by Mark Hayden
We got a shock when we got back to Elvenham: Rachael had not only done the washing up from breakfast, she’d left two cards on the table, still in the paper bag from the village shop. Nell does not stock a vast range of cards, and the one addressed to Mina, Myfanwy and me must have been their most expensive Thank You card. Inside, Rachael had written, “You deserve better. All of you.”
‘That is very sad,’ said Mina. ‘You never told me your sister had such high levels of self-loathing. She could almost be Indian.’
‘It’s got worse over the last six months. I hope she gets a fresh start in Frankfurt.’
The other card was addressed to Erin, who appeared a few minutes later to collect her stuff. She wasn’t staying for the men’s game. She opened the card and burst out laughing. The outside had a sad-face emoji with stick-on googly eyes and I’m (very) Sorry underneath. Inside, Rachael had written, “This won’t happen again, Erin. I’ve discovered that I prefer brunettes. Sorry.”
‘Erin, tell Conrad what happened at the crease,’ said Mina.
Erin (who’s blond) looked embarrassed. ‘I was so focused on not using magick against that first ball that I forgot to move my feet. I kicked myself all the way back to the pavilion. Now that really won’t happen again.’
Mina kissed me and headed for the shower. Erin moved her bag to the hall, then came back and put the kettle on. ‘Do you want a cuppa?’
‘Please. Good catch by the way.’
‘Thanks. That’s not what I wanted to talk to you about. Do you remember Eliza and Karina?’
Erin’s circle of Mages, the Arden Foresters, had come to grief in the affair of the Phantom Stag. In the fallout, Karina had been sentenced to undertake a pilgrimage from Glastonbury to St Brigid’s Well in Kildare, Ireland. On foot. Eliza had been cast out of the circle as she went into labour.
‘Of course I remember them. I take it there’s news.’
‘Yeah.’ Erin was still wearing her team shirt. It wasn’t nice having to stare at Bloxham Buildings as the sponsor. They also appeared to be very itchy. She pulled at the seam under her arm. ‘Karina’s back. She completed the pilgrimage walk. She’s spending some time with Oma to decide whether she wants to ask for permission to re-join the Foresters. Oma said that the whole group must decide in the end, but I have a veto. If I say no, Karina will disappear.’
Karina had been a party to the murder of Erin’s best friend, a tragedy for which Erin seemed to have paid a high price: the Foresters had blamed her in some way, and that’s why she was renting one of my stables. ‘How do you feel about it?’ I asked.
She made the tea and sat back down. ‘I want to see her. I want to know what she has to say. If I think she’s really sorry, I’ll tell her that she can come back on one condition. She has to serve in the King’s Watch for three years.’
‘Whoa, Erin. Where did that come from?’
‘Saffron. I’ve heard how much of a difference she’s made already, and Karina is much more developed as a Mage. Karina’s a good kid, really. The King’s Watch is right up against it at the moment, and you need all the help you can get.’
We are up against it. The Nine of Wands hasn’t finished with us yet. We do need all the help we can get. ‘Do you think Karina will take the Oath of Allegiance?’
‘Her choice. Take the Oath or ship out.’
Erin does tend to see things in black and white.
‘The Constable may not have her. It’s not my decision.’
‘I know. All she has to do is apply and stick it out for three years if you take her. I think she’ll jump at the chance.’
‘Perhaps. What about Eliza?’
‘You heard there were complications with the delivery?’ I nodded. ‘She and the baby were in hospital for ages. When she left the hospital, she got into a taxi and hasn’t been seen since. There’s a For Sale sign up outside her house. I thought you should know.’
‘Thanks, Erin. That’s useful. Are you thinking of moving yourself? Nearer to Clerkswell, perhaps?’
‘I might. I do like it here, and Myfanwy’s amazing. The only problem is that she nabbed the last half way decent bloke in the village. All the other single men aren’t really single, they’re divorced with children. Or they’re children themselves.’
‘There’s only one solution. You’ll have to dye your hair and take your chances with Rachael. You could do a lot worse.’
‘In your dreams, Conrad.’
‘My dreams do not involve my sister. On that score, you have my word.’
‘Oh yeah. That would not be healthy, would it? How do you think the boys’ team will do today?’
‘Nice change of subject. We’ve got an incentive now: do better than the girls or we’ll never live it down.’
We did do better than the girls. Ben decided to play both Stephen and me, given how dry the pitch was. We both took four wickets, and it was a great team victory. I conceded fewer runs than he did, which was personally very satisfying. In the interests of balance, I should point out that he scored more, too. A lot more. That doesn’t make the Bloxham-Hardy trophy any less vulgar, though.
22 — Triangulation
We met in the now very familiar surroundings of the John Radcliffe car park on Monday morning. An immaculate Bentley Mulsanne swept into the turning circle and Saffron hopped out. She went slightly red when she saw me watching. ‘I didn’t think you’d be here yet,’ she said.
‘Didn’t want me to see the chauffeur dropping you off?’
‘I wish. That was my uncle at the wheel. Where are the others?’
‘They got held up on the M40, but they won’t be long. Good weekend?’
She laughed. ‘Not as good as yours, by the sound of it. Erin text me to say that she’d had a close encounter with your sister.’
‘It’s a good job that only the magickal world will hear about this.’
We swapped weekend stories for a couple of minutes, until Vicky’s TT appeared. She had the top down and her passenger was grinning all over her face. Xavi was having an extra couple of days to recover from the tear gas, and Vicky had brought Ruth Kaplan up from London. We’d decided that Ruth should take part in the interview because she’d done all the leg-work on identifying the bodyguards, and Morris Chandler would be facing charges in the mundane court sooner or later, and it would be good to have a real police officer’s input.
Ruth looks like Hannah’s younger sister, not her twin, and that’s mostly down to the ageing effects of Hannah’s major trauma. I still don’t know how old they are, exactly. We found a wall to hide behind, more for shade than privacy, and got down to business. ‘Don’t go too far away,’ I said to Vicky and Saffron. ‘We might not even get in. Where are you going?’
‘Total tourist, me,’ said Vicky. ‘Last week was my first visit to Oxford. Saffron says she’s gonna show me the sights.’
‘There’s buses every ten minutes,’ said Saff. ‘We can be back in no time. Neither of us want to hang around here unless we have to.’
We discussed the interview strategy as a team, then the younger members left us to it. ‘How’s Hannah?’ I asked.
Ruth looked away. ‘I don’t know. She spent Shabbos alone and she didn’t say much at Friday night dinner. If she had hair, she’d be going grey.’
I looked at Ruth’s full length bob. After the TT, it would need a good brush. ‘No need to rub it in. Did you get all the data analysed?’
‘What little there was. The Haighs of Dumbarton definitely know more than they’re letting on. They’ve washed their hands of Eilidh in public, but I can’t believe that none of them have had contact with her in the last year.’
‘Is there no way to put more pressure on them?’
‘Where would we start? Dan McCabe can’t drag the whole clan off the street. He’s done his best, but you know what these families are like.’
We both turned to look at the bus stop, where Saffron was disappearing inside a double decker. Mmm. If the Haighs are anything like the
Hawkins, I’m not surprised the Scottish Watch got nowhere. ‘Let’s see if Chandler can help us out.’
The personal protection officer was happy enough to go for a break when Ruth showed her police inspector’s warrant card. The medical team were less impressed.
‘Mr Varcik hasn’t been out of bed yet. He’s certainly not fit to be interviewed under caution,’ said the ward sister. She looked like she’d been here before. I suppose a lot of trauma patients must be of interest to the police.
‘We’re going to switch to his real name from today,’ I said. ‘Poor Kristoff’s family need to grieve in public, and Mrs Chandler should be able to visit her husband.’
That did not amuse the ward sister. Having to amend all those records would not be easy. ‘No,’ she said. ‘You may not use the hospital as a police station.’
Yesterday, when Myfanwy was working in the village shop, she’d given Mina a shopping list and sent us on a trip to a garden centre outside her zone of confinement. While we were there, I picked up a little something of my own. A few little somethings.
‘We’ll just have a word with Mr Richmond, then.’
The sister snorted. ‘Good luck with that. He’s the most morose and obstreperous patient I’ve seen in a long time.’
She opened the door to the double room and went to check Chandler’s charts. Dom Richmond’s bed had its curtains drawn. Was he being grumpy or having a pee? The curtains swished back, and an auxiliary nurse left with a cardboard bedpan. I’ve been there. It’s no fun.
Richmond’s right leg was swathed in bandages from mid-thigh to ankle. At least he didn’t have pins sticking out of it. ‘How are you?’ said Ruth.
‘As well as can be expected. This is the calm before the storm of physiotherapy.’ He turned to me. ‘Have you come to gloat, Clarke?’
‘No. I rang the Boss, and she said you had a sweet tooth, so I bought these.’ I put the large box of artisan chocolates on his cabinet and said, ‘Anything untoward over the weekend?’
He looked at the chocolates, and some of the frown lines relaxed. ‘No. Not a scintilla of magick on this floor of the hospital while I was awake.’
The ward sister decided we weren’t about to pester her other patient and went back outside.
‘Have you tried talking to Chandler?’
‘He lost it when they wheeled him in here and I told him who I was. It’s not been easy to talk to Chandler with the armed officer on guard, not that I wasn’t grateful for his presence. Or hers. A woman volunteered for the night shift on Saturday so that her ex-husband would have to look after the kids and spoil his night out with his new girlfriend.’
‘Let me guess,’ said Ruth. ‘Her ex-husband is on the same force and couldn’t argue.’
‘Now you know why I’m still single,’ said Richmond. ‘One of the reasons, anyway. I heard you having a free and frank exchange of views with the ward sister. What’s your plan?’
I reached into the garden centre bag and pulled out my other purchase. This was supposed to be a three-bed high dependency ward, so there was a big gap in the middle. I raised my voice and called over to the other side. ‘How are you feeling today, Mr Chandler?’
He couldn’t help but look over, and he couldn’t help but see the garden gnome. Did you know you can now buy zombie gnomes? It was horrible. ‘Present for you,’ I added. ‘Would it be okay to have a word?’
He looked scared. ‘I told you everything.’
‘No you didn’t. You were bleeding inside and out when we spoke. Now we need to have a proper chat.’
The ward sister came back in when she heard the raised voices. ‘Is everything all right, Kristoff? Sorry. Morris?’
The sudden change of name shocked Chandler even more. He glanced at the zombie gnome. ‘I’ll talk to them.’
‘Are you sure?’
He couldn’t bring himself to speak and nodded in submission. The sister shook her head and left us to it.
I got a chair for Ruth and plonked myself on the other side of the bed. Chandler no longer looked as if he’d just crawled out of a vehicle fire with a broken leg, which was good. On the other hand, major surgery takes a lot out of you, as does a ruptured spleen. At least he’d managed to shave this morning.
‘Start from the beginning,’ I said. ‘How did Eilidh Haigh recruit you?’
‘It was Eve who recruited me. I only found out later that Eilidh had tapped her up first.’
Ruth shuffled her notes and showed Chandler a picture of Eve Maguire holding a trophy and wearing the elaborate outfit of a Kendo fighter. Eve had tried to stab me with a toxic spear, something I very much wish to discuss with her at the earliest opportunity.
‘That’s her. You know she’s married to Marissa, right?’
Another shuffling. There were no wedding snaps on social media, but Ruth had a photograph of a slight woman, a few years older than Eve Maguire. She was a Spanish triathlete. According to statements from Eve’s brother, she’d met Marissa at a Pride event in Manchester. Eve worked cash-in-hand as a bouncer in Birmingham, where she was a colleague of Chandler’s. Marissa didn’t seem to be employed anywhere.
‘What happened?’ I said.
‘You know we all went to the Temple Gym in Sandwell, right?’
‘Yes.’
‘We were a tight crew there. Everyone knew everyone and there was always someone there to push you, to spar with you or just listen. Eve did her Kendo practice at a dojo in Birmingham, but she did all her training with us, especially after she met Marissa.’ His eyes disappeared into the past and summoned a smile of regret. ‘It ain’t the swankiest gym, but the owner was one of us. He invested loads of the profit into new machines.’
‘And then Eilidh came along.’
‘Yeah. Eve said that Eilidh walked in one day and they got talking. She offered Eve a shedload of money to work for her, and more if Eve recruited any others. Eve and Marissa quit their jobs and signed up on the spot.’
Ruth had spread all of the bodyguards’ photos across her lap. She tapped Eve’s picture again. ‘Haigh didn’t walk off the street and pick Eve at random, did she?’
Chandler moved his shoulders a fraction. Shrugging would be difficult with abdominal stitches. ‘I don’t know. I suppose not. She said it was for a local job, so I suppose she’d done some research. Eve had a Just-Giving page to try and raise money to go to the world championships. Could be that.’
Ruth gestured at the other bodyguards’ pictures and records. Morris Chandler was an amateur MMA fighter (not a very good one). Owen Holt had served briefly in the Army and was a friend of the fifth member, a former Royal Marine known as Eggers. It was Eggers that I’d seriously wounded and whom Eilidh had finished off.
‘How did it get from Eve to you?’ said Ruth.
‘Eve started by sounding me out, then moved on to Eggers. Anything that Eggers did, Owen did, too. Once she had five in total, she introduced us to Eilidh, and we started having training sessions in private. Eilidh gave Eve the money to book this parish hall, and that’s where we worked on the routines.’
During the ambush, Owen and Eggers had flanked Eve Maguire to protect her. She had been armed with a spear. It nearly worked.
Ruth glanced at me to take over. ‘Morris, you’re not stupid. You must have known that you were being trained for something deadly.’
He looked away. ‘Maybe. Yeah. She said we were going to be bodyguards in Scotland. You know she’s Scottish, right? Rich family. Showed us all these pictures, and they checked out online. It was only after we went to camp that it got really serious.’
‘Tell me what happened.’
‘It was a Friday in May. Eilidh said we needed to go to a final training camp. Told us to pack for the weekend and to leave our phones behind and not to tell anyone where we were going. I told the missus we were going on a stag weekend.’ He’d been happy to talk so far, and I could tell from the way he slowed his voice that this was going to be the hardest part for him. He swallowed hard. �
��She took us to this place in Shropshire. She blacked out the windows of the minibus when we left the M54 so we had no idea where we were going. I know how she did it now. When we got to the farmhouse, it was pitch black. She gave us these new combat outfits. Proper gear. We felt dead special, then she took us into a field and showed us the magick. I nearly shit meself.’
‘How did you feel about what she showed you?’ said Ruth.
‘Like it was all me dreams come true all at once. I just wish the missus had been there to see it. She gave us those magick shields. Made us shoot a gun at her, then at each other. When those bullets bounced off, I felt like a god, I’ll tell you.’
‘What did she say about it?’
‘She did a proper number on us. Made us swear an oath of loyalty and never to reveal secrets on pain of death and all that stuff. I wish I’d listened properly. Everyone thought it was like being in a film but real. The only one who took it in his stride was Eggers. He said it just meant there was more ways to die and asked for a pay rise.’
‘You did actually get paid?’ said Ruth, ever the copper.
‘Yeah. Bank transfer. We all had to open new bank accounts before we got paid.’
She made a note. ‘Have you any idea where the farmhouse was?’
‘No. We had to stay inside during the day and we trained all night. On the Monday, we moved to a hotel in Birmingham. Eilidh let my wife come to see me. That’s when she must have got pregnant. You know what happened on the Tuesday.’
That was the day of the ambush on Niði’s dock. Ruth nodded to me again. ‘Was Marissa the one working the boat on that day?’
‘Yes. She didn’t join in the combat training. She did first aid and stuff.’
‘Had you met Irina or the Fae before that day?’
‘The what?’
‘The Fae. The other one in Irina’s boat.’
‘Oh. The queer one. Eilidh called him a fairy, and I just thought she was being homophobic. There’s fairies? Really?’