‘You saw that one too, huh? Like, justhowmuch does Dr Wainwright think of himself, right?’ she snorts. ‘That great fancy tribute to himself on the wall that he looks at and admires every day – what a narcissist. No, I meant the painting next to the crucifix on the wall.’
I cast my mind back. ‘The biblical one – the Last Supper, you mean?’
I wonder what the relevance is and why she’s mentioned it. Is she trying to tell me that she’s just eatenherlast supper?
My stomach clenches as another message from Davis flashes up.
Possible alibi for Erin on NOM just come through! CCTV from street cam in Leeds, date & time match. Not 100 per cent but pretty sure it is Santos.
I have to read it twice. You havegotto be kidding me! So, Erinwasn’tthere at the crime scene on the night of Harrison’s murder, then? Which is it, because it sure as hell can’t beboth?
‘You’re spending all your resources looking for the wrong person, as usual,’ she grumbles. ‘Samantha’s out there now, laughing her head off at all of us – at me, at the police, at Tilly Ward,at you, Dan. I was hopeful that you’d help me, that we could join forces in finding her, but you know what they say,’ – she lets out another heavy, protracted sigh – ‘if you want a job done properly, then you have to do it yourself.’
‘And that’s what you’re going to do, is it, Erin? You’re going to find Samantha yourself?’
‘Well, yes!’ she says, as if it’s an absurd question. ‘Of course. Ihaveto. I have to know. I have to understand why any of this happened, and why it happened to me. I need answers.I need closure, Dan.’ She’s slipped into another US accent now, New York this time, I’d guess. It makes her sound unstable.
‘What would you say to Samantha if you saw her again, Erin?’
I glance down at my work phone. It’s flashing again.
Starting trace now, gov.
There’s a pause on the line.
‘“Vengeance is mine, and recompense; Their foot shall slip in due time; For the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things to come hasten upon them.” Deuteronomy 32:35.’
‘And that’s what you’d say to her, is it, if you met Samantha, face-to-face?’
‘Yes—’ she says, ‘right before I kill her.’
THIRTY-NINE
Erin had killed the call before we were able to get a trace on it, and before I could tell her about the probable alibi, about the street cam footage in Leeds.
‘Damn it!’ I bang my fist on my desk, which I find myself back behind just a few hours after half a night’s fitful attempt at sleep. ‘Whereisshe?’
Lucy is accustomed to my occasional outbursts of frustration, but poor Adriana, the new college recruit here, looks a bit rattled.
‘Erin said something about a view of the city, during the call…’ Lucy glances at me.
‘Well, that narrows it down, doesn’t it?’
Lucy’s also used to my facetiousness. Actually, I think she secretly enjoys it sometimes. ‘Londonisone big bloody view.’
‘Yes, but only if you’re up high, looking down, gov.’
‘Come on, Lucy,’ I whine, ‘there’s a million high-rise buildings in London. Apartment blocks, office towers, hotels, restaurants, the London Eye… she could be in any one of them, looking down, or out, for that matter. Damn it,’ I say again, softer this time, ‘we really needed that trace!’
So the day was starting off well.
‘Maybe you’re out of your depth on this one, Dan,’ Fiona had said to me as we’d finally fallen into bed together the night before, though I knew I wouldn’t manage much sleep anyway, not after my conversation with Erin. I was too pumped up, too wired to nod off.
‘Thanks for the vote of confidence.’
My heart sank. Even my biggest champion had lost faith in me it seemed.
‘Erin Santos is clearly a woman with serious mental health issues… Why don’t you let the NCA get involved? You know, she really could be dangerous, Dan.’
