She couldn’t have been unconscious for more than a second before she became aware of an agonising pain in her shoulder. She knew what had happened, but something about the shooting didn’t feel right. Ashley had been aiming at her head. The impact that knocked Geraldine off her feet had hit her squarely in her right side, which made no sense. What was even more baffling was that the pain she was now experiencing was in her left shoulder, where she had hit the ground. For an instant her thoughts whirled in turmoil. Calling on all her training to calm herself down, she drew in a deep breath before opening her eyes and glancing around. What she saw took her by surprise.
A man was lying spreadeagled on top of Ashley who was thrashing around beneath him, clawing at the ground, desperately trying to reach the gun which was lying on the ground just out of her reach. Clambering to her feet, Geraldine staggered over to the gun. She half-expected all this would turn out to be a dying hallucination, but the gun was real enough. Gingerly she crouched down and picked it up in one shackled hand, carefully holding it pointing downwards. As she straightened up, a host of uniformed armed officers appeared, seeming to spring from the ground. They surrounded Geraldine and the two figures still wrestling on the ground.
‘Come on now, settle down, there’s no point in struggling,’ Ian panted. Having subdued Ashley he hauled her to her feet, holding both of her wrists behind her back in one of his large hands. Within seconds a couple of uniformed female officers had stepped forward to handcuff her and escort her away down the lane to where the police vehicles were parked. Geraldine handed the gun to a firearms officer, who bagged it as evidence. While they were talking, the armed response team withdrew as abruptly as they had appeared.
Satisfied the gun was no longer a threat, Geraldine turned on Ian, unable to contain her fury.
‘Where did you come from? What the hell are you doing here? You realise you could have been killed.’
When Ian responded by putting his arms around her, she was mortified to feel tears welling up in her eyes.
‘I had to do something,’ he said. ‘I couldn’t leave you here alone with her.’
‘Try explaining that to Eileen,’ she replied, and felt his chest shaking against her cheek as he laughed.
Only later did it occur to her that he could have been shaking with relief.
70
After a sleepless night, Geraldine called Sam.
‘I’m sorry if I was being unreasonable,’ she began, but Sam interrupted her.
‘No, it was my fault,’ she said. ‘It can’t be easy for you, worrying about your sister from a distance. Anyway, there’s no need to stress over her, at least not for now. I was going to call you when I had a moment. I saw her yesterday evening. I tried to call you but you weren’t answering. Is everything OK with you? Only it’s not like you not to call back.’
‘I lost my phone.’
‘What?’
‘Well, to be precise, it was thrown out of a moving car. It was found, but only after it had been crushed by passing traffic. Several heavy lorries, by the sound of it.’
‘Did you say you threw it out of a car while it was moving?’
‘At speed. It’s a long story. But how was Helena?’
‘She was OK, but she’s seriously annoyed with you.’
‘With me?’
‘Yes.’ Sam laughed. ‘She said she tried to call you about twenty times last night. I can believe it as well. She’s…’ she paused. ‘Your sister’s pretty full on, isn’t she?’
‘You mean neurotic?’
‘That’s one way of putting it.’
‘I’m sorry if she gave you a hard time.’
‘Oh no, she was fine with me. In fact, I rather liked her. She’s quite a character, isn’t she? She’s a remarkable woman, considering everything she’s been through. But I wouldn’t want to be in your shoes when she catches up with you. She’s going to give you a real ear bashing. She thought you were going to see her yesterday, and she’s feeling really let down. You’re going to have to make it up to her.’
Geraldine nodded. Trust Helena to exploit any opportunity to make Geraldine feel guilty.
‘I’ll call her later,’ she said. ‘I’ve got to get to work now. But if you speak to Helena, you can tell her that I didn’t call her yesterday because I’d been kidnapped at gunpoint by a psychopath…’
‘I don’t think you can invent any traumatic experience that will match what she’s been through,’ Sam said.
‘It’s not a competition,’ Geraldine heard herself retort, as though she and Helena were children vying for Sam’s attention.
Vexed with herself, she hung up. Somehow Helena seemed to bring out the worst in her.
Still annoyed with herself, she drove into work where she joined Ian outside Eileen’s office. He looked thoroughly dejected.
‘Why the long face?’ she asked. ‘Tim Hathaway’s dead and we’ve got Ashley in custody. I’d say we did a good job, in the end.’
Ian’s expression brightened. ‘Yes.’
Before Geraldine could say anything else, they were summoned into the detective chief inspector’s office.
‘So,’ Eileen said, as Geraldine entered, ‘I hear Ashley had you locked in your own handcuffs?’
Geraldine wasn’t sure, but she thought the detective chief inspector was laughing at her. She nodded. There was no shame in having acceded to the demands of an armed killer.
‘She’s in a cell under twenty-four hour surveillance while we’re waiting for a psychiatric assessment,’ Eileen went on.
‘Which means she’ll get a reduced sentence,’ Geraldine muttered crossly.
‘Not necessarily. But that’s for the courts to determine.’
Geraldine remembered Ashley’s complaint that the justice system would one day have released Tim back into society, a free man. Ironically Ashley was now going to try and exploit the courts herself by persuading them that she had never intended to kill Tim.
‘His death wasn’t an accident,’ she said. ‘Ashley as good as told me she planned his murder. That’s why she went to stay at Leah’s flat, because she thought he’d go back there.’
‘What are you saying?’
‘Ashley was hoping Tim would return, because she was fixated on putting an end to his pursuit of her. She was looking for an opportunity to kill him. But she wanted to get away with it. I think she was hoping he’d break in again at night, so she could claim they were defending themselves against an intruder. Only of course he worked his way in disguised as an old man and she panicked after she killed him, and persuaded Leah to help her get rid of the body. If she can succeed in convincing a jury that they killed Tim as an act of self-defence, and they only tried to get rid of the body afterwards because they were in a state of shock, she might get off with a reduced sentence, or even manslaughter.’
‘What happened to “innocent until proven guilty”?’ Eileen asked. ‘How do you know it wasn’t an accident Tim was killed? We can’t even be sure whether Leah or Ashley shot him, because they’re both accusing each other of having pulled the trigger.’
Before Geraldine could answer, the detective chief inspector turned on Ian.
‘And what on earth do you think you were you doing, running around between an armed killer and an armed response unit? If you’re so keen on being shot, why don’t you join the army? I’ve got no place on my team for maverick officers who rush off on their own like that. Did you think you’d be welcomed back as a hero and given a medal for risking your life? You’re lucky I’m not issuing you with a written warning.’
Geraldine bristled. ‘That’s not fair,’ she blurted out.
Eileen turned to her. ‘Not fair?’ she repeated, raising her voice. ‘Not fair? I’ll tell you what’s not fair. I’ve been saddled with an inspector who’s prepared to abandon all his training and go off gallivanting on his own,
for no good reason.’
‘How can you say it was for no reason when he just saved my life,’ Geraldine protested. ‘Ashley was about to lose control when he barged into her and knocked the gun out of her hand. If he hadn’t been there, she might have killed me.’
‘Are you saying the team that was put in place wasn’t up to the job?’ Eileen’s face had gone very pale.
Conscious that she was probably about to put the kibosh on her career once and for all, Geraldine met Eileen’s glare with a frown of her own. This wasn’t fair either. If she hadn’t messed up and Eileen had, their roles could easily have been reversed. Knowing that her damaged career was probably already over, she found it unexpectedly liberating to speak her mind, heedless of Eileen’s reaction. She was too angry to care what the detective chief inspector thought of her.
‘I’m saying that Ian saved my life,’ she replied, lowering her voice and speaking very quietly. ‘I’m not suggesting his actions deserve any particular acknowledgement, but nor should he be criticised for doing his job. And his action saved my life. Doesn’t that count for anything?’
Eileen stared at Geraldine. ‘Ian is a good officer,’ she conceded. ‘And loyalty is an underrated virtue. Just be sure that’s all it was.’
‘If you’re going to report that Ian saved my life in an act of some sort of glory-grabbing heroics, you’d be misrepresenting what he did.’
‘He risked his life to save yours, so you’re repaying him by putting your career on the line to protect his?’ Eileen gave a curious grunt.
‘Geraldine, this isn’t necessary,’ Ian muttered angrily. ‘I can fight my own corner.’
‘Finally, one of you seems to be talking sense, of a kind,’ Eileen said, turning to him. ‘Because you’re quite right. This isn’t necessary. And nor is your ridiculous talk about fighting your corner, Ian. No one’s attacking you here. We’re all on the same side, remember? And we achieved the result we needed, even if your methods were unconventional, to say the least. This was an extreme situation,’ she glanced at Geraldine. ‘So I’m going to overlook your flagrant disregard for orders. But I’m warning you, unofficially, to watch your step in future. From now on you do things strictly by the book, however high the stakes.’
Ian nodded. ‘Yes ma’am,’ he said. ‘And thank you.’
71
Geraldine and Ian were sitting at a corner table in the pub with Naomi, going over the details of the events leading up to Ashley’s arrest.
‘And she actually made you put on your own handcuffs?’ Naomi asked.
She sounded outraged, but Geraldine had an inkling she was trying not to laugh. Several of her other colleagues had made no attempt to conceal their amusement at the incident.
‘She had a gun,’ Geraldine replied, struggling to hide her annoyance. ‘Which she’d already used to kill Tim.’
‘We don’t know for certain Ashley was responsible for his death. She’s saying it was Leah who shot him. But it’s only natural for you to want to place the blame for that on Ashley,’ Naomi went on quickly, as Geraldine began to protest. ‘I’d feel exactly the same in your position. Believe me, you have my sympathy on this. After all, Ashley did nearly kill you. But don’t worry. She’ll go down for what she did to you, if nothing else.’
Geraldine shrugged. If Naomi believed she was accusing Ashley of having murdered Tim out of some misguided desire for revenge, so be it. She was tired of arguing that Ashley was guilty of premeditated murder.
‘It doesn’t matter what we think,’ she said. ‘The outcome will be decided in court by strangers who weren’t there, on the basis of whatever Ashley’s lawyer instructs her to say. The truth behind the facts will be buried…’
As if trying to lighten the mood, Ian interrupted cheerfully. ‘You haven’t thanked me properly yet for saving your life.’
‘I still don’t understand what you were doing there,’ Naomi said. ‘There was a whole armed response unit, a negotiating team, and God knows how many more officers swarming around the place. What on earth possessed you to go charging in like that? I’m surprised Eileen hasn’t thrown the book at you.’
Ian laughed. ‘She did rap me over the knuckles,’ he admitted.
‘Serves you right. What were you thinking?’
Ian shook his head, his expression troubled. ‘If it’s the truth you’re after,’ he glanced at Geraldine, ‘I don’t really understand what the hell I was doing. And I certainly can’t tell you what I was thinking at the time because my brain seemed to have stopped working altogether. It’s like I was in a daze. Do you think I need to get help?’
‘I think what you need is a drink,’ Naomi replied. ‘And I wouldn’t let on to Eileen that you fell apart under pressure. Listen, Ian,’ she leaned forward and put her hand on his arm. ‘You saw a colleague was in danger, so you went to help. Because that’s what we do, we help people. It’s why we do this bloody job in the first place. You would have done the same for anyone. It just happened to be Geraldine you rescued. It could have been me. And for what it’s worth, I think you were very brave.’
‘It’s never happened to me before,’ he said, moving his arm to raise his glass. ‘Do you think I’m losing it? Seriously?’
‘I think you need another drink,’ Naomi repeated firmly. ‘It doesn’t do to dwell on these things.’
She stood up and made her way over to the bar.
‘Alcohol’s probably not the best answer,’ Geraldine said quietly.
Ian turned to look at her. ‘Do you think I was brave?’
She considered the question for a moment. ‘You did what you thought you had to do.’
He nodded. ‘All that mattered to me in those confused moments was that you were in danger. It’s like nothing else existed. Do you think I’m losing it? Be honest with me, because I need to know.’
‘You’ve been under a lot of pressure lately, with your divorce and the case. What you need is a holiday.’
‘I need a drink, I need a holiday,’ Ian repeated irritably. ‘Why are you women always trying to tell me what I need?’
She gazed into his troubled blue eyes. ‘No one else can tell you what you need, Ian. That’s something you’re going to have to figure out for yourself.’
He was so still, Geraldine wondered if he had noticed that, without thinking, she had put her hand on his arm.
KILLER CHRISTMAS
‘What are you doing for Christmas?’ Ariadne asked.
‘I’ll be going to my sister’s,’ Geraldine replied to her colleague’s question. ‘How about you?’
‘My family’s huge and we all descend on my parents every Christmas. It’s fun, but pretty exhausting. I think my mother finds it all too much but she absolutely refuses to let any of us help her.’
‘How many brothers and sisters have you got?’
‘Four.’
‘There are five of you!’
‘You’re a mathematician? I had no idea,’ Ariadne laughed.
It occurred to Geraldine that her own sister, Celia, hadn’t invited her yet, but Geraldine stayed there for a few nights over Christmas every year and Celia hadn’t said anything to suggest this year might be different.
‘Geraldine, I’ve been meaning to call you!’ Celia gushed when Geraldine phoned her that evening. ‘How have you been?’
‘I’m fine. How are you all?’
‘Oh, we’re well. You’re busy as usual, I suppose, with your dead bodies.’
Geraldine wasn’t involved in a murder investigation right then so had booked time off, and was free to spend a couple of weeks with her sister’s family. She wondered how long Celia would like her to stay. She had seen too little of them all since her move to York, two hundred and fifty miles from Kent where Celia lived.
‘I want to talk to you about Christmas. I was wondering -’ she began.
‘Yes, a
bout Christmas,’ Celia interrupted her. ‘I’ve been meaning to call you and talk to you about it. The thing is, we’ve decided to go away this year.’
‘Go away?’ Geraldine repeated, uncertain whether she had understood correctly. ‘Where to?’
‘We’ve booked a trip to St Lucia!’
‘St Lucia! Seriously? That sounds amazing!’ Geraldine injected as much enthusiasm into her response as she could. ‘How long are you going for?’
‘Sixteen nights over Christmas and New Year. The hotel’s out of this world, and the beaches are to die for.’
Geraldine listened in silence as Celia described the hotel where she and her family would be staying.
‘We’ll be back on the fifth of January, so we’ll have to arrange for you to come over after that. Come and stay for a couple of days if you can.’
‘That would be lovely,’ Geraldine replied, as cheerfully as she could.
For the first time in her life, she would be alone on Christmas Day.
‘Where will you be for Christmas?’ Celia asked.
‘I’ve been invited to some friends up here,’ Geraldine lied, ‘but I wanted to check what you were doing first. If you’d been around, I would have come to you, of course. At Christmas, you want to be with family if you can.’
If that comment had been slightly barbed, Celia didn’t notice.
‘Well, that’s worked out really well then,’ she said. ‘You can go to your friends. I wouldn’t want to think of you being all on your own at Christmas.’
But you still went ahead and planned your trip abroad without considering me, Geraldine thought. Aloud she said, ‘Yes, I’ll be fine. You just concentrate on having a great holiday.’
‘Well, for what it’s costing us, it had better be great!’
On Christmas Eve, Geraldine went into town and wandered around the centre which was buzzing with last minute shoppers. There was a large Christmas Fair and she walked up and down between the aisles for a while, studying the stalls selling winter hats and gloves, colourful scarves and bags, and all manner of snacks. It was too cold to stand around for long so she went into a white marquee which resembled a gigantic forensic tent. After queuing at the bar for an overpriced mug of mulled wine, she took a seat on a bench at a trestle table and sipped the hot sweet liquid, allowing herself to relax in a roomful of chattering strangers, distant and anonymous. It was company of a sort. Finishing her wine, she bought another. By the time she had drunk that, she had begun to feel cheerful and so turned to the large blonde woman sitting next to her.
Class Murder Page 31