Robert Goddard - Name To a Face

“Misleading you was a regrettable necessity. Hayley said she needed time. I helped her buy some and I told you as much of the truth as I dared. I invented nothing where my ancestor Francis Gashry’s concerned, as Herbert Shelkin must have confirmed to you. It’s merely that it has… no direct bearing on what happened to Kerry.”

“For which you and Hayley both blame Barney?”

“Yes. I’ve no doubt in the matter. Nor has Hayley.”

“She might have now, for all you know.”

“I don’t think so,” said Ann severely, as if the notion was absurd.

“When do you expect to hear from her again?”

“I couldn’t say. I imagine, after coming so close… to doing such a dreadful thing… she’ll need time to think. Time to reflect.”

“Spent where?”

“I don’t know. I truly don’t.”

“I’m not sure you quite understand the position you’re in, Ann. Barney’s prepared to stay his hand for as long as it takes me to find Hayley and resolve this situation. But if I don’t find her…”

“I can’t tell you what I don’t know.”

“No. But you could promise to alert me as soon as she contacts you.”

“If she contacts me.”

“I’ll settle for that.”

Ann set down her brandy glass with exaggerated care. Several wordless moments passed as the clock on the mantelpiece ticked sonorously and the fire crackled. Then she said, “Very well. I daresay it’s… in everybody’s best interests. Perhaps I… shouldn’t have encouraged her.”

“Perhaps not.”

“She said you seemed… an honest man.”

“I am.”

“You have my word, then. If I hear from her, you’ll hear from me. ”

Harding stretched across to the Canterbury that stood a few feet from his chair and pulled out a newspaper: the Daily Telegraph , folded to display the crosswords on the back page. Ann had completed the quick as well as the cryptic, without a single crossing-out. He jotted his mobile number at the foot of the page and handed it to her. “I’ll be waiting.”

“Thank you,” she said, laying the paper down on the table.

“I need some information to be going on with.”

“I’ve told you all I can.”

“What do you know about Shep?”

“Who?” She looked genuinely puzzled.

“Shep. Short for Shepherd. Kerry’s journalistic mentor.”

“I’m afraid I’ve never heard of him.”

“According to Carol, they were often in touch.”

“I’m afraid I’ve still never heard of him.”

“Do you think Nathan might have?”

“It’s possible. I… couldn’t say.”

“I’ll ask him myself, then. If you don’t mind giving me his address and phone number.”

“Must we involve him? I doubt he’ll be able to help you.”

“Only one way to find out.”

A tremor of unease, mixed with distaste, crossed Ann’s face. She cleared her throat nervously. “I wouldn’t want Nathan… to learn how I’ve… misrepresented him.”

“I’ll do my best to steer round the subject.”

“Your best?”

Harding shrugged. “It’s all I can offer. And frankly…” He paused, forcing her to meet his gaze before he continued. “It’s more than you deserve.”

Saturday morning dawned grey and cold, the high-rise Thameside apartment block where Nathan Gashry lived adding a vortical gale to the prevailing bleakness. Harding felt bizarrely elated as he approached the pushbutton entryphone panel, however. He felt, for once, that he was ahead in whatever game was being played, that the decoys were done with, that the trail he was following would lead him to whoever his quarry really was.

“Yeah?” came the gruff, belated response to Harding’s triple prod at the button for flat 228.

“Nathan Gashry?”

“That’s me.”

“Can I come in? We need to talk. My name’s Harding. Tim Harding.”

“Who?”

“Harding. We’ve never met. I’m a friend… of Barney Tozer.”

“Tozer?”

“That’s right.”

“Did he… send you here?”

Harding debated how to answer for a split-second, then opted for “Yes.”

“What the hell for?”

“It’d be easier to explain if you let me in.”

“Shit. This isn’t…” A pause for thought. “Oh, all right, then. Come up. Fifth floor.”

The door release buzzed. Harding was in.

The man who opened the door of flat 228 had the same probing, dark-eyed gaze as Ann Gashry, but was otherwise unrecognizable as her brother. Lean, chestnut-haired and unshaven, he was wearing espadrilles and a short, orientally styled bathrobe. He looked as if he was many years younger than Ann and inhabited a very different world from hers. The flat was all pared-down furniture and pale, empty space, with high-windowed views along the river towards Westminster.

“What’s this about, mate?” he demanded, letting Harding in no further than the hallway.

“I’m trying to locate Hayley Foxton.”

“Hayley?”

“Barney reckoned you might be able to help.”

“Well, he reckoned wrong. I haven’t a clue where she is.”

“Pity. Only, she was in Monte Carlo a few days ago. She broke into the Tozers’ apartment and threatened Carol with a knife.”

“You’re having me on.”

The light reaching them from the lounge altered fractionally. Harding turned to see a young woman standing in a doorway on the far side of the room, frowning at him. She was short and slim, with straight dark hair falling to her shoulders and slender, shapely legs visible from the thighs down beneath the hem of what looked like one of Nathan’s T-shirts.

“Who’s this, Nathan?” she asked uneasily.

“I’ll tell you later,” Nathan replied. “It’s nothing for you to worry about. He won’t be here long.”

“OK.” She did not sound entirely convinced. “I’m going to take a shower.”

“Right. I’ll have breakfast waiting for you.”

The young woman slipped out of sight. A door closed somewhere behind her. “Is that Veronica?” Harding asked casually. But the response he got was far from casual.

“How d’you know her name?”

It was a good question. An even better one was how Hayley had known. “I need to find Hayley Nathan. Can you help me?”

“No. I haven’t seen her in years. But-”

“That’s not how she tells it.”

“We have to track Hayley down before she does anything like this again. For her sake as well as everyone else’s. You do see that, don’t you?”

“You what?”

“There’s nothing I can tell you.”

“I think there is.”

“Well, you’re wrong. OK, mate? Wrong. ”

“You may have some valuable information without even knowing it.”

“That’s it. You’re leaving.” Nathan moved past Harding to the front door of the flat and pulled it open. But Harding kicked it instantly shut, leaving Nathan to stare at him with a mixture of fear and indignation.

“What the fuck d’you think you’re-”

“Listen to me, mate. ” Harding spoke quietly but intently, staring deliberately into Nathan’s eyes. “This is the story Hayley fed me and a few others besides. You’ve been trying to turn her into a re-creation of her dead sister. Taking up with one twin where you left off with the other. Messing with her head as well as her body. And encouraging her to believe Barney murdered Kerry.”

Nathan’s mouth sagged open. His brow furrowed. He seemed incapable of articulating a reaction. Which prompted Harding to press home his advantage.

“Crazy, right? But then she is, isn’t she? As you know. Which is why I haven’t mentioned it to Barney. Luckily for you. If he got the idea into his head that you were responsible for what Hayley’s done… Well, I wouldn’t want to be in your shoes, that’s for sure.”