s sleep. So eager was she to show the others what she’d discovered, she’d bounded out of bed before her alarm even went off, dressing herself warmly as she could see the frost glittering on the ground outside when she drew her bedroom curtains back.

  Rav was the first one to arrive after her, and Kate hurried across to his desk as he divested himself of scarf, gloves and hat.

  “God, it’s cold.”

  “I know.” Kate couldn’t care less about discussing the weather. “Guess what I’ve found?”

  Rav grinned. “It’s obviously something good. Can I have coffee first?”

  “If you must.” Kate waited impatiently while he made them both a cup. As Rav carried the steaming mugs back to his desk, Chloe came into the office.

  “What’s up, bird?”

  “Found something.” Kate withdrew the relevant copy of the photograph from her plastic folder. “Take a gander at this.”

  Both Rav and Chloe regarded the paper that Kate proffered. Sharp-eyed Rav was the first to spot it.

  “Bloody hell.” His forefinger shot out to land on the photograph. Chloe gasped.

  “It’s the statue. Shit.”

  Kate took a moment to bask in the heady glow of a job well done. “Yes. The same statue.”

  Chloe grabbed the paper off her as if she was afraid it would disappear. “What’s the case? The vic? Who is it?”

  Kate handed her the file. “It’s in here. The victim was a sixty year old man, found in his home with multiple stab wounds. Rather like Roland Barry.”

  Chloe was rapidly reading the file papers. “His name was William Bathford. Retired care home owner.” She looked up straight into Kate’s eyes. “What kind of care home? Elderly? Or children?”