Ash & Bone

by John Harvey

  'I don't know. The other night on the bus, now this.'

  Kennet shrugged. 'Small world.'

  'Not that small.'

  'Coincidence, then.'

  Vanessa held his gaze a few moments longer, then picked up her drink.

  'I'll move on if I'm troubling you,' Kennet said. He made no move to go. 'You've had a bad day, maybe. Want to be alone.'

  'I have, as it happens. A shitty day.'

  'Keeping the street safe.'

  'Yes, if you like.'

  'Okay, I just thought, you know, see a friend, share a drink, a chat…'

  'I'm not your friend. We're not friends.'

  'All those times…'

  'I was Maddy's friend. Not yours.' Her voice was loud enough to turn a few heads in their direction.

  'All right. Okay.' Kennet on his feet now, still smiling, backing away. 'Just thought you might appreciate the company, that's all.'

  Hands raised, as if in surrender, he retreated towards the bar, pulled out a stool and sat down, quick to exchange a few words with the barman, who looked over in Vanessa's direction and laughed.

  Vanessa closed her eyes, picked up her glass and lowered her head towards it, resting the rim against the bridge of her nose. When her breathing had steadied she leaned back, finished her drink in two swallows.

  'You know there's a law,' she said to the barman, nodding towards the trio of girls nearby, 'serving alcohol to kids under eighteen.'

  Kennet didn't as much as glance in her direction, but one of the girls stuck out her tongue and called her a name and the two others gave the finger to her back and giggled loudly.

  * * *

  There was a bus coming and she caught it to the Archway, thinking as they stop-started along about the boy they'd interviewed, what kind of a life he had, his sister too, wondering how much truth there was in the social worker's concerns, doing her best not to think about Kennet at all.

  It was a nice enough night, not cold, not near as cold as it had been, and, getting off the bus, she loosened the scarf and unzipped the front of her coat. At the far side of the lights, she bought a copy of the Big Issue, though she knew, in all likelihood, it would end up in the bin unread. On Holloway Road she lengthened her stride. More exercise, that was what she needed, either that or it wouldn't be too long before she couldn't even squeeze herself into a thirteen. Swimming. Why didn't she leave for work an hour early, do a few lengths in the Prince of Wales pool?

  At the corner of her street she slowed her pace and looked around but it was a bright night, as well as relatively warm, and there were no shadows lurking in dark corners. As usual, it took her a few moments to locate her key and she was just slotting it into the lock when an arm wrapped itself tight around her neck and she felt something cold and sharp pressing fast against the underside of her chin.

  'Don't scream,' Kennet hissed in her ear. 'Don't make a fucking sound.'

  * * *

  Elder had phoned Maureen in Nottingham, not once, but twice.

  'It's difficult, Frank. Seen asking too many questions too soon and the whole think might slip away. Give me another day or so, okay? As soon as I know anything definite, I'll be in touch. You've got my word.'

  At least Katherine was at home where he wanted her to be. After a desultory five minutes of conversation, more silences than words, she asked him if he wanted to speak to Joanne and he said, no, it was okay, another time.

  In the silence, Elder reached for the bottle and the glass.

  He was drinking too much, spending too much time alone. Why had that been fine when he was down in Cornwall — perhaps the thing he relished most — but not here, in the city?

  Difficult, too, not to let his mind slip back to the previous night, the taste and touch of another's skin. He was midway through dialling Karen's number when he stopped: what had happened between them, it was a one-off, a collision of need and circumstance, no more. Tired white meat, was that what she'd said? Sipping a little Scotch, he clicked the switch on the radio, a special report from our correspondent in Darfur.

  * * *

  In the hallway, Kennet kicked the front door closed. It was dark: not black but muted dark. Free newspapers and unwanted mail lay all down one side and underfoot. The air was stale and cold. When Vanessa opened her mouth to shout, Kennet narrowed the angle of his arm against her throat and a constricted choking sound was all that emerged. The knife was steady against the curve of her chin.

  'Up!' he hissed. 'Up, up. Upstairs.'

  Something seemed to have happened to Vanessa's eyes. The contours of everything - stairs, banisters, the electric flex that hung down to a bare bulb - were blurred. And then she realised she was half-blinded by tears.

  Kennet's knee nudged against the back of her thigh.

  Again, harder this time.

  'Get moving. Go on.'

  On the first landing she slipped and her footing almost went, but he held on to her, hauling her back upright. His breath, smelling of beer and tobacco and something else she couldn't make out, was warm and raw against her skin.

  'Move. Come on, come on.'

  The television was on in the first-floor flat, the sound of laughter muffled and brief. One of the things she'd always liked about the building was that people kept themselves to themselves. If ever she did bump into one of the other tenants a quick nod was all that usually passed between them, occasionally a brief word. Some bland remark about the weather or complaint about the bins was the most any of them had ever exchanged.

  She knew she had to get away from him before they reached her own flat and he got her inside. Get away or raise the alarm.

  On the final landing, she dug her elbow into his chest as hard as she could and wriggled as she kicked her heel back against his shin, but all that happened was he laughed and increased the pressure on her neck until she was afraid the flow of blood might stop and she would faint.

  'Inside. Come on, inside.'

  Her fingers couldn't fit the key into the lock until he withdrew the blade from her face and his hand slid smoothly over hers. 'There.' Steadying her until the key slipped in and turned.

  'Good girl.'

  Vanessa's eyes closed tight.

  They were inside.

  'Don't switch on the light,' he said. 'Not yet.'

  His arm was no longer at her neck and she moved a few stumbling steps away, her hand against her throat. Heard him turn the key in the lock and slip down the catch.

  The curtains were open and when she turned there was light enough to see the shape but not the detail of his face. The knife was back in his hand, held low against his side. She thought he was smiling but she wasn't sure.

  'Anything to drink?' he said, the ordinariness of the question taking her by surprise.

  'What?' A croak of sound and little more.

  'A drink. You know, wine, some beer. Vodka, that's your thing.' As if this were normal now, some kind of date. Calling round after the pub. Want to come in for coffee, both knowing what that meant. The features of his face were clearer now and yes, there was a smile playing at the edges of his mouth and around his eyes.

  'Look,' Vanessa said, her voice no longer recognisable as her own. 'Why don't you just go? Leave. We'll forget about it, okay?'

  'Forget? I don't think so. Not once we've finished. Not once we're through.' He was tapping the knife against his leg. 'Now, what about that drink?'

  The bottle was on the shelf unit in the alcove to the left of the gas fire. Stolichnaya, four-fifths gone. A couple of shot glasses alongside. Books, not many. CDs. David Gray. Damien Rice. Norah Jones. Magazines. The telephone was on a low table to the right; her mobile in the inside pocket of her coat. She could hear her own breath reverberating inside her head, against, it seemed, the inside of her skull.

  'Just a small one for me,' Kennet said, a smirk just visible on his face.

  Unsteady, Vanessa poured vodka into the glass and it spilled over the rim.

  'Nerves,' Kennet said. 'Don't w
orry. Soon take the edge off those.'

  She was thinking about Maddy, about what had happened to her. She knew she had to do something now, before it was too late. The vodka bottle still tight in her hand, glass cold and smooth against her palm. Her eyes flicked back towards the door, the key still in the lock.

  'Here,' Kennet said, leaning forward. 'Why don't you let me put that somewhere out of harm's way?'

  And he lifted the bottle clear and, with a smile, returned it to the shelf.

  'That's better,' he said. 'Now we can relax a little. Get to know one another better. What do you say?'

  * * *

  How long they had been sitting there, Vanessa didn't know. Sitting opposite one another, the small table pushed aside. Knees touching. Fifteen minutes? Twenty? More? Kennet talking about this and that, about his work, his holiday in Spain, and all the while easing his hand between her legs, slowly, slowly, forcing them apart, his fingers pressing hard, then soft, before switching his attention to her breasts, and all of this happening, this unwonted fondling, almost casually, without remark.

  When he squeezed, finger and thumb, her uncovered nipple, she cried out with a start.

  'Sorry,' he said with an apologetic smile. 'Hands too cold. Warm them up a little, eh?' And slid both hands between his thighs, legs closed tight.

  Vanessa threw what was left of her vodka in his face, aiming for his eyes, and as she did so lurched sideways, reaching for the bottle on the shelf.

  'You bitch!' he said, grabbing at her arm.

  Shaking him off, Vanessa swung the bottle as hard and fast as she could against his face. The base struck the temple, just above the eye, and as he staggered back she swung again, teeth gritted, full force, and the bottle shattered against his cheek, driving him sideways through a quarter-circle, left leg folding beneath him, blood streaming from below his eye.

  Vanessa dropped the bottle and dashed for the bathroom, feeling for her mobile as she ran.

  Two bolts, top and bottom, and she slid them across, leaning her weight back against the door as she dialled 999.

  'Emergency. Which service do you need, caller?'

  She gave the details as precisely as she could, waiting all the time for Kennet to hurl himself against the door and break it down.

  When it didn't happen she began to cry and when she heard the sirens, distant at first, then closer, closer, and then feet loud and heavy on the stairs, she cried louder and couldn't stop, not even when the first officers to respond had convinced her it was safe enough to unbolt the door; not even when she saw the glass, some of it smeared with blood, upon the floor; not till the fresh-faced young PC, barely out of training, so young he looked more like a boy, led her firmly, not roughly, over to an easy chair and sat her down, sat with her holding both her hands and telling her it was all right, it was okay, they'd only got the bastard, hadn't they? Legging it across the Holloway Road and he'd run smack into the side of a bus and cannoned off. On his way to A & E now, most likely, cuffed inside an ambulance. That's it. Go on, cry. Let it out. This kid with bum fluff on his cheeks, still holding her hand while other officers secured the scene.

  'The knife,' Vanessa said. 'He had a knife.'

  'We'll find it. Don't worry.'

  And they did, an hour later, where Kennet had thrown it, in the front garden of the house closest to the main road, hard up against the wall.

  40

  The doctor had checked Vanessa over, pronounced her bodily sound, waited while an officer took Polaroid photographs of the marks on her neck, then given her something to help her sleep. But of course she'd hardly slept at all. For half of what remained of the night she lay in bed, knees pulled up close to her chest, trying to blank out the sound of Kennet's voice, the coarse warmth of his breath. For the rest, she'd sat up in her old dressing gown, a blanket pulled round her, staring at the images that moved across the television screen. ITV Nightscreen. Skiing on 4. A signed edition of the Antiques Roadshow, especially for the hard of hearing.

  'You're a lucky girl,' one of the officers had said. 'Dead lucky.' And then tried to swallow back his words. 'You did brilliant,' said another. 'Fucking brilliant.' Vanessa was not just thinking about herself; she was thinking of Maddy. Had that been him? Kennet? Had he done those things to her? She had never seen the photographs of the body, only spoken to someone who swore he knew someone who had, but she knew that as well as being raped Maddy had been cut badly with a knife before she died.

  Lucky girl.

  She was, she was: she pressed her face against the rough material of the blanket and wept.

  * * *

  Alerted by the senior officer at Kentish Town, Karen had arrived shortly after midnight and spoken to Vanessa briefly, enough to get an abbreviated version of what had happened, and arranged to take a proper statement in the morning. She'd considered phoning Elder and waking him with the news, but decided to let him slumber on.

  At the hospital, Kennet had taken eleven stitches to the face, and an X-ray of his chest had shown three broken ribs. Now he lay in a side ward, sedated with painkillers and handcuffed by one wrist to the bed, an officer sitting cross-legged outside reading the Mail and trying to catch the eye of one of the nurses and scrounge another cup of tea.

  Elder was finally put in the picture at seven and met Karen outside the hospital at eight. Ramsden and Denison were already there, the uniformed officer having been gratefully relieved.

  One of the lifts was out of order and a porter was carefully positioning a patient on a trolley in another, so they took the stairs.

  'Has he been charged?' Elder asked.

  'Not yet.'

  'Possibilities?'

  'As it stands? Aggravated assault. Possession of an offensive weapon. Enough to hold him.'

  When they got into the room Kennet was on his side, sheet pulled level with his chin, eyes closed. A nurse had just finished checking his temperature and blood pressure and was entering the results on his chart.

  'Is he asleep?' Karen asked.

  The nurse shook her head.

  'Kennet,' Karen said, moving closer. 'Mr Kennet.'

  No movement; no response.

  Ramsden seized hold of the sheet and tugged it sharply back.

  'Mr Kennet,' Karen said, 'there are questions I need to ask.'

  Kennet's eyes had closed again.

  'Is there any reason,' Karen asked the nurse, 'why he shouldn't answer questions?'

  The nurse shook her head. 'The painkillers might have made him slightly woozy, but other than that, no.'

  'I'll give him fuckin' painkillers,' Ramsden said.

  Karen shot him a warning look.

  'Listen, Kennet,' Elder said, leaning towards the head of the bed. 'Why don't you sit up? The sooner we get this done, the better.'

  Nothing.

  'Nurse,' Karen said. 'I wonder, could you help to sit him up?'

  'I suppose so, I…' She faltered, for a moment uncertain. 'Mr Kennet, come along.' When she touched his shoulder, he shrugged her off.

  'What seems to be the problem?' the doctor said, walking towards them. He was tall and bearded, mid-thirties, his accent from north of the border.

  'These police officers,' the nurse said, 'they want to question the patient.'

  'All right, nurse. Thank you.'

  She wheeled her equipment trolley away.

  'Detective Chief Inspector Shields,' Karen said, holding out her hand.

  The doctor's grip was strong but brief.

  'This man is charged with a serious crime,' Karen said. 'And we have reason to believe he can assist us with several more. It's important that we talk to him.'

  'Now?'

  'Now.'

  The doctor lifted the chart from the end of the bed and gave it a cursory look. 'He seems to have been well medicated to control his pain…'

  Ramsden snorted.

  'If I can suggest, an hour or so might allow the more soporific effects of the medication to wear off and you'd likely get clearer answ
ers to whatever questions it is you need to ask. Besides,' with a glance towards the handcuffs, 'he's not exactly going anywhere, is he?'

  Outside, Karen spoke to headquarters on her mobile, while Ramsden lit a cigarette.

  'Right,' she said, breaking the connection. 'We've got a warrant to search Kennet's flat. Mike, you get over there. Lee'll meet you there. Paul can stay here at the hospital. I'll arrange for him to get spelled by someone from the local nick.'

  Grinning, Ramsden was on his way.

  'How far's Vanessa Taylor's place from here?' Elder asked.

  'Not far. She should be up to making a statement by now. Come on, I'll call her from the car.'

  The traffic approaching the Archway roundabout was solid in all directions and they were stuck alongside an articulated lorry that was heading back to Holland and behind a people carrier ferrying half a dozen kids to school, several of whom were making faces out of the rear window. Karen fiddled with the radio, then switched it off.

  'I don't suppose there are any witnesses?' Elder said.

  'To last night? No.'

  'Vanessa's word against his.'

  'Pretty much.'

  'And there are no injuries?'

  'To her? Some bruising to the neck. Little else. Not a lot to pass round in front of the jury.'

  'Maybe it'll look more spectacular this morning.'

  'Maybe.'

  'And the knife?'

  'Forensics are checking it for prints. Hopefully he wouldn't have had time to wipe it clean.'

  'You'll try and match it to the wounds on Maddy's body?'

  'You bet.'

  They slid forward another couple of metres. 'I thought Livingstone had sorted all this out,' Elder said.

  'So he has.'

  'I don't know how you put up with it.'

  Karen smiled. 'I suppose the most you get's the occasional tractor?'

  'Cattle. Sometimes a herd of sheep.'

  'I don't know how you can do it, Frank.'

  'What?'

  'Live like that. Cut off from everything.'

  'Everything?'

  'Don't be obtuse. You know what I mean.'