George Barnabas - 04 - Fourth Attempt (47 page)

‘Which is something I couldn’t forget,’ George said in a low voice. ‘Not ever.’

‘Any more than I could,’ Zack said. He suddenly stood up. ‘Am I being charged with anything? I’m dead on my feet, I need bed. I want to go.’

‘You’re free as air,’ Gus said. ‘As long as you come back to give me a statement when I ask you.’

‘Sure,’ Zack said. ‘I’ll be back.’

He made for the door and then looked down at James, who was now lying fast asleep. ‘Do you need help with this fella?’

‘I’ll look after him,’ Gus said. ‘I have to arrest him for the hoax doctor bit. Poor little bastard.’

‘Let me speak in his favour at his trial, will you? He saved my life, after all.’

‘If you can help him, I’ll let you know,’ Gus answered. Zack nodded and turned to go, but then came back. ‘I’m sorry, George,’ he said. ‘I — Listen, I’m sorry. It’s just I like women, you know? I can’t settle for one, and get sort of — I suppose you could say I’m knicker-happy’

‘If you have to use such a phrase,’ she said icily.

‘Well, all I’m trying to say is sorry. At first I thought I’d try to get you into bed. It’d have been fun. But after a while, well, I guess I liked you as a person better. I’m glad we never got between the sheets.’

She looked at him, her eyes wide, and behind them Gus coughed. ‘Is this a private discussion, or can anyone else get involved with a few penn’orths of their own? Something along the lines of if you’d tried really hard, I’d have pushed every tooth you’ve got in your head so far down your throat you’d have needed a haemorrhoidectomy to get them back. If you get my meaning.’

‘And I’m much too old to need two men discussing who or who will not take me to bed, goddamn it,’ George roared. ‘So shut up, the pair of you.’

‘Fair enough,’ Zack said, grimacing. He went to the door. ‘And so you shouldn’t think too badly of me over young Frean, I’d have paid upkeep for her and the baby, you know. Only I couldn’t have married her.’

‘The Québecois wife?’ Gus was sardonic again. ‘Remember who you’re talking to. I know bloody well there was no wife in Quebec! I researched you very carefully!’

‘I had to tell the woman
something
,’ Zack said. ‘Didn’t I? Oh, shit, what a mess.’ And he looked across at James. ‘Remember, I’m here if he needs anyone. Goodnight’ And this time he really did go.

There was a long silence and then Gus picked up his
phone and gave some terse instructions about arresting and booking James Corton on a charge of deception and theft of hospital property and anything else they could use to keep him safe in a cell while being looked after. ‘Tell him,’ he ended, ‘when he’s woken up enough, that we’ll see if we can get him into some sort of training scheme somewhere. When this is all over. He’ll probably make a useful — Well, I dare say some sort of hospital job can be found for him.’

Long afterwards, when a couple of police, one of them a woman, had come and taken James stumbling away down to the detention cells, they sat in silence as the clock ticked round and they thought their own thoughts. Then Gus stirred and stretched and grinned at her.

‘Ho hum, George, me old darling,’ he said. ‘Shall we go home to my place and go to bed? And then, tomorrow, talk about that holiday we planned to take?’

‘Oh, Gus,’ George said. ‘Yes, please.’