The Heights. Parker Bilal
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‘Well, what can I tell you?’ Archie looked at Marsh. ‘She was a Capricorn, with a fondness for Cocker Spaniels and a weakness for the good life; Dom Perignon champagne and Beluga caviar from the Caspian Sea. She summered in the Riviera and skiied on the Italian side of the French Alps.’ Archie gave a dismissive shrug. ‘Sorry, couldn’t help it. All that Sherlock nonsense really gets on my wick.’
‘Very droll,’ said Marsh.
Archie’s eyes met Drake’s over the table. ‘We’ll know more when we do a DNA test.’
‘But it could be her?’
‘It could be.’
Drake felt his head spinning. He stared at the lump of rotting flesh and found himself fighting the urge to throw up. He realised that, irrational though it was, he had always believed she could still be alive somewhere. The DNA tests on the washed-up corpse could have been bungled. It wouldn’t be the first time. But now he was looking right at her. He knew in his heart it was her.
‘People look different in life than in death,’ Archie said gently. ‘I don’t need to tell you that. But rest assured I’ll do everything I can.’
‘I know you will.’
‘You were close,’ said Archie.
Drake stared down at her. ‘She was a witness. Nothing more.’ Archie and Kelly exchanged glances, but neither of them said anything. Then Archie cleared his throat.
‘One thing I would stress, regarding the freezing. It had to happen quickly, after the head was removed. Literally within hours.’
‘But you’re saying she was moved.’
Archie shrugged. ‘Could have been a refrigerated van, say, or a cooler box of some kind. Whoever did this took great care not to allow decomposition to occur. It’s almost …’ Archie broke off.
‘Almost?’ repeated Marsh.
‘Almost as if they cared, I was going to say.’
‘Caring killers,’ muttered Drake. ‘Now there’s a novelty.’
10
They left the coroner’s office and walked down Black Prince Road, under the railway arch to a café on a corner with a striped green awning and a vaguely Mediterranean look about it. Marsh set a mug of coffee in front of Drake as she sat down.
‘You were looking a little pale back there.’
‘Yeah, sorry about that. Must be out of practice.’
Marsh sipped her coffee thoughtfully. ‘You really cared about her.’
‘You ever done any undercover work?’
Marsh shook her head. ‘Not very good at lying, me.’
Drake turned his coffee mug in circles as his mind went back. Lying had come easy, perhaps because he had been trying to imagine himself a different life for as long as he could remember.
‘You have to be on all the time. Never let the mask slip. You have to believe you are who you are pretending to be.’
‘Must get tricky,’ she said. ‘Emotionally.’
‘The thing about trust is that it works both ways, no matter what you thought when you started out. Someone’s trust means something to you.’
Marsh was watching him carefully. ‘What are you saying, that your loyalties are divided?’
Drake remembered Zelda’s eyes, how they would brighten. It didn’t happen often, but there were moments, when she thought there was hope, a chance of a new life. The image of the half-lidded eyes flooded back. The head on the steel tray. It wasn’t trust that undid you, it was being able to give someone hope.
‘We needed her, but I wanted to help her get out.’
‘And that was never a problem?’
‘How do you mean?’
‘Well, there’s a conflict of interests right there. On the one hand you want to help the girl and at the same time you need her to testify.’
‘The two things are not mutually exclusive.’
‘Testifying against someone like Goran Malevich can get you killed.’
Drake sipped his coffee but said nothing. Marsh seemed to have grown, in confidence and experience.
‘You felt it was your fault she was killed,’ said Marsh.
‘You’re beginning to sound like Ray.’
‘You don’t need to be a shrink to see that you’re in pain.’
‘When did you get so wise?’
‘Comes with the stripes.’
‘I thought I was done with all this,’ said Drake.
‘Somebody obviously thinks different.’
‘That’s the bit I’m having trouble getting my head round.’
‘You mean who would go to all that trouble of saving the head all this time?’
Drake stared out of the window. ‘I keep going back over everyone I can remember, but there’s nobody who was that close to her, nobody who would take it so … personally.’
‘She had no family over here? What about friends? Lovers?’
There was nobody he could remember.
‘What about you?’ Marsh said. ‘I mean, you and her?’
‘No. I knew that would be a bad idea.’
‘But …’ Marsh set down her mug. ‘You were stringing her along, right? I mean, you let her think that when all of this was over there was a chance?’
‘She was unhappy, Kelly. She’d spent most of her life in a sewer. This was her chance to get out. She knew the risks. She’d seen what happened to people who snitched.’
‘Look,’ Marsh pushed a hand through her short hair, ‘I’m just wondering. The more I hear about this, the more I worry that perhaps it’s not such a great idea for you to be looking into this.’
‘You’re worried about Pryce? You think I won’t be able to get past what he did to me?’
‘You worked the case together. He filed corruption charges.’
‘It was my word against his.’
‘You were demoted, he was promoted. Where did they send you again?’
‘Matlock.’
‘Which most people couldn’t find on a map.’
‘Nowadays most people wouldn’t know one end of a map from the other.’
‘The point is, you would have been drummed out of the force if not for Wheeler.’
Drake was silent. He knew she was right.
‘So?’
‘So what?’
‘So, can I ask?’
‘Sounds like you already are.’
Kelly looked him in the eye. ‘Were you taking money from anyone?’
‘Do I really need to answer that?’
‘Right now it would help. Right now anything would help.’
‘Kelly, this is it. This is the moment to put it all to rest. There won’t be a better time.’
‘Maybe. Tell me about Pryce.’
‘We worked the case together. He was on the outside,