Prime Suspect 3: Silent Victims

by Lynda La Plante

  Kernan stood back from the microphone. He then remembered and swayed forward, bending over to speak into it. His voice boomed like a station announcer’s, bringing winces and bared teeth.

  “Gentlemen … please may I ask your attention for Commander Trayner.”

  Kernan shook hands and slapped backs on his unsteady return to his seat next to Superintendent Thorndike. He flopped down, belching, grinning at everyone for no other reason than he was half-pissed. Thorndike pursed his lips. He didn’t approve of such behavior in a senior officer. He didn’t actually approve of Kernan full stop, even though it was Kernan who had wangled him the post of Super at Southampton Row. It should have gone to Kernan’s next in line, his senior detective Jane Tennison, but Kernan, a founding member chauvinist pig, wasn’t going to stand for that. So prissy boots Thorndike got promotion and ball-breaker Tennison got dumped.

  At the microphone, Trayner was burbling on about more good old days with good old John Kennington. This time it was Manchester, not Cardiff, from where Trayner had some very happy memories, and some not so great ones. “… and John here brings a Tom into the station. He was writing up a charge sheet, listing drunk and disorderly, abusive language, and—as the lady in question was stark bollock naked at the time …”

  Kernan leaned in Thorndike’s direction. His eyes were gone and his breath enveloped Thorndike like a toxic cloud.

  “Why don’t we just give him his watch, eh, and piss off home? Eh?” He guzzled some more brandy. “Unless there’s a cabaret—eh? Is there a cabaret?” He squinted at Thorndike, whose thin wrists stuck out of his starched cuffs like celery sticks. Prim and proper, he was like somebody’s bleeding maiden aunt, Kernan thought sourly. Never had really took to the man, but then Mike Kernan didn’t take to the human race in general.

  “You not drinking?” he asked suspiciously. He reached for the brandy bottle and poured Thorndike a whopper. “Bill Otley’s with the same squad, did you know that? With Tennison—Vice Squad!”

  Kernan laughed loudly, coinciding with the general laughter at something Commander Trayner had said. He pushed the glass across.

  “Have a drink! This is going to be a long night!”

  Thorndike hesitated, but finally took a sip. Keep on his good side. Never know when you might need him.

  “… if you think I was pissed,” Trayner was saying, building up to the punchline, “wait until you see what’s inside the greenhouse!”

  Not having a clue what the story was about, Kernan banged the table, joining in the laughter and applauding like a maniac, bellowing, “More! … More! More!”

  Edward Parker-Jones tilted the boy’s head to the light and examined his face. Bruising around the forehead and left cheekbone. A diagonal gash extending from his ear down to his jawline. His lower lip was split and had dried into a crusty scab.

  “What am I going to do with you, Martin?” Parker-Jones sighed. “Look at you! Have you eaten today? You haven’t, have you?” He ruffled the boy’s hair. “Do you want some soup? Cup of tea?”

  Martin Fletcher twitched his thin shoulders in a shrug. He was reluctant to even open his mouth. The beating he’d taken from Jimmy Jackson the night before, down by the canal, had scared him to quivering silence, his gut churning as if he were riding a roller coaster, jumping at shadows. He’d spent the rest of the night curled up in a shop doorway, whimpering. Today he’d wandered the streets, a forlorn lost figure in a grimy windbreaker and jeans ripped open at the knees, his toes sticking through his sneakers.

  The recreation and advice centre run by Parker-Jones was the only refuge he could think of. It was an oasis of warmth and comfort—a hot drink and a bite to eat—before slinking back to the streets for the night. But it wasn’t safe even here. That bullying swine Jackson sometimes showed his ugly, pockmarked face, on the prowl for some poor kid who owed him money, or a favor, or who Jackson just might want to beat the shit out of for the sheer fun of it.

  Parker-Jones put his arm around Martin’s shoulder and led him through the reception area, where a few lads were idling the time away gazing listlessly over the notice board. Jobs, hostel accommodation, personal messages, dubious offers of help by phone.

  “Go and sit down and I’ll get Ron to bring you something in.”

  He had a deep, resonant voice that went with his neat appearance and confident personality. A tall man, broad in the chest, late thirties, Parker-Jones carried himself as someone of authority: an organizer, intelligent and decisive. His black hair, parted in the middle, flopped over his ears when he was in a hurry, giving him a rakish look that was somewhat at odds with his image of a solid rock in a shifting world.

  “Did you call home?” he asked Martin. “You promised me you would at least call your mother. Do you want me to do it? Martin?”

  Martin shook his head and wandered off into the TV lounge. Broken-down armchairs and two old sofas were grouped around the set, and there was a shelf of dog-eared paperbacks, some jigsaws, and board games. The walls were a sickly purple, with green woodwork. It was empty at this hour; between seven and eight was usually quiet, which was why Martin had dared take the risk.

  On the way back to his office, Parker-Jones called out to a scruffy black kid with a hearing aid, wearing a back-to-front baseball cap, “Ron, get some hot soup for Martin Fletcher, would you?”

  The black kid dropped the duster and metal wastebasket he was carrying and went over to the alcove where a copper urn with a brass tap bubbled and spat, steam jetting out of the top.

  Otley came down the narrow wooden stairway from the street, the shoulders of his raincoat stained dark with drizzle. The advice centre was on his beat. It was situated just off Brewer Street in Soho, at the bottom of a cobbled alley that during the day was crowded with market traders, selling everything from fruit and veg to lampshades, toilet paper, and bootleg records and tapes. The doorway was directly opposite the neon-lit entrance to a strip club. Farther along, a couple of shops stayed open until past midnight, catering to the soft porn magazine and video trade.

  Otley knew about the hard Swedish and German stuff in their back rooms, for selected clients only, but he let it ride. The perverts had to go somewhere. Better they got their jollies that way than molesting the young and vulnerable.

  “Bit quiet tonight, isn’t it?” Otley said.

  The three boys loitering at the notice board looked him up and down with sullen eyes. No one spoke. Hands in his raincoat pockets, Otley glanced around at the peeling mustard-colored walls with posters tacked up for rock concerts long gone. The carpet was a dank green, greasy and black with the tread of many feet. The wall opposite the reception counter was bare brick, steam pipes near the ceiling, huge Victorian radiators jutting out into the passage. To the left was the games room, which had a pool table and a football table with wooden players; to the right, past the office door, the fluted glass panels of the TV room. Otley thought he saw a rippling shadow move inside.

  He said casually, “Any of you know Colin Jenkins? Nicknamed Connie?”

  The door marked “E PARKER-JONES—PRIVATE” opened, and Parker-Jones came out. He spotted Otley at once and marched straight over.

  “What do you want?” Dark eyes under thick black eyebrows staring hard. “If you are looking for a specific person, why don’t you ask me?”

  Otley remained unruffled. He’d been stared at before.

  “You know a lad called Colin Jenkins?”

  “Yes. Red-haired, about your height. Nicknamed Connie.”

  Otley nodded slowly. “Used Vera Reynolds’s place. I need to ask some of the boys about him.” Parker-Jones was about to say something, but Otley went on in a monotone, “He’s dead. He was on the game, wasn’t he?”

  “Are you telling me or asking me?” Parker-Jones drew himself up to his full height. “Is this official? I’ve already discussed this with an Inspector …” He frowned and snapped his fingers. “Inspector Hall. I really don’t understand why you and your associates persist in c
oming in here …”

  His indignation was wasted on Otley, who had strolled off in the general direction of the television lounge. Ron came from the corner alcove with a plastic cup of soup. Parker-Jones took it from him and hurried past Otley into the lounge, still complaining in his fruity, rather portentous voice.

  “You people make my job and the social services work exceptionally difficult. I attempt to get these boys off the street, give them a place they can come to—and I am continually harassed, as are the boys.”

  He held out the cup of soup. A tousled head poked up from behind an armchair. A nail-bitten hand reached out.

  “They are not in my care, they come here of their own free will. They come here because this is one of the few places they can come to.” He sounded righteously outraged, as if he had been accused of something, his reputation besmirched.

  Otley stood in the doorway watching as Martin Fletcher took the soup in both hands. The boy looked up at Parker-Jones, his bruised and battered face breaking into a wan smile. Parker-Jones ruffled his hair and smiled back, the steadfast rock in an ugly, shifting world.

  Tennison pushed through the glass double doors into the corridor leading to the Pullman lounge at Euston Station. She checked her appearance in a small hand-mirror, flicking her hair into place with her fingertips. The stewardess behind the glass door pressed the entry release buzzer. Tennison entered the thickly carpeted room, the din of the station below hushed behind triple glazing and velvet drapes. She looked around nervously. The stewardess held out her hand, presumably for a first-class ticket.

  “I’m just meeting someone here.” Tennison returned the stewardess’s smile with a small embarrassed one of her own. “I don’t have a—”

  “It’s okay, she’s with me.”

  Jake Hunter threaded his way through the deep comfortable armchairs grouped around low tables. The lounge was almost empty. The stewardess dimpled at his smile, and he led Tennison across to his table. She put her briefcase by the chair and unbuttoned her raincoat.

  “I’ve never been in here before. Mind you, I don’t usually travel first class. Thank you,” she said, as Jake helped her off with her coat. She hadn’t dressed to please him, though the dark red linen jacket and charcoal gray pencil skirt made her feel slim and attractive, and she was glad she wore it.

  They sat down. Jake drew his armchair closer.

  “I’ve got about an hour before my train, but I just wanted to—”

  Tennison interrupted, speaking in a rush. She was still flustered. “I’m glad you called. I wanted to talk to you. There’s a case I’m working on.”

  Jake caught her arm as she reached for her briefcase.

  “I don’t want to talk about any work, Jane. I just didn’t think we, or I … could walk away without, without …”

  He sighed and sat back, rubbing his chin, as the stewardess appeared beside them with the drinks menu.

  “Whisky and soda, please,” Tennison said, ignoring the card. She watched the stewardess go, and then took a good look around. “I’m very impressed. I didn’t know this was even here.”

  Jake leaned forward and took her hand. She thought of pulling away, but didn’t. He had to have his say, and she couldn’t stop him. Did she want to? Good question. If only she knew herself.

  “Jane, we’ve got to talk, because, I …” She realized he was nervous too. It was a struggle to get the words out. “Jane, I’m married and I have four kids… .”

  “I know,” Tennison said calmly. “It’s on the flyleaf of your book.”

  “Yeah!” Jake sounded almost angry. He leaned closer, his voice low and urgent. “But what isn’t is the way I feel about you. What I’ve always felt about you.”

  “No, but you wrote that in the front of the book.”

  “Can you just be serious, just for a second, for chrissakes!”

  “There’s no point.” She repeated quietly, “There’s no point.”

  “Then why did you come?” Jake asked stiffly.

  “I just wanted to ask you your opinion about something I’m working on.” Tennison glanced away from him. His eyes were like lasers on her cheek.

  “I don’t believe you.”

  The stewardess placed Tennison’s drink in front her, along with a napkin and dish of peanuts. Jake took the bill and nodded his thanks.

  Silence then, while Tennison stared at her untouched drink. She said, “I knew you were married. I shouldn’t have stayed.”

  “Why did you?”

  “Because …” She gave a tiny vexed shake of her head. “Because you wanted me to. Don’t—” She held up her hand as he tried to speak. “I wanted to, Jake. I wanted to be with you.”

  It was hell to handle, and the only way she knew how was to make light of it, kill the feeling with fake humor.

  “I’ve always been a glutton for punishment, maybe that’s why I’m so good at my job. I’ve got that, you’ve got a family—perhaps we’ve both got what we wanted. If I haven’t, then I’ve no one else to blame but myself.”

  Jake sighed miserably. “What a mess.”

  “No, it isn’t,” Tennison said briskly, “because we’ll do what we agreed. We won’t see each other again. You’ll get on the train, and in the meantime …” She reached down for her briefcase.

  Jake turned his face away from her, but she could see his throat working. “I love you,” he said, hardly moving his lips, and took her hand, holding it tightly.

  “Yes, I know,” Tennison said softly.

  Jake let go of her hand. He took a huge breath and turned back to look at her. “So … what’s this case you’re working on?”

  Larry Hall looked up from the computer as he heard the door swing. Otley was standing there, hair plastered to his forehead, hand on the shoulder of a puny kid with terrified eyes in a face that had been through the mangle.

  “I want an interview room and somebody to take a statement.”

  It was 7:43 by the clock on the wall of the Squad Room. Hall frowned. “You’re not down for tonight, are you?”

  A couple of officers were working a few desks away. Otley lowered his voice. “This lad knows something, but he’s scared.” He nodded toward the corridor. “Come in with me?”

  Hall took his jacket from the back of the chair and slipped into it, automatically adjusting the knot in his tie. He looked at Martin Fletcher, then tugged the lobe of his ear. “Hey, Bill, how old is he?”

  “I think your boy was already dead,” Jake said, studying the pages of the autopsy report spread out on the table. There were some grisly morgue photographs that Tennison had shown him and quickly tucked back into her briefcase. She leaned forward, her clasped hands resting on her knees.

  Jake indicated a paragraph. “Says here that the fluid taken from the blisters showed no sign of vital reaction.”

  Concentrating hard, Tennison tried to put the pieces together. “So, if the fire wasn’t accidental, he was murdered? … Is that what you’re saying?”

  Muted chimes rang out. “The train on platform thirteen is the eight P.M. Pullman Express to Liverpool, calling at Watford, Crewe …”

  “What does ‘pugilistic attitude’ mean?” Tennison asked, fretting.

  “Arms held out, legs flexed.” Jake thought for a moment. “It’s caused by the coagulation of the muscles on the flexor surface of the limbs … so the body could look as if it was in a sitting-up position.” He raised his eyebrows. “Jane? I’ll be back in London next week, and maybe—”

  “No, we agreed, no more meetings.” Tennison shuffled the pages together and closed the file. “That’s your train.” She put the file in her briefcase and snapped the locks. “Don’t call me again, please.”

  Jake picked up his bag. He dropped it and fished in his pocket for change. Tennison got up and took the bill from his hand. “I’ll get this. You’d better go.”

  He looked down at her gravely and put his hand on her shoulder. She did what she promised herself she wouldn’t, but she couldn’t
help it. She took his hand and pressed her lips to it.

  She could still taste him when he’d gone, turned abruptly and walked out, while she stood staring at nothing. She sat down for a moment and then went to the window. He was striding across the concourse to platform 13. Suddenly he stopped, turned quite slowly, and stared up, his fair eyebrows standing out against his tanned face.

  Tennison saw him move on and watched his tall figure until it was lost to sight, beyond the barrier. She came away from the window. The stewardess was clearing the table.

  “Ah … I’d like another whisky and soda.” Tennison felt as if her insides had been scoured raw. She managed a smile. “If that’s okay.”

  “For he’s a jolly good fe-ellow, for he’s a jolly good fe-ellow, for he’s a jolly good fe-el-low! And so say all of us!”

  Mike Kernan wasn’t singing. He was staring, bleary-eyed, watching them sing their stupid heads off. Chiswick. Trayner. Halliday. All the rest at the top table, up on their hind legs, bellowing away. And John Kennington, slightly flushed, holding the velvet presentation box, that haughty smirk on his lips.

  In Kernan’s book, Kennington wasn’t a jolly good fellow at all. Far from it. Did he have a tale to tell, if only he felt like telling it… .

  “I’m out of here.” Kernan pushed his chair back. He tried to stand and fell back. “Can’t take any more of this crap.” He leaned over, almost in the lap of Thorndike, who gazed at him with naked disapproval. “Somebody should ask him to start the cabaret,” Kernan said, nodding, wagging his finger. “I saw him at the Bowery Roof Club …”

  Thorndike’s attention sharpened. “The Bowery what?”

  Kernan had made it to his feet, swaying. He tapped his nose. “Keep this out of it … but you see that iron-haired bloke, Judge Syers, top table? Ask him if he can get you a membership. ‘Iron’ being the”—he belched—“operative word. G’night.” He staggered off.

  Iron? Thorndike pursed his lips. What did that mean?