‘Edward.’ The signal was terrible.
‘Jesus thank God.’ All one word:Jesusthankgod.
He wanted to say, ‘Wait. I’m the one with the news. I’ve worked something out I think, and—’
But she was away. ‘That couple. Tank and Fire. Oh, sorry, you wouldn’t know them that way. The parachutes. Crystal meth. The crims – I don’t know if they are, but I think they are.’
‘Slow down.’
‘You’re breaking up.’
‘I said slow down.’
‘They’ve sent me – come on,’ Kim went on, almost gabbling the words, ‘you must know. You overheard them.’
‘Under your car? The strange duo.’
‘Who asked about crystal meth.’
‘I don’t know about that.’
‘Weren’t you there when I … look, never mind,’ she went on. ‘The point is that they’ve sent me the [CRACKLE] for the flat in [HISS].’
Edward said: ‘I can’t hear you and I don’t know if it’s your phone or mine. Look, I’ve worked something important out!’
She was still speaking, every other word replaced by a snap, crackle or pop. At some point he swore she said ‘one million pounds’, but the rest was lost.
‘I’ve worked something out!’ he tried again, but the line was dead, the signal swept away across the sea. Had she turned her phone off?
He called Stevie. ‘Can you meet me at my house?’
‘Sure. When?’
‘In half an hour?’
‘It’s late. I’ll get my dad to bring me.’
He had forgotten she had no car, not even a bike.
‘Get a taxi, I’ll pay.’
‘What’s it for?’
‘I’ve worked something out but I don’t know what it means.’
He texted Kim.
That call broke up. What’s going on?
He got nothing back. Was her phone off?
He sent her a second message.
You get on with Wendy Wrigley. Can you call her for me? She isn’t replying to mine. Tell her that doc friend HEARST (not Hurst) may have something to do with Lev Malnyk and to STAY WELL CLEAR.
As the text sent, he reached his hand into the pocket of his jacket and found a small object. The memory fob Callintree had given him with the crime scene photos. He stared at it for a moment and dropped it back into his pocket.
At home he waited for Stevie. The house yawned and sighed around him, as if it wanted to help work the puzzle out. He walked upstairs to his Post-it wall. He found the square that said ‘Hurst Hurst’. What if that should have beenHearst Hearst?Where would that get him? The dementia lady had seen somestrange people – the man in the mirror – removing a boat or box or whatever she thought it was – boat, box? How on earth could she be a reliable source?
