The Forgotten Holocaust (Ben Hope, Book 10) (6 page)

After a quick check, the doctor determined that Ben was in a fit state to receive the visitors. The police detectives sat either side of the bed and a screen was pulled around the three of them to serve as a flimsy shield against the curiosity of the old guys on the ward.

The male officer, who introduced himself as Detective Inspector Healy, was a nervous, sallow little man in his fifties, with eyes that wouldn’t stay still and never seemed to blink. Ben took an instant dislike to him, but there was nothing so unusual about that. His female sidekick, Detective Sergeant Nash, was about twenty years younger and looked a little more human.

Ben knew why she was there. Send a woman officer in for the gentle touch when there’s bad news to break. Just in case the weaker ones break down.

‘Let’s have it,’ he said to them before they could state the nature of their visit. ‘Was she killed or was she kidnapped?’

‘Why would you think she’d been kidnapped?’ Healy said with a curious look.

‘We’ll get to that,’ Ben said. ‘Talk to me.’

‘I’m afraid Miss Hall was dead when we arrived on the scene,’ said Nash, as gently as it could be said. ‘She suffered very extensive wounding. It wouldn’t have been possible to save her. Next of kin have been informed and family members are on their way. I’m very sorry.’

Ben took a deep breath. He remained silent for a long moment as he absorbed the news. So now he knew. His worst fears were confirmed. He’d let her down, and now she was dead as a result. If he’d had all his wits about him and hadn’t been rat-arsed on Scotch, weak and unfit and softened up by weeks of wallowing in self-pity, the two killers wouldn’t have had a chance. Not if there’d been three of them, or even four. Kristen Hall would still be alive now.

‘What kind of extensive wounding?’ he asked, and saw DS Nash almost flinch at the question. When he looked at Healy, he could see the sudden pallor in the man’s face. He knew right away that they’d both personally seen the body; and that whatever injuries Kristen had sustained were like nothing either police officer had seen before.

Nash began, ‘Mr Hope, I think it would be best if we didn’t—’

‘I want to know.’

‘Miss Hall suffered, ah, multiple stab wounds to every major organ,’ Nash said with difficulty, after a pause. ‘Extensive lacerations to the face. They … they—’ She stopped, as if she couldn’t bring herself to say it. She looked pale, almost ready to throw up.

‘They punctured her eyes and slit her throat,’ Healy finished grimly. ‘The cut was so deep it almost severed her head. We don’t know whether she was still alive by that point.’

Ben felt something rip in his hands, and realised he’d been gripping the hospital bed sheet so tightly that he’d torn it. Now he understood why Nash looked so sick. He thought about Kristen, saw her face in his mind, heard her voice, her laugh. He wanted to be sick too. He swallowed hard and steeled himself.

Healy cleared his throat and went on, ‘We have two witnesses, a couple on holiday from Antwerp who are staying at Pebble Beach Guesthouse and observed a pair of men get out of a vehicle and pursue Miss Hall along the beach. They witnessed the whole thing: the attack, your intervention, you being struck over the head and knocked to the ground, after which one of the attackers produced a bladed weapon. The male witness got a detailed view of it all through binoculars. He’s, uh, what do you call it?’

‘An ornithologist,’ Nash filled in.

‘So he saw the stabbing take place?’ Ben asked.

Nash nodded. ‘Moments later, the two suspects retreated to a vehicle that had been reported stolen from Ballyvaughan earlier in the day.’

‘The car was found abandoned and on fire late last night, down the coast near Lahinch,’ Healy said. ‘A local saw the blaze and called the Garda.’

‘And no sign of the two men.’ Ben wasn’t asking.

‘Everything is being done to trace their whereabouts,’ Healy replied insistently. It was the usual line, designed to make it sound as though the authorities were in full control of the situation.

‘Doesn’t sound to me as if you have a lot to go on,’ Ben said. ‘They’ve covered their tracks pretty well so far.’

‘We’re hoping you can help us there,’ Nash said.

‘Meaning I’m the only one who saw them up close and personal. The only one alive, that is.’

‘Would you recognise them?’

‘I’d know their faces.’

‘Can you describe them?’

Ben shrugged. ‘Both white. Not young, not old. Maybe around my age, late thirties, early forties. Both physically fit, lean build, able to handle themselves. Neither of them spoke a word, so no telling if they’re Irish, or English, or what. One a little taller than the other, say six foot. Short hair, military style. Navy jacket, synthetic, maybe nylon.’

Nash had taken out a pad and was rapidly scribbling notes.

‘The other had a hoodie on,’ Ben continued. ‘It was green, a couple of shades darker than olive. I didn’t get such a good look at his face. He’s left-handed.’

‘How do you know that?’ Healy asked.

Ben looked at him. ‘It’s not rocket science, detective. That’s the hand he was holding the baton in. Both of them were wearing boots. Steel toecaps. I know
that
because I can still feel them.’

‘This is good information,’ Nash said.

‘You think?’

‘Anything else?’ Healy asked.

‘The one with the green hoodie smelled of mint,’ Ben said.

Nash paused in her scribbling. ‘Mint?’

‘Gum. But not ordinary gum. Particular smell.’

‘Particular how?’ Healy said, narrowing his eyes.

‘Nicotine gum,’ Ben said. ‘You know what that is, detective? The disgusting stuff people chew on when they want to give up smoking.’

‘You’re sure?’

‘I tried it once. You don’t forget.’

‘Okay,’ Nash said, resuming her note-taking. ‘Anything else?’

‘Just general impressions,’ Ben said. ‘These men are no strangers to violence. They know what they’re doing.’

‘And you’d know that because …?’

‘Because I’m no stranger to violence either. You might be dealing with a couple of psychopaths here, but they’re trained, professional psychopaths. By trained I mean army trained. I recognise one when I see one.’

Nash and Healy glanced at one another. ‘We’re aware of your background,’ Nash said.

‘Only what you’d be allowed to know.’

‘Then perhaps you could fill in the blanks for us,’ Healy said.

Ben shook his head. ‘I wouldn’t consider that appropriate. Neither would the Ministry of Defence. With respect, detective, that information is way above your pay grade.’

‘I see,’ Healy said, clearly stung. ‘You’re on file as being the director of something called the Le Val Tactical Training Centre. In France, I believe.’

Ben nodded. That part of his history was open record. ‘Normandy. I don’t work there any longer.’

‘And what is it you do now?’

‘Nothing,’ Ben said.

‘Nothing,’ Healy repeated, with an eyebrow raised. ‘But we can assume that you yourself are highly trained in certain, ah, skills?’

The question hurt. ‘I used to be.’

‘I thought training like that stayed with a man forever.’

‘I drink,’ Ben said. ‘I’d been drinking when the attack happened. It slowed me down. Otherwise, you’d have had two dead men to clear up off the beach instead of one dead woman.’

Nash stared at him. ‘You’d have killed them, is that what you’re saying?’

‘You’d have had to pick them out from between the cracks in the rocks.’

‘See, now, that’s the kind of talk we don’t like,’ Healy said, staring at him closely.

Ben stared back. ‘Join the club. I’m not wild about your line of questioning, detective. It sounds as if you’re trying to connect me with the attack.’

‘That’s not what we’re saying,’ Nash cut in, with an anxious glance at her superior.

But Healy was on a roll. ‘And let me tell you how seriously concerned we are when members of the public take it upon themselves to “do something”.’

‘You think it would be a better society if people stood by and did nothing?’ Ben said.

‘I think nothing good ever comes of citizens intervening with undue force in situations that can all too easily become aggravated.’

‘Undue force,’ Ben repeated. ‘You think that’s what I used? Kristen is dead.’

Healy nodded. ‘Absolutely. Under different circumstances, this incident might not have escalated into a life-threatening situation. What may start as a minor crime can sometimes get out of hand. Especially when there’s alcohol involved.’

‘It looked a little out of hand before I got there,’ Ben said. ‘And I didn’t see any of your goons stepping in to save her, either. They’d have run a mile.’

‘Seems to me you have a bad attitude, Mr Hope,’ Healy said.

‘You have no idea,’ Ben said.

Healy glowered. Ben glowered back. The cop would never know how close he’d come to having his teeth smashed down his throat that morning.

‘Let’s talk about your relationship to Miss Hall,’ Nash said, very deliberately changing the subject with another nervous glance at Healy. ‘You and she were seen on the beach together some time before the incident.’

Ben let his gaze slowly trail away from Healy. ‘No relationship to speak of. We’d only just met. I’m sure Mrs Henry at the guesthouse has already confirmed that.’

‘So you didn’t know her previously.’

‘We’ll be here an awfully long time if I have to say everything twice,’ Ben said.

Nash pursed her lips. ‘According to the eyewitness account, the killers took a bag from Miss Hall. Can you tell us anything about that?’

‘It was a cloth shoulder bag,’ Ben said. ‘It was colourful, red and yellow. Ethnic kind of style. She had a computer inside, a small laptop, along with a notebook, couple of mobile phones, and some personal items like a hairbrush, make-up, and so on. That’s all I can tell you.’

‘You seem to know a lot about the victim’s personal effects,’ Healy cut in.

‘I’m observant,’ Ben said. ‘You should try it some time.’

‘We’re just trying to put together a picture here, Mr Hope,’ Nash said.

‘That’s a start,’ Ben said. ‘That’s what I’d be doing, too. I’d be trying to figure out why a crime like this happened on my turf when there hasn’t been a murder here for over thirty years. I know, I lived here. Most of the local Gardaí spend their days snoozing in their patrol cars or sitting in the pub. Which is where the talents of DI Healy here would be much better employed, rather than sitting here on his arse making veiled accusations against someone like me to hide the fact that he can’t do his job.’

‘Now listen—’ Healy began, pointing a finger.

‘No, Healy, how about you listen?’ Ben said, staring him down. ‘If it was me, I’d be thinking that two professional crooks didn’t go to all the trouble of arming themselves with a pair of illegal batons, then steal a top-of-the-range car and cruise out to the arsehole of nowhere just on the off chance of finding some solitary easy victim they could mug and rob before cutting her to pieces for the fun of it. I’d be thinking about a motive for what’s very obviously a planned killing, and I’d be looking into the connection with Kristen’s work.’

Healy lowered his finger and slumped a little deeper in his chair, visibly fuming.

Nash was frowning, thinking hard. ‘Her work?’ She glanced at her notes. ‘According to her self-employment records, she was a writer. The proprietor of the guesthouse says she was working on a novel. No clear motive there, is there?’

‘She wasn’t that kind of writer,’ Ben said. ‘She was doing historical research here in Ireland.’

‘So?’

‘So, in the course of that research, she said she’d accidentally discovered something. Information. Secrets. She believed that discovery had placed her at risk.’

Nash frowned. ‘What kind of risk?’

‘We didn’t have the chance to go into that.’

‘And why would she confide all this to you, if you’d only just met and hardly knew each other?’ Healy asked.

‘Because she wanted my help.’

‘Why?’

‘Because I’d told her a little about my past.’

‘I thought that was “classified”,’ Healy said sarcastically, making inverted commas with his fingers.

‘I worked in the personal security industry after leaving the military,’ Ben said.

‘As what, a bodyguard?’ Healy said, not doing much to hide his contempt.

‘Kidnap and ransom negotiator,’ Ben replied. It was the only aspect of his former profession that sounded remotely legit. ‘Close protection wasn’t my main speciality.’

‘That’s why you asked if she’d been kidnapped,’ Nash said.

Ben nodded. ‘It was either one or the other. Kristen was clearly right to be anxious about the level of risk she’d become exposed to. She said she wanted protection. I told her I knew people in the business. We’d agreed to talk more about it this morning when I drove her to the airport.’

‘Why you? Why not go to the police?’

Ben almost smiled at that. ‘I can’t imagine.’

‘And you have no idea why, or more importantly from whom, she needed to be protected?’ Nash asked.

‘I told you, it wasn’t discussed. Maybe it would have been, if we’d had the opportunity, but as things stand I don’t know the answer to that. What I do know is that this was no random attack. She wasn’t in the wrong place at the wrong time. The killers didn’t just stumble on a lone woman on the beach. And no amount of intervention on my part, short of putting them in the morgue where they belong, was going to make any difference to that.’

‘I think there are enough bodies in the morgue already, don’t you?’ said Nash. ‘These men will be brought to justice.’

‘Not by you guys,’ Ben said. ‘You’re not in their league.’

‘That may be so,’ Healy said. ‘But then, it seems, neither are you.’

‘I wasn’t ready for them,’ Ben said. ‘Next time, I will be.’

‘That’s our job,’ Nash said.

‘You’ll never even come close.’

‘And where do you suppose you’re going to find them?’ Healy sneered.

‘Not anywhere nearby,’ Ben said. ‘They’re getting further away every second we sit here wasting.’

‘We’ll find them,’ Healy said. ‘Make no mistake about that.’