He drew his brows together. ‘That won’t be necessary. I can look for myself.’
‘Thank you, sir. Oh, by the way, is it okay if Patrick puts this success on Twitter?’
‘Yes, it is, after Mr Visser’s been told.’
She opened her mouth then closed it again. She might as well leave Mortimer’s office while the going was good.
* * *
That evening, she sat folding at the kitchen table, a glass of akvavit to hand. Exhaustion and relief flowed through her. It was hard to relax and concentrate on the paper after so many hours of tension.
Wilby’s sister had come into the station, pale with horror at the charges against her brother. Siv had spoken to her briefly before she gave a statement.
‘I can’t believe this,’ she’d said. ‘Jerry’s always been a sensitive, kind man. How could he do that to two people? I know he was fed up when Lauren Visser got the job he wanted and he was terribly upset when he found out about our dad. He was angry and unbalanced for quite a while. I was ever so worried about him. I thought he should see the doctor but he wouldn’t. Do you think that had anything to do with it?’
‘I don’t know. Only he can say.’ Don’t go making excuses for him. It still came down to ten thousand pounds per life.
Her phone rang. Ali. He’d been on a high all day, restless and chain smoking, singing snatches of “I Fought the Law.” He and Patrick had been to tell Visser the news and had come back indignant, saying he hadn’t even thanked them. She’d been glad to get away from him and come home.
‘Guv, want to come out for a drink?’
‘Not tonight, I’m done in. Take Polly to the cinema.’
‘She’s working. What did Mortimer say?’
‘Oh, you know. Grudging acknowledgement. He did manage to say that the team had worked hard.’
She suspected that Mortimer had been a bit disappointed that she’d achieved an arrest. It didn’t feel good, knowing that he’d wanted her to fail, but she had to leave that problem to one side for now. ‘I suppose Patrick’s been busy on Twitter.’
‘Yeah, no doubt. He’ll wear his thumb down. Well . . . I’m cream-crackered myself but it’s too early to go to bed and there’s nothing on telly. I might wander over to Nutmeg and have a snack. Sure you won’t join me?’
Ed’s sweatshirt was cosy, the akvavit slipping down nicely. ‘Thanks, but no. I’ll buy the team a round of drinks tomorrow. Give my best to Polly.’
She checked Patrick’s Twitter feed and smiled.
@DCBerminsterPolice. Man arrested and charged with recent murders at Lock Lane. Great teamwork, great result. Big thank you to members of public who gave information. We always need your help.
#keepingberminstersafe.
She was in the bathroom, putting cream on her cold sore, when she heard a soft knock at the door. Maybe Ali had driven over after all to bother her, or Corran had baked too many potatoes again. She opened the door as Mutsi was raising her hand to knock a second time.
‘Sivvi, darling! What on earth are you wearing? Did you get it in a jumble sale? And what’s that stuff on your face?’
Her stomach lurched. She saw a car parked on the lane, saw that it was full of suitcases. She managed to speak. ‘What are you doing here?’
‘I’ve moved back, thought I’d look at settling here, near my family. You did see my emails? I said I was thinking of leaving Turku. People there can be so petty and nasty. You just wouldn’t believe the cruel gossip and the cold shoulders. Can I come in? This looks so much nicer than in the photo. I was worried that you’d ended up in a dump.’
She stared. Mutsi’s hair was strawberry blonde and just touching her shoulders. She was in a pink linen trouser suit with a gold belt cinching in her still slim waist. Four thin gold bracelets encircled her left wrist. Her skin was youthful and glowing. A warm floral scent wafted from her. She looked like one of those mature, well-preserved Bond girls who popped up in interviews now and again. The sight of her made Siv feel ancient. She was suddenly conscious of her bald patches, worried that any might be on view.
‘I thought you reckoned this was a hick town.’
‘I was probably a little hasty. I’m sure it has its good points. I stopped at the harbour and there was so much colour in the sunlight. It looked pretty and lively, almost Mediterranean!’
‘It won’t look anything like that on a wet day, and you’re not staying with me.’
‘Gracious as always, Sivvi. I don’t want to stay in your little raggle-taggle gypsy caravan. Honestly, I half expected to find you in a sequin headdress, wearing huge earrings and telling fortunes! I’ve booked a hotel room in town while I take a look around. After all, with your father and poor Ed passed over and Rikka on the other side of the world, we’re all that’s left of the family. I suppose you might invite your Mutsi in for a drink after her long journey. I’m sure you have a bottle of akvavit in the fridge. You do have a fridge?’
And then she was through the door and sitting on the sofa, sipping akvavit and slipping her patent shoes off. She waved her glass. ‘Kippis, Sivvi. Here’s to us!’
‘What “us” would that be?’
She gave a little practised sigh, one that Siv knew well, the kind that means I don’t know why you’re being unkind to me. ‘I see you still play with your paper, Sivvi. Isn’t that a bit childish?’ She was leaning across and fingering the design on the kitchen table. Probably leaving greasy finger marks on it.
Siv glared at her. ‘When I was nine, I got home from school one day to that flat we had in Camden Town. You’d left a note on the door, telling Rik and me to come to an address in Bayswater. Luckily, Rik had just enough for the bus fares and a kindly conductor told us which routes we needed. We had to look up an A to Z in a shop to locate you.’
Mutsi smoothed a strand of hair. ‘That was such a difficult time for me and I had to find somewhere in a hurry.’
‘You moved home without telling us. You left some of my favourite toys and books behind and I never saw them again. We were off school for a fortnight before you could blag us into yet another one.’
‘Well, goodness, that’s all water under the bridge now. It was a long time ago. I know things were a bit difficult now and again but it wasn’t easy being a single parent with two girls to raise. Anyway, there’s so much to catch up on! Tell me what’s been happening. Have you met anyone nice? I do hope so but you look rather tired and worn. You were never clever at making the best of yourself, even though I tried to set you an example. At least your hair’s cut well, although it’s a bit short. Not very feminine. Ed would want you to be happy, you know. Although I don’t know how you’d be able to invite a beau back here. It has a certain rustic charm but it’s a little . . . basic.’
Siv sat with her drink. She heard the goats calling in the dusk and the clank of Corran’s bucket. If Ed was here now, he’d be stepping in, expertly diverting Mutsi and offering, with a hand below her elbow, to help her to her hotel. Signalling that he wouldn’t take no for an answer. You and your fucking bike, Ed!
Now she had to face her solitary, vulnerable self all over again. The buttons on her mother’s pink jacket shimmered in the light and her bracelets chimed as she lifted the akvavit and topped up her glass.
She felt like a butterfly caught in a net.
END
ALSO BY GRETTA MULROONEY
DETECTIVE INSPECTOR SIV DRUMMOND SERIES
BOOK 1: THESE LITTLE LIES
THE TYRONE SWIFT DETECTIVE SERIES
BOOK 1: THE LADY VANISHED
BOOK 2: BLOOD SECRETS
BOOK 3: TWO LOVERS, SIX DEATHS
BOOK 4: WATCHING YOU
BOOK 5: LOW LAKE
BOOK 6: YOUR LAST LIE
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GLOSSARY OF ENGLISH SLANG FOR US READERS
A & E: Accident and emergency department in a hospital
Aggro: Violent behaviour, aggression
Air raid: an attack in which bombs are dropped from aircraft on ground targets
Allotment: a plot of land rented by an individual for growing fruit, vegetable or flowers
Anorak: nerd (it also means a waterproof jacket)
Artex: textured plaster finish for walls and ceilings
A Level: exams taken between 16 and 18
Auld Reekie: Edinburgh
Au pair: live-in childcare helper. Often a young woman.
Barm: bread roll
Barney: argument
Beaker: glass or cup for holding liquids
Beemer: BMW car or motorcycle
Benefits: social security
Bent: corrupt
Bin: wastebasket (noun), or throw in rubbish (verb)
Biscuit: cookie
Blackpool Lights: gaudy illuminations in seaside town
Bloke: guy
Blow: cocaine
Blower: telephone
Blues and twos: emergency vehicles
Bob: money
Bobby: policeman
Broadsheet: quality newspaper (New York Times would be a US example)
Brown bread: rhyming slang for dead
Bun: small cake
Bunk: do a bunk means escape
Burger bar: hamburger fast-food restaurant
Buy-to-let: Buying a house/apartment to rent it out for profit
Charity Shop: thrift store
Carrier bag: plastic bag from supermarket
Care Home: an institution where old people are cared for
Car park: parking lot
CBeebies: kids TV
Chat-up: flirt, trying to pick up someone with witty banter or compliments
Chemist: pharmacy
Chinwag: conversation
Chippie: fast-food place selling chips and other fried food
Chips: French fries but thicker
CID: Criminal Investigation Department
Civvy Street: civilian life (as opposed to army)
Clock: punch
Cock-up: mess up, make a mistake
Cockney: a native of East London
Common: an area of park land/ or lower class
Comprehensive School (Comp.): High school
Cop hold of: grab
Copper: police officer
Coverall: coveralls, or boiler suit
CPS: Crown Prosecution Service, decide whether police cases go forward
Childminder: someone who looks after children for money
Council: local government
Dan Dare: hero from Eagle comic
DC: detective constable
Deck: one of the landings on a floor of a tower block
Deck: hit (verb)
Desperate Dan: very strong comic book character
DI: detective inspector
Digestive biscuit: plain cookie
Digs: student lodgings
Do a runner: disappear
Do one: go away
Doc Martens: Heavy boots with an air-cushioned sole
Donkey’s years: long time
Drum: house
DS: detective sergeant
ED: accident and emergency department of hospital
Eagle: boys’ comic
Early dart: to leave work early
Eggy soldiers: strips of toast with a boiled egg
Enforcer: police battering ram
Estate: public/social housing estate (similar to housing projects)
Estate agent: realtor (US)
Falklands War: war between Britain and Argentina in 1982
Fag: cigarette
Father Christmas: Santa Claus
Filth: police (insulting)
Forces: army, navy, a
nd air force
FMO: force medical officer
Fried slice: fried bread
Fuzz: police
Garda: Irish police
Gendarmerie: French national police force
Geordie: from Newcastle
Garden Centre: a business where plants and gardening equipment are sold
Gob: mouth/ can also mean phlegm or spit
GP: general practitioner, a doctor based in the community
Graft: hard work
Gran: grandmother
Hancock: Tony Hancock, English comedian popular in 1950s
Hard nut: tough person
HGV: heavy goods vehicle, truck
HOLMES: UK police computer system used during investigation of major incidents
Home: care home for elderly or sick people
Hoover: vacuum cleaner
I’ll be blowed: expression of surprise
Inne: isn’t he
Interpol: international police organisation
Into care: a child taken away from their family by the social services
Iron Lady: Margaret Thatcher, applied to any strong woman
ITU: intensive therapy unit in hospital
Jane Doe: a person whose identity is unknown/anonymous
JCB: a mechanical excavator
Jerry-built: badly made
Jungle: nickname given to migrant camp near Calais
Lad: young man
Lass: young woman
Lift: elevator
Lord Lucan: famous aristocrat who allegedly killed his children’s nanny and disappeared in 1974. Has never been found.
Lorry: a truck
Lovely jubbly: said when someone is pleased