Mammoth Book of Best British Crime 11

by Maxim Jakubowski

  “What?”

  “I found a little girl in your house. She was hiding and must have been there for hours.”

  “Who?”

  “Nicole? She’s ten.”

  He nodded. “Elaine’s little girl.”

  “Elaine hasn’t come back.”

  “That’s surprising. She’s a very attentive mother.”

  “Nicole was surprised too . . .”

  8

  I had no reason to think that Elaine was in the kind of trouble that would lead her to court. But a woman desperate enough to run with her child from a boyfriend was not going to leave that kid unattended if she could help it.

  The police would get on to it eventually, no doubt. But as long as they could drop the kid into the welfare system they’d focus first on the wreckage and the stabbings. That’s how police prioritize. Even those related to me by blood. Unless given a little guidance.

  I had no specific reason to connect Elaine’s absence to the attack on Wolfgang, but I don’t believe in coincidence much more than I believe in extraterrestrials. One way or another there was a connection. And the only person I knew who could tell me more about Elaine was Nicole.

  I called Sam.

  “Where are you, Daddy?” she asked.

  “Funny thing. I was about to ask you the same question.”

  “A detective named Saul Imberlain wants to talk to you.”

  “I already talked to him, at the hospital.”

  “He wants to talk to you again, so I gave him your address and phone number.”

  “I haven’t been home. But look, sweetie, I need to talk some more with the little girl, Nicole. Do you know where she is?”

  “She’s still here.”

  “Wolfgang’s house?”

  “I’m waiting with her till someone from the Department of Child Services shows up. Which won’t be long.”

  “So her mother hasn’t appeared?”

  “No.”

  “Just don’t let Nicole go anywhere before I get there, okay?”

  “Why not?” I could hear her not saying she wasn’t on duty.

  “Because I’m trying to find her mother and if I can do that it’ll save the poor kid some grief.”

  After a moment Sam said, “Okay.”

  What a good girl.

  9

  Wolfgang’s house looked lit up like a roaring fire now that the light was fading. The cops seemed to have turned on every light in the place.

  Which is not to say there weren’t a few lights aglow elsewhere along the street. Dim ones, with just enough illumination for neighbours to find their cigarettes and lemonade without making a mess as they watched the goings-on from behind their curtained windows. The neighbours were curious, but were they hostile?

  A carpenter was at work on a temporary repair to the front door as I went in. Sam sat with Nicole in the kitchen area. A tall guy with a brown and grey beard stood behind them. Sam got up when she saw me. The tall guy pulled out a notebook.

  Sam said, “This is Whitney Moser of DCS. Department of Child Services.”

  Moser offered a hand.

  I shook it. I like to give people the benefit of the doubt.

  Sam said, “Mr Moser is going to take Nicole to where she can sleep tonight.”

  “I need to ask her a few questions,” I said.

  “And she needs to get settled for the night so she can get some sleep,” Moser said. “You can’t treat a child the way you might treat an adult.”

  I crouched to be on a level with Nicole. Admittedly, she looked sleepy. It wasn’t all that late, but she’d had a shocking day. “Hi,” I said.

  “Hi.”

  “Which would you rather do, Nicole?” I asked. “Get some sleep or help me find your mother?”

  “Daddy!” Sam said as Moser said, “Honestly, Mr Samson.”

  “Help find Mom,” Nicole said. She was plenty awake now.

  “I need you to tell me some things that no one but you knows.”

  “Okay.”

  “Do you know the address where you and your mom lived with Harvey?”

  “Who’s Harvey?” I heard Moser whisper to Sam.

  Nicole said, “3117 Hincot Street.”

  “Good girl. And does your mom have any friends around there?”

  “Laurie across the street.”

  “Right across the street?”

  She nodded. “With the orange door. Mom wanted one but Harvey said no.”

  “Shall I get you an orange door for Christmas?”

  She nodded, vigorously considering how tired she was.

  “What school did you go to before you and your mom moved here?”

  “Ninety-three.”

  “Did you like it there?”

  Nod.

  “I bet they liked you there too.”

  A little shrug. Then a nod.

  “What’s your mom’s name?”

  “Elaine.”

  “Elaine what?”

  “Warren.”

  “And are she and Harvey married or is he your mom’s boyfriend?”

  “No.”

  “No?”

  “He was her boyfriend. We don’t put up with him anymore.”

  “And does your mom have any brothers or sisters that you know about?”

  “Bobby. But he died.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry to hear that.”

  “He did magic. He found an egg in my ear.”

  I took a close look at one of her ears. “Yeah, I’d say there was room for an egg in there.”

  She smiled as she rubbed the ear in question.

  I said, “And how about your mom’s parents? Do you know them?”

  A nod.

  “Where do they live?”

  “Crawfordsville.”

  “Are their names Mr and Mrs Warren?”

  A nod, but then uncertainty. “I guess.”

  “Do you know their first names?”

  “She’s Lily. He’s . . . Um. Oh, he’s Wayne.”

  “And do you like them?”

  A nod.

  “My grandmother used to make pies, just for me,” I said. “Does Lily do that for you?”

  Shake of the head.

  “Well, I’ll tell her to get her act together,” I said.

  “Yeah!” Nicole said. Then she yawned.

  I said, “I’m going to let you go sleep now.”

  Nicole looked from me to Moser and back to me. “I want to stay here, in case Mom comes home.”

  “I’ll see what we can arrange.” I gestured to Sam to take over distracting the little girl.

  I led the social worker a few feet away. “Look,” I said, “I know you want to get this all settled.”

  “I want what’s best for Nicole,” Moser said.

  “If I can find her mother in a reasonable amount of time, that would be best, wouldn’t it?”

  “As long as she’s able to provide a safe environment.”

  “Can you hang on here for a while?”

  “Do you know where Elaine Warren is?”

  I was tempted to say yes just to get the guy to agree but I saw Nicole paying attention to us. “Not for sure, but I have an idea. And I’ll give finding her a damn good try. Plus, you’ve seen that Nicole doesn’t want to leave. I’d appreciate it if you’ll give me some time.”

  Moser looked at his watch.

  I said, “Think about all the paperwork you’ll save if I’m successful.”

  Moser turned out to be one of the good ones.

  10

  Whitney Moser began to gather bits of bed and bedding to make Nicole a place to sleep and I took Sam to the front porch. “He’s going to stay here with Nicole while I can have a crack at finding Elaine.”

  “Where is she?” Sam said.

  “I have no idea.”

  “Great.”

  “But I might know someone who does.”

  “I want to help, if I can, Daddy.”

  “Officially or as a caring human being?”<
br />
  “Can you stop being you for a moment and just tell me what you have in mind?”

  I had a moment in which I visualized Wolfgang the extraterrestrial in his hospital bed, bandaged and receiving drips. My feeling of isolation from the world I inhabit can be as self-created as his. “Sorry. I’m going to try to become a better person.”

  “Perhaps you can postpone that too,” she said, looking at her watch.

  “I want to start by looking at 3117 Hincot Street. If I can find it.”

  “Want to follow me and my GPS?”

  Hincot was a short, dead-end street behind an old shopping centre a couple of miles south of the city’s centre. It didn’t appear to be a bad neighbourhood, but then again it didn’t appear much at all. The GPS had brought us to a dark stretch between two streetlights that didn’t work. Or that had been shot out. I’ve never owned a gun in all my years as a PI but for a moment I was glad Sam-the-cop was packing.

  However, the only trouble we encountered was not being able to see the house numbers without our flashlights, what with the darkness and the rain.

  But we found 3117, which turned out to be the top half of a duplex. Both halves were dark.

  “What do you think?” Sam asked.

  “I’m going to walk around back in case Harvey’s sitting in his kitchen drinking himself silly by candlelight. You could make a note of the licence plate numbers of the cars parked nearby along the street.”

  “You think one of them is Harvey’s?”

  There were only a few cars on the street, none parked in front of the duplex, so the chances weren’t good that they were relevant. But who knew?

  My squishy stroll around the property did not reveal Harvey lit up round back. Or any evidence of occupation at all. There were also no cars on the alley pull-in space behind the house. Maybe everyone was out partying.

  But when I returned to the front Sam’s was not the only umbrella over the sidewalk. She was talking with a woman.

  Sam said, “Daddy, this is Laurie. She lives—”

  “Across the street and has an orange door.” I stepped forward with a hand extended. “Nicole told us about you. Once we checked to see whether Harvey was at home we were going to come over and see you.”

  Laurie’s hand was soft and warm, both pleasant qualities to experience when you’re standing under an umbrella on a cold, rainy night.

  “Are you a cop too?” Laurie asked.

  Sam said, “Laurie came over because she thought we looked like we were police.”

  “I leave the weighty burden of badge-carrying to the youngsters,” I said.

  “I thought maybe you were here because you’d arrested Harvey and wanted to check out his house, that kind of thing,” Laurie said.

  “Laurie,” I said, “why do you think Harvey’s done something to be arrested for?”

  “Can you see my face?” she asked, and turned her head.

  Sam lit Laurie’s face with her flashlight, revealing puffy bruising around her left ear and cuts that looked like scratches on her neck.

  “Are you saying Harvey did that?” I asked.

  “He certainly did.”

  “Why?”

  “He thought I knew where Elaine was, that I was holding out on him.”

  “When was this?”

  “This morning.”

  “And did you report the assault to the police?”

  She hesitated, maybe working out that her answer could be checked. “No.”

  “Why not?”

  “He said it would be my word against his and that if I told the police he and his friends would come back and really hurt me.”

  Sam said, “And do you know where Elaine is?”

  Laurie hesitated over this too.

  I said, “Elaine’s with you, isn’t she?”

  “What?” both women said.

  “Elaine is in your house right now,” I said. “Isn’t she? That’s why you couldn’t to do anything that might result in Harvey coming back and coming in.”

  Elaine Warren met us just inside the orange door. “Has Harvey been arrested?” she asked Laurie. “They’re cops, right? He’s been arrested, right?” She looked from me to Sam and back to Laurie. None of us spoke. “What? What?”

  “The girl’s a cop,” Laurie said. “And, no, Harvey hasn’t been arrested.”

  “Why not?” Elaine was clearly agitated.

  Laurie put her arms around her friend and made a face at us to say we shouldn’t upset her more.

  I wasn’t that worried about upsetting her, but I said, “That’s a lovely daughter you have, Elaine.”

  “What?” She looked up and pulled away from Laurie’s support.

  “Nicole. Bright, funny. A real credit to you.”

  “Is she all right?”

  “She’s fine. We’ve left her with a guy from Child Services.”

  “Child Services?” New panic. “But Wolfgang said he’d look after her,” Elaine said.

  “Wolfgang is in the hospital, Mrs Warren,” Sam said. “He was attacked by four men and stabbed several times.”

  “No,” Elaine said, with disbelief. “No!” she cried.

  I said, “So the Child Services guy is waiting with Nicole at Wolfgang’s. They both hope you’ll come back tonight to pick her up.”

  “How can I do that?” Elaine was more agitated than ever. “Where could we go? If Harvey sees me, I’m a dead woman.”

  “You think he’s still looking for you?” Sam said.

  “Unless you people lock him away.”

  “Elaine,” I said, “when we came in, why did you ask if Harvey’d been arrested?”

  “Because he’s dangerous, and evil. Look what he did to Laurie.”

  “But the police didn’t know what he did to Laurie.”

  Elaine looked from me to Sam to Laurie. “I just thought . . .”

  “What?”

  “Oh, I don’t know. I don’t know. I need to get Nicole. But I can’t. If he sees me . . .”

  “You think he’ll be waiting for you outside Wolfgang’s?”

  She thought. “He could be. He probably is. Oh God!”

  “Well, suppose we bring Nicole here for the time being.”

  Sam looked at me uncertainly.

  “Would you?” Elaine said. She sounded more hopeful than at any previous time in the conversation. “Will you? Please!”

  11

  As soon as Laurie’s orange door closed behind us, Sam said, “Whitney Moser’s not going to let us bring Nicole here. Not with a dangerous guy on the loose who’s already threatened to come back to Laurie’s.”

  “No?”

  “I wouldn’t.”

  I said nothing.

  “Daddy?”

  “Yes, dear?”

  “What are you up to?”

  “Tell me, if you were Harvey and you were looking for Elaine, where would you wait for her?”

  Sam considered. “Wolfgang’s maybe.”

  “Once you’ve seen the cop cars there? Given that Elaine all but told us that he was one of the gang that stabbed Wolfgang?”

  “She did?”

  “She expected him to be arrested, honey. Even Wolfgang the extraterrestrial doesn’t claim to read minds, and if he can’t, then the police sure can’t. Arrested for what, since Laurie didn’t report him?”

  “If he was part of that,” Sam said, “then he wouldn’t hang around while the cop cars were there.”

  “So what would be your second choice as a place to wait for Elaine?”

  “Well,” Sam said, “here, I guess. If he thinks Laurie is helping her.”

  “And tell me, did you get a chance to look at the cars parked along the street?”

  “Yes. But I haven’t called them in.”

  I said, “Were the windows of any of the cars fogged up with condensation?”

  12

  Sam and I got in our cars and drove away.

  Around the corner and then another block for luck. Sam called for a
couple of squad cars to join her, stressing that they must do it quietly and must avoid Hincot Street.

  The rain might have brought a lot of people out to the ER but it seemed to have kept most of Indy’s malfeasants at home. Patrolling cops were bored. The call for two cars brought five.

  Under Sam’s guidance a couple of them drove up the alley behind 3117 with their lights out. Once they were in place at the end of the street, Sam and the other patrol cars filled the street from its open end.

  I walked back to the corner to watch. While I waited for Sam to give the go, a gust of wind blew my umbrella inside out. Then another gust righted it, but left me with a droopy corner – the umbrella would never be the same again. Was it a metaphor for life? We survive our trials but we’re never quite the same?

  Suddenly the six cars leapt into action, lighting the street with head, spot and blue-revolving lights. Moments later Harvey’s car was surrounded with guns brandished by cops in raincoats. I saw his car’s door open a crack. The first thing out was his hands held high and in plain sight. Once he was standing by the car, even from a distance he looked like he didn’t know what had hit him.

  I wondered if Harvey figured that his windows being steamed up would make him inconspicuous because no one could see him in the car. Wrong. His being the only car on the street with opaque windows made it more conspicuous, not less. Poor Harvey. Not one of nature’s deep thinkers, at a guess.

  Elaine didn’t think Harvey had a gun, but in Indiana you can never be sure. Hence the aggressive posture of the bored police officers. As it turned out, he was as unarmed as he was unaware. They didn’t even find his knife.

  While the assembled representatives of law enforcement secured him ready for transfer downtown, I crossed and went back to Laurie’s orange door, my umbrella’s new flap flapping in the wind.

  13

  Whitney Moser was sitting on a kitchen chair, concentrating on his phone. Either he was dealing with weighty matters of child protection or he was playing on one of his game apps. Nicole was asleep at his feet, curled up on a nest of mattress leftovers.

  Elaine followed me into the house, but as soon as she saw Nicole she rushed to her and took her in her arms.

  “Mom?” Nicole said as she rubbed her eyes and opened them.