Страница 59 из 82
Dr. Lukas seemed to tense up again, the lines on her forehead deepening, her posture stiffening. “I don’t know the name.”
“She was one of the late girls, wasn’t she? What happened to her?”
“I told you I’ve never heard of her.”
“Did something go wrong? Is that it?”
“I’ve told you, I don’t know anyone called Carmen.”
A
“No,” said Dr. Lukas. A
“About a week ago, Je
A
“It is,” said A
“Please, you don’t know…”
“Don’t know what?”
Dr. Lukas paused, rubbing her hands together. “Please. I’m telling you the truth.”
“I think you’re telling me part of the truth,” A
Well, you can’t win them all, Banks thought, after a wasted trip to Chelsea. One of the problems with paying surprise visits was that sometimes the object of your visit wasn’t at home, and such was the case with Gareth Lambert that wet Tuesday evening, though Banks had even hung around in a shop doorway over the street for about an hour waiting. Burgess had said that Lambert was elusive.
The humidity and damp clothing made the crowded underground carriage smell like a wet dog, and Banks was glad to get off at Green Park for the Piccadilly Line. The second carriage was half empty and he passed the short trip reading the adverts and trying to suss out the language of the newspaper that the person opposite him was reading. The letters were Roman, but it definitely wasn’t anything he recognized. Sometimes the depths of his own ignorance appalled him.
When he got to Cori
“Warm drink?”
“Tea, if you’ve got any. No milk or sugar for me.”
“I think I can manage that.”
Despite, or perhaps because of, the rain, it was a close, muggy evening. Sweat filmed Cori
“I’m sorry I haven’t been able to get here sooner,” Banks said, when he had a warm cup of tea in his hand. “You can imagine what it’s been like.”
“Have you seen your parents? How are they? Your mother was very nice to me. Not that your father wasn’t… but you know what I mean.”
Banks remembered that last October, much to his surprise, his mother had taken Cori
Thinking of his parents, he also remembered the message that the thug in the red Vectra had given him. We know where your parents live. How did they know? From Roy? When it came right down to it, though, it wasn’t that difficult to find out such things. Most likely they had followed Banks to Peterborough the day before and he hadn’t spotted them. He would ring his father before it got too late and make sure everything was all right there. He would also ring the Peterborough police again to make sure they had someone watching the house at all times. If this man with the ponytail had killed Je
“They’re coping,” Banks said finally. “My mother took it rather hard, as you can imagine. Dad’s trying to be a rock, but the strain’s begi
“I hope they get through it. Do you think I should give them a ring?”
“It wouldn’t do any harm,” Banks said. “Maybe in a couple of days.” He sipped some tea – a pleasant, scented Earl Grey – then leaned forward and set the cup and saucer down on the low table. “Look, Cori
“I understand.”
“A couple of months ago, in April, you went with Roy to the Berger-Le
Cori
“I’m not here to judge you, either of you. Whose idea was it?”
“Was what?”
“To go to the Berger-Le
“Oh, Roy’s. He’d invested in it. He’d also visited the center before, checked it out. He said it was a good place.”
So Roy had probably already met, or at least seen, Je
“They treated me well enough.”
“The woman on reception thought you were Roy’s daughter.”
“Well, I used my own name. I wasn’t trying to pretend or anything.”
“There’s plenty of reasons these days for a girl having a different name from her father.”
“I suppose so.”
“So you went through with the procedure?”
Now she looked directly at him. “Yes. I had an abortion. Okay?”
“I assume you’re sure it was Roy’s baby?”
“Yes, of course. What do you think I am?”
“Why didn’t you want to keep it?”
“I… I didn’t feel ready.”
“What about Roy?”
“He’d already made it clear he wasn’t interested. He wasn’t much interested in me, either. He thinks I didn’t see him chatting up that redhead in the reception area, but I did.”
“Je
Cori
“That’s where he met her, the center. Perhaps you can see now why I’m asking all these questions. There are too many co
“I don’t think I can help you. I mean, I saw him talking to her, but he’s always like that, flirting with girls. And I knew there was someone. I just didn’t put two and two together. Story of my life.”
“No reason you should. So you and Roy were splitting up when you found out you were pregnant?”
“It happened at the worst possible time.” She gave a harsh laugh. “Like these things always do.”
“And you discussed it and you both agreed abortion was the way to go?”
“Yes. Look, it’s nothing to do with what happened. It can’t be. It was a private matter. You’re not trying to say I killed him because I had an abortion and he found a new girlfriend, are you?”