Aftermath

“Why? What’s wrong?”

“It’s the sequence,” Banks said. “It’s all wrong.” He lowered his voice and hoped that Stefan could still hear him. “Working backward: Kimberley Myers, Melissa Horrocks, Lea

A little girl holding her mother’s hand gave Banks a curious look as they passed him by in the arcade. Banks switched off his mobile and headed toward Millgarth.

Je

“Come in,” she said, and Banks followed her through the narrow hall into the high-ceilinged living room. She had redecorated and rearranged the furniture since his last visit and noticed him glancing around in that policeman’s way of his, checking it out. Well, the expensive stereo was the same, and the sofa, she thought, smiling to herself, was the very same one where she had tried to seduce him.

She had bought a small television and video when she got back from America, having picked up the habit of watching there, but apart from the wallpaper and carpeting, nothing much else had changed. She noticed his gaze settle on the Emily Carr print over the fireplace, a huge dark, steep mountain dominating a village in the foreground. Je

“Drink?” she asked.

“Whatever you’re pouring.”

“Knew I could count on you. I’m sorry I don’t have any Laphroaig. Is red wine okay?”

“Fine.”

Je

A drugged-out kid called Mick Webster had held her hostage with a handgun and Banks had managed to defuse the situation. The kid’s mood swings had been extreme, and the whole thing had been touch and go for a while. Je

“Cheers.” They clinked glasses. Banks looked as tired as Je

“So? To what do I owe the honor?” Je

Banks smiled. It made him look a little better, she thought. A little. “I’d like to say it was,” he answered, “but I’d be a liar if I did.”

“And God forbid you should ever be a liar, Alan Banks. Such an honorable man. But couldn’t you be a bit less honorable sometimes? The rest of us human beings, well, we can’t help the occasional untruth, but you, no, you can’t even lie to give a girl a compliment.”

“Je

Je

“Sandra’s pregnant.”

Je

“She’s pregnant. I’m sorry to state it so abruptly, but I can’t think of a better way.”

“That’s all right. I’m just a bit gob-smacked.”

“You and me both.”

“How do you feel about it?”

“You sound like a psychologist.”

“I am a psychologist.”

“I know. But you don’t have to sound like one. How do I feel about it? I don’t know yet. When you get right down to it, it’s none of my business, is it? I let go the night she asked for a divorce so she could marry Sean.”

“Is that why…?”

“Yes. They want to get married, make the kid legal.”

“Did you talk to her?”

“No. Tracy told me. Sandra and I… well, we don’t communicate much anymore.”

“That’s sad, Alan.”

“Maybe.”

“There’s still a lot of anger and bitterness?”

“Fu

“And?”

“And I have done, for the most part.”

“But residual feelings surprise you sometimes? Creep up behind you and hit you on the back of your head?”

“I suppose you could say that.”

“Welcome to the human race, Alan. You ought to know by now that you don’t stop having feelings for someone just because you split up.”

“It was all new to me. She was the only woman I’d been with for any length of time. The only one I wanted. Now I know what it feels like. Naturally, I wish them all the best.”

“Meow. There you go again.”

Banks laughed. “No. Really, I do.”

Je

“Not really. Maybe partly. But I do want to talk to you about the case.”

“Any new developments?”

“Just one.” Banks told her about the identification of the three bodies and how he found it puzzling.

“Curious,” Je

“Oh, yes. They’ll be out there for a while.”

“There wasn’t much room in that little cellar.”

“Just enough for about three, true,” said Banks, “but that still doesn’t explain why it isn’t the most recent three. Anyway, I’d just like to go over some stuff with you. Remember when you suggested, quite early on, that the killer might have had an accomplice?”

“It was only a remote possibility. Despite the inordinate amounts of publicity your Wests and Bradys and Hindleys get, the killer couple is still a rare phenomenon. I assume you’re thinking of Lucy Payne?”

Banks sipped some wine. “I talked to her at the hospital. She… well, she said she didn’t remember much about what happened.”

“Not surprising,” said Je

“That’s what Dr. Landsberg said. It’s not that I don’t believe in it – I’ve come across it before – it’s just so damn…”

“Convenient?”

“That’s one way of putting it. Je

“Waiting for what?”

“Waiting to see which way the wind was going to blow, as if she can’t work out what to say until she knows what’s happening with Terry. And it would make sense, wouldn’t it?”