‘You think she did it, don’t you?’ he says. ‘You think she killed Josh.’
She doesn’t answer, which Ash takes as a yes. He sighs. Carla has often said that Iris can do no wrong in his eyes, but how can she seriously believe their daughter is capable of murder?
They’ve reached the entrance to the park. There are a few people, wearing high-vis jackets or running clothes milling around, and Ash realizes there was a parkrun here this morning. Ash has only ever done one – in the Lake District one summer on holiday with the kids. Iris and Olly persuaded him to do the Whinlatter Forest parkrun, without telling him how hilly it was. His legs were sore for a couple of days afterwards. The stunning view over Derwentwater, though, almost made up for it. Ash keeps fit – he goes to the gym and the swimming pool regularly, hikes and goes mountain biking – but he’s not much of a runner. Perhaps one of these days he’ll do another parkrun even so.
‘Daniel has left me,’ Carla says, jolting him back to the present.
‘What? Why?’
‘Basically, he said he couldn’t allow his daughter to live in the same house as Iris and me. He thinks Iris is a murderer and that I’m “harbouring a criminal”.’ Carla does the air quotes with her fingers.
Ash swears under his breath. He’s annoyed at Carla. She’s obviously told Dandruff something that she should have kept a secret. About the shoes or the necklace. Or both. But his irritation is nothing compared to the fury he feels towards Dan himself. Christ, the man needs to grow a pair and zip up the man suit. He should be looking after Carla and Iris, looking out for them, not running away. The bastard.
‘I’m more upset about losing Margo, to tell you the truth,’ Carla says.
‘Jesus. What a mess.’ He wants to reach out and put his arm around Carla, to comfort her, but he’s worried she might misinterpret his gesture. ‘Where has he gone?’
‘To his mum’s in Brayworthy, I imagine.’
Ash had forgotten Dandruff’s mother lived in Brayworthy. It’s a ten-minute drive from Shallowcott, the hamlet in which he lives. The Knolls also live in Brayworthy, in what has to be the biggest house in the village, perched on top of the hill. Unbidden, an image of the place enters his head now. He used to drop off Iris there sometimes.
‘What are we going to do?’ Carla asks him. She sounds desperate.
‘Not much we can do,’ Ash says. He stops walking, takes Carla by the shoulders and turns her so that she’s facing him. ‘Iris didn’t do this. So there will be nothing to prove she did. And if they find anything of hers at the crime scene, well, the fact she was there explains how it got there.’
‘Are you going to tell Ian?’
Ash thinks about that. He’s seeing Roly later. At The Grove. That’s what the text message was about. Ash didn’t tell Carla because he’s worried. Why does Roly want to see him? They often meet up at the pub for a swift pint or two, especially at weekends, so he doesn’t really need a reason. But he senses Roly has something he needs to get off his chest. Is he about to arrest Iris? Or bring her in for questioning? Or is that a euphemism for the same thing? Perhaps Roly just wants to meet up for a pint between mates and Ash is reading a subtext into the message that isn’t there.
‘No,’ he says eventually, as much to himself as to Carla. ‘No, I don’t think so. We’ll only tell Roly if it becomes necessary.’ He’s looking ahead, at the obelisk, but out of the corner of his eyes he sees Carla nod. ‘And, Carla? You can’t tell anyone.’Anyone else. He doesn’t criticize her for telling Dandruff whatever it is she has told him. He just hopes the prick will keep his mouth shut. ‘Perhaps we should go back,’ he says.
He ponders his words. He wishes they really could go back. Back in time. Change the course of events. Alter the outcome. Make sure Iris never went out with Joshua in the first place and save her from everything that happened afterwards and anything that might still happen because this particular chain of events was put into motion.
Carla is looking out over the water at a brown-feathered, long-billed wader. A curlew, perhaps. It’s standing by the water’s edge, puffing out its chest and looking self-important. He pulls out his phone and checks it discreetly while she’s distracted. Ian has to confirm a time for this evening. Ash has received a text message, but it’s from Iris, not Roly. He reads it and smiles, his trepidation dissipating slightly for a moment.
‘She’s passed,’ he says to Carla. ‘Let’s go and see that car.’
Chapter 26
Ian
NOW
‘Sorry, mate. I was held up at work. Want another?’
Ian looks up. He has been so lost in thought he’s almost surprised to see Ash standing there. He eyes the two empty pint glasses on the table in front of him in disbelief, too. He’s been in a complete daze.
‘Yeah, go on, then,’ Ian replies, as Ash picks up the empties. ‘I’ll get a taxi home afterwards.’
As Ash makes his way to the bar, Ian replays the conversation he had with Detective Superintendent Nathan Hall. Has he done the right thing? Could he have done this any differently? Entering his superior’s office felt a lot like crossing the Rubicon. The point of no return. He didn’t really have a choice, though, did he?
He decides to pop outside for a cigarette. He ends up smoking two, lighting the second one with the embers of the first. He’s officially a chain smoker. Then he pockets his pack of Embassy, making a mental note to buy another packet from the machine before he leaves. He’s running low. Strange that you can’t smoke in pubs anymore (soon you might not even be allowed to smoke in pub gardens, if the Health Secretary gets his way), but you can still buy smokes in Ash’s local. Ian doesn’t know if that’s the case everywhere. The only pub he ever goes to is The Grove.
When Ian steps back inside the pub, Ash is sitting at the table, looking both worried and impatient. Ian feels no qualms about making him wait. Ash was late, as usual, and Ian had to wait for him, so. He’s mad at Ash, but not because he was late – Ian’s used to Ash’s tardiness. (Ash turned up late at the church for his own wedding, for Christ’s sake. Carla and Ian were the only people not panicking. The bride and the best man. They knew he’d get there eventually.) No, his irascibility is irrational, as if Ash himself is responsible for putting Ian in the position he found himself in.
Ian takes the seat opposite Ash that he vacated a few minutes ago. He decides to get straight to the point. ‘Listen, I have to tell you something.’ Not very original, but this is the opening sentence he has plumped for. He tried to run through the whole speech in his head before Ash got here, but he didn’t get beyond this bit.
‘I seem to be everyone’s confidant today,’ Ash comments wryly.
