Quintin Jardine - Poisoned Cherries

Yes, we had done it for the best of motives. . we believed that Alison was innocent. . and I was cool about that. We had also done it very well, so there was no reason why anyone should ever find out; unless, of course, . and this was my one niggling doubt. . the police found out about David and Anna and put the thumbscrews on Alison herself.

Ricky had told her to deny everything and say nothing else, if it came to that, but still, she was flaky under pressure.

All in all, I reckoned, and I said as much to Ricky, the sooner the real killer was caught the better it would be for everyone.

‘That depends who it is,’ he muttered darkly. The Oxford was busy, as always, but we had wedged ourselves into a quiet corner.

‘What the hell do you mean by that?’ I demanded.

‘The real killer’s got it in for Alison, Oz. He’s done two people and tried to frame her for both of them. To all intents and purposes he succeeded the first time, and if it hadn’t been for a police car being in a traffic accident, she’d be remanded in prison right now, and wouldn’t be coming out again until she was past fifty.

‘Whoever’s done that had a bloody good reason for it; when we find out what it is, we might not like it.’

‘Have you asked her about it? I know you two have been pillow-talking, after all.’

‘Yes, I’ve asked her, as directly as I could. She swears she hasn’t a clue who or what could be behind it.’

‘And do you believe her?’

He looked down into his beer and nodded.

‘If that was me talking,’ I said, ‘you’d bloody laugh at me. You’d go on about the power of the furry purse to blind you to the obvious, and in the end I’d agree with you. Jesus Christ, for years I thought Prim was Mary Fucking Poppins.’

Ricky chuckled. ‘Aye, and that you were Bert the chimney sweep, I suppose. You’re right, though; that’s exactly what I have told myself. And I still believe her. So do you, come to that. You never thought she killed Capperauld, and you know she didn’t kill Anna Chin, because someone set her up to be caught.’

‘Sure, but believing that she doesn’t have a clue why all this has happened, that’s something else.’

‘Nonetheless, I do.’ He finished his pint, went up to the bar and ordered two more. ‘You’re right about something else too,’ he said, when he returned. ‘Two correct in one night; that’s good going for you.’

‘Thanks. What is it?’

‘We do need to catch this character. He knows about the connection between David and Anna; clearly he does, because he’s killed them both. At the moment, as far as we’re aware, he’s the only one who does, but if the police don’t tie in Alison in the next few days, then, sooner rather than later, he’s going to find a way to let them in on the secret.

‘If we allow that to happen, my famous friend, for all I’ve told Alison to act wide-eyed and innocent, chances are we are all waist-deep in the shit.’

‘So where do we begin to look for him?’

‘Stick a pin in a map of the city. That’s as good a way as any in the circumstances. Do you have any bright ideas?’

‘What connects the two killings?’

‘It’s a triangle. That’s what we’re meant to think. Maybe it is. Maybe Alison knew about it from the start. Maybe we’re just a pair of saps and she is just playing us along. Maybe she made those anonymous phone calls to herself. .’

‘And maybe she fixed that accident to the police car?’

‘Yes. At the end of it all, that’s the one lucky break she’s had, and that’s why I believe all the rest of it. So to come back to your question, what connects the two killings?’

‘Torrent.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘He was a client of Alison and David’s; he was Anna Chin’s employer; he was putting pressure on Alison when all this happened. And he’s dodgy in business, as we know from Susie. Yet when I spoke to him, he was as nice as nine euros, handing out treats like he was Scrooge on Christmas Day.’

‘But so what?’

‘But so it’s all we’ve fucking got! We need. . bugger it, you need to get in there and see what you can find. You’re his security consultant; start a complete review in the wake of Anna’s murder, and while you’re at it, look for anything that might help us here.

‘Otherwise, we’re not just waist-deep in the shit. Any minute now the tea-break’ll be over and it’ll be back to standing on our heads.’

Actually I was in it already, as I found out when I left the Oxford. I had switched off my mobile while I was talking to Ricky; when I turned it on again, outside in Young Street, it flashed at me impatiently to tell me that I had a voice message.

It was Susie, terse and to the point. ‘Call me back.’

I obeyed, trying her mobile first, since its ringing was less likely to disturb Janet. ‘You might have warned me,’ she said, as soon as she answered.

‘I thought I had,’ I protested, not knowing what the hell she was on about. ‘Is Mandy there with you?’

‘Yes,’ she replied, ‘and that made it worse, having her in the house. She knew who she was, when the buzzer went and she answered it.’

The third pint of lager had fogged my brain. ‘Who?’ I mumbled.

‘Prim, you idiot, who else? Your wife came to see me and our daughter. You might have bloody well warned me she was around.’

‘But she only turned up this afternoon,’ I heard myself protest, lamely. ‘And when she left I thought she was going up to Perthshire to see her folks. I’d no idea she’d go to see you, or I’d have told her not to.’

‘Fat chance she’d have listened,’ said Susie, scornfully.

‘So what did she say? Did Mandy have to referee?’

‘Mandy wasn’t there; I sent her into the kitchen while we had our chat.’

‘And?’

‘And she was as nice as only Primavera can be when she puts her mind to it. She asked if she could see the baby, and when I showed her to her she got all misty-eyed. She’d even stopped in at a shopping centre and bought her a present.

‘Then she said that the way things had worked out were probably for the best. She hoped that you and I would be very happy together and she wished us both luck. What do you make of that?’

‘What should I make of it?’ I replied. ‘I’m relieved, I suppose. She didn’t know about Janet until she turned up in Edinburgh this afternoon. It came as a real shock to her. I’m pleased that she’s taken the news so well.’

‘She didn’t know? She told you that? And you believed her?’

‘Yes.’

‘Oh, you poor, gullible lad; she’s a better actor than you are. . not that it would be hard.’

‘Come on, Susie,’ I protested, stung by her critical review, ‘what’s your problem with all this?’

‘I know her,’ she shot back. ‘Her turning up like this was not spur of the moment, and as for her best wishes, they were a declaration of war. I was always wary of Prim at the best of times; as things are now, I wouldn’t trust her an inch.’

‘Ah, come on. Sometimes you have to take people at face value.’

‘She isn’t people! She’s your wife, and she’s got the biggest down on me any woman could possibly have on another. So when she swans into my house, goes gooey over my baby, and wishes me long life and happiness, no way will I believe a bloody word she’s saying!’

‘Well I do, okay?’

‘Sure you do, like you believed her in the past, when she was having it off with half of Spain in your absence.’

‘She didn’t really lie to me, though. I just assumed. Anyway, all that time was none of my business.’

‘Yeah? And what about her and Mike? When she was with you and he was with me? What about that?’