Dead Pretty: The 5th DS McAvoy Novel (DS Aector McAvoy) (28 page)

‘He wants what’s best for me. We just disagree on what that is.’

‘You don’t want to stay here forever, though, do you? What if you meet a boy? You’re pretty and clever and good company. You’d do brilliantly at university.’

Delphine looks bashful. She jumps up onto the work surface and bumps the heels of her welly boots together, face in her hands, elbows on her knees.

‘What is it you’re after Dad for?’ she asks. ‘I mean, with these murders, I’d have thought you’d be here, there and everywhere. There’s no problem, is there? With Dad, I mean?’

Pharaoh chews her lip. Tries to find the right words and fails.

‘There are still some loose ends,’ she says at last. ‘You probably know how seriously Humberside Police is taking what happened. There are people who think he’s going to sue us. I couldn’t blame him if he did, though for his sake I hope he doesn’t. It would be best if it all blew over. The papers are going to make him some sort of superhero otherwise, and then when they get bored of that they’ll turn on him.’

Delphine’s smile fades a little. She wrinkles her nose. ‘Is this you warning him to keep his mouth shut? Because that wouldn’t go down well with his solicitor.’

Pharaoh can’t help but give a little laugh. She likes this girl. Admires her devotion and loyalty. Wonders, briefly, how her own girls feel about her. Knows already how they feel about their dad.

‘I wouldn’t dream of threatening you or your father,’ she says, finishing the coffee. ‘I’ve explained it to him and I’ll say the same to you – the prosecution could have gone either way. There was no malice. He was found guilty, and freed on appeal. We didn’t know about the conflict of interest. Under different circumstances, it could have all come to nothing. Under others, he could still be inside. We just have to deal with the political fall-out from it all.’

‘I don’t know how much he’s enjoying the attention,’ muses Delphine, mollified. ‘The phone doesn’t stop ringing. He’s got another two chat shows booked in for Sunday morning. He can’t say no, that’s his trouble. Can’t say no to women, anyway.’

Pharaoh’s expression flickers for a moment.

‘He told me in interview that he was raised to admire women. His mother died when he was a teenager, yes?’

‘Younger than I am now.’

‘Does he have brothers or sisters? I can’t recall.’

‘No, he was an only child. Just him and his dad, and he’s dead now too. A lot of people around him have passed away over the years. He doesn’t let it get to him too badly. We help each other.’

‘He grew up in a place like this, didn’t he?’

‘In the countryside, you mean? Yes, sort of. It was a modern house but in an old-fashioned town, surrounded by mountains. It was lovely. He took me and Aramis there once. I don’t know why. Just wanted to share it with us, I think.’

‘It can’t have been easy for your mum – his inability to say no to the ladies.’

Delphine shakes her head, a swift, angry gesture. ‘I didn’t mean it like that. He makes women feel good and likes them liking him but he’s never had a girlfriend since Mum. I don’t think he wants one.’

Pharaoh says nothing. Feels the colour rising in her cheeks. She swallows down the burning sensation in her chest as she remembers the way Reuben turned his mouth from hers as she tried to kiss him.

‘It must be nice, knowing that there’s somebody there to swoop in and save the day when you’re in trouble. I suppose I’ve got a friend like that. He’d hold a building up with his bare hands if he thought I was trapped underneath.’

‘Sounds a good person to know. Is he a policeman too?’

‘Yes. A good one, though he doesn’t realise it. We’ve kind of swapped jobs since we became friends. He used to be the sparrow with a broken wing. Now he’s a great bloody eagle and I feel like the vulnerable little chick waiting for him. It’s pitiful. Don’t get old, Delphine. Trust me.’

Delphine smiles. ‘You’re not old. You look great. Dad thinks so, anyway. And yeah, you’re right – it is nice knowing he’ll be there. I’ve always known that.’

‘I’ve seen the video footage of that day,’ says Pharaoh gently. ‘I saw how scared and upset you were. I’ve read your statement. That must have been horrible.’

Delphine taps her welly boots together again. Fiddles with the bracelets on her wrist.

‘They used to be horrible to Aramis, too. They’re village kids. Inbred morons, Dad calls them. We’re the weird family that lives in the woods. They were one of the reasons Aramis did what he did.’

‘One of the boys said that on the day in question, you were the aggressor.’

Delphine barks a laugh. ‘Me? Oh yeah, I’m forever picking fights with three big lads. Honest, I was just walking back from a friend’s and they started having a go. Started talking about my brother. Then they got really nasty. Talking about Mum. Dad. Me. Saying stuff about us. Sick stuff. I told them to shut up and they started throwing stones. The next thing I was on the ground and bleeding and getting kicked in the stomach. My top got ripped. I didn’t know what to do.’

‘But you made it back to your dad.’

‘He saw me. Saw what had happened. He did what everybody would want their dad to do.’

Pharaoh nods. Absorbs it all. Wonders, for a moment, what McAvoy would have done. He has probably asked himself that same question more than once.

‘If it were me, I’d have killed the lot of them,’ says Pharaoh. ‘He did the right thing by his family and by his conscience, even if the courts would disagree.’

‘He did the same thing later when that bastard turned up and tried to go for him. I swear to God, Dad just pushed him and he fell and hit his head. It was nothing. He shouldn’t have gone to prison for that, and you know it, no matter what you have to say to the papers.’

Pharaoh realises she has been feeling a little better. Her head has cleared. She’s thinking in straight lines. Might be ready to face Hollow. Might be ready to go to work and pick up the reins of the murder inquiry. Might be able to look at McAvoy without seeing her own shame reflected in his big brown eyes.

She takes her phone from her top. Wipes the moisture off the screen. The signal is terrible here but she can see she has had several missed calls. The last, from Helen Tremberg, was just moments ago.

‘I may have to catch up with your father another time,’ says Pharaoh, sighing. She rolls her eyes. Enjoys the little smile she gets from Delphine in return. She wonders for a moment whether she and Sophia would be friends. Whether Delphine is the sort to go to a party at a big house and not tell her mum there would be boys there. Wonders what Hollow would do to anybody who put their hands on her.

There is a sudden knock at the door that makes them both jump. Delphine pulls her robe around herself. Crosses over the headstones, skipping over memorials and dates, prayers and psalms, long since chiselled from smooth, unfeeling rock.

She pulls open the wooden door and begins to ask her father if he forgot his key.

Then she opens the door wider and Pharaoh looks past her at the two familiar figures in the doorway; their tired faces.

McAvoy and Tremberg: two giant paper cut-outs, blocking the light.

Chapter 21

8.38 a.m.

A small, heart-shaped clearing amid a blanket of trees.

Three figures, half lost in fog, standing in a loose triangle among the graves and the wildflowers in the shadow of a small, red-roofed cottage; light flickering across their faces as a watery sun plays with the shadows of the looming evergreens.

‘We tried to ring. We’ve been trying all night and all morning. We didn’t know what to do when we saw your car.’

Helen stops talking as Pharaoh turns cold eyes upon her.

‘Boss, we couldn’t wait any longer. I didn’t know what else to do. Sophia said you left early and I literally had no clue where to find you.’

Pharaoh looks into McAvoy’s earnest face. She can see him fighting with his emotions. He wants to ask her what she’s doing here. Wants to know where the hell she’s been. The last time they spoke he was telling her not to come to the murder scene for fear of her bumping into Mallett. Why hasn’t she replied to his messages?

‘I do seem to recall that I’m the senior officer,’ snaps Pharaoh. ‘I can follow up lines of inquiry without checking with my sergeant or somebody else’s detective constable, can’t I?’

McAvoy looks down at the grass. Runs his tongue around the inside of his mouth.

‘There have been developments,’ he says finally. ‘There’s lots to tell, Guv.’

Pharaoh scowls at him. Sucks half an inch off her cigarette. He holds her gaze. There’s temper in his eyes. She rather likes it.

‘Maybe we should go somewhere else and talk,’ says Helen, flicking her gaze between the two. She has never seen them argue. It’s like watching her parents fight.

‘No, no, if it was important enough to track me down for then there’s no time to waste,’ says Pharaoh, pushing her hair behind her ear. McAvoy looks away and she enjoys a moment of victory. Then, just as quickly, she feels remorse. Feels as though she has just given a rabbit a Chinese burn. ‘Are you okay, anyway?’ she asks, softening her tone a fraction. ‘Hannah. It must have been horrible.’

McAvoy stares into the trees. Focuses his attention on the back wheel of the gypsy wagon, peeking out from between the trees.

‘Is Roisin okay? What did the kids actually see, Hector? You know I would have been there. It was you that bloody insisted . . .’

McAvoy manages a little smile.

‘It was hard,’ he says. ‘That was supposed to be our home forever. It’s already experienced too much bloodshed. All I want is for the kids to have nice memories.’ He waves a hand, indicating that there is too much to say. ‘I just wish she wasn’t dead. I knew she was but I wish there was still hope.’

‘Somebody knows how personally you took her disappearance,’ says Pharaoh. ‘They left her there for you.’

‘ACC Mallett asked me for a list of enemies. Where do I start?’

Pharaoh gives a dutiful laugh. Some of the tension leaves her shoulders. She looks as though she’d like to reach out and give him a squeeze on his forearm.

‘I bet he and Roisin got on like a house on fire,’ says Pharaoh, winking. ‘Uncomfortable?’

McAvoy blinks, long and slow.. ‘She told him a few things he won’t forget.’

Pharaoh pulls a face. ‘Bet he loved that. I hope to Christ you didn’t apologise for her.’

‘I wouldn’t dare.’

‘Did you manage any sleep?’

‘I’m fine, Guv. What about you? You must have been up and out early.’

Pharaoh kicks distractedly at a dandelion clock, her boots sending tiny ghosts spinning into the grey air. ‘I got a couple of hours. The girls made me a nest.’

‘And Sophia? Any better?’

Pharaoh shrugs. ‘We’ll talk. Somehow, we’ll talk.’

Helen stands between them, turning her head from side to side like a tennis umpire. She wishes they’d either hug or have a fist fight.

‘Have you read your emails yet, boss?’ she asks diplomatically. ‘There’s a lot to take in.’

‘Crap signal here. Are you going to tell me what’s so important that you had to turn bloodhound?’

‘We came to talk to Mr Hollow,’ McAvoy says. ‘I should have said. My head’s a muddle, sorry. We didn’t know you’d be here.’

‘Reuben?’ The word comes out sharp and shrill and she curses herself for using his first name. ‘Hollow, I mean. Why? You’re not running errands for ACC Mallett, are you? Are you doing some goodwill shit, mending bridges and making Hollow feel less inclined to sue? Because if you’re doing that during a murder investigation I’m going to poke your eyes out with your own thumbs.’

McAvoy shakes his head. His lips become a thin line.

‘Hollow’s DNA has been found on one of Ava Delaney’s possessions. More than that, Helen has established a connection between a possible vigilante and several suspicious deaths. And that vigilante is starting to sound more and more like your friend.’

Pharaoh stares at her sergeant. She looks more like a wife being told her husband is being arrested than a senior police officer following up a lead. She gives a shake of the head. Tries to become herself again. There is a redness to her cheeks; a flame in her eyes.