Sophie Hannah - Hurting Distance

Charlie smiled. Graham had answered the phone the only other time she’d rung, from Spain, and he hadn’t gone through that whole spiel. It was typical of him to make the dogsbody do the full receptionist bit that he’d never dream of doing himself.

‘Could I speak to Graham Angilley, please?’ Charlie put on a strong Scottish accent. A purist might say she didn’t sound Scottish, but she didn’t sound like herself either, which was what mattered. The disguise was purely strategic. Charlie wasn’t scared of a confrontation with Steph—in fact, she was looking forward to telling the silly tart what she thought of her the next time they met; she’d been too stunned to respond after Steph’s tirade in the lodge—but now wasn’t the time for a verbal scrap. Charlie had no doubt that the dogsbody would prevent her from talking to Graham if she could, so subterfuge was her best bet.

‘I’m sorry, Graham’s not here at the moment.’ Steph tried to make her voice sound more refined than the one Charlie had heard her use earlier in the week. Pretentious cow.

‘Do you have a mobile number for him at all?’

‘May I ask what it’s regarding?’ An edge crept into Steph’s voice.

Charlie wondered if her Scottish accent was more rubbish than she’d allowed for. Had the dogsbody guessed who she was? ‘Oh, just a booking. It’s not important,’ she backtracked. ‘I’ll ring again later.’

‘There’s no need,’ said Steph, sounding sure of herself again. The hostility had vanished from her voice. ‘I can help you with that, even if you spoke to Graham originally. I’m Steph. I’m the general manager.’

You’re the fucking dogsbody, you liar, thought Charlie. ‘Oh, right,’ she said. She couldn’t be bothered to go through the rigmarole of making a fake booking, one that’d need to be cancelled later, but she couldn’t think of a way out. Steph was keen to demonstrate her efficiency. ‘Erm . . .’ Charlie began tentatively, hoping she sounded like a busy, multitasking Scot who was leafing through her diary.

‘Actually,’ said Steph conspiratorially, filling the gap in the conversation, ‘don’t tell him I told you this, but you’re better off dealing with me, not Graham. My husband’s not the most precise person when it comes to admin. His head’s usually somewhere else. I’ve lost count of the number of times people have turned up and I’ve had no idea they were coming.’

Charlie gulped air as the shock blasted through her. She felt winded, as if someone had punched her in the stomach.

‘Oh, it’s never a problem,’ Steph chattered on confidently. ‘I always sort it out and everybody’s happy. We only ever have satisfied customers.’ She giggled.

‘Husband,’ said Charlie quietly. No Scottish accent.

Steph didn’t seem to notice the change, of pronunciation or of mood. ‘I know,’ she said. ‘I must be mad, living with him and working with him. Still, like I always tell my friends, at least I won’t have that culture shock that a lot of women get when their husbands retire and suddenly they’re around all the time. I’m used to having Graham under my feet.’ As Steph spoke, Charlie felt herself slowly deflating.

She pressed the end call button on her phone and marched out of the canteen.

When Charlie got back to the CID room and found Gibbs waiting for her practically on the threshold, his face contorted with impatience, her first thought was that she couldn’t do it, couldn’t speak to him. Not now. Conversations with Chris Gibbs required stamina and a certain amount of hardiness. She needed an hour alone. Half an hour, at least. Tough. Hers wasn’t the sort of job where that was possible.

It had been a mistake coming straight back here. She’d passed the ladies’ toilets on the way back from the canteen and considered going in, hiding in there until she was ready to face the world again. But who the fuck knew when that would be? And if she locked herself in a cubicle, she would cry, and then she’d have to wait fifteen minutes or so until her face looked normal again. Whereas going straight back to the CID room meant crying wasn’t an option. Good, she’d thought. She had known Graham Angilley less than a week, for Christ’s sake. She’d seen him a total of three times. It ought to be easy to forget about him.

‘Where have you been?’ Gibbs demanded. ‘I’ve got that background on Robert Haworth.’

‘Great,’ said Charlie weakly. She didn’t want to ask him to tell her what he’d got until she was sure she’d be able to stay and listen. It wasn’t out of the question that she’d need to run to the loo after all.

‘Well worth the wait, I’d say.’ There was triumph in Gibbs’ eyes. ‘Giggleswick School and Oxenhope—both true. Sarge?’

‘Sorry. Go on.’

‘You told me it was urgent. Do you want to hear it or not?’ Gibbs jabbed his head in her direction as he spoke, like an angry turkey. The body language of a bully.

At that moment Charlie couldn’t have cared less about Robert Haworth’s village of origin or education. ‘Give me five minutes, Chris,’ she said. That startled him. She’d never called Gibbs by his first name before.

She left the room and went to stand in the corridor, leaning her back against the wall. The ladies’ toilets were tempting, but she resisted. Crying wasn’t the answer—she bloody well refused to cry—but she needed to allow the adjustment process to complete itself. She couldn’t be around any of her team for as long as she could feel a weight sinking inside her, while this loop of thoughts was endlessly repeating in her head. Five minutes, she thought, that’s all I need.

Steph hadn’t known it was Charlie on the phone, so why would she lie? She wouldn’t.

Steph knew Graham had spent part of Wednesday night in Charlie’s chalet, in bed with Charlie. In the lodge, after the row about the computer, Graham had ordered Steph to bring him and Charlie a full English breakfast in bed in the morning. He’d been specific: Charlie’s bed, he’d said. ‘That’s where we’ll both be.’ Flaunting his infidelity in front of his wife.

And Charlie wasn’t the only one, or the only one Steph was party to. There had been Static Sue as well. And countless other chalet customers, if Steph was to be believed.

Had Graham lied? Not technically. He’d admitted he’d slept with Steph, more than once.

Yes, he’d fucking lied.

He not only called Steph ‘the dogsbody’; he treated her like one. He treated her terribly. No wonder Steph had been so antagonistic towards Charlie. And yet she stayed with Graham, joked about him affectionately on the telephone. My husband’s not the most precise person when it comes to admin. Why did she stay with him?

He’d told Charlie about Steph’s white line, the skin the sunbeds couldn’t reach.

What had he told Steph about Charlie’s anatomy?

He’d persisted in calling Olivia Fat Girl Slim, despite Charlie’s protests.

Fact after fact, truth after unpalatable truth, stood out from the haze of rage and confusion in Charlie’s brain. She knew the way it went, had been through something similar after Simon pushed her off his lap at Sellers’ party and disappeared into the night: first there was the explosion of the big shock, then the many smaller after-shocks, as associated, subsidiary grounds for pain and horror presented themselves. Hundreds of small incidents demanded to be reconsidered in the light of the new knowledge. Sometimes several occurred to you all in one go, and it was like being peppered with tiny, lethal bullets.

Only after you’d been thoroughly peppered and pierced, and once the tremors had subsided, could you see the whole picture. Eventually, the succession of blows, major and minor, came to an end and you were more stable; you settled into your misery as if it were an old jumper.