‘So if this is Nina’s killer, is he likely to try and finish the job?’ Millie asked, wide eyed. ‘Is Lucy in any immediate danger?’
‘Obviously we can’t take any chances,’ Mariner said. ‘But the whole thing about this is that it’s slow and drawn out. Nina Silvero received her flowers a whole year before she was eventually murdered. This is not just about killing, it’s about suffering.’
‘But if they know we’re onto them the killer might feel under pressure to finish this one off sooner,’ Knox pointed out.
‘Like I said,’ Mariner repeated, ‘We’re not taking any chances. We’ll post an armed officer on Lucy’s door.’
‘Where does this leave us with Bonnington?’ said Knox.
‘He’s not off the hook yet. Until we know what we’re dealing with, we don’t know how the poison has been administered, or who would have had the opportunity to do it.’
‘It must bring Will back into the picture too,’ Millie said.
‘Do we know where he is?’
‘He’s away, but . . . no, wait, Lucy said he was coming back yesterday. He must be home by now.’
Lifting his jacket from the hook, Mariner spoke to Knox. ‘Time we had a chat with him.’
* * *
Lucy looked dazed and ill when Millie picked her up from the health centre late on Thursday morning. The place was in uproar as the toxicology team had arrived and was in the process of sealing off the building. Millie caught a glimpse of Paula Kirkwood looking anxious and harassed, carrying box loads of files to where they were to be shipped to temporary accommodation in a different part of the building. But she broke off for long enough to come over to Lucy. ‘You take care of yourself and get well,’ she said, giving her a hug.
‘There’s an irony for you,’ Lucy joked, weakly, as she and Millie walked out past the health centre sign.
‘At least now we know why you’ve been feeling so lousy,’ Millie said. ‘And the doctors can work on making you better.’
The staff having been forewarned by Dr Chohan, the check in at the hospital was quick and efficient and saw Lucy settled in isolation on a side ward adjacent to the infectious diseases department.
‘What about Will?’ she said, arranging her belongings in the bedside cupboard. ‘I need to call him, let him know.’
‘It’s all right,’ Millie reassured her. ‘Someone’s going to see him.’ Millie saw the look on her face. ‘We have to, Lucy, this has become too serious.’
‘But he wouldn’t do this to me.’
Millie came to sit beside her. ‘Lucy, think about it. Isn’t it strange that you’ve been feeling ill and Will hasn’t?’
‘But that could be because he’s barely home.’
It was a valid point and Millie didn’t want to distress her further, so she simply nodded affirmation. ‘Where do you do your shopping, Lucy?’
‘Sainsbury’s Selly Oak usually.’
‘Do you ever bump into Martin Bonnington there?’
‘Yes, I have done once or twice.’ Lucy looked up, her attention caught by the woman in uniform who had just taken up a position outside the door.
‘There’s going to be a police officer keeping an eye on you,’ Millie told her.
Lucy scraped her fingers through her hair. ‘Oh God, this is unreal. Why would anyone do this? I haven’t hurt anyone.’
Millie put an arm around her shoulders. ‘I know.’
* * *
Before going out to pick up Will Jarrett, Mariner updated DCI Sharp on this latest development.
‘Is there any chance that this is more than just Lucy Jarrett?’ she was asking.
‘We’ve no reason to think so at this stage,’ said Mariner. ‘The men in white suits are going to her home and workplace to gather evidence. We should know more in a few hours.’
The forensic team had waited to start on Hill Crest until Mariner and Knox arrived. Banging on the door, even though it was nearly lunchtime, they apparently roused Will Jarrett from his bed. Dazed, scruffy and unshaven, he was though, still undeniably handsome. ‘Jesus, what’s going on?’ he blinked towards the motley collection of people on his drive. He squinted at Mariner. ‘Do I know you?’
‘We’d like you to come with us to answer a few questions, Mr Jarrett,’ Mariner said, brandishing his warrant card. ‘And while we do, the forensic team is going to need to search your house and take away some samples.’
‘What?’
‘We’ll need the keys to your van, and you need to come with us to the station. Your wife is being poisoned, Mr Jarrett. But perhaps you already knew that.’
* * *
Twenty minutes later Jarrett was dressed and in the back of a car being driven by Tony Knox, while Mariner occupied the front passenger seat.
‘Has Lucy told you this?’ Jarrett wanted to know. ‘Because she’s been imagining all kinds of things lately. I don’t think she’s herself right now.’
‘That’s true,’ said Mariner. ‘She isn’t well. Her doctor has confirmed it. It’s a fact, Mr Jarrett. Lucy is being poisoned.’
‘Jesus. Where is she?’
‘One of our officers has taken her to Queen Elizabeth hospital.’
‘But I need to see her.’ Whether out of concern for his wife, or what she might say, Jarrett was suddenly animated.
‘All in good time,’ said Mariner. ‘We need to have a little chat first.’
‘You think I’m behind this, don’t you?’ he said, with disbelief. ‘You really think I would poison my own wife? I love her.’
‘We’ll talk at the station,’ said Mariner, simply.
* * *
By the time Jarrett had been processed at Granville Lane, Millie had returned from the hospital. ‘How is she?’ Mariner asked.
‘Scared,’ said Millie. ‘But her mum got there just before I left and she’s being taken care of.’
‘You ready for this?’
‘Oh yes, sir.’
Mariner and Millie were already waiting in the interview room when Jarrett was brought in. Although sitting beside her, Mariner was allowing Millie to take the lead, and she felt almost as nervous as Jarrett himself must be.
‘I should be with my wife,’ he said, reluctantly taking a seat opposite them.
‘You can be, very soon,’ Millie reassured him. ‘But we just need to ask you some questions.’ She took a breath. ‘You haven’t known Lucy very long, have you?’
Jarrett’s eyes narrowed. ‘By some standards I guess not, but we were attracted to each other straight away.’
‘What was it that attracted you to her?’
‘She’s smart and she’s thoughtful, and she’s pretty; she doesn’t look her best right now.’
That was the understatement of the year, Millie thought. ‘She’s also wealthy,’ she said. ‘How soon did you discover that?’
Jarrett had no problem returning her gaze. ‘She took me back to her place after our first date. I guess I could tell then that she was pretty loaded. She told me that her dad had left her some money.’
‘Was that part of the appeal?’ Millie asked.
‘No, it wasn’t,’ he replied, evenly. ‘I had already fallen for her by then.’
‘So the new van, all the other gifts, they didn’t influence your feelings for Lucy.’
‘You take a pretty shallow view,’ Jarrett said. ‘Relationships aren’t about material stuff. Sure, they were nice, but I didn’t ask for any of those things. They were more important to Lucy than to me. She wanted to give them. Have you asked her about that?’
Millie flushed slightly, realising that she hadn’t, and made a note. ‘What’s your relationship with Tess Maguire?’ she asked.
‘You know about my relationship with Tess,’ Jarrett reminded her. ‘She sings with the band.’
‘Is that all?’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Are you lovers, too?’ Millie asked.
Jarrett glared at Mariner. ‘My God, what is this?’
&nbs
p; ‘You seemed pretty close when we came to watch you,’ Millie said.
‘It’s professional. You think it would be a better performance if we stepped around each other on stage? That stuff, it goes with the music. Lucy knows that.’
‘How do you explain her telling you to “kiss me, baby?” Is that professional too?’
‘What are you talking about?’ Jarrett seemed genuinely baffled.
‘Lucy overheard Tess Maguire say that to you, in a bar after the show,’ said Millie. ‘That clearly wasn’t just for the audience.’
For a moment Jarrett seemed floored, then he broke into a wry grin. ‘It’s the line from a song. We were playing that game where someone says a line from a song and the next person has to come up with the line that follows. We were all playing it in the bar that night. “Kiss me, baby, hold me, baby . . .”’ he recited. ‘Jesus,’ he gave a derisory snort. ‘That’s what you have on me — a song lyric? Tess wasn’t even talking to me. You can ask the other guys.’
‘We will,’ Millie said. This wasn’t going the way she’d expected. She needed to move things along. ‘Tell me about the evening of April 5. Last Tuesday,’ she said.
Jarrett didn’t even have to think about it. ‘I was home,’ he said. ‘I got back in the afternoon, Lucy came in from work and we watched TV,’ he smirked, ‘among other things.’
‘And later?’
‘We argued.’ He was remarkably frank.
‘Why?’
‘Lucy had sent for some stuff in the post; at least I thought she had,’ Jarrett said. ‘I was upset.’
‘What was it that bothered you?’ Millie asked.
‘I found a pregnancy test.’
‘Why would that be upsetting?’ Millie acted confused. ‘You’d just got married. Most people would say it’s the next logical step.’
Jarrett shifted in his seat, this was less comfortable ground. ‘Lucy and I had agreed that we wouldn’t try for kids.’
‘Why was that?’
There was a new tension in his voice. ‘I don’t want kids. I never have. We discussed it at length before we married. It’s very important to me and I needed to be clear that Lucy felt the same way — or at least that she understood and was happy to go along with it.’
‘What was Lucy’s reaction to that?’ asked Millie.
‘She said it didn’t matter. I think maybe at one time she may have wanted a family, but she felt it was more important that we were together.’
‘That’s a huge sacrifice.’ Millie observed.
Jarrett glared at her. ‘Yeah, you think I don’t know that?’
‘Why is it so important to you to not have children, Will? Not part of your long-term plan?’
‘What plan?’ His tone was defensive now.
‘The one in which you leave Lucy, taking half her possessions, and go off with Tess.’
‘What? Are you nuts?’ he reacted angrily. ‘Is that what you’ve been saying to her? No wonder she doesn’t trust me anymore.’
‘Or is it that you already have kids?’ Millie speculated, even though she had no evidence for it yet.
Will Jarrett was speechless, and for a couple of seconds Millie thought they had him. When he eventually spoke, they could hardly hear him. ‘The reason I don’t want kids is because I don’t want them dying a slow and painful death before their time. I saw what my parents went through with my younger brother. I can’t put Lucy through that.’ He looked straight into Millie’s eyes. ‘I carry a hereditary disease.’
In the silence that followed, Millie suddenly pieced together the information Max had given her and it all made terrible sense. ‘Huntington’s disease,’ she said.
Jarrett sniffed. ‘How d’you know?’
‘You’d used your computer to search for support groups,’ Millie said. ‘I thought it was about the place, Huntingdon, but it was about Huntington, the disease.’
Jarrett rubbed his unshaven chin. ‘I was looking for something for Lucy. I thought that once she knew she may need some help.’
‘Shouldn’t you have told her about it before you married her?’
‘I guess I should, but it all happened so fast, and it never seemed like the right time. I thought as long as she was okay with not having kids that I could tell her the rest when the time was right. In the past, women I’ve dated have got freaked by it, and I didn’t want to scare her away.’ So that was what Will Jarrett was guilty of — protecting his wife. The tension in the room had evaporated, leaving Millie unsure of which way to go now.
‘How well do you know Martin Bonnington?’ Mariner intervened.
‘Who?’
‘Martin Bonnington, your neighbour.’
‘The guy across the road? Hardly at all,’ Jarrett said. ‘I’ve said hi to him. I think Lucy went out with him a couple of times before we met, but that was way back. Has he been saying something? Was it him who reported us?’
‘How about Nina Silvero?’ Mariner asked. ‘Do you know her?’
Jarrett shook his head. ‘Who is she?’ It was said quite naturally.
‘Where were you on the evening of Sunday, April 3?’
There followed a pause while Will Jarrett mentally reviewed his schedule. ‘I’m pretty sure we were playing Reading that night.’ So there would be plenty of witnesses. He consulted his watch. ‘I’d really like to go see my wife.’
Millie glanced across at Mariner who nodded almost imperceptibly.
‘That’s it for now, Mr Jarrett,’ she said. ‘We’ll get someone to take you to the hospital. But we may need to speak to you again.’
Jarrett levelled a gaze at her. ‘I’ve cancelled my gigs. I’m not going anywhere.’
* * *
‘Shit,’ said Millie, when Jarrett had gone. ‘That didn’t exactly go to plan.’
‘It rarely does,’ Mariner consoled her. ‘You did fine. Don’t beat yourself up about it. What do you think about him now?’
‘I don’t know.’ Millie sighed. ‘He seems . . . plausible, doesn’t he?’
‘He does,’ Mariner agreed.
‘And it certainly makes sense of why he’s not in a hurry to be a father. Made me feel pretty stupid — and insensitive.’
‘Don’t,’ said Mariner. ‘You took a perfectly valid line of enquiry. It was his secrecy that created the suspicion. And he’s still the one with the best opportunity.’
‘As far as we know,’ added Millie.
‘Well, if we don’t yet know who, we can wait and see what has been killing Lucy Jarrett.’
* * *
They were soon to find out. Emerging from the interview suite Mariner learned that he had a message from Dr Gail Hudson, head of toxicology within the forensic science unit. She was brusque and professional on the phone and got straight to the point. ‘Lucy Jarrett has been poisoned with thallium,’ she said.
‘Which is what exactly?’ Mariner’s ignorance of chemistry was pretty far-reaching.
‘It’s a metallic element, a bit like lead or mercury, but actually more poisonous than both and relatively easy to use. The salts are soluble in water and virtually tasteless, so can easily be added to drinks like tea and coffee. In that respect, you might say that thallium’s pretty much the ideal poison.’
‘So it has to be someone close to Lucy who’s doing this?’ Mariner’s thoughts instantly returned to Will Jarrett.
‘It’s the most likely scenario,’ Hudson said.
‘How would someone get hold of thallium?’
‘It’s hard to say,’ said Hudson. ‘It used to be found in some pesticides, rat poisons and ant killers, but because the salts are so poisonous they were banned in Europe and the US years ago. They might still be used in some developing countries, so I guess anyone visiting there might be able to get hold of it. Some pharmacies here might still stock thallium salts, but anyone buying them would be required to sign the poison book — which would be a risk for our killer . . . still, you could ask around to see if anyone’s done that. The other context fo
r use is in some manufacturing processes: dyes, paints, glass, that kind of thing.’
‘How much would Lucy have needed to ingest to do the damage she’s suffering?’ asked Mariner. ‘Would she have needed to be dosed every day?’
‘No, thallium works cumulatively, so if the dose is right it could be taken intermittently and still have the same effect. We’ve traced at least one of the sources; it’s in the milk we found in Lucy’s fridge.’
‘Shit.’ Mariner immediately thought of the ubiquitous plastic bottles stacked at the supermarket. ‘This is milk that she’s been buying off the shelf?’ Mariner felt queasy. If a major supermarket chain was involved with this then it wouldn’t just be Lucy Jarrett, and suddenly they’d have a massive food scare on their hands.
‘Don’t panic,’ Hudson reassured him. ‘The milk was in glass bottles, so she must have been taking doorstep deliveries from a dairy. Unfortunately there was no milk at all at Nina Silvero’s house that we could take for comparison.’
‘That’s unusual, isn’t it?’ Mariner said. ‘Most people drink milk in some form or another.’
‘It must have been removed. Didn’t you say that she’s got a daughter? Perhaps she cleared it out after her mother died. I guess milk is one of the first things to go off.’
Except that the house had been preserved as a crime scene. If Nina had been being poisoned like Lucy, then the poisoner was also her murderer, and would certainly have got rid of the milk on the night she died.
‘There is another way to establish whether Silvero was being similarly poisoned,’ Hudson was saying. ‘Thallium’s like arsenic, it’s retained in the body cells, especially the hair and we would still be able to detect it, even after cremation. It depends if the family are prepared to part with a sample from her ashes.’
‘It’s a formality, I’m sure, but I’ll see if we can arrange that,’ Mariner said.
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