The Health of Strangers

by Lesley Kelly

  ‘Is he in?’

  ‘I don’t know.’ He turned back into the property, leaving the door open. Maitland and Mona took this as a signal to follow him.

  The flat was an improvement on the outside, but not by much. The hall was missing most of its carpet, and someone had abandoned an attempt to paint the hallway eggshell blue with the paint reaching only to hip level. There was a faint smell of marijuana, which she had to admit at least smelled better than the stair.

  ‘Donny?’ The Australian battered on a door. ‘You in there?’

  There was no reply. He tried the handle, and threw open the door to reveal a mattress on the floor with a duvet on it. Clothes and books were spread across the carpet, but there was no occupant.

  ‘He’s not in,’ said Donny’s flatmate, unnecessarily. ‘His bike’s gone. You a friend of his, mate?’

  ‘We’re actually friends of his girlfriend.’ Mona waited for a reaction.

  ‘His girlfriend?’ He looked surprised. ‘Donny’s got a woman?’

  ‘Yeah. Colette – long blonde hair? Gorgeous?’

  The Australian looked puzzled, then decided it was all beyond him. ‘Can’t say I’ve met her, mate, but good on him. Do you want me to tell him you were looking for him?’

  ‘No. Any idea where I could find him?’

  He thought for a minute. ‘You could try his work?’

  ‘Where’s that?’

  ‘Bike Central, on Broughton Street.’

  ‘Cheers,’ said Maitland.

  The Australian waved them a cheery goodbye, as they ran back down the stairs and negotiated the hallway, out into the fresh Leith air.

  ‘So,’ said Maitland, clapping his hands together, ‘Bike Central?’

  ‘No!’ Mona walked off. ‘We do have another case we’re supposed to be focusing on, remember?’

  After a few steps she realised Maitland wasn’t following her.

  ’Are you coming?’

  He shook his head. ‘I’m going to get some lunch. See you back there.’

  She tutted, and headed in the direction of the office.

  4

  ‘So what does that actually mean?’

  The Guv seemed to be annoyed with Bernard about something. Mona hovered in the doorway and watched as her boss jabbed a stubby finger at Bernard’s computer screen. Bernard leaned rapidly back in his chair to avoid being bumped by his elbow.

  ‘It means, Mr Paterson, that Victor Thompson was telling the truth. See,’ Bernard tapped the computer screen, ‘Church of the Lord Arisen, registered sites April 2014, 34 Persevere Street and 501 Great Junction Street. Then, an additional registration earlier this year of 2 Industry Terrace, which is the address of Morley’s. Licence for twenty non-immune gatherees at any given time, plus unlimited immune gatherees, up to the limit of fire regulations.’

  The Guv swivelled round on his chair, and Bernard nearly toppled over in an attempt not to get hit. Mona couldn’t help feeling that her boss would have been quite happy if he had.

  ‘But why didn’t he tell me straight off that was what was there?’

  Bernard wheeled his chair away. ‘Maybe he was embarrassed?’

  Paterson snorted. ‘Vic Thompson has a brass neck. He’s not going to bother about my opinion.’

  ‘Maybe he’s genuine.’ Bernard looked thoughtful. ‘He’s worried about the Virus and he’s found religion? He wouldn’t be the first person to react to extreme circumstances by finding solace in the Church.’

  ‘Finding solace? Speak English, for Christ’s sake. And while you’re at it, get a grip, Bernard.’ Paterson was now pacing up and down the office. ‘This is a dyed-in-the-wool criminal here, not some teenage lassie looking to find God.’

  Bernard threw his hands up in exasperation and turned back to his computer.

  ‘I thought you were supposed to be at SHEP, Guv?’ Mona announced her arrival.

  ‘Change of plans. Mona, glad you are here – I need someone with an iota of common sense.’ Paterson stopped walking. ‘Vic Thompson has got an outpost of the Church of the Lord Arisen in his back room.’

  She laughed in surprise. ‘For real? Is it illegal?’

  ‘No, legit, but he was pretty cagey about admitting to it. What’s his game?’

  She thought for a moment. ‘Well, it’s footfall isn’t it, twenty Christians at a time plus any immunes.’

  ‘Yeah, and each of them ordering half a lager shandy.’ Paterson slapped his hand on Bernard’s desk, making him jump. ‘Nah, there’s more to it than that.’

  ‘Drugs is the obvious one,’ said Mona, ‘what with Morley’s reputation. And the Church’s reputation for that matter.’

  Paterson started walking toward his office. ‘I’m going to make some calls about Mr Thompson’s sudden conversion.’ Over his shoulder he asked, ‘Any further forward with the German lassie, Mona?’

  ‘Nowhere fast, Guv.’ Mona picked up her bag. ‘Diaries aren’t giving much away, except they keep referring to someone called “K”.’ She slid into her own chair, and turned on her computer.

  ‘Well, keep at it. We need a result there.’

  An e-mail from Marcus pinged into her inbox, entitled ‘Heidi Weber Social Media.’

  Hey Mona, Had a trawl through the usual sites and thought you might like to see Heidi’s Facebook page. Working on cracking the password to the private area, but the public bit’s pretty full . . .get in touch if you need anything else . . .happy to chat over a drink sometime? M

  In your dreams, thought Mona, and clicked on the link. Once in the site, she went straight to the photo gallery. After a couple of minutes’ searching she leapt to her feet and grabbed her bag.

  Bernard looked up. ‘Where are you going?’

  ‘To see Amanda again.’

  ‘I’ll come too,’ he said, getting to his feet.

  ‘No need.’ The last thing she wanted was more time with Bernard. And anyway, she’d like a shot questioning Amanda on her own.

  ‘It’s OK, I want to come.’

  ‘Whatever. But I’m going now.’

  She set off down the stairs as fast as she could in the hope that Bernard would take the hint, and cursed as she saw the short, stocky figure of the chattiest Admin assistant coming the other way.

  ‘Hi, Marguerite.’

  She tried to squeeze past, flattening herself against the wall. Marguerite was obviously in the mood to talk and remained firmly in the middle of the stair, smiling and immovable.

  ‘How’s the big man?’

  ‘The Guv? Oh, he’s fine.’ Mona tried unsuccessfully to keep moving. ‘Hasn’t eaten any babies or anything today.’

  Marguerite laughed, a full-bodied snort. ‘I’ve got his post. Gets here later every day.’

  ‘Well, that’s the post for you,’ said Mona, finally succeeding in manoeuvring past. ‘Sorry, in a bit of a rush.’

  She legged it out of the building, then stopped. She knew that she shouldn’t be investigating solo. In the earliest days of the HET, there had been a couple of near misses with unaccompanied HET officers being threatened with violence. This had resulted in an immediate diktat that all investigations were undertaken in pairs, regardless of the potential risk. This had halved their manpower at a stroke, and meant that Mona spent far more time in Bernard’s company than was good for either of them. She should take him with her to Amanda’s, but just for once she wanted to carry out an inquiry without him there, popping his tuppence worth in.

  She heard the sound of feet behind her.

  ‘Mona, why are we going back to see Ms Harris again?’

  A vision of Heidi’s flatmate’s naked arms struggling to hold her duvet in place crossed Mona’s mind.

  ‘Marcus sent me through a link to her Facebook page, which is full of pictures of Amanda, out on the town with Heidi, the flatmate she claimed to never socialise with.’

  ‘She lied?’

  ‘Looks like it.’

  ‘I wonder why?’ Bernard’s footsteps stopped as t
hey passed the entrance to the car park. ‘Are we not taking the car?’

  ‘I thought I’d walk.’

  ‘Oh, OK.’ Bernard caught up with her. ‘Nice day for some fresh air.’

  They walked in silence for a minute or two.

  ‘I saw Marguerite on the way down.’

  Mona grunted.

  ‘Have you noticed she’s the only one from Admin who ever visits our office? None of the rest of them come near us.’

  ‘Marguerite is the only one of the Admin staff the Guv hasn’t managed to offend totally. I think her dad was in the Police, or Army or something, so she’s used to the sense of humour.’

  ‘What did Mr Paterson say to them?’

  ‘He made some joke about them all wetting their knickers over Maitland. They said they were offended by the language, but I think they were really pissed off because he’d hit the nail on the head.’

  ‘What? The entire Admin team fancies Maitland?’ Bernard stopped. ‘Why?’

  ‘Because he’s tall, and dark, and chats them all up, so none of them have actually noticed he’s got a face like a bag of spanners.’

  Bernard walked on in silence for a minute. ‘Do you think he’s attractive?’

  ‘No,’ said Mona, crossing the road. ‘I think he’s Maitland.’

  Mona gave the bell a short and authoritative push.

  After a brief pause, a ‘hello?’ emanated from the intercom.

  ‘Hi Amanda, it’s the Health Enforcement Team again.’

  There was a brief pause. ‘OK.’ The intercom buzzed as she let them in.

  Mona walked briskly up the stairs with Bernard following her. She looked up to see Amanda watching them over the banister. The girl’s brown eyes followed them as they climbed the steps. Mona tripped on the top landing and Bernard took her arm, which she shrugged off.

  ‘This is my partner, Bernard.’

  ‘Is he, like, your boyfriend?’ Amanda looked over the top of the handrail at them. Mona felt a ridiculous blush spreading across her face.

  ‘No, I mean my partner HET officer.’

  ‘Oh, OK, I see.’ Amanda gave a small exhalation of breath, which could have been a laugh.

  ‘Can we come in?’ asked Mona, pointing to the flat door.

  Amanda retreated into the flat, with the two of them following.

  ‘Do you want a cup of tea, or something?’ she asked over her shoulder.

  Mona put a hand on Bernard’s arm to stop him refusing. ‘Yes, that would be lovely.’

  ‘Come and have a seat.’

  Amanda went into the kitchen and Bernard and Mona settled themselves at the table. Mona had a discreet look at their surroundings. It was a good-sized room, with SMEG appliances and granite worktops. The table they were sitting round was oak. She could understand Heidi, the daughter of a rich MP being able to afford the accommodation, but Amanda? On a care worker’s wage?

  ‘We hope you’re not worrying too much about Heidi,’ said Bernard.

  Amanda shrugged without turning round. ‘I’m sure she’ll turn up when she’s ready.’

  Ready? thought Mona. An interesting choice of words.

  ‘Do you think there’s a reason Heidi has gone away?’

  Amanda put three cups of black tea on the table. ‘I don’t know. But there must be something.’ She opened the fridge door. ‘Milk?’

  ‘Please.’

  Mona waited for Amanda to ask why they were there, but she sat in silence. Was she playing it cool, or was she intimidated by their presence? Lots of people were a little bit overawed when the HET arrived, and generally couldn’t wait to get rid of them. But maybe Amanda wasn’t like that; there was something almost other-worldly about her.

  ‘I’ve been reading Heidi’s diaries.’

  ‘Really? I didn’t know she kept a diary.’

  ‘She did, and it’s given us quite an insight into how she spent her time. Morley’s, the Railway Tavern – did you ever go there with her?’

  Amanda took her time answering. ‘We didn’t really socialise.’

  ‘How come you ended up sharing a flat?’ asked Bernard. ‘As you’re not really friends, I mean.’

  ‘I answered her ad.’

  ‘Her ad?’ asked Mona.

  ‘Yup. I moved to Edinburgh and was looking for somewhere to live. She seemed a nice, quiet sort so I took the room.’

  ‘And is she?’ asked Mona.

  ‘Is she what?’

  ‘A nice, quiet sort?’

  Amanda thought for a minute. ‘I guess so. Kept the flat clean, which was what I was mainly bothered about. We didn’t really socialise. I told you that before.’ Amanda sighed. ‘I didn’t realise that missing your Health Check was such a big deal. That people would come looking for you.’

  Bernard’s mouth opened, and Mona knew he was about to launch into a long and detailed explanation of exactly what happened when someone missed a Health Check. Before he could speak, however, there was a sound of ringing.

  ‘Is that your phone?’

  Amanda stood up. ‘It’s in the living room. I’d better get it.’

  Mona and Bernard looked at each other.

  ‘She’s sticking to her story about not knowing Heidi too well,’ said Bernard. ‘Why is she lying?’

  ‘I’m going to find out.’ Mona got to her feet. ‘See if you can find any mail or anything lying about.’

  She walked along the narrow hall and pushed open the door. Amanda hung up as she entered.

  ‘They were trying to sell me solar panels.’

  Mona smiled. ‘Bit of a long shot when you live in a flat.’

  She looked round the living room. The sofa was pristine leather, and the sideboard looked mahogany or some other quality wood. The polished floor was covered by a woollen rug with an intricate pattern that didn’t look like it had come cheap, and the ceiling-to-floor drapes in the bay window alone must have cost a fortune.

  ‘This really is a very nice flat.’

  ‘You said that before.’

  ‘Splitting the rent 50/50, are you?’

  ‘Maybe. I don’t know.’ Amanda sighed, exasperated. ‘It’s Heidi’s flat, she deals with all that.’

  ‘Heidi, who you hardly know.’

  Amanda shrugged.

  ‘Except we’ve been on Heidi’s Facebook page, this flatmate of yours, the one you hardly know, and you seem to feature a lot. Care to explain?’

  Amanda turned her back on Mona, and stood staring out of the window. ‘I don’t know where she is. If I did I would tell you.’

  Mona joined her at the window. As she did so she noticed that placed neatly behind the curtain was a holdall.

  ‘Who does that belong to?’

  Amanda looked alarmed as Mona bent down to open it up.

  ‘That’s not your – don’t you need a warrant or something before you go raking through people’s stuff?’

  Mona rummaged through the bag, unearthing amongst its contents a selection of men’s clothing, a towel, and a washbag.

  ‘What’s going on?’ Bernard appeared in the doorway.

  Mona stood up holding a pair of boxer shorts in each hand. ‘I don’t think Amanda’s been quite open with us. Care to tell us who your visitor is?’

  There was silence.

  ‘I appreciate that you don’t want to talk to us, Amanda, but I’m afraid you are going to have to.’

  ‘I know.’ Amanda shifted uncomfortably. She sighed. ‘They’re Kevin’s.’

  ‘Kevin?’ Mona and Bernard looked at each other. Bernard silently mouthed the letter K to her over the top of Amanda’s head.

  ‘And Kevin would be?’

  ‘Look, I really don’t want to say any more, it’s none of my business.’

  ‘Heidi is missing. Heidi, whose Facebook page has numerous pictures of you. Heidi, who I’m willing to bet is actually a very good friend of yours.’

  ‘I’m sorry.’ Amanda started putting the clothes back into the holdall. She put it behind the curtain and
threw herself onto one of the large leather sofas. ‘I know.’

  ‘Amanda, if you, or Heidi, are in some kind of trouble we can help. We just need you to be honest. Maybe you could start by explaining why you’ve been lying to us?’

  Amanda let out a deep sigh, and wiped her eyes with the corner of her T-shirt.

  ‘Because I promised her I wouldn’t tell anyone.’

  ‘Tell anyone what?’

  ‘About her and Kevin.’

  ‘Kevin’s her boyfriend?’ asked Bernard.

  ‘Yeah.’ Amanda gave her eyes another wipe. ‘Her parents are really strict so she made me promise I wouldn’t tell anyone about him living here.’

  ‘What’s Kevin’s surname?’

  ‘Calman.’

  ‘Is he registered here?’

  She shrugged. ‘I don’t know – either here or the Pollock Halls.’

  ‘Is he a friend of yours too?’ asked Mona.

  ‘Nope.’

  ‘You’re not a fan of your pal’s boyfriend?’

  Amanda sat on the sofa, legs curled under. ‘None of my business.’

  Mona and Bernard walked slowly through the tree-lined walk that bisected the Meadows, reflecting on their visit.

  ‘Well,’ said Mona, ‘an explanation of sorts. Are you convinced?’

  ‘Maybe,’ said Bernard, stepping out of the way of a cyclist.

  Mona shivered. The spring sunshine that had warmed the day had faded. It was too chilly to be dawdling, but neither of them felt inclined to go back to the office. She looked out across the expanse of green and tried to focus the thoughts that were in her head.

  ‘Anything else strike you as odd there, Bernard?’

  He looked at her, eyebrows raised. ‘Like what?’

  ‘Like she desperately doesn’t want us to know about Kevin, but she makes a pretty half-arsed attempt to hide his stuff.’

  ‘Didn’t make much of an effort to hide her dislike of him.’ Bernard pulled out his phone, and sidetracked toward a bench, throwing himself down onto the seat.

  ‘Let’s check his Health Status. Nothing for Marchmont, so let’s try Pollock Halls.’ His fingers flicked over the screen.

  Mona sat down next to him and peered over his shoulder.