Hard Girls (7 page)

Kate and Annie smiled as they sat down at her breakfast bar. The kitchen was state-of-the-art, all black granite and stainless steel. It was not a kitchen you would associate with this woman in a million years.

‘We know that, but often, after the shock has worn off, people remember things they forgot in the initial excitement. And also, Mrs Brown, things you don’t think are important can turn out to be very important to us and our investigation.’

Diana sighed. ‘It’s awful to think of that girl up there dying, and no one knowing about it. But it was on the cards. I don’t mean the murder by that, but there were so many men going in and out of there, something had to happen at some point.’

Annie got up and walked Diana gently over to a chair. She sat down heavily. Seeing a pack of Marlboro Lights on the worktop Annie took one out and put it into the woman’s hand. Diana accepted it gratefully and picked up her lighter.

‘I understand you had words with the girls on a few occasions over men coming and going twenty-four hours a day. That must have been difficult.’

Kate had chosen her words carefully, and she was rewarded by another deep sigh. ‘I had a few words with that poor girl last week. It’s so bloody inconvenient, cars pulling up at all hours, men up and down the bloody stairs, the music, the constant movement, you know. I wish I had never bought this place, and it’s impossible to sell. I mean, you can imagine what it was like if anyone came here. Cars and more cars. I have to park on the road sometimes, I paid a fortune for my garage and, nine times out of ten, someone is parked right in front of it. I feel awful because I am glad that this has happened because it means we can all have our lives back.’

Kate understood how Diana was feeling. ‘That’s human nature, Mrs Brown. It can’t have been easy living through all that. I understand you made a few complaints. Can I ask you, who did you deal with?’

The woman shrugged then, and looking directly into Kate’s concerned face, she said finally, ‘I was threatened. Not directly, of course, but I knew what was being said to me. I asked that man, Bates, if he could see how it looked to everyone. Told him how the place was ruining my home. I hated the whole bloody lot of them! Those girls would laugh at me, swear at me some of them. Bates said I was not someone he saw as significant, in fact, he assured me that I was not someone he would be seen dead talking to in a public place. Like I wasn’t good enough. He did say he would ask the girls to keep it down, but if they were popular, what could he do? I even called the police a few months a-ST-0 { font-size: 1rem; text-align: center; margin-bottom: 4px; margin-top: 12px; } . It was ll bhe had go, there was a big row going on up there, the police arrived, went upstairs, and then left. I never heard another word. It went quiet after that though, and for a while life was bearable. But that man Bates is very intimidating, and I got the message. We
all
got the message.’

Kate felt sorry for this frightened woman. She knew Peter Bates was Patrick’s friend, and that they had a few business dealings, but she had not dreamed that those dealings would be the cause of this woman’s life being made a misery, and the reason a young woman was lying dead on a mortuary slab. Bates would have threatened her, Kate knew that; she knew him and what he was capable of. She also knew what Patrick was capable of.

‘Can you remember anything else at all? Were there any strange men hanging round, did you see anything that was out of the ordinary?’

Diana shook her head. ‘Strange men are the norm here. I got the most of it, as you can see, my flat is directly by the parking bays. The flat next door is rented by a businessman who is always off somewhere. He rarely stays there more than a few nights at a time. I had to put up with the cars in and out and the men looking in my window as they came up to the front door. I keep my blinds closed all the time now. The other residents work, they go out for the evening. They got a break from it all. I am stuck here with it all the time. I hated it, hated what they stood for. Hated that my life was invaded by their bloody whoring. My husband died and I got over it, I moved here to make a fresh start. I bought this place because it was quiet and it was pretty. I have lived here for two years and been at the mercy of those bloody girls almost from the start. I stopped taking notice of what went on after Mr Bates explained that I was not helping myself by complaining. The police ignored me, and I didn’t know what else to do. Now we’ve had all this.’

Kate and Annie looked at each other, both aware that this woman had been badly let down. ‘Can you remember the date you called the police out?’

Diana Brown smiled sadly. ‘Sixteenth of April. It would have been my husband’s sixtieth birthday.’

Kate was in her bedroom, she had showered and dressed. She caught her reflection in the antique mirror she had bought with Patrick years before and stifled the urge to smash it up. She didn’t feel like this was her home any more. It was as if everything around her was alien, she felt so out of place. She had always accepted that Patrick was a wide boy, in all honesty, it had been a big part of his attraction. But she had believed him when he said he was on the straight. She should have known better. He had let her down before. But this time she had believed him.

All those years, and they had been good years. Happy years. She had moved in with him, enjoyed his affluent lifestyle. Had felt loved, cared for. Safe. He must have been laughing up his sleeve at her. Well, not any more.

Kate checked her bags, making sure she had packed everything she needed. Satisfied she had enough, she looked around the room once more then, picking up the cases, she walked out without a backward glance.

Patrick pulled on to the drive as she was putting the cases in the boot of her car. He got out of his Bentley and walked over to her. She sensed his approach and could feel the anger inside her bubbling as he said nonchalantly, ‘Oh, for Christ’s sake, Kate. I didn’t know what the flat was being used for. I just invested in a property business, that’s all.’

Kate slamm { display: block; font-size: 0.75rem; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1em; margin-left: 8em; margin-right: 2em; margin-top: 0.5em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; } .fmepiv1iclthe had ed the boot of her Mercedes 220 saloon, a birthday present from Patrick two years ago and, turning to look at him, said quietly and deliberately, ‘If it was with Bates, then you knew exactly what you were letting yourself in for. You always said you never trusted him, that you read the small print on every contract, and checked that there wasn’t any really small print invisible to the naked eye. I laughed with you as you said it. Well, he will have been picked up by now, and charged with everything from tampering with a crime scene, tampering with evidence, attempting to hide a criminal act, living off immoral earnings, and anything else I can think of. Once he mentions you, I can’t be responsible for what the police might decide to do. I can, however, distance myself from your fucking devious shenanigans and your obvious involvement in the violent death of a young woman.’

Patrick looked at her and when she saw that he was gritting his teeth, she knew she had hit a home run. She knew she had hurt him, and she was glad. She wanted him to hurt like she was hurting.

‘I’m only on the paperwork, I am a sleeping partner, and I can prove that. So don’t you go trying to stitch me up. I am sorry, I am fucking in bits over that young woman, but it wasn’t anything to do with me personally.’

Kate pushed him out of her way. ‘I don’t believe you, Patrick. You could have told me the score when you heard the murder took place in your property and I would have been upset, but at least you would have spared me the indignity of finding out you were a born-again pimp from a colleague. I should have guessed you were involved, you were too quiet. You already knew about it, didn’t you?’

Pat couldn’t deny it and they were both aware of that.

‘So this is it then?’ he said. ‘I get me collar felt for no more than investing in a legitimate business, and you walk out on our life as if it meant nothing. I have already had my brief explain the situation to your superiors and they are more than satisfied I had no knowledge of anything that went on in that flat. So calm down and stop being so bloody dramatic.’

He was always so cocksure, it had been what attracted her to him all those years ago. He had a way with him, a way of making you overlook his failings because his good points seemed to outweigh them. He was a fucking ducker and diver, a wide boy made good. If it had been anything else she could have swallowed it. But not this.

Now all Kate saw was that girl’s broken body and his reluctance to admit his involvement. She loved him, really loved him. But she knew that his going behind her back, his trying to justify himself by using his brief to prove he was no more than an investor in a business, that he was a dupe, an innocent, was something she could not forgive. He could have come clean about everything, given her the chance to understand their situation. The outright audacity of the man was unbelievable, he thought she was overreacting. He’d let her down before with his tricks and secrecy. And she’d forgiven him then. How could he not understand that it would be impossible for her to swallow it again, and that his actions would impact on her? It would be all over the station by now. Everything that she had worked for over the years would be forgotten in a heartbeat, she would once again be nothing more than the villain’s bird.

He wouldn’t even think about that, it wouldn’t occur to him that this was about more than him and his wants. He had not thought about her and how his actions might affect her and her life. He was a selfish man in many respects, but she had still l-ST-0 { font-size: 1rem; text-align: center; margin-bottom: 4px; margin-top: 12px; } . It was ll bhe had oved him.

‘You really don’t see it, do you, Pat?’

He opened his arms wide, a look of bewilderment on his face. ‘See what, Kate? What the fuck is there for me to see?’

Kate shook her head sadly and, forcing down the urge to cry, she said quietly, ‘I can’t stay under the roof of a man who has lied to me, who could keep something so important to himself, who would distance himself from any wrongdoing before he felt it was safe to tell his side of the story. You went in with your brief and extricated yourself from a sticky situation. Well, I don’t believe you, or your brief. How can I believe a word you say after that? You must have been aware of what was going on, and don’t fucking insult my intelligence by trying to spin me otherwise.’

‘Oh, I see. So this is all about me trying to save you some embarrassment? I didn’t tell you because I didn’t know
how
to tell you, did I? Come on, Kate . . .’ He was trying to talk her round now, he’d realised she really was leaving him. ‘I panicked, I was bloody mortified . . . Surely you can see that . . .’

Kate shook her head slowly. ‘I saw a girl who had been battered and tortured, and all you saw was how to save your own arse. I’m working on this case with Annie, we are going to find this nutter, and if that means you get a tug in the process then tough shit.’

Pat was weary now, he had no fight left in him. He saw the determination in her, felt the anger that he knew was justified in part, but he still felt was way over the top. She should have seen all this from his point of view, should have understood his dilemma. She should have been watching his back.

‘Fair enough. You go. And, for the record, Kate, you ain’t a real Filth any more, remember?’

With that he walked into the house and Kate got into her car. As she drove away she resisted the urge to look back. She knew he wouldn’t be looking.

Lucy was already inside the flat when she heard the music and she smiled to herself. Janie loved Oasis, she listened to them constantly. The music told her that she wasn’t entertaining a punter.

She walked through to the kitchen and put the kettle on, calling out for Janie as she went. She assumed Janie was in the shower, getting rid of her make-up and turning herself back into a regular person.

Lucy made the tea and noticed the answering machine was flashing. She pressed the Play button and listened to a litany of punters asking for a call back. That wasn’t unusual. What was unusual, however, was that these messages were all from the night before. They had started at eleven-fifteen, and each one asked why they had not been given access to the premises.

Lucy was nervous now. The Oasis music had somehow become the Spice Girls. She strained her ears in an effort to listen, was terrified that someone was in the flat, someone dangerous. She could hear her own heart beating inside her chest. She called out her friend’s name once again.

She removed a knife from a drawer as quietly as she could and, holding it tightly against her chest, she walked out of the kitchen and towards the front room. She was sweating with fear. She knew something was wrong, knew that it didn’t feel right. There was a really awful smell coming from somewhere and she couldn’t place it, but she knew it wasn’t good.

Pushing the do had been everything to her, and sNck bhe had or open she looked inside the room. It was perfect, not a thing out of place. She turned towards the bedroom and, breathing as quietly as she could, she stepped towards the door. It was shut tight.

The sound of the radio was loud in the hallway, and Lucy tried to convince herself that she was overreacting. But she still couldn’t bring herself to open the door. She wondered if Janie had copped herself an all-nighter, they were rare these days, but not unheard of. Lots of men wanted to wake up with a girl beside them, it was only the price that stopped them getting their heart’s desire.

Lucy saw her reflection in the hallway mirror; she looked ridiculous standing there with a knife in her hand and her face like a terrified child’s. She wiped a hand over her face, her sensible head was telling her not to be stupid. Finally she plucked up the courage and pushed the bedroom door open, calling out gaily, ‘You in there, Janie? You all right, mate?’