Blind Fury (46 page)

Anna parked in her space at the station. She was glad not to see Langton’s car and to know he wouldn’t be there. She smoked a cigarette before she got out and headed into the station. It was exactly as she had expected. As she walked to her desk, the incident room went quiet. All eyes were on her as she put down her briefcase. Barbara was the first to come to her desk, and she had tears in her eyes.

“I am so sorry, it’s just terrible. If there is anything I can do, you just have to say.”

“Thank you, Barbara. I’m fine now.”

Joan looked over. Her face showed such compassion, and like Barbara, she looked like she was going to burst into tears.

Barolli brought her a coffee; he couldn’t meet her eyes. “You need anything, let me know.”

“Thank you, I will. I’ll need an update as soon as I’ve got myself sorted out.”

“Yeah, whenever you are ready.”

Mike Lewis looked through the blinds in his office. Langton had said that he doubted Travis would return for a few months, at least until the trial was set, but there she was. It had been only two weeks. He took a deep breath, finding it difficult to go out and face her. Everyone found it hard, since she appeared to be totally in control, spending a long time looking over the incident board and making her own notes.

Mike eventually came and patted her shoulder. “We’re all here for you, Anna, and you have my condolences.”

“Thank you, I appreciate that. Tell me, have they prepared a full case file for the Chrissie O’Keefe murder?”

Mike told her that Smiley would stand trial for that murder, along with the other four. He said that Smiley had been refused bail and was awaiting trial at Wandsworth Prison. The trial date was set for three months’ time, and they would now be preparing all the evidence ready for the prosecution case conferences and defense disclosure. The CPS had been quick to oversee the case files and appoint a top queen’s counsel to prosecute.

Anna got into the routine of coming in to the station at eight-thirty every morning and leaving at six. The team began to pack up the incident room in preparation for the forthcoming trial, boxing the statements and evidence. As soon as the trial took place, they could all be allocated to another murder inquiry. It was not a foregone conclusion that they would work together; they could be split up. Anna hoped that Langton would retain them all. It would be up to him to select who went where.

It had been almost three months since the death of Ken, and Anna was surprised to see Langton in Mike’s office when she came in for work. He had continued to make calls and check up on her, but over the past few weeks, these had gradually stopped, and in some way she was relieved.

When he came out of Mike’s office, he smiled and came to her desk. He set down an envelope. “I reckon this is about time. Open it.”

Langton had put her forward for promotion. She would have to go through all the promotional interviews and written reports that she had been subjected to previously. She smiled up at him and asked whether he would be on the board, as at her last attempt at promotion. He shook his head and said that as he had personally suggested she be one of the candidates, he would not be on the review team.

“You’d better not cock it up this time,” he joked, and she was touched that he was recommending her.

“Thank you.”

“Take your time, make sure all your written reports are up to scratch, and don’t get shirty with the psychologist.”

Anna gave a soft laugh. The previous time she had become angry with some of the questions she was asked, and believing that Langton had scuppered her promotion, she had walked out before the interview was completed.

“I’ll behave myself,” she said, putting the envelope in her briefcase.

“I think you are ready for it. You’ve done terrific work on the Smiley case, and you have shown that you have become a real team player, so now it’s up to you. Good luck.”

“I’ve never really thanked you for being there for me,” she said quietly. “It can’t have been easy, having to tell me about Ken.”

“It wasn’t, but you’ll have time with the trial on to do your grieving.” He gave her a long look and then leaned over her desk to kiss her cheek.

“I love you,” he said.

Then he walked out, and she realized that she had been able to say Ken’s name without that terrible rush of emotion. She knew, too, that it was time to write the letter to his parents, and to go and see Lizzie.

That weekend Anna finally sent the letter to Ken’s parents and called on Lizzie. It was a major step in coming to terms with her loss, but she found the meeting difficult, as it brought back so many memories. Lizzie made a toasted sandwich and a pot of tea. Anna was so tense that it was hard to swallow, but she forced herself to take a couple of bites.

“You don’t have to eat it if you don’t want it,” Lizzie said, and Anna smiled gratefully as the other woman removed the plate and tipped the remains of the sandwich into the bin. She was standing with her back to Anna, looking out into the garden at the children’s swing and remembering the last time they had been together. She could almost hear Ken’s laughter as he played around with her boys, the way he had come into the kitchen with her youngest on his shoulders.

“Oh, God, it’s so unfair,” Lizzie said, and burst into tears.

Anna went and put her arms around her, refusing to break down herself. After a while she said that she would have to leave, as she was working toward the trial.

“Will you come round and see the boys again?”

Anna nodded, but she knew she wouldn’t keep in touch. She wanted the past behind her.

Lizzie walked her to the front door, and Anna thanked her for the tea, apologizing for not eating, then hurried out to her car. Lizzie felt that she was unemotional, almost aloof; she said to her husband that night that she had found Anna almost a different person. Lizzie hadn’t even been able to put her arms around Anna, as she had wanted.

Ken’s parents wrote a sad letter back and apologized for not wanting her to be at their son’s funeral. Anna presumed that it was Roy Hudson who had written the letter. He said they were coming to terms with the loss of Ken but found it very difficult, as he was such a wonderful son. She found herself having to force back tears when he added that he also would have made a good husband.

Anna folded the letter and then tore it to shreds. It was another chapter closed, and she would not contact them again.

The trial had front-page coverage, and the team held up well throughout. Anna took her hours of cross-questioning by Smiley’s defense team with a cool authority. She was never rattled but in total control in an impressive performance that did not go unnoticed. Smiley was found guilty and sentenced to whole-life imprisonment with no chance of parole.

As soon as the trial was completed, Anna went before the promotional board and this time had no emotional attachments to worry about, as the three high-ranking officers were none she had ever met. She was touched that one of them mentioned that Detective Chief Superintendent James Langton had recommended her highly. She also handled the lengthy interview with the psychologist far better than she had previously. She was confident that she could not have done better, but she would have to wait three months for the results.

The next case Anna was assigned to was the suspected murder of an elderly woman whose body was discovered mummified in her basement. It was a case that Mike Lewis was allocated to oversee, and they worked well together with a new team. Barolli was also up for promotion to detective inspector, but he wasn’t confident, as he felt he had done badly on the written tests. Anna didn’t like to say how confident she felt but kept busy with the case in hand, which turned out to be a sad situation rather than a brutal killing.

The elderly woman had been dependent on her son for twenty years due to a heart condition; he had waited on her lovingly, and when she had died, he couldn’t bear to part with her. He had wrapped her in the sheets and kept her in the basement for five years. He had somehow managed to keep her death a secret, talking about her health and neighbors, but also claiming her pension every month.

Anna had found the tragedy less affecting than Mike, who felt that the man shouldn’t be charged. Anna had surprised him with her detachment, saying that “filial love” had not stopped him from illegally claiming his mother’s pension and living off it. Mike noticed then how much she had changed; she was more brusque than she had ever been, always businesslike, and yet the team respected her as much as Mike, if not more so. She was in many ways unapproachable on any kind of social level, though her ambition had not diminished. On the contrary, at times he felt as if she were nudging him out of the inquiry.

No sooner had Anna closed the case of the mummified woman than she received confirmation that her promotion was accepted. Anna was now detective chief inspector. DCI Travis was one of the youngest women to gain that rank, and Mike was relieved that from now on, she would be handling her own inquiries. Poor Paul Barolli yet again failed his promotional exams, so it was possible he would work for Anna, but after the pressure she had put on him during the Smiley inquiry, he didn’t fancy being under her command.

Langton had taken a bottle of congratulatory champagne to her flat, and she had opened it, admitting only to him how proud she was. He’d been there a short time before she announced that she had a previous arrangement. He’d been hoping to take her out to dinner but downed the remainder of his glass. As he left, he cupped her face in his hand and kissed her forehead. He felt her body tense away from him.

“You’ve grown up, Travis. Sometimes I look at you and hardly recognize that girl I lived with. I have always reckoned you were special in every way, but now you have a big career ahead of you.”

“Thank you,” she said quietly.

He hesitated. “Don’t make your whole life your career, darlin’. You’ll get over this and you’ll—”

She smiled and put a finger to his lips. She said she didn’t intend to; she was going out for dinner with some friends.

“Good. Well, onward and upward.”

She closed the door behind him and breathed a sigh of relief. She didn’t have any dinner date, she didn’t have any other friends but him, and she fully intended to make her career the focus of her life. Nothing was going to stop her. DCI was just the beginning, and she had no intention of ever allowing anything or anyone to muddy the waters.

She carried her half-filled glass of champagne into the bedroom, lit a cigarette, and let the smoke drift from her mouth, forming a perfect ring. She placed the champagne flute between the photographs of her father and Ken. She had decided that she would not be able to form a relationship with anyone. Ken would be enough. Losing him had been as painful as losing her father. She picked up the glass and lifted it in a toast.

“I made it, Daddy. You never got further than detective inspector. I’m DCI Travis now, and I am going to make you so proud of me.”

She sipped the champagne and then looked at the funny photograph of Ken as a little boy in his clown’s outfit. No, there would not be time for anyone else now. The ambitious streak that had always been inside her was now full-blown—and she would allow nothing to stand in her way.

T
OUCHSTONE
R
EADING
G
ROUP GUIDE

Blind Fury
by Lynda La Plante

Detective Inspector Anna Travis is nothing if not “the job.” Spending her days either performing enquiries or brainstorming in the incident room and her nights poring over case files, her total focus is on solving crimes. When a young unidentified woman is found raped and murdered, Anna finds herself being drawn even deeper into a case than ever before. Not only does the case link to three other unsolved murders, but a vicious killer whom Anna put behind bars is back on her radar, claiming to be able to help solve the crime. As her visits to the prison turn personal, Anna is suddenly torn between her burgeoning feelings for one particular security guard, her determination to catch the killer, and the job she’s always put before anything else. And the clashing emotions just might prove deadly.

F
OR
D
ISCUSSION

1. Describe Anna’s roles in the PI department. How is she treated differently than her male counterparts throughout the story? Discuss examples and the possible implications of each scenario.

2. When Anna receives the letter from Cameron Welsh offering to help with the investigation, she wavers about whether or not to ignore the note. What would you have done in Anna’s position? Why?

3. What kind of message do you think the author is sending with detailed accounts of the well-equipped and accommodating prison where Cameron Welsh is held? What is your personal stance on the controversial issue of rehabilitation programs at prisons?

4. When Detective Chief Superintendent James Langton agrees to send Anna to meet with Cameron Welsh, he makes the choice to trust a once very dangerous man. What do you think of his decision to use serial killers to help solve murder cases? Should criminals like Cameron Welsh ever be trusted again?

5. Anna’s work has always been her top priority. Her personal relationships, hobbies, and even her health sometimes fall by the wayside. Discuss the importance of a work-life balance and how it affects Anna throughout the story. What was your reaction when she came full-circle back to “the job”?

6. When Anna speaks with Eric Potts, Margaret’s brother-in-law, he tells her that Margaret’s husband frequently abused her. He says, “Despite [it all], I never saw her cry—she was a bloody punching bag and yet she didn’t cry.” What is the significance of this observation? What does this reaction tell you about Margaret’s personality?

7. Police and private investigators often must rely on instinct to solve a case, just as Anna and Langton do in
Blind Fury
. What are the possible ramifications of trusting one’s gut in regard to a murder investigation? Is it a liability or an essential aspect of the job? Has there ever been a time in your life when you acted on instinct? What was the result?

8. Throughout the story, the investigators are fighting against time to solve the murders. Do you feel that old cases should be closed when they run cold? Why or why not? When do you think it’s appropriate to give up on solving a serious crime?

9. When Anna uncovers the blue blanket, she subconsciously suspects Ken of being involved in the murders. She does so again later when she sees the photo of him with his coworker and his guard dog. Do you think Ken’s reaction to her suspicion is justified? Why or why not?

10. Anna frequently interviews people about events that took place years in the past, often pushing them to remember. What are the pros and cons of this kind of proactive approach to such enquiries?

11. When Anna first falls for Ken, the reader is told that she “was different, she was more confident in herself because of her relationship.” Later, Anna is described as wanting “whatever made him happy.” In what ways do these two details affect your understanding of their relationship? Have you ever been in a similar situation?

12. Gender roles and expectations play a large role in the narrative of
Blind Fury.
In what ways are La Plante’s comments feminist and in what ways are they antifeminist? How did you react to the ways women and men were portrayed?

13. John Smiley is accused of murder on four counts. Do you think the police had enough evidence on Smiley to make an allegation fairly prior to his confession? Why or why not? Given the frequency of falsely accused criminals, what would you do if you were in the detectives’ shoes?

14. Late in the story, Anna comments on preferring to be assigned to the rape and murder case of four young women rather than to a child murder because child cases are “hard not to get emotionally involved in.” What does this preference say about Anna’s character? How does this case change her perspective?

15. When personal tragedy hits Anna, Langton encourages her to take time to deal with her grief. Instead, Anna wants to throw herself back into work. How do you handle a distressing or traumatic situation? What advice might you have given Anna?