“Cancer. She had all the treatment, but it came back. There was nothing else they could do in the end.”
“I am so sorry.” He felt like weeping. She had been a big part of his life back then. Now he realised that she’d played an even bigger part than he’d known. She’d given him a daughter.
“I have no one in Bristol; a few friends but no family. So here I am.” She smiled. “Mum finally told me the truth about you, so I thought I’d come and seek you out. I found granny first and was building up the courage to meet you.”
“You shouldn’t worry about me, Zoe, I’m a pussycat. Where are you staying?”
“At a pub on Leesdon High Street.”
“The Wheatsheaf?”
She nodded.
“I live just off the High Street.” He took one of his personal cards out of his wallet. “I’ve got two spare bedrooms, so why not come and stay with me?”
“Well . . . you might be my biological father, but I don’t know you.”
“I’m OK, believe me,” he said wearily. “I’m a boring old fart of a detective inspector with the local police. I work a lot and I apprehend thieves and murderers. What else is there to know?”
She smiled. “Okay — perhaps in time, but for now I’ll stay put. I’m going to sit with Granny for a while tonight, anyway. She really isn’t well and the doctor said she wasn’t responding to the medication.”
Calladine bent over and looked at his aged mother. She was struggling for every breath. That wasn’t good.
“I’ll meet up with you tomorrow,” Zoe suggested. “We can talk and get to know each other a bit better.”
“Okay — if that’s what you want.”
A daughter. He liked the idea very much. She seemed nice, and she looked a lot like Rachael too. If things weren’t so bloody grim he might even crack a smile.
It was his mother that was going to be the problem now. She looked ghastly — so pale and haggard. He patted her hand. He’d have to go. He had to find out where Ruth was, and see what had happened to their man. God. What was he going to tell the team? How was he going to explain that Dodgy was Handy Man — the murdering bastard they’d been searching for all week?
Ruth walked towards him along the corridor.
“He’s sedated, sir. That was some bang on the head Lydia gave him. Anyway, we can’t do anything tonight. If he’s well enough, he’ll be transferred to the cells tomorrow. We can speak to him then.”
“Which room?”
“End of the corridor. There’s a uniform with him.”
Calladine strode down and knocked on the door. A uniformed constable opened it, and the inspector flashed his warrant card. He wanted to see him, to look at him. What for, he couldn’t fathom. But seeing the truth behind the façade that had been Dodgy might help him to make sense of it.
The young man was hardly moving. He looked so still, so peaceful. He looked like Dodgy; young and vulnerable. Calladine had to remind himself who he really was.
“Time to go, sir.” Ruth stuck her head around the door.
“That suits me. I could do with getting home but I’m needed here.”
“Not coming to the pub for a celebratory drink? End of case, successful collar?”
“I can’t. There’s Lydia and it appears that I have a daughter.”
“A daughter?” Ruth’s eyes widened in surprise. “How did that happen — and who with?’
“With Rachael of course; my ex-wife. All those years ago when she left me, she was pregnant.”
“Is she here? Your daughter, I mean.”
“Yes. She’s here tonight, visiting mum. We’re going to talk tomorrow, then she might even agree to come and stay with me for a while.”
“Well congratulations, Tom. I’m happy for you.”
“It’s about the only thing I’ve got to smile about right now,” he admitted. “She’s called Zoe, and she’s lovely.”
“Rocco’s doing okay. He’ll be out in a few days. Lydia?”
“She’s in a bad way — mentally — I think. The bastard kept her tied up naked. She’s traumatised, but she’s a hard nut and she’ll eventually bounce back.”
“I’m going to get off then, sir. See you tomorrow at the nick.”
A quick wave and she was gone. Calladine couldn’t stay at Monika’s now. He retrieved the present from his overcoat pocket — he’d drop it off at the care home and apologise. He had the perfect excuse for his absence. There was no way he could leave Lydia alone while she was still so traumatised. He wouldn’t use that as his excuse to Monika though — he’d use his mother’s condition.
He needed a quick breather before returning to Lydia. He inhaled the fresh night air and looked up at the sky. It was clear now and the moon was full and bright. Tomorrow would be cold. But then tomorrow was another day.
THE END
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A body is found in a car crash, but the victim was already dead . . .
Glossary of English Slang for US readers
Charity Shop: thrift store
Carrier bag: plastic bag from supermarket
Comprehensive School (Comp.): High school
Deck: one of the landings on a floor of a tower block
DI: detective inspector
DS: detective sergeant
ED: accident and emergency department of hospital
Estate: public/social housing estate (like housing projects)
Fag: cigarette
GP: general practitioner, a doctor based in the community
Home: care home for elderly or sick people
Inne: isn’t he
Into care: a child taken away from their family by the social services
Lad: young man
the Nick: police station (as verb: to arrest)
Nowt: nothing
Nutter: insane person
PC: police constable
Scroat: low-life
Sweeting: endearment, like sweetheart
Tower block: tall building containing apartments (usually social housing)
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