Scar Tissue (20 page)

‘Which had better be soon, then,’ I said, sinking the last of my tea and gathering my things. ‘What about the others?’

‘I gave Helen my car and told her to pick up Meg if she was fit.’

‘You’ve been up and about for ages then?’

She nodded. ‘And still nothing done.’

‘If I know Helen and Meg, they’ll have finished the south side already. Come on, we’ve broken the back of it.’ I passed her her bag. ‘You’re absolutely sure there’s no bug in this?’

‘I used another one. Nothing but tissues and purse in this.’

‘Good.’ I suddenly felt I was in charge. ‘Now, the way I see it is this: if I stay my last night at the hotel, no one’s going to suspect anything’s –’

‘Yes, they will. They’ll know your bug’s not transmitting from where it should be. And they’ll have a description of you from Cherie or whatever her name is.’

I nodded. ‘Look, three of you should put on a convincing performance for van der Poele. We’re on safe ground with
him. We know he’s evil and possibly a killer with a nasty taste in domestic pets. But all he seems to be worrying about now the “blonde tart’s” gone is progress on his house. He knows members of the team come and go but tend to come back. If he asks about me, tell him – oh, I don’t know… Yes, tell him Sid’s off sick and I’m going to talk to an old friend to see if they’re free.’

‘And where will you be?’

‘On the nine twenty-seven to Charing Cross.’

‘What?’ This seemed to be becoming one of her standard exclamations.

‘I’ve got to talk to Taz, haven’t I? And it’d be a lot better face to face.’

‘But –’

‘I’ll get a cheap ticket. I’ll be fine.’ Of course I would. So long as I could find Taz, and, better still, Jan and Todd.

‘How on earth did you get here?’ Jan demanded, almost in lawyer mode, now our welcoming hugs were over.

‘The train.’

Her eyebrows asked about money.

‘Look, Jan, being poor teaches you all sorts of tricks about travel. Just don’t ask. You really don’t want to know.’

Laughing, probably as much as the shock on his wife’s face as at me, Todd intercepted room service and laid a tray on one of their several occasional tables. They might prefer playing camping at Fullers, but they weren’t having a bad life here. Goodness knows how much a simple room cost at a place like this: they had a suite. No wonder the guy on the big front door had wanted to keep me out; no wonder the concierge had stood me in front of a security camera and beamed up my image for them to OK. I wasn’t all that bad, either, hair apart. I’d stopped off at Debenhams so I could at least present myself in clean and decent clothes. I’d remembered all too clearly that it wasn’t my money I was spending so I hadn’t bought more than was absolutely necessary, just a clean top and skirt, both in the sale. But absolutely necessary wasn’t good enough for a place like this. Come to think of it, even a damned good splurge on clothes like mine might not have been good enough. Look at Jan: her slopping-around-in-her-room outfit was a good deal more chic than what was now scheduled to be my Sunday best.

To my relief, Todd’s gear wouldn’t have been out of place on one of Paula’s sites.

‘Drink up, and then we’ll sort this out,’ he said, ruffling the top of my head as if I were a favourite puppy. ‘Including, I have to say, your roots before you’re much older.’

‘Pray God it won’t be necessary,’ Jan said, squeezing my hand. ‘I don’t even know how you like your coffee – or would you prefer tea?’

The coffee smelt as if a princess could have bathed in it, with or without cream. And the biscuits … Well, I’d thought the hotel I’d been staying at was fine, but this was simply in a different league. Or was it simply that I’d never had coffee poured with such love before. No, I’d enjoy – I wouldn’t cry. Paula’s tears had been more than enough for one day. Which is where I started my account. I continued, with only occasional interruptions.

Todd plonked himself down beside me. ‘Taz booked your room? You’re sure of that? And is paying for it?’

‘That’s what the hotel told Paula. And it’s hard to think they’d get a name like that wrong. The thing is, does he know he’s paying? Or has Moffatt pulled a flanker?’

‘You mean, discredited Taz and put himself in the clear?’ Jan asked, sitting opposite us.

‘I thought he was a good guy. Yes, Taz and Moffatt. I trusted them both. Almost –’

‘Almost?’

Almost as much as I trust you two. No, nowhere near as much as that. ‘Almost is as far as I got with trusting Moffatt. Taz – well, with my life, at one point. Two points. I told you. I’d be pushing up the daisies without him.’

‘That was then,’ Todd said sombrely. ‘Think now. Is he still the same Taz?’

I thought of the awkwardness between us, his embarrassment during the hotel meal. Was it because he’d changed? Or because I had? I shook my head, not to say no but to show I didn’t know.

‘You need to see him. Somewhere you can really talk,’ Jan said. She and Todd exchanged a tiny unspoken conversation, I’ve no idea about what. It was almost as if he were reminding her about something. Hell – were they supposed to be meeting friends for lunch or something? I hadn’t even considered that they might be busy.

All I could do was nod dumbly. In both senses.

‘Why don’t we leave you to it?’ Todd was on his feet, reaching to haul Jan to her feet.

I shook my head. ‘There’s nothing between us. Nothing to make a phone call private.’

He passed over the hotel phone. I dialled. And got nothing but a long burr. He’d disconnected his number. Without telling me.

I held the phone so they could hear.

Todd tutted with irritation. ‘What’s the number again?’ Taking the phone, he punched the numbers in as if daring them to defy him.

To my amazement, they didn’t. The tone came over sweet as a nut. And then the familiar plastic voice of his answering service.

My mouth left a message without consulting the rest of me. ‘Taz: last time it was me in danger. Now I think it’s you.’

I was just about to give the name of the hotel when I saw that Jan was scribbling figures on a sheet of paper. ‘Mobile phone number,’ she mouthed.

I read it out to him.

‘There,’ said Jan, as if the whole thing had been her idea. ‘Now, when did you last do the sights of London? Because it’s a lovely day and a sin to be inside.’

We were at the Tower of London, appropriately enough, when Jan’s phone rang. She handed it straight to me.

‘Taz? Are you paying for that hotel room?’

No wonder he asked me to repeat the question.

‘No, of course I’m not. Moffatt said he’d put it on to the Kent Constabulary account. Or get them to pick up the tab or whatever.’

‘The hotel thinks different.’ I realised I was in the way of a Japanese family armed with more camera equipment a jackdaw could shake a wing at. ‘You’re being set up.’

‘We’d better talk. Not here. Where are you?’

‘Just by Traitors’ Gate.’

Todd and Jan sank into the shadows when Taz appeared.

‘I phoned the hotel. You’re right. Caffy, you’ve got yourself into something big here. Bigger than I thought, even,’ he added after a moment.

‘What are we going to do?’ I thought that after you’ve got yourself I was being generous to say we.

‘It’s all right for you,’ he grumbled. ‘You can just disappear. Do a moonlight. You’ve done it before.’

Implying I was in practice, so no doubt it would come easy. I ought to put him right. But there wasn’t time. ‘How do I live? Like I did before?’

He flushed. ‘There must be casual work…’

There was Todd and Jan’s apparently bottomless pocket, but I wouldn’t say so. ‘What about you?’

‘I’m being set up.’

‘Quite.’ I didn’t point out that I’d used the same words only half an hour before.

‘If you weren’t around, perhaps that’d get me out of it.’

‘Do you really think so?’ I tried to suppress the scorn in my voice. ‘You say nothing, Taz, and you’re theirs forever.’

‘But –’

‘But me no buts!’ Now where on earth had that sprung from? ‘You have to take this to the very highest authority you can. You’ve got me as a witness. You’ve got Paula’s photos and rope to back you – Taz! What did you do with them? You handed them over to Moffatt, didn’t you?’

He looked at his feet. ‘He seemed such a decent guy. Plus being a very senior officer.’

‘“A man can smile and smile and be a villain.”’ Or something like that.

Taz blinked. ‘You’re right.’

And this was a man with the best public school education.

I didn’t blame him for falling for Moffatt’s charm. I had myself – nearly. And of course, young cops naturally fall into respect mode when with a man further up the promotional tree than he can even aspire to. Wrong there, Caffy. Taz aspired to head the Met. Well, if we could pull this one off, maybe it’d help.

‘We’re not quite on our own, Taz.’

He didn’t need words to tell me that he didn’t rate Paula’s Pots high in the fight against crime.

‘You remember the caravan. All that ducky equipment. Well, there are the owners. Todd and Jan Dawes. You remember,’ I prompted, ‘the pop star.’

‘A pop star!’ Another sneer.

I’d wipe it off his face as I ought to have wiped the first. I said mildly, ‘And his lawyer wife. I think we should join them for lunch.’ We’d spoken about a picnic here. I almost called them over. But I saw a little glint over Taz’s shoulder. Security camera! Security cameras everywhere in a place like this.

‘Meet us by the exit. Meanwhile, Taz, I don’t know if you did any acting at school, but you’re up for an Oscar now. You’re going to tell me to get out of your life and never darken your phone again. And I’m going to burst into tears and run away. You’ll stalk off in the opposite direction. And it’ll all be videoed by CCTV.’

Jan and Todd joined me a few yards from the chaos of the exit. ‘You poor child!’ Jan enveloped me in a warm hug. ‘Let him go, the shit. He isn’t worth it.’

‘I know he’s not,’ I whispered. ‘But all that lot was a charade for the cameras. He’s agreed to accept your advice. There he is, over there.’

We sneaked into a loud, nasty pub. We sneaked out again, Todd, tapping his ear.

‘Loudspeakers,’ he said. ‘Lost a lot of hearing in both ears. I’m fine in small groups, but with background noise all I can do is try to lip-read. It’ll be a hearing-aid soon, but somehow that’s an admission of defeat.’

Jan squeezed his hand. I wished I could. It was a big confession to make for a man who needed the Megs of this
world to believe he’d be young forever. After a moment, I reached for the other hand, and squeezed that.

We walked higgledy-piggledy back towards Charing Cross, eventually finding a café with outdoor tables. Goodness knows what traffic muck we’d eat with our food, but at least Todd would be able to hear the conversation. Taz was despatched inside to order.

‘Are you sure he’s up to this?’ Jan asked, not mentioning what this was.

‘He’s got to be. If he gives in now he’ll be under their thumb forever. Moffatt and the others will have bought him, just as Granville bought me. And their brand will be even deeper than mine.’

Taz was coming back. I started to talk about historic buildings.

‘You’re prepared to go back to Fullers?’ Taz squeaked when I told him my plans.

‘If you’re prepared to go with Jan or one of her colleagues to the Police Internal Investigation people, yes. You see, I reckon Paula and I know what may have started out as a priest hole but which may not be a hiding place for something even more valuable than the hooch I suspect Free Traders used to keep there.’

Todd shook his head. ‘They wouldn’t risk keeping illegal immigrants there. People leave evidence.’

‘Who says,’ Jan reflected slowly, ‘that people are the only things – oh, what a dreadful word to use! I’m sorry! – that need hiding? People smuggle all sorts of commodities.’

‘We’ll find out if I go back,’ I said, trying to stop my jaw setting in a stubborn line. ‘Paula and I were nearly on to it.
You see, Marsh only got interested in what I was saying about the corpse at Crabton Manor when I mentioned the Pots were hoping to work at Fullers. The moment I mentioned the name, he was out of the room. And when he got back in, he’d found out all about my past. Then he slung me out.’

‘If only you had a witness,’ Jan sighed.

‘No, I don’t. But I do have a friend at court. In the police station at least. Her name’s Sherree. She was kind to me when I turned up. Funnily enough I returned the favour last night.’ I explained. And then remembered. ‘The terrible thing is I might have got her into trouble too.’ I told them about the pen.

‘Well done,’ Taz said, through a mouthful of egg and cress.

Todd seemed to realise the darker implications. ‘So either they’ll believe Sherree doesn’t know where it’s come from – in which case she may find herself in the shit – or they will believe her, and they’ll know you’ve twigged and are therefore all the more dangerous. And she’ll still be in the shit. But probably nowhere near as deep as the shit you’re in. Oh, Caffy.’

‘How did you realise you were being spied on?’ Taz asked.

‘Sid – the man they’d put in undercover – used a couple of words and phrases I’d used to Paula the previous evening. I thought it might be coincidence at first. Then, although he had the chance to go into the Manor for a look round, he didn’t take it. And he seemed so critical of us – well, I lost faith in him.’ Him and most of the human race.

Todd put up a hand. ‘Did you have the bag with you when you did your recce around Fullers?’

I shook my head. ‘I was the butchest dykiest decorator you’ve ever seen. Far too butch for a bag, anyway.’ I did a little impression of myself: they managed to laugh.

‘So they’ve no idea what you found?’

‘No, but they may know what I was looking for. I had my bag near me while we were talking about our plans. On the ground. We were at a picnic table in a pub garden.’ I willed Taz to say I was probably out of range, but perhaps he was too low in the pecking order ever to have learned about surveillance aids. Perhaps I’d kept cheerful so far on adrenaline: all of a sudden, it subsided, and all my hope and optimism drained.

And then I realised that both my hands were enclosed in warm firm grasps. Todd and Jan were there for me. And if they could pop the steel back into my sagging spine, there was no knowing what they could do for Taz.

With Jan’s contacts it didn’t take her long to learn whom to phone at Scotland Yard. I supposed I’d dimly suspected that the place only existed in fiction, the sort where local plods are so bewildered by the Murder of one of the Gentry at the Big House that they have to summon aid from the aristocratic brainboxes in London Town. I’d seen the rotating post outside New Scotland Yard often enough on TV to believe in that, of course. We decided not to go mob-handed. Todd and I would hang around while she marched Taz off with her.

‘What do you want to do now?’ Todd asked.

With Todd I could say things safe in the knowledge I wouldn’t shock or disappoint him. ‘You see that ice cream
seller over there? I can’t remember how long it is since I had an ice cream.’

He smiled kindly, adding, as he fished in his pocket for change, ‘I warn you – it’ll taste of nothing except sweetness. Cold sweetness.’

‘What should it taste of then?’

‘Well, vanilla or strawberry or whatever. That soft stuff – it’s got all the charm of…of wallpaper paste!’ he concluded triumphantly.

‘I’ll give it a miss, then. What I really want,’ I said, ‘is to get back to work. I’m letting the others down.’

‘Or endangering them – which is, as I recall, where we came in.’ He grinned. He wasn’t blaming me.

I nodded. ‘In that case, I want to be at Fullers, getting them out of danger.’

‘How do you mean?’