Patchwork Man (38 page)

It occurred to me I’d lost sight of my fellow partners’ lives in the confusion of my own disordered one. Maybe Heather’s allocation of Ella to me had actually been designed to help, not police me, but I disregarded that idea almost immediately. I looked along the corridor. Heather might be more difficult to get past if she was in: eagle-eyed, caustic, suspicious – and on
my
case. I approached cautiously. Her door was open too but she was on the phone, slewed round towards the window and berating the unfortunate on the other end; oblivious to passers-by for once. One of my guardian angels must still be in place. I reached my bolthole unnoticed and turned the key in the door on my side.
Fainsies
– like kids – except this was as far from kids’ games as I could conceive.

Louise had been correct in one sense. I did have things to deal with in connection with Margaret’s will – the things she had willed me to do through her plotting and scheming. The not guilty verdict might have been a win, but the case was far from closed. If anything, for me it had been blown wide open by taking a defiant stance against Jaggers. And apart from Jaggers, I also now had an antagonist in Win for ‘shafting him’, as he’d put it. I fished out the note Jaggers had endorsed on the reverse and considered what he’d written in reply to my challenge.

He’d backed down, but what precisely did he mean by the second sentence? A reference to Win? Or a reference to Danny and his parentage?
Don’t believe everything you are told.
There were clearly a great deal of family politics I knew nothing of yet, but was going to have to get to grips with. I must have dozed because I woke with a start to hammering on my door. I jumped up, muzzy-headed and stumbled over to it. It was Heather.

‘Christ, Lawrence, what are you playing at? Ella told me you managed to give her the slip and then locked yourself away and weren’t answering any calls. Are you all right?’

‘Of course I’m all right. Why wouldn’t I be?’

‘Well, pressures ...’ She trailed off and frowned at me. I hoped she would go away but Heather was never that easy to put off. She thrust a newspaper at me. ‘Well, now I’ve located you, you’d better have a look at this.’ I took it automatically as she pushed past me and settled herself into my chair, swinging a polished stiletto and tapping immaculate polished red fingertips on the desk. I imagined them tapping a small sharp indent in the smooth wood surface, like a woodpecker tap-tapping its message. ‘It could go either way – depending on how you play it now.’ We were clearly in for one of her ‘discussions’ so I pushed the door shut and took the seat opposite her – the supplicant’s seat. I tried to push the remnants of Danny’s case folder to one side, but she spread her hand over them and the nails looked like talons, digging into flesh. ‘No, if you were considering your options, best to carry on doing so with all the facts,’ she said silkily. I covered the notes with the newspaper instead. ‘Page two – it’s an advance copy. Don’t ask, I have my sources. I sent them a press release before the shit hit.’

I read.

‘Just(ic)e served at last’

After a day of dramatic revelations in court yesterday, Lawrence Juste QC has been crowned not only the justice with a heart, but also a soul. Juste related in court the convoluted case history that led to him uncovering not only his young client’s innocence but also rediscovering his own family.

A spokesperson for FFF (Finding Futures for Families), which Juste’s deceased wife Margaret worked tirelessly for as patron, commented they couldn’t be happier with the outcome for Danny Hewson – Juste’s young client – acquitted of manslaughter as a result of Juste’s revelations. It pledged to continue her work and that of its other former patron, Lord Justice Wemmick, who it is now revealed so charitably financially supported Juste to enable him to achieve his childhood dream of being called to the Bar. The charity reaffirmed their intention to uphold Wemmick’s pledge that no child in care should be disadvantaged by background or lineage. When interviewed later, Juste referred to Lord Justice Wemmick as a veritable saint.

Now the facts are out, certainly, Lawrence Juste can no longer be said to be squeaky-clean but will he prove to be the most squeakily honest lawman we’ve come across in a long time? The jury’s still out on that, but first signs are encouraging...

Just enough, and not too much. Heather was as tart as her shoes when it came to organising press coverage, but now we would all have to live up to it. I wondered how that was going to work. What came next was going to be the tricky part.

I smiled wryly. Atticus would have approved though.

P
ATCHWORK PEOPLE

The second book in the series.

Lawrence Juste QC has already had to face the public appearance of a long lost and criminally inclined brother, the renewed attentions of a boyhood bully, threatening to ruin him professionally and financially, and the machinations of his dead wife apparently keen to do the same. What else could go wrong?

Plenty.

It seems it can only end one way for Lawrence - disaster; unless...

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P
ATCHWORK PIECES

Patchwork Pieces is the third and final book in the series.

It seems that the pieces of Lawrence Juste's life are so disassembled it would take a miracle to put them all back together. And even then the picture may not be pretty. Murder. Blackmail. The living dead. And a goddess who wants payback. It sounds like fantasy. In reality its fate, and the past finally catching up with not only Juste, but anyone he knows who's ever cheated, lied or betrayed alongside him.

It's going to be one hell of a party when all the pieces slot together...

D
.B. Martin writes adult psychological thriller fiction and literary fiction as Debrah Martin, as well as YA fiction, featuring a teen detective series, under the pen name of Lily Stuart.

She is also Chair of an Oxfordshire Literary Festival.

You can find more about her work and sign up for updates on forthcoming publications on
www.debrahmartin.co.uk
and
www.lily-stuart.co.uk
.