Stephen Leather - Nightshade

The two detectives frowned in unison. ‘Divorce?’ said the inspector.

Nightingale tried to keep the casual smile on his face as he nodded. ‘I’m acting for a woman who thinks that her husband is messing around with a coven of witches.’

‘Witches?’ repeated McKee.

‘Well, they claim they’re a coven but the lady suspects that her husband is using it for casual sex. She found the knife and the crucible hidden in their house so she wanted me to get it checked to see if that’s animal blood.’

‘Why does it matter what sort of blood it is?’ asked the inspector.

That was a very good question, Nightingale realised. His mind raced, trying to come up with a believable answer. ‘It’s more so that when she sues him for divorce she can say that she found a knife with chicken blood or whatever in his wardrobe. If she doesn’t do the checks then he might just turn around and say it was a rusty knife he used in the garden. He’s got a lot of money and he’ll fight any divorce tooth and nail so she wants to get all her ducks in a row.’ He leaned forward and lowered his voice conspiratorially. ‘He’s quite well connected, which is why she came to my firm. We’re in London, so no one’s going to tip him off.’

The inspector nodded as if he was buying it.

‘So can I go?’ asked Nightingale.

‘I don’t think we need to keep you any longer. But you can’t take the knife on the plane, not in your hand luggage anyway. I’d suggest you check it in with the airline. Put it in a box or a padded envelope and it can go in the baggage hold. Or use a courier service. It’s Saturday, so you won’t get next-day delivery, but it’ll be in London Monday or Tuesday.’

‘Thanks,’ said Nightingale. He stood up and put the bagged knife into his kitbag.

‘Are you okay, is she making you happy?’ asked Candy, watching Eric’s face carefully for any sign of disapproval. Eric kept his feelings to himself most of the time. He never said if he was happy or sad, excited or worried, but sometimes, if she watched his eyes, she could get a clue to what he was thinking.

He smiled at her, but she knew from experience that a smile from Eric Lucas meant nothing. Smiling was his camouflage. He smiled to get his own way. He had several smiles, like an archer with a quiver of arrows, each one slightly different to the next.

‘She’s good,’ said Eric. ‘You made a good choice.’

‘I did, didn’t I?’ said Candy, nodding enthusiastically. ‘I knew she’d make a perfect princess for you.’

Eric reached out and slowly stroked Candy’s hair. ‘You did good, Candy. You did real good.’

Candy smiled and felt her cheeks flush red. They were sitting at the kitchen table. She had made them cheese omelettes with toast and a pot of tea. The girl was asleep in the bedroom. Candy had given her a sleeping tablet to keep her quiet, but had tied her to the bed just in case the tablet wore off. Not that the girl could do anything even if she could move around the room. They had nailed boards over the bedroom window. The blinds were between the glass and the boards, so from outside no one could see that the window was boarded up, but there was no way that the girl could get out and no way that anyone would hear her screams. When they had first boarded up the window Candy had stood in the room and screamed her lungs out while Eric had paced around outside. He’d heard not a sound.

It was Sunday and they’d had the girl for two days. She knew that Eric enjoyed the first day the most and that his enjoyment decreased day by day until the fourth day, by which time it was over. Candy hated the fourth day, but she loved Eric so she helped him do what had to be done and then she helped him bury the bodies because without the bodies they would never get caught. That was what Eric always said and Eric was always right. Eric would never say how many girls he’d done it to over the years but Candy was sure there had been some. He was her only helper, that was what he said, and she didn’t think that he was lying.

‘You do love me, don’t you, Eric?’

‘Of course. More than anything.’

‘And the girls. They’re just for fun.’

‘That’s all it is. Fun. And you want me to be happy, don’t you?’

Candy nodded. ‘More than anything.’

‘And you know that after I’ve had fun with the little princesses, things between us are so good, aren’t they?’

‘Yes.’

‘So it’s a good thing we’re doing. Anything that makes our relationship stronger is a good thing.’

She reached over and held his hand. ‘No one loves you like I love you, you know that?’

‘Of course I do.’ He squeezed her hand. ‘You’re one in a million. A billion maybe.’

‘And we’ll be together for ever?’

Eric grinned. ‘For ever and ever.’

First thing Monday morning Nightingale stopped off at Costa Coffee and brought two lattes before heading up the stairs to his office. ‘A coffee run, how lovely,’ said Jenny when she saw him. ‘What do you want?’

‘I’m hurt,’ said Nightingale, placing one coffee in front of her and carrying the other through to his office. ‘I just wanted to show you how much you’re appreciated.’ He had a carrier bag tucked under his arm.

‘You needn’t have got me a coffee, a pay rise would have been just as symbolic,’ she said.

Nightingale returned holding his raincoat. He handed her the carrier bag and hung up his raincoat. ‘I wanted a coffee, too,’ he said. ‘So it was killing two birds, really.’ He dropped down onto the chair opposite her desk.

‘How did it go up in Berwick?’

‘I got hit over the head with a blunt object and was almost killed when my car got forced off the road.’ He grinned at her and swung his feet up onto her desk.

‘Ask a stupid question …’

‘I’m serious,’ said Nightingale. ‘First night there I was cold-cocked and told to get out of town, and when I didn’t a Land Rover side-swiped me into a ditch.’

‘Did you tell the police?’

‘I didn’t see the point. I couldn’t identify anyone. And other than a sore head I’m fine.’ He gestured at the carrier bag and Jenny emptied the contents on to her desk. There were half a dozen Sunday newspapers and the evidence bags containing the crucible and the knife that Nightingale had taken from the barn.

‘Can you send that off to the lab, get them to check the blood that’s on these things.’

She held them up. ‘Where did you get them from?”

‘They were on a Satanic altar at McBride’s farm. It looks like that’s blood so I’m hoping the lab will confirm that and tell us what sort of blood it is.’

‘Lab work’s not cheap,’ she said. ‘But I suppose we just add it to Mr McBride’s bill.’

Nightingale took out his mobile phone and handed it to her. ‘I took some pictures as well — can you print them so I can get a better look at them? There’s a Satanic altar in the barn, or at least what passes for one. I’m going to make a few enquiries on that front, and the blood should go some way to either confirming or denying it’s genuine. But there were upside-down crucifixes and goats with horns and pentangles …’

‘But?’

‘What do you mean?’

‘I’m sensing a “but” is on the way.’

Nightingale looked pained. ‘It was almost too Satanic, if that’s possible. It didn’t seem organic, it was as if it had been put together so that it would press all the buttons.’

‘Like a film set?’

Nightingale nodded. ‘Exactly like a film set. And the brother was adamant he was in the barn two days before McBride kicked off. I don’t see he’d lie about that. I mean, what’d be the point? There’s no doubt McBride killed those kids. He said the Satanic stuff wasn’t there and I believe him. So if it wasn’t there two days before the killings, then either McBride put it all there or someone else did.’ He pulled out the sheaf of papers he’d taken from the altar. ‘And there’s these.’ He gave them to her.