Val McDermid - The Vanishing Point

That stopped me in my tracks. ‘From your clinic? How did that happen?’

‘He turned up last week when Scarlett was having her chemo. I had to throw him out.’

‘I heard. Well done.’ I slotted a capsule into the machine and set a cup in place.

‘I was worried he might do it again. And I’ll be honest. I was concerned that one of the clinic staff had fed him the details of her treatment. So I rearranged her remaining appointments but I didn’t change them in the clinic diary.’

I took my coffee. ‘You’ve dealt with celebs before, haven’t you?’ I said, weary at the thought of the hoops decent people like Simon had to go through to protect their patients.

‘And the people who pursue them,’ he said, looking depressed at the memory. ‘Anyway, as I’d feared, Joshu turned up yesterday at the time Scarlett was originally supposed to attend the clinic. He barged into a treatment room where I was sitting with a patient. He was very irate that Scarlett wasn’t there. He didn’t make a fuss about leaving the room, but he wouldn’t leave the clinic. He stormed into my office and wouldn’t budge.’ Simon sighed and ran a hand through his tousled hair. ‘I know I did a stupid thing. I left him in my office while I went to get security. I should have called them from my office. But I didn’t want to wind him up any more. I thought calling security might have sent him over the edge. There was a real sense of desperation and violence coming from him.’

‘He could be very unnerving,’ I said, remembering our first encounter and the replica gun.

‘Unnerving, yes.’ Simon seized on the word like it was the Christmas present he’d always wanted. ‘So I left him alone while I fetched security.’

‘Did he put up much of a fight?’

Simon frowned, perplexed. ‘No. That was the funny thing. As soon as the two security guards appeared, he went off with them like a lamb. I thought at the time he must be one of those types who are all sound and no substance.’ He lowered his eyes and stared into his coffee. ‘Turned out I was wrong. The reason Joshu wasn’t making a fuss was because he’d broken into my briefcase and pocketed all the morphine I carry for emergencies.’

I suspected ‘emergencies’ was a term that covered a multitude of contingencies, including helping people on their way whose quality of life had diminished to vanishing point. ‘Ah,’ I said. ‘I can see why he’d go quietly. When did you realise what he’d done?’

‘When the police got me out of bed at half past three this morning. They’d been called out by the manager of the club where he died, and they found an empty box with my name on it.’

‘That must have been a nasty moment for you.’ I drained my coffee and slotted another capsule in the machine. The first one had hit the spot but reminded me that I was still in caffeine deficit.

He pulled a face. ‘I could see they didn’t believe me at first when I said I had no idea how Joshu got the drugs. But when we looked at my briefcase, it was obvious the locks had been forced. I just hadn’t noticed earlier. I’m always so bloody tired at the end of the day, it’s not something I would check.’ He sighed. ‘I think I convinced them I was the victim, not the drug dealer.’

‘Not a great way to start the day, though.’ I sipped the second coffee, appreciating the flavour more this time.

‘No. But much worse for Scarlett.’

‘Where is she, by the way?’

‘Leanne said she was swimming.’ He looked painfully confused at the idea. It didn’t surprise me. I could see the attraction of doing something physical to stave off the moment when she had to face the fact that Joshu was dead and she had no formal role in what happened next. ‘She’s supposed to have chemo today. I thought I could drive her in. But maybe we should postpone it.’

‘No, take her with you. The more distraction she has, the better.’

As I spoke, Scarlett walked in, bringing a whiff of chlorine with her. There was a hollow emptiness to her eyes that I’d never seen before. She threw her arms round me and clung on like Jimmy does now when he hasn’t seen me all day. I could feel her breath shuddering in her chest. ‘Steph,’ she choked out. ‘He’s gone. My beautiful boy. He’s gone.’

I patted her back and held her close. I knew there was nothing to be said. I just had to wait it out. At last, she drew away from our embrace with a juddering sigh. ‘Leanne said you were here, Simon,’ she said. ‘I wasn’t expecting you.’

He stood up and moved to her, taking both her hands in his. ‘I’m so sorry, Scarlett. This has been a terrible shock for you.’

She gave a bitter half-laugh. ‘I always thought he’d come to a bad end. But not like this. I thought it would be his mouth got him into trouble, dissing some gun-toting gangsta. Or his dick. Shagging the wrong tart. I never thought it would be the drugs.’ She let go Simon’s hands and slumped into a chair. ‘You come to make sure I turn up for my chemo, Simon? You worried I’ll go into a decline and give up over Joshu?’

He smiled. ‘I know you better than that, Scarlett. I know you’re not a quitter. And yes, I will drive you in for your chemo appointment as soon as you’re ready. But I have something to tell you and I didn’t want you to hear it secondhand.’

She raised her eyebrows. ‘I don’t think I’m up for any more bad news today, Simon.’

But he told her anyway. Her face seemed to slacken as his words sank in. When he’d finished, there was a terrible cold silence before she finally spoke. ‘The stupid little fucker,’ she said, shaking her head. ‘He always thought he knew best.’ I put a hand on her shoulder and she reached up to grab it tight. ‘What the fuck am I going to tell Jimmy?’ She looked up at me, a naked plea in her eyes.

‘I’ll stay with you,’ I said. ‘We’ll tell him together.’

‘Would you? Ah, Steph, where would I be without you?’ She blinked a tear away and pushed herself to her feet, looking weary beyond words. ‘Come on then, Simon. We’d better get a move on.’

‘Do you want me to come?’ I said.

She puffed out her cheeks and considered. ‘Could you stay here and hold the fort? George is going to want to talk to you. Because we’re going to have to respond to this and I don’t want to be talking to strangers. Then when I get back, we can tell Jimmy.’

‘You’re not going to feel like telling Jimmy after you’ve had a round of chemo,’ I said. Sensibly, I thought.

‘I know that,’ she lashed back at me, the stress taking over the driving seat momentarily. She pressed her eyes closed and shook her head. ‘I’m sorry, Steph. Yeah, I am going to feel like shit. But I can’t put it off till I’m feeling up to it. He’s got to be told. Apart from anything else, he’s a sensitive little lad. He’s going to notice we’re all walking round like a wet Wednesday in Wetherby. He needs to know there’s a good reason for it.’

And I believed she was capable of it. She’d come this far on guts and gumption. There was no reason why they should fail her now. Except that none of the old certainties seemed to be holding fast.

36

Ispoke to Maggie as soon as Scarlett and Simon left in his gleaming Audi TT convertible. They took most of the paparazzi with them, which made life easier for everyone else. Maggie knew how I felt about Joshu, so she didn’t bother with condolences. ‘ Darling ,’ she said, ‘I’ve already spoken to Georgie. The Mail wants seven hundred and fifty exclusive words by half past four, Yes! needs five hundred words by Thursday . I’m still negotiating the funeral exclusives, but this will be a lovely little earner for us. And of course it keeps the interest lively for the cancer book.’ Maggie only bothered with tact and diplomacy when there were strangers around. With me, she could be as blunt as she liked.