House of Cards (39 page)

This
came
as
little
comfort
to
Mattie,
who
was
finding
her
growing
conviction
that
skulduggery
was
afoot matched
only
by
her
inability
to
find
the
opportunity
to proceed
with
her
investigations.
Journalists
have
to
work much
harder
when
there
is
no
news
to
report,
and
the flaccid
leadership
campaign
was
causing
more
than
a
few nightmares
amongst
the
political
lobby
in
their
collective efforts
to
find
new
angles
with
which
to
fill
their
column inches.

You
have
to
face
it,
Mattie,
you
still
don't
have
a
case
’
Johnnie
told
her.
'Fascinating
circumstantial
evidence about
computers,
perhaps,
but
what
about
the
shares,
what about
the
bank
account,
what
about
Paddington?'

She
unwrapped
herself
from
his
arms
where
she
had
been dozing
for
most
of
Sunday
afternoon.
The
weather
was appalling,
the
scudding
grey
skies
hurling
angry
bursts
of rain
against
the
windows.
They
hadn't
needed
much encouragement
to
decide
to
spend
the
whole
afternoon
in bed.

Those
shares
were
bought
by
whoever
had
the
bank account
and
arranged
the
false
address
in
Paddington
’
Mattie
began,
marshalling
her
arguments.
'That's
the
only conclusion
you
can
reasonably
reach.
But
the
trail
is
very difficult
to
follow.
Apart
from
telling
us
that
the
account was
opened
for
less
than
a
fortnight,
the
bank
will
tell
us nothing,
and
have
point-blank
refused
to
let
us
see
the signatures
on
the
documents
relating
to
the
bank
account. And
the
Paddington
tobacconist's
is
even
less
helpful.
I think
all
the
attention
and
notoriety
has
put
paid
to
some of
the
more
profitable
sidelines
which
he
seems
to
have
run out
of
his
back
room.'

Johnnie
was
not
finished.
'But
what
is
it
you
are
trying
to prove?
The
documentation
is
scarcely
going
to
tell
you
any more
than
you
know
already.
What
you
need
to
establish
is not
so
much
whether
it
was
Charles
Collingridge,
but whether
it
could
have
been
anyone
other
than
him.
If
it could,
along
with
your
computer
tampering
you
might have
the
beginnings
of
a
circumstantial
story.'

She
rolled
out
of
his
arms
to
look
him
directly
in
the
face.

'You
still
don't
believe
it
was
a
frame-up,
do
you?'

'You
haven't
even
yet
proved
that
a
crime
was
committed,
let
alone
having
any
idea
as
to
who
might
have done
it
’
he
argued,
but
his
voice
softened
as
he
recognised the
growing
impatience
in
her
eyes.
You
have
to
be
realistic,
Mattie.
If
you
are
going
to
launch
yourself
publicly
into this
great
conspiracy
theory,
you
will
have
a
very
sceptical audience
who
will
want
more
than
a
few
'maybes'.
If
you turn
out
to
be
wrong,
you
will
do
yourself
and
your
career
a lot
of
harm.
And
should
you
turn
out
to
be
right,
you're going
to
have
some
very
powerful
enemies
out
there,
who could
do
you
even
more
harm.
If
they
can
nobble
the
Prime Minister,
what
could
they
do
to
you?
’I
He
stroked
her
hair
tenderly.

It's
not
a
matter
of
whether
I
believe
your
theory, Mattie.
It's
a
matter
of
caring
about
you,
of
not
wanting
you to
get
caught
in
something
which
could
be
bigger
than
both of
us
and
could
cause
you
a
great
deal
of
pain.
Frankly
I'm scared
you
might
be
taking
this
one
a
bit
too
far.
Is
it
really worth
it?'

Instantly
he
knew
he
had
said
something
wrong.
He didn't
know
why,
but
he
sensed
her
body
go
rigid,
unresponsive,
enveloped
by
a
cold
shell
that
had
suddenly divided
the
bed
in
two.

Hell,
Johnnie,
I
would
be
even
more
scared
if
it
turned out
to
be
true
and
nobody
did
anything
about
it,'
she snapped.
'And
damn
it,
it
was
you
who
encouraged
me
to
go after
the
story.'

'But
that
was
before
...
well,
before
you
got
into
my
bed and
into
my
life.
This
isn't
just
another
story
for
me, Mattie,
this
is
personal.
I
really
care
about
you.'

'So
th
at's
it.
Drop
the
bloody
story
and
concentrate
on getting
laid.
Thanks,
but
no
thanks!
I
asked
you
to
go
to
bed with
me,
Johnnie,
not
own
me.'

She
rolled
away
from
him
so
that
he
could
no
longer
see her
face.
She
could
sense
his
bewilderment
and
pain,
but how
could
she
tell
him.
The
feeling
of
panic
which
had come
over
her
as
he
confronted
her
with
a
choice
between her
career
and
his
caring.
God,
it
was'
going
to
happen
all over
again.