Tania Carver: The Surrogate

‘Not on a school night, anyway,’ said Anni.

‘Has he given a statement?’ said Phil.

Clayton nodded. ‘Over the phone. Bit distraught.’

‘Right. We’ll talk to him again later.’

Anni looked at him, worry in her eyes. ‘There’s, erm… there’s something else.’

She turned, gestured to the living room. Phil, glad of the excuse to not look at Claire Fielding’s body any more, followed her, stopping at the entrance to the living room. He looked inside, instinctively trying to get some idea of her life, her personality. The person she used to be.

The room was tastefully furnished, clearly on a budget, but small flourishes and touches of individuality indicated that the budget had been used creatively. With books and CDs, foreign ornaments and framed photos, it spoke of a rich, full life. But something stood out.

On the coffee table were empty and half-empty bottles of wine, white and red, a sparkling soft drink and several glasses. In amongst the glasses and bottles was the detritus of opened presents. Boxes, bags, gift wrap, tissue paper. The presents were there too. Toys, both soft and primary-coloured plastic. All-in-one Babygros, shawls, hats, jumpers, socks, shoes.

‘This get-together…’ Anni said.

‘Oh Christ…’ said Phil. He was aware of Anni looking at him, gauging his reaction, but couldn’t look at her or Clayton yet. His pulse began to quicken. He tried to ignore it.

‘You’ll see one of them wasn’t drinking,’ said a voice from the bedroom.

The three of them turned. Nick Lines, the pathologist, was straightening up from the bed, peering over the tops of his glasses at Phil. He was a tall, shaven-head, hook-nosed, slightly cadaverous man, with graveyard looks and a gallows humour to match. He always looked excited at a crime scene, Phil thought. As much as he ever looked excited at anything. Lines took his glasses off, looked at Phil. ‘I’m guessing that’s because, as far as I can make out from an initial examination, she was pregnant.’

Phil stared with renewed horror at the slit stomach. He didn’t dare voice the question that all three of them were thinking. ‘Shit,’ was all he could say.

‘Quite,’ said Lines, his voice like Nick Cave’s more miserable brother. ‘She was pregnant. And before you ask, the answer’s no. There’s no sign of it. Anywhere in the flat. Once we realised what condition she had been in, that was the first thing we did.’

Phil felt his heart beating faster, his pulse racing; tried to calm it down. He would be no good to the investigation in that frame of mind. He turned to the pathologist, his voice urgent.

‘What have you got, Nick?’

‘Well, as I said, this is only preliminary; don’t hold me to any of it. The obvious stuff first. Broken nose, bruising. She was punched in the face. Hard. It looks like she’s been injected with something at the back of her neck. Then again at the base of her spine. Obviously I don’t know what it is yet but I’d hazard a guess that it was something to paralyse her.’

‘And the… the cutting?’

Nick Lines shrugged. ‘Carried out with a modicum of skill, it would seem. The one in the hall, they knew which arteries to go for. Likewise here. They had a fair idea of what they were doing.’

‘Time of death?’

‘Hard to say at present. Late last night. Eleven-ish? Sometime round then. Between ten and two, I’d say.’

‘Any sign of sexual activity?’

A faint smile played on Lines’ lips. Phil knew it was his way of displaying irritation at being asked so many initial questions. ‘As Chairman Mao said when asked how effective he thought the French Revolution had been, it’s just too early to tell.’

‘Any clues as to who could have done this?’ said Clayton.

Lines sighed. ‘I just tell you how they died. It’s up to you to find out why.’

‘I meant what kind of person,’ Clayton said, clearly hurt by the response. ‘Build an’ that.’

‘Nothing yet.’

‘How far gone was she?’ asked Anni.

‘Very well advanced, I’d say.’

‘But how far?’

He gave her a professionally contemptuous look, clearly getting irritated. ‘I’m a pathologist, not a clairvoyant.’

‘And we’ve got jobs to do as well,’ said Phil, matching Lines’ irritation with his own. ‘Would this baby be dead by now, or is there a chance it could still be alive?’

Nick Lines looked back at the body on the bed rather than directly at Phil. ‘Judging from the condition of her womb, I’d say almost full term. Only weeks away.’

‘Meaning?’

‘Meaning yes. There’s every chance that this baby is still alive.’

Marina Esposito stepped slowly into the room, looked around. She was nervous. Not because of what she was about to do particularly, but because of the public admission. Because once she had taken that step, her life would be changed, redefined for ever.

The room was large, the walls painted in light pastels, the floor wood. It had that warm yet simultaneously cool feel that so many fitness centres had. She had tried to slip quietly into the changing room, not engage anyone with eye contact and certainly not in conversation, get changed as quickly as possible, hoping her body wouldn’t mark her out as one of them. She had heard them and seen them, though, talking and laughing together, and knew instinctively she would never be part of that. Never be one of them. No matter what circumstances dictated. Now she saw the same women in here and her heart sank. Hair piled up or tied back, trainers or bare feet. All wearing brightly coloured, almost dayglo leotards and co-ordinated joggers. Full make-up. Marina was wearing grey jogging bottoms, a black T-shirt, old trainers. She felt dowdy and dull.

Someone stopped behind her. ‘You lost?’

‘Yes,’ she said, turning. She tried to speak, but the words wouldn’t emerge.

‘Pre-natal yoga?’ the woman said, seeing the mat under Marina’s arm.

Marina nodded.

The woman smiled. ‘That’s us, then.’ She patted her stomach. It was much bigger than Marina’s. Taut and hard, the bright orange leotard stretched tight across it. It protruded proudly over the waistline of her rolled-down joggers. Marina could see the distended navel through the material, like the knot of a balloon. The woman smiled like being that size and shape was the most natural thing in the world. She looked at Marina’s stomach.

Oh God , Marina thought. Looking at stomachs. That’s how I have to greet people from now on.

‘How far gone?’

‘Just… three months. Four.’

The woman looked into the room. ‘Starting early, that’s good.’

Marina felt she had to reciprocate. ‘What… what about you?’

The woman laughed. ‘Any day now, from the size of it. Eight months. I’m Caroline, by the way.’

‘Marina.’

‘Nice to meet you. Well, come on in. We don’t bite.’

Caroline walked into the room, Marina following. Marina sized the other woman up, looking at her face rather than her stomach for the first time. Mid-thirties, perky, cheerful. Probably a housewife from somewhere like Lexden. Kept herself in good shape, filled her days by lunching with friends, going to the gym, the hairdresser’s and the nail salon, shopping. Not Marina’s type of person at all. Caroline stopped to talk to other women, greeting them like old friends. All of them scooped from the same mould as her. Brightly coloured and round. Giggling and laughing. Marina felt she had walked into a Teletubbies convention.

She wanted to turn round, walk out.

But at that moment the instructor arrived and closed the door behind her, cutting off her escape route.