Phil Kurthausen - The Silent Pool

Heather was struggling on the floor and she kicked out and caught the policeman square on the shin. He gave a yelp of pain. Heather saw Erasmus and started shouting for him. The cop who had been kicked pulled out his baton. Erasmus could see he was bleeding from the nose where Heather's foot had connected. The cop lifted the baton as though he was about to strike Heather.

‘Stop that right now!’ shouted Erasmus at the top of his voice.

The bloodied policeman turned his head in Erasmus’ direction. He had a name badge: PC Cooper.

‘Who the fucking hell are you then you beardy streak of piss?’

Nice of the policeman to remind him that he hadn't had a shave that morning.

Heather who was still laying on the floor gave Erasmus an elaborate wink. Luckily for her none of the officers saw because as Erasmus was daily reminded of by the pain in his right knee, policemen the world over didn't like people laughing at them. Erasmus decided to go full pompous.

‘I, Officer Cooper, work on behalf of Dakins solicitors and that,’ Erasmus pointed at Heather, ‘is my client you are assaulting.’

‘Resisting arrest,’ said Officer Cooper. ‘She kicked me in da nose.’

‘I saw a policeman holding down a sixteen-year-old girl and dragging her into a van. What's the charge?’

Erasmus knew what the charges would be and, sure as eggs is eggs, Officer Cooper obliged.

‘Possession of a Class B drug namely GM Skunk and resisting arrest, of course,’ he smirked and waved a Ziploc® bag containing a roach smudged with black lipstick.

Erasmus presumed that Heather had managed to ditch her stash somewhere or had it concealed in a place that would require a female officer to search.

‘Officer Cooper, I am guessing that now the strikes are over and you are back on performance related pay per arrest that you have targeted my client, who, by the way, has a prescription for her medical marijuana use, and in the rush for hitting your daily quota have inadvertently arrested a disabled young girl, confiscated her medicine and beaten her, and all in front of her representative.’

Cooper glowered at Erasmus. ‘Show me her prescription.’

Erasmus suddenly realised that without thinking about it he had put his whole career in jeopardy. Lying to a police officer and impersonating a solicitor probably wouldn't sit well with Dan's law firm. He gave an inner curse. And all he had done was pop out for a sandwich.

‘That's sensitive personal information under the Data Protection Act, do you have a court order for such disclosure?’

PC Cooper glared at him. ‘I've got this,’ he said, swinging his baton into his fist.

The other police officer, Erasmus could see his name badge said Higgs, let go of Heather and put his hand on Cooper's shoulder. Cooper didn't take his eyes from Erasmus.

‘Easy, Coops,’ said PC Higgs.

Erasmus realised that now Cooper was also putting his career on the line and in doing so had yielded all his advantage.

‘Are you threatening an officer of the court, PC Cooper?’

There was a crackle from the radio that PC Higgs carried on his belt. He pulled it out and Erasmus caught a crackly voice mention a 187. Erasmus knew what that one meant, a homicide.

Higgs pulled Cooper aside. ‘There's another one,’ he whispered to Cooper.

Cooper pulled away and turned back to Erasmus. ‘You got lucky, we got to go so I'll leave you and your jailbait but I won't forget you.’

‘Which is funny, PC Cooper, because I think I've already forgotten about you.’

Erasmus helped Heather off the floor.

‘Are you OK?’ he asked her.

Heather was smiling as she moved towards Erasmus and tried to give him a hug. Erasmus tried to dodge the hug but Heather was nothing if not nimble and she jumped up and wrapped her arms around his neck.

‘Raz, if you weren't such an old dude I tell you you'd be my man, ha ha!’

Erasmus managed to put Heather down. Her friends had started to drift off, skateboarding to friendlier pastures.

‘Look Heather, you've got to take care. I can recognise an evil streak and that cop has one a mile wide. With the end of the strike they are looking for busts and with your record next time you get convicted you are going down.’

Heather's smile dropped. Maybe he was getting through to her, thought Erasmus.

‘Listen Raz, if I've told you once I've told you a million times it's “H” not Heather and you could be right but you are making some big assumptions about what life is about. I owe you one. Catch you around!’ And with that she dropped her board and skated after her friends.

Erasmus stood there for a second and then noticed he was being watched. It was the fat woman from Philpotts. She was eating a sandwich. His sandwich.

She saw Erasmus staring at her.

‘Whaaa?’ she said through a mouthful of cheese and salad cream.

CHAPTER 12

The address Jenna had given him was in Aigburth. It was a part of the city that he was not familiar with. It seemed like he wasn't the only one as the cab driver drove around narrow streets looking for a road that didn't seem to show up on his sat nav. Eventually, it was Erasmus who spotted a set of stone gateposts set back from the road that marked the entrance to a private road. Just beyond the posts, Erasmus could see an old black street sign with grey lettering spelling out Grasmere Road. The cabbie performed a quick U-turn and took them through the gates.

The change once through the gates was clear. Redbrick Victorian terraces gave way to grand Georgian mansions partially hidden by oak and beech trees.

The road ran down towards the river. Erasmus ticked off the numbers eventually stopping at the last house before the road ran out, just before the railings that marked the division between land and sea.

The house overlooked the black strip of the Mersey and across to the Wirral. It was a large Georgian house, white stucco and columns that spoke of merchants, slaves and molasses.

Erasmus paid the cabbie and stepped out into the cold early evening. It was already getting dark, old-fashioned wrought-iron lamps casting little puddles of light in the gloom. Erasmus imagined not much had changed on this road in the last hundred years.

A curtain flicked at one of the large downstairs windows and then a coach light came on above the shiny black front door. A few moments later, the door opened and Jenna appeared under the pale light, beckoning him in. She was wearing skin-tight jeans with leather boots and a fitted mohair jumper. Erasmus felt his heart quicken. He briefly thought of the sirens that lured sailors to their doom. Instinctively, he felt for the phone in his jacket pocket: Molly was a call away.

‘Hi,’ she said as he approached. Her eyes were twinkling with an amusement that Erasmus had seen before. It was the knowledge of charms worked.

‘Bet you weren't expecting this place, were you?’

Erasmus shook the proffered hand. ‘Well, no not really. I thought Stephen worked for the council. And you…’ He floundered.

Jenna laughed

‘Yes, I'm a housewife and it's a noble profession so you don't need to feel embarrassed. I made my choices and am happy with them. Anyway, come and let me fix you a drink.’

Erasmus followed her inside.

She led Erasmus through the large hallway towards a reception room. They passed a corridor that led to the kitchen and as they did so Erasmus noticed a flicker of movement out of the corner of his eye, a dark shape moving quickly, as though to get out of sight.

Erasmus paused and looked towards where he had seen the movement.

Jenna turned around.

‘You OK?’

‘I thought we were alone?’

‘Ever the investigator, eh? As you may have guessed this is not mine and Stephen's house. It's Stephen's uncle Theodore's house. Come on, you can't tell me you don't know about him. I know why Dan's firm have taken my “case”. He's kindly agreed to put me up for a few days until, well, until Stephen comes back. And yes we are alone. I think you may have just seen Theo's Labrador though. ’