Ash & Bone

'Nerves,' Ke

She was thinking about Maddy, about what had happened to her. She knew she had to do something now, before it was too late. The vodka bottle still tight in her hand, glass cold and smooth against her palm. Her eyes flicked back towards the door, the key still in the lock.

'Here,' Ke

And he lifted the bottle clear and, with a smile, returned it to the shelf.

'That's better,' he said. 'Now we can relax a little. Get to know one another better. What do you say?'

How long they had been sitting there, Vanessa didn't know. Sitting opposite one another, the small table pushed aside. Knees touching. Fifteen minutes? Twenty? More? Ke

When he squeezed, finger and thumb, her uncovered nipple, she cried out with a start.

'Sorry,' he said with an apologetic smile. 'Hands too cold. Warm them up a little, eh?' And slid both hands between his thighs, legs closed tight.

Vanessa threw what was left of her vodka in his face, aiming for his eyes, and as she did so lurched sideways, reaching for the bottle on the shelf.

'You bitch!' he said, grabbing at her arm.

Shaking him off, Vanessa swung the bottle as hard and fast as she could against his face. The base struck the temple, just above the eye, and as he staggered back she swung again, teeth gritted, full force, and the bottle shattered against his cheek, driving him sideways through a quarter-circle, left leg folding beneath him, blood streaming from below his eye.

Vanessa dropped the bottle and dashed for the bathroom, feeling for her mobile as she ran.

Two bolts, top and bottom, and she slid them across, leaning her weight back against the door as she dialled 999.

'Emergency. Which service do you need, caller?'

She gave the details as precisely as she could, waiting all the time for Ke

When it didn't happen she began to cry and when she heard the sirens, distant at first, then closer, closer, and then feet loud and heavy on the stairs, she cried louder and couldn't stop, not even when the first officers to respond had convinced her it was safe enough to unbolt the door; not even when she saw the glass, some of it smeared with blood, upon the floor; not till the fresh-faced young PC, barely out of training, so young he looked more like a boy, led her firmly, not roughly, over to an easy chair and sat her down, sat with her holding both her hands and telling her it was all right, it was okay, they'd only got the bastard, hadn't they? Legging it across the Holloway Road and he'd run smack into the side of a bus and ca

'The knife,' Vanessa said. 'He had a knife.'

'We'll find it. Don't worry.'

And they did, an hour later, where Ke

40

The doctor had checked Vanessa over, pronounced her bodily sound, waited while an officer took Polaroid photographs of the marks on her neck, then given her something to help her sleep. But of course she'd hardly slept at all. For half of what remained of the night she lay in bed, knees pulled up close to her chest, trying to blank out the sound of Ke

'You're a lucky girl,' one of the officers had said. 'Dead lucky.' And then tried to swallow back his words. 'You did brilliant,' said another. 'Fucking brilliant.' Vanessa was not just thinking about herself; she was thinking of Maddy. Had that been him? Ke

Lucky girl.

She was, she was: she pressed her face against the rough material of the blanket and wept.

Alerted by the senior officer at Kentish Town, Karen had arrived shortly after midnight and spoken to Vanessa briefly, enough to get an abbreviated version of what had happened, and arranged to take a proper statement in the morning. She'd considered phoning Elder and waking him with the news, but decided to let him slumber on.

At the hospital, Ke

Elder was finally put in the picture at seven and met Karen outside the hospital at eight. Ramsden and Denison were already there, the uniformed officer having been gratefully relieved.

One of the lifts was out of order and a porter was carefully positioning a patient on a trolley in another, so they took the stairs.

'Has he been charged?' Elder asked.

'Not yet.'

'Possibilities?'

'As it stands? Aggravated assault. Possession of an offensive weapon. Enough to hold him.'

When they got into the room Ke

'Is he asleep?' Karen asked.

The nurse shook her head.

'Ke

No movement; no response.

Ramsden seized hold of the sheet and tugged it sharply back.

'Mr Ke

Ke

'Is there any reason,' Karen asked the nurse, 'why he shouldn't answer questions?'

The nurse shook her head. 'The painkillers might have made him slightly woozy, but other than that, no.'

'I'll give him fuckin' painkillers,' Ramsden said.

Karen shot him a warning look.

'Listen, Ke

Nothing.

'Nurse,' Karen said. 'I wonder, could you help to sit him up?'

'I suppose so, I…' She faltered, for a moment uncertain. 'Mr Ke

'What seems to be the problem?' the doctor said, walking towards them. He was tall and bearded, mid-thirties, his accent from north of the border.

'These police officers,' the nurse said, 'they want to question the patient.'

'All right, nurse. Thank you.'

She wheeled her equipment trolley away.

'Detective Chief Inspector Shields,' Karen said, holding out her hand.

The doctor's grip was strong but brief.