The Business Of Dying

by Simon Kernick

  She looked genuinely concerned. ‘Is she all right?’

  ‘Yeah, she’s all right. But she was lucky, Ms Graham. If I hadn’t been there, I don’t know what would have happened. Somehow I don’t think it would have been a happy ending.’

  ‘These girls . . .’ She shook her head slowly. ‘There’s no telling them. It’s as if they’ve got a death wish.’

  ‘Well, it could be a wish that ends up being fulfilled.’

  ‘I know, I know. What’s so tragic about the whole thing is that Anne’s got so much intelligence. She could really do something with her life if only she’d listen to people. Where is she now?’

  ‘I took her back to your place. That’s when I came in to see you.’

  ‘You should have told me.’

  ‘Don’t worry. She’s OK. She took it remarkably well. We talked for a while afterwards and she seemed concerned, particularly about Molly Hagger’s disappearance. She seemed to think that Molly didn’t just walk out—’

  ‘What did she think had happened to her?’

  ‘She wouldn’t say for sure, but I think she felt something untoward had happened.’ I briefly explained the reasons Anne had given me, without mentioning Mark Wells by name. When I’d finished I had to admit to myself that they sounded pretty flimsy.

  Carla took a packet of Silk Cut out of her handbag and put one in her mouth, before realizing that she hadn’t offered me one, and hastily pointing the pack in my direction.

  I declined. ‘My throat demands something stronger,’ I said, taking a pack of Benson & Hedges out of my shirt pocket.

  She lit my cigarette for me and I got a vague but pleasant smell of her perfume as I leaned forward.

  ‘I thought you said you’d arrested someone for the girl’s murder.’

  ‘We have, and we’re questioning him very closely, but we have to keep our options open. It might be that he’s also responsible for murdering Molly Hagger. It might be that he’s not responsible for anything.’

  She took an elegant draw on her cigarette. ‘Do you think she’s dead?’ she asked.

  ‘I don’t know. Anne was adamant that Molly Hagger would never have gone away of her own accord, but she could well be wrong.’ I paused, then decided to jump in at the deep end. ‘You can’t think of any other girls who’ve left the home in the last few months who, perhaps, you didn’t expect to lose?’

  Carla gave me a reproachful look. ‘Mr Milne, I understand your concerns, and I sympathize with them. If anything’s happening to young girls it’s essential it gets uncovered, but, with due respect, not every female client at Coleman House is a teenage prostitute. Some get involved in that sort of thing, I won’t deny that, but they’re in a minority, and we certainly don’t keep the streets of King’s Cross stocked up with underage girls. There are dozens of care homes in a three-mile radius of here who have exactly the same problems as we do. Do you really think it’s likely that our clients are being picked off one by one by some unknown murderer?’

  ‘No, no, of course not. I’m sorry if it came across like that. I’m just trying to look at every avenue.’ I took a sip of my drink, noting that hers was getting dangerously near to the bottom of the glass. I didn’t want her to go – not yet – but I wasn’t doing too well at charming her into staying. ‘Will you do me a favour, though? Just to indulge me.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘Will you just let me know if any of your clients absconds, or goes missing under suspicious circumstances? Please. Anything you say will be treated with the utmost confidentiality.’

  She nodded. ‘All right, but we get that happening a lot of the time, as I said to you and your colleague yesterday. Most of the time, it’s just that. Them absconding. Looking for greener pastures. It’s the same for all the homes, especially in a city the size of this one.’

  ‘Yeah, I know. That’s the problem. If you were, say, a killer, and you didn’t want to get caught, they’re just the type of girls you’d go for. Ones who can disappear without a trace and no one’s too worried.’

  ‘But I do worry – we all worry – for our clients because we know the pitfalls that await them round every corner. But without resources, and without authority. . .’

  ‘Yeah, I know. What can you do?’

  ‘Exactly. But if any of the girls goes missing, I will let you know.’

  ‘Thanks. I appreciate it.’ I took a drag on my cigarette, knowing I had to do something to keep the conversation alive if I was going to keep her here. ‘It seems ridiculous that these kids can just do exactly what they want when they’re so, you know, unequipped for life.’

  ‘It’s a debate we have constantly within the profession,’ she said. ‘It goes against the grain for many of us to take authoritarian measures, but sometimes I genuinely feel there’s no alternative. These children are vulnerable, they just don’t know it.’

  ‘It’s funny,’ I said, not wanting to lose the moment, ‘but when I was a kid, my mum used to tell me what a cruel world we lived in. She always said enjoy everything while you’re young, but be prepared, because when you get older you’ll see that there are a lot of bad people out there. And you know what? I never believed her.’

  ‘But you do now?’

  ‘Yeah, I do now. If anything, she was more right than she could have known.’

  ‘You’re beginning to strike me as the sensitive type, Mr Milne.’

  ‘I’m not quite sure whether I should take that as a compliment or not.’

  She thought about that for a moment, looking at me over her glass. ‘Take it as a compliment. It’s how it was intended.’

  ‘We’re not all fascist bullyboys, you know. Some of us are actually quite nice people – especially when we’re not at work.’

  ‘I don’t doubt it. And just because I’m in the profession I’m in, it doesn’t mean I’d automatically think you were all fascist bullyboys.’

  ‘But some of your colleagues do.’

  ‘Some of the younger ones do, yes. When I first joined social services, I was probably a lot more black and white in my view of the forces of law and order too. But that was a long time ago.’

  ‘Not that long, I’m sure,’ I said with mock chivalry.

  She smiled. ‘Now that I will definitely take as a compliment.’

  ‘It’s how it was intended.’

  She looked at her watch, then back at me. ‘I really ought to be going, Mr Milne. Time’s getting on, and I’m driving.’

  ‘Well, have one last drink with me. It’s a rule I’ve got that I always have to have a minimum of two drinks in every pub I go into. One drink means you’re in too much of a hurry.’

  ‘it’s an interesting theory. All right, then, I’ll have one more. But let me buy.’ She stood up. ‘Same again?’

  ‘Please.’

  I watched her as she walked across to the bar. She was wearing black high-heeled boots and she carried herself extremely well, moving with a grace I would normally associate with a model. Or maybe it was just me. I was already fully aware that I had the hots for her. I expect she knew it too, but it was only watching her then that I realized quite how much I wanted to rip her clothes off and make love to her on the spot. It had been close to six months since I’d last had sex so it wasn’t going to take a lot to get me going, and the last time had been no great success either. On that occasion it had been a woman DC from the station who’d been as drunk as me, so it was never going to be a match made in heaven. She’d been engaged to a lawyer from the CPS and I’d got so worn out that I’d had to fake an orgasm. Twice. Although I must have done something right because she’d wanted to see me again afterwards.

  This time, there was more than just a desire to have sex, although this came high on the list. I was attracted to Carla in a way I’m not used to. The last time I’d had a feeling like this was when I’d started going out with Danny’s sister, and that had been a long time back.

  She stayed for about another twenty minutes. I was desperate to go to the t
oilet for most of the conversation but held back, not wanting to give her an excuse to realize that she ought to be on her way home. We chatted about this and that, mainly to do with our respective jobs, and I found her an interesting and intelligent talker. She was single as well, which helped. Divorced with no kids, she said that most of the time she was married to her work. I told her I knew the feeling.

  I kept looking for an opportune moment to ask her out but one never came, or maybe it’s more accurate to say that my nerve let me down. I mean, she was a serious career woman with an air of authority about her more suited to a politician than to social services, and I was like a schoolboy in love for the first time with feelings that were more seventeen than thirty-seven.

  When she’d finished her drink, she stood up and offered me a hand to shake. ‘I really must be going, Mr Milne. It’s been very pleasant. it’s just a pity that the reason we’ve been brought together is so tragic.’

  I stood up and shook, squeezing her hand tightly. ‘Unfortunately, that’s the way it goes sometimes. Well, it was nice to talk to you, Ms Graham.’

  ‘You may as well call me Carla.’

  ‘Well then, I insist you call me Dennis.’ It sounded a really shite name when I said it like that. Really unsophisticated. Like Wayne, or Eric. For a moment I wondered why I’d never changed it to something better. Even Zeke would have been an improvement.

  She smiled. ‘Well, Dennis, I hope the investigation goes well.’

  That was my opportune moment, but I bottled it. ‘I’m sure it will. I’ll be in touch if there’s anything else we need. And obviously, as I said earlier—’

  ‘I’ll definitely let you know if any of the girls goes missing, but, as I told you, it does happen a lot, and there’s usually an innocent explanation, if I can use a word like that.’

  ‘Sure, I understand.’ I finished my drink. ‘Let me walk you to your car.’

  ‘There’s no need. It’s only parked round the corner. I’d offer you a lift but I’ve got a very early start.’

  ‘No problem, I understand.’ At least my bladder would thank me.

  I sat back down and she turned to go, then turned back again. ‘Oh, one last thing. Tell me, how did you get Anne to go back to the hostel?’

  ‘I bribed her.’

  ‘With what?’

  I felt a bit sheepish admitting what I’d done, but did it anyway. ‘I paid her to go back. I gave her some money in lieu of any earnings she would have got by staying out there.’

  I wasn’t sure if this would please her or not. Probably not. But, surprisingly, she looked at me with what I thought was a measure of respect. ‘You are a sensitive soul, Dennis.’ She smiled. ‘I’m almost certain it was a futile gesture. Girls like Anne aren’t going to be redeemed suddenly, but I appreciate your concern.’

  ‘Thanks,’ I said, and watched her as she disappeared out of the door.

  It was ten past nine and I was tired, a long way from home, and desperate for a piss. The evening’s events had at least given me some insight into the type of world these girls inhabited, and the type of people out there preying on them. But whether it helped move the case on or not, I wasn’t sure.

  13

  ‘We’re going to charge the pimp,’ Malik said excitedly as I walked into the incident room at a quarter to nine the next morning.

  The place was buzzing, as is always the case when you’ve had a result, and most of the detectives who’d been involved were sitting about looking pretty pleased with themselves, although I couldn’t see Welland anywhere, and Knox wasn’t in his office. Charging Mark Wells and convicting him were two different things, of course, but it sounded like there was definitely room for a lot of optimism. Clearly there’d been some sort of significant breakthrough in the past few hours.

  ‘You missed all the action, Dennis,’ DS Capper said loudly. ‘Where were you?’ Capper was at his desk along with two of his DC cronies, one of whom was my last sexual conquest – if you can count two faked orgasms as a conquest.

  I stopped in front of them. ‘What happened, then? Did he confess?’

  ‘He will do. Now that we’ve got the shirt he was wearing when he killed her. Covered in her blood.’

  Capper looked far too self-satisfied for my liking. It was hard enough speaking to him when he was having a bad day, well nigh impossible when he was having a good one. I said to the room in general that it was a piece of very good news, smiled as if I’d just been told I had a really big cock, and sat down at my desk. Malik followed me and seated himself on the other side.

  I looked at him with surprise. ‘Shit, that all happened fast. When did you hear about it?’

  ‘I saw it on Teletext first thing this morning and came straight in. That was a couple of hours ago.’

  ‘Who found the shirt, then?’

  ‘We got a tip-off. Apparently one of Wells’s girls called in last night and said that Wells had admitted to her that he’d killed Miriam Fox and dumped the clothes nearby. They did another search of the area and found the shirt. It went off to forensics in the early hours of this morning. The preliminary tests show an exact match between the blood on the shirt and Miriam Fox’s blood.’

  ‘That was quick.’

  ‘Time’s of the essence, isn’t it? By lunchtime we’ll have already had him for twenty-four hours.’

  ‘So it’s not a done thing yet?’

  ‘No, but it looks like it’s going to go that way. It’s definitely the murderer’s shirt and we’ve got a good link between it and Wells.’

  ‘Who was the caller? Did she give a name?’

  Malik shook his head. ‘No, but you can’t blame her, can you? She’s not going to want any publicity.’

  I nodded slowly and lit a cigarette. It was a fair point.

  ‘What’s up, Sarge? You don’t look totally convinced.’

  I yawned. ‘Nah, I’m just tired. I didn’t sleep too well last night.’ I had a bit of a hangover as well. I’d left the pub shortly after Carla had gone but had stopped off at the Chinaman on the way home for a quick one. Unfortunately it had turned into a slow three. ‘You wouldn’t do an old man a favour, would you?’

  ‘That old man being you?’

  ‘That’s right.’

  ‘What is it you want?’

  ‘A bacon sandwich and a nice cup of tea.’ He gave me a dirty look. ‘Please, Asif, I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t an emergency.’

  ‘You’ve got to change your diet, Sarge. You eat nothing but crap.’

  ‘Well, get me an apple as well.’ I fished into the pocket of my suit and brought out two pound coins. ‘Please. Call it a personal favour. I won’t ask again, I promise.’

  He took the money reluctantly, checking that no one was watching, and got up. ‘This is a one-off, Sarge. Remember that. It’s only because you look so bloody rough that I’m agreeing.’

  ‘Your pity will be rewarded,’ I told him piously.

  When he’d gone, I started to think about this new development. I hadn’t slept well because I’d been thinking about my conversation with Anne and the possibility that there was some sort of serial killer on the loose targeting underage prostitutes. It was a flight-of-fancy theory, really. Though they make ideal fictional villains and endless fodder for real-life documentaries, in reality serial killers are as rare as dinosaur turds. If there were more than two operating in this whole country of close to sixty million people at any one time, I’d be extremely surprised. But I suppose these things do occasionally happen, and if such a man was at work he’d picked the right sort of place and the right sort of victims to keep himself concealed. The only thing was, if Molly Hagger and any other girls had fallen victim to this man, where were the bodies? And why was Miriam Fox’s left in such an obvious location?

  These were the questions that had prevented me getting anywhere near the seven hours’ slumber I need to function at what passes for optimum efficiency. I’d even managed to incorporate Carla Graham into the various theories and trains
of thought I’d tossed about my brain. In the better ones, I’d solve the case, find the killer (even going so far as catching him as he prepared to despatch his latest victim), get a promotion, and end up fucking Carla’s brains out.

  Fat chance. But at least a man can dream.

  The bacon sandwich tasted good anyway, and I was so hungry I even ate the apple down to the core.

  At 9.15, Knox came into the incident room with a very tired-looking Welland. Welland sat down immediately and it looked like he needed to. Knox, meanwhile, addressed the rest of us. ‘We’ve just told Mark Wells about the latest developments and once again he categorically denies any involvement, but, to use the old phrase, he would say that, wouldn’t he? He certainly looks far more worried than he has been. As we all know, he’s a cocky bastard, and he’s lost a lot of that now. We should get the rest of the results on the shirt later this morning and they’ll tell us whether it belongs to Wells or not, although from the way he’s behaving, I feel fairly certain it’s his.’

  ‘So we’re going to be knocking out the champers later, then?’ This was Capper.

  Knox smiled. ‘It’s far too early even to think about a celebration drink yet. We’ve done well, very well, and it’s been a team effort, but until you hear otherwise, it’s still business as usual.’

  He strode into his office, leaving Welland where he’d sat down. One of the women DCs asked Welland if he was all right. ‘Yeah, yeah, I’m fine,’ he replied. ‘Just a bit under the weather.’ Someone suggested that he go home for the day, but he said he’d stick around and wait for Wells to be charged. ‘I want to see that bastard squirm,’ he said, with more vigour than I’d have thought his body would allow.

  ‘He looks terrible,’ said Malik quietly, turning to me.

  ‘Yeah, I know. He should take a few days off. He needs it. And the taxpayer owes him a break. He’s done a good job on behalf of society.’

  Not that anyone had ever thanked him for it; or any of us, for that matter. It may be that it’s not accurate to describe all coppers as unsung heroes, but neither is it fair to view them as the constant villains of the piece, which is usually the way we’re portrayed whenever we get a mention on the box. And Welland, more than most, was one of the good guys. He’d put his all into policework, so now he might as well take something back.