Simon Beckett - The Restless Dead

The cover banged shut. A moment later it jerked against me as he kicked it, but I’d got the advantage now. I kept my shoulder to the rough timber planks, riding out the kicks until he stopped.

Water slopped in the sudden quiet. I could hear Porter breathing heavily outside.

‘Very fucking clever. What’re you going to do now?’

I hadn’t a clue. The hatch opened inward, so providing I stayed where I was he couldn’t get in. But I couldn’t get out either. Shivering, I looked around. The water was waist deep and still rising. Vertical bars of grey twilight seeped through the slats of the gate. I could make out an assortment of boating junk floating around but none of it looked of any use. Pushing away the holed canoe that was bumping against me like a persistent horse, I took my phone from my pocket. It was dripping wet but I tried it anyway. The screen stayed dead.

There’d be no help coming. I tried to stay calm and think. The water level inside the boathouse already seemed higher, but that would hold for the outside as well. The creek was cold but not life-threateningly so, and Porter would be in a hurry to get away. He’d murdered a police officer. He couldn’t afford to waste time here, or wait until the rising waters forced me out.

Then I remembered he had a shotgun, and any relief was snuffed out.

‘You still there or have you drowned?’ he called.

I pressed my hands against the hatch cover, gauging the rough wood. Solid as it was, it wouldn’t be any protection against a shotgun blast. I spoke through it.

‘Don’t make this any worse for yourself.’

My voice sounded ragged from cold and exertion. There was a sour laugh from outside.

‘I don’t intend to. Soon as you tell me where the money is I’ll go.’

Back to that again. ‘I told you, I don’t know about any money.’

‘You just said it was in your car, so why should I believe you?’

‘Because this isn’t helping either of us. You killed a police officer. You seriously think you’re going to get far?’

‘Worry about yourself. Water must be getting pretty high in there. Bet it’s cold round your bollocks.’

I was trying to ignore the cold, thinking instead about the shotgun. The Mowbry must be in the Daimler, but if Porter went to get it I could make a break for the boat. Evidently that had occurred to him as well, or he’d have gone for it already. ‘Did you know Leo Villiers is still alive?’

‘No shit.’

Of course he knew, I berated myself. That was why he was running. With Villiers not just alive but demonstrably innocent, it would be only a matter of time before the police began looking at other suspects. Including him.

‘Did his father tell you?’ I asked, aware that the longer he stayed down here, away from the shotgun, the more the odds swung in my favour.

‘You think the old man would admit his son’s turned up as a woman? Like he’s going to broadcast that.’

The soft slosh of water told me Porter was moving around outside. I listened for any sign that he was going back up the steps, ready to make a dash for the boat if he did.

‘So how did you find out?’ I pressed.

‘I was driving him when the police called to break the news. Got to keep Sir Stephen happy, haven’t they?’

‘He talked to them in front of you?’

‘Like I said, you’d be surprised what you get to hear when you’re taken for granted.’

There was a note of bitterness there. I filed it away, more concerned with what he was doing outside. I could hear him moving through the water, trying to be quiet about it. ‘Is that how you found out we were at the sea fort?’

‘Yeah, I wasn’t expecting that. Made my arse pucker when I heard, I can tell you. Couldn’t wait to drop the old man off so I could find out what you were doing out there.’

His voice was coming from further away, from the direction of the jetty rather than the steps. I strained to make out what he was doing, hoping he wasn’t untying the boat. ‘You shouldn’t have killed Lundy.’

‘Tell me something I don’t fucking know.’

‘Then why did you do it?’ I almost shouted, unable to keep the rawness from my voice.

‘I didn’t have any choice. I didn’t even know he was with you until I saw him. From what I’d heard it sounded like it was just you and the sister who’d gone out there.’

‘So you were only planning to kill us? And then what? Try and pass it off as another boating accident?’

‘I didn’t plan to kill anyone, all right? I only wanted the fucking money back! Christ, you think I wanted this?’ The sloshing was getting louder: he was coming back from wherever he’d been. ‘Look, things have got out of hand. If I turn myself in will you put a word in for me?’

That was the last thing I’d expected. His voice sounded closer: he was right outside again. I hesitated, shivering in the cold water. I didn’t trust him but I couldn’t see where this was leading.

‘OK,’ I said carefully. ‘But you have to—’

I was almost knocked off my feet as the hatch cover bucked under a new assault. Water surged as I heaved against it. I could hear Porter panting on the other side. He’d almost caught me out, but now the attempt had failed he didn’t have the leverage to force his way in. The cover jumped from a last desultory blow before he gave up.

‘Come on, this is fucking stupid,’ he panted. ‘Just tell me where the money is and I’ll let you go.’

‘For Christ’s sake, I don’t know about any money!’ Frustrated, I kept my shoulder against the hatch while I looked round for the broken oar. Grabbing it, I jammed it at an angle between the decking planks and the hatch cover. It wouldn’t keep Porter out for long but it might give me a few seconds if he tried anything again. ‘Who’d you steal it from anyway? Or were you blackmailing Leo Villiers as well?’

‘I’m not a fucking thief! And if I’d wanted to blackmail the Villiers I’d have done it years ago.’ He sounded genuinely affronted. ‘I was trying to bail them out, same as always. That Derby bitch and her boyfriend had got photos of Leo dressing up, and wanted half a million not to go public. Half a million . Jesus. Little Leo shit himself and did a runner when he found out, so then they went to his old man. I told him not to pay, but oh no. Couldn’t have everyone knowing his son liked to play at Barbie, could he?’

The bitterness was back. I could hear Porter moving away from the hatch again. Now what? I looked over at the gate that barred the opening to the creek. The wooden slats were more than half covered by the slopping waves.

Remembering its rusted padlock, I hoped it would hold.

‘So then what? You killed them and took the money?’ Come on, what are you doing out there?

‘I wasn’t going to let some chancers muscle in, not after all I’ve done for the Villiers.’ I could hear him prowling around outside, trying not to make a noise as he waded through the water. ‘Any idiot could see the photos were taken from the sea fort. They wanted the money leaving at the oyster sheds, so after I dropped the bag off I went to Willets Point and kept watch. Waited until I saw a boat go to the fort and then took Leo’s dinghy out there. Thought I’d get the money back and maybe put a bit of a scare into them, but that was all.’

His voice was still moving, but sounded more muffled now. It was hard to pinpoint where he was.

‘So what went wrong?’ Christ it was cold. I hugged myself, straining to hear Porter’s movements.

‘The fucking boyfriend.’ Porter sounded disgusted. ‘He had to show off, act the big hard man. Giving it all that “don’t fuck with me, I’m a blackbelt” shit. Like it was a fucking dojo. So I hit him.’