Hidden (45 page)

He stood up and Kate said, in a small voice she didn’t much care for but seemed unable to help, ‘Are you going back to England?  Soon, I mean?’

He pursed his lips, ‘I’m not sure.  Not today, at any rate.’  He gently touched her shoulder, ‘I’ll talk to you later.’

Kate nodded,
that light touch sending a shiver through her entire body that left her shaking.  Left her wanting to call out to him, to stop him from leaving.  To beg him, if necessary.  But she remained silent, and as he walked out of the apartment a single tear rolled down her cheek.  One was all she would allow herself.  She took a deep breath and noisily finished off her coffee, cutting off the tears before they could take a hold.  She slammed down her cup and got to her feet; she had too much to do to sit around all day moping about what could have been.

S
he rang the hospital, giving her day a much-needed boost by hearing that Sean Morrison was not only sitting up and talking, but was in fact already grumbling vaguely about being allowed to go home.  Best of all, he would be allowed visitors the next day, meaning she would be able to thank him in person for possibly saving her life.  Indeed, judging by the phone call she’d had the night before, almost certainly saving her life.

Somewhat cheered by this news she rang Mullins, and her day received another boost
by her catching him in.  His flat, impersonal tone steadied her jangling nerves and she said calmly, ‘Inspector Mullins?  Kate Bennett here.  Did you get my message?’

‘I did,’ he said heavily, ‘T
hough I could hardly believe it.  After this phone call it now seems obvious that someone with a grudge is after you personally.  So we’re back to square one.  And
question
one; namely, who would want to kill you?  I’ve already checked on our friends Meagher and Straub, and both are safely locked up where they’re supposed to be, and will be for years.  So who else have you got?’

‘I told you
, I haven’t the faintest idea,’ said Kate glumly.  It wasn’t news to her that Straub was still in Broadmoor; if there was ever the slightest chance of him getting out one of her old friends from the Thames Valley police would have been on the phone like a shot to warn her.  And Sean had told her about Meagher being in prison.  ‘I don’t have any other enemies, and Grainne Riordan is the only patient I’ve had in
years
.  The attack must be connected to Grainne but I have no idea how, or who could have done it.  Unless someone has it in for
her
.  Did you hear about the fire in Deacon House last night?’

‘Yes, it’s no secret
around here that she’s my pigeon, so one of the boys filled me in first thing.  I rang the fire investigator and he says it’s definitely arson so we’re making inquiries.  Not me personally, you understand; the local Garda are dealing with it.  And I don’t envy them one little bit.’

Kate frowned, ‘What do you mean?’

Mullins gave a little bark of humourless laughter, ‘Deacon House currently has sixty-three inmates, Miss Bennett, all of them disturbed to one extent or another.  Detectives from Lucan are dealing with it and according to them security out there is a joke.  And the list of ex-patients must run into the hundreds, if not thousands.  The list of suspects is almost endless.  And even if they find out who did it they can’t very well arrest them, can they?  Not if they’re mentally incapable.’

‘Are you joking me?’ asked Kate angrily, ‘You
can’t really think an inmate did it?  Grainne’s ex-pusher is paid to burgle my flat and is subsequently murdered.  Then I am attacked in my office, to say nothing of last night’s threatening phone call.  Then there’s a fire in the mental home where she’s resident.  Don’t you think all these things are connected?’

‘Did I give you the impression I was stupid, Miss Bennett?’ asked Mullins co
ldly, ‘Don’t you think I’m aware that there may be a connection?  But the key word here is
may
.  Because right now I don’t see any link between all those events.  Do you?’

‘No,’ admitted Kat
e reluctantly, ‘and God knows I’ve racked my brains to come up with one.  The only explanation is that there’s something in Grainne Riordan’s past that has someone scared.  But I have no idea what it is, or who’s behind it all.’

Mullins sighed and said more naturally, ‘Me either.  But I’ll be looking, I assure you.’

‘I’m sorry, Sergeant, I meant no offense and I certainly don’t think you’re stupid.  I’m just frustrated that I can’t see the connection myself.’

‘None taken.  Though it might be if you call me Sergeant again.  It’s
Inspector
.  But seriously, I’m not Sherlock Holmes and I need evidence to solve crimes.  What I don’t do is spin elaborate theories linking possibly unrelated...’

‘These events
are
all related,’ interrupted Kate positively, ‘They have to be.’

‘Not until
I see some evidence they aren’t, though privately I think you’re right 
Privately
; officially they’re still unrelated events, and likely to remain that way.  The only link between all those things, including now
two
fires, is the Riordan girl, but your friend Jordan won’t let me question her, even though no charges could be brought against her in view of her mental health.’

‘I should think he won’t
!’ said Kate indignantly, ‘The girl is a psychiatric patient, vulnerable and fragile.  Being interrogated by you could destroy any chance we have of ever restoring her to full mental health.’

‘Thank you,’ said Mullins dryly, ‘I’m touched by your faith in my tact.  Not to mention my humanity.  But the point is
that I’m as aware as you that Grainne is the key to whoever is behind all this.  But if I can’t talk to her, I can’t find out what it is.  So don’t talk to me about frustration.’

‘I see your point.’
Kate was silent for some time but then said, reluctantly, ‘The next time I see her I’ll mention the fire, but I won’t question her in depth about it; that might be counter-productive.  No charges can be brought against her, anyway, as you pointed out, but I’m curious to find out if she did it.   Because if she didn’t, the question is who did.  And why.  So if I discover anything important I’ll let you know.’

‘I’d appreciate that, Kate,’ said Mullins, with more warmth than he had
evinced to date, ‘but see that you do, for
her
sake; that fire might have been intended to kill her.  Our mysterious malefactor might have given up trying to find out what Grainne’s been saying about him to you lot, and decided to shut her up for good.’

Kate thought for a moment before saying, ‘People have patterns of behaviour that tend to repeat themselves; suppose
both
fires were attempts to murder Grainne?  What if she didn’t burn down her parents’ house?  She’s evinced a lot of guilt over her mother’s death, but that could be because her mother died because someone was trying to kill
her
.  In her current state that would cause as much guilt as if she’d actually killed her mother herself.’

‘The Oxford police must have loved you,’ said Mullins dryly, ‘Or is it just the Irish police you think so little of?  We didn’t just seize on Grainne as the only possible suspect, you know
, and then go home to bed.  Believe me, we conducted a thorough investigation but we couldn’t find any trace that anyone else started the fire, or was even in the house with the two of them that night.’

This silenced Kate for a moment, then she said, ‘If your ‘malefactor’ only knew it
he could rest easy; there’s nothing in the file.  Did you collect your copy from the porter at Trinity, by the way?’

‘Yes
, first thing this morning.  And a fat lot of good it is.  I’ve only had time for a quick run-through but as far as I can see it leads precisely nowhere.’

Kate gave a humourless bark of laugh
ter, ‘I told you so.  And believe me, I’ve been over it half-a-dozen times.  But I suppose whoever paid Jimmy Shiels to steal it wasn’t to know that we wouldn’t find... shit, whatever
it
is.’

‘Shit is right,’ he sighed, ‘Alright, well
, if you dig up anything let me know.’

‘I will,
Inspector
.  And thanks.’  Kate hung up and went to get her coat.  It was almost ten and she was impatient to get out to Deacon House, both to talk to Trevor Jordan and to see Grainne.  The unfortunate girl was sure to be in a fearful state, whether or not she had started the fire.  And considering the way her mother had died it might actually be less upsetting for her if she
had
started it herself.

    As she pulled into the car-park at Deacon House Kate examined the building with a critical eye.  From the outside at least it looked unmarked, and Kate was pleased that its graceful, gracious lines had not been marred by the fire.  She locked her car and made her way inside the building, where once again no signs of the previous night’s drama were in evidence; evidently the fire had been nowhere near as serious as she had feared.  She approached the reception desk and said with a smile, ‘Hi, Cathy, is Trevor here?’

The younger woman nodded, ‘In his offic
e.  I have to warn you, though, he’s very tired and cranky after what happened last night.’

Kat
e shook her head in disbelief, ‘I couldn’t believe it when I heard.  I take it you weren’t here?’

Cathy shook her head
vehemently and with evident relief, her short, silvery blonde hair flying, ‘I never work nights.  Actually, I only got here at nine and the excitement was long over by then, but Dr. Jordan’s been here all night.’  And she added feelingly, ‘And it shows.’

Kate
had experienced Trevor’s rare but white-hot tempers before, and gave her a sympathetic smile before walking across to knock on his door.  In response to his shouted invitation she went inside and said, ‘Morning, Trevor.’

He did indeed look tired and red of eye but there was no sign o
f ill temper as he smiled and got to his feet, ‘Hi, Kate.  It’s good of you to come in so early.  And I’m sorry for ringing in the middle of the night like that.  I don’t know what I was thinking.  I guess I was so shocked and upset that I wasn’t thinking at all.’

She shook her head in brisk dismissal, ‘Forget it.  Of course I’d want to know abo
ut something like that, whatever the time.  How’s Grainne?’

He nodded tiredly, ‘Okay.  I think.  One good thing about all this is that she asked about you this morning, asked if you were coming to see her.’

‘She asked for me by name?’ asked Kate with flush of sudden excitement.

He smiled, ‘Wel
l, what she actually said was “I suppose that nosy bitch will be coming to interrogate me about the fire?”.  Is that a good sign or bad, do you think?’

Kate beamed at him, instantly restored to good-humour, ‘No, it’s a
grea
t
sign!  She may be ready to start talking to me. 
Really
talking, I mean, rather than just venting whatever’s on her mind when I happen to be there.’

‘Maybe,’ he replied, stifling a yawn, ‘Don’t get your hopes up, though.’

She waved her hand dismissively, ‘Hope is what keeps us alive, Trev, it’s what keeps us humans going.  And I know all about false dawns, believe me.  But never mind all that now; tell me exactly what happened here last night.’

‘Well, we’re not too sure
exactly
what happened.  A fire broke out on the second floor about two, but luckily the sprinkler system kept it under control until the fire brigade got here and sorted it out.’

‘Do you know how it started?’

‘The fire brigade say it was arson.  Petrol was spilled in a storage cupboard beside Grainne’s room and then set alight.’

‘Beside Grainne’s room
,’ echoed Kate thoughtfully, ‘Do you think she did it?’

He hesit
ated, ‘I don’t see how she could have.  For one thing her door was locked.  At night all the doors on that floor are electrically locked from the control room, so I don’t see how she could have gotten out to start it.  And even if she did, where would she have gotten petrol?  That was definitely brought in from outside.’

‘Was she in her room when the fire brigade arrived?’

‘Yeah, but that doesn’t mean much.  When a fire breaks out the alarm system overrides the solenoids locking the rooms, automatically opening all the doors to prevent patients from being trapped in a burning building.  So if she was somehow out when the rooms were remotely locked she could have easily slipped back into her room
afte
r
starting it.’

‘But why would she start a fire and then go back inside?  If she started it you’d think she would try to escape.’

He shrugged, ‘Unless it was another extreme suicide attempt.  Which, with her record, can’t be ruled out.  Last night, in the heat of the moment, my mind automatically turned to her but this morning, after a little reflection, I just don’t see it.  I don’t think it was any of our patients, for that matter.’