‘Then I’m sure the DPS will sign off on how you handled it.’ Her face softened. ‘Strictly between you and me, I think Georgia is the one who’s going to end up taking responsibility for it.’
‘That’s not fair,’ I protested. ‘She was the most junior officer there. I shouldn’t have left her on her own.’
‘Kerrigan.’ There was a world of warning in Derwent’s voice but I ignored it.
‘I should have stayed.’
‘You thought Georgia was capable of looking after Kate in your absence. And she should have been,’ Una said.
‘Kate gave us the runaround from the very start of this investigation. She fooled all of us at different times,’ I pointed out. ‘And it was Georgia who found the reference to her previous employment that started us off on the right track. We’d never have known about the blackmail if it wasn’t for Georgia.’
‘She’s a talented officer in some ways but she has a lot to learn.’ Una sniffed. ‘I feel it wouldn’t be too much of a hardship for her if she learned it elsewhere.’
‘We all make mistakes,’ I said stubbornly. ‘We’ve all made mistakes during this investigation. She’ll learn.’
‘We’ll see what the investigators say.’ She checked the time. ‘In the meantime, I’m waiting for Chris and Pete to get here to handle the interview.’
‘What about Gareth Selhurst? Someone’s got to track him down,’ Derwent said.
‘Already done.’ Una Burt smiled a slow, catlike smirk. ‘They just picked him up at Luton Airport, on his way to Spain. He booked the flights yesterday. Strange how he felt called to preach there all of a sudden.’
‘God moves in mysterious ways,’ I murmured. ‘Did he say anything?’
‘He said it was an accident. He swore they tried to save her.’
‘What about the fact that she was too out of it to know what was happening to her?’ Derwent asked.
‘Nothing to do with them, he said. They didn’t notice until it was too late. He said no one gave her anything to eat or drink, and if she was drugged it was before she came to the church.’
‘How convenient,’ I said.
‘We’ll see what he says in a proper interview,’ Una Burt said.
‘I think your main problem will be getting him to shut up. I’ve never met anyone who liked the sound of his own voice more.’
‘Well, we can deal with him while we’re waiting for Oliver and Eleanor Norris to be discharged from hospital,’ Una Burt said briskly. ‘Which means you two are free to go.’
There was no point in arguing. I walked ahead of Derwent, more conscious of my neck hurting now that I had nothing else to think about.
He caught up with me in the car park. ‘What was all that about?’
‘What?
‘Georgia. Why are you sticking up for her? You don’t even like her.’ A patronising smile spread across his face. ‘That’s it, isn’t it? It’s because you don’t like her.’
‘That doesn’t make any sense.’
‘You feel guilty about not liking her so you’ll end your career rather than let her take responsibility for what happened.’
‘This is not a career-ending incident,’ I said.
‘Let’s hope not.’ He held out his hand. ‘Car keys.’
‘Why?’
‘Because you shouldn’t be driving. I’ll take you home.’
‘I don’t want to go home. I want to go to the office.’
He rolled his eyes. ‘Jesus, Maeve, take the rest of the day off. You’ve earned it.’
‘I’ve got things to do.’
‘And plenty of time to do them. Restricted duties, remember? You’re going to be bored shitless by the time the DPS get back to us. You might as well save up the paperwork.’
‘It’s not paperwork.’
‘What, then?’
‘I want to call Brian Emery. I think – I think it might help him to know what happened to Chloe. And I think it will definitely help if he knows the people responsible are in custody.’
Derwent wanted to argue with me, I could tell, but he was a good police officer and a fair one, and he could see my point. ‘All right. But then I’m taking you home.’
By the time Brian Emery picked up the phone I was regretting my devotion to duty. I had shut myself in Una Burt’s office so I had some privacy for what was going to be a difficult conversation, and once I was alone I found my hands were shaking. Don’t think about Oliver Norris, I told myself, and dialled Brian’s number firmly. But my throat ached and when I closed my eyes I saw Norris’s reddening face glistening with sweat as he tried to choke the life out of me.
It didn’t take long to explain to Brian Emery what had happened that morning, but it took a long time to work through the details of the investigation. Once he had stopped crying he started asking questions, showing the steely mind and focus that he usually disguised behind his pleasant demeanour. I told him about Kate’s difficulties and her efforts to protect Chloe as well as her illegal activities and he sighed.
‘She was a brilliant mother, Kate. She loved Chloe more than anything. Far more than she loved me, obviously. I wish she’d told me the truth about her financial situation. We could have worked something out.’
‘You were very generous to her,’ I said. ‘This isn’t your fault.’
‘No, but I could have done something to stop it, don’t you see? If she’d had money, she wouldn’t have needed to embark on this course of action and neither of them would be dead.’
‘You weren’t in possession of all the facts and you couldn’t have known how things would play out. Even Kate didn’t anticipate what happened to Chloe, and she thought of almost everything.’
‘She didn’t know about Nolan.’
‘No. No one knew except Chloe, and she didn’t tell the right people.’
‘She told Belinda.’ There was a world of sorrow and anger in those three words.
‘Mr Emery … I wanted to ask about Nolan and Nathan.’
‘What about them?’
‘I’m concerned about them. More specifically, I’m concerned about Nolan.’
‘He’s not a good kid,’ he said heavily. ‘Takes after his father.’
‘He needs help, Mr Emery.’ Or locking up. ‘He’s going to hurt someone if he carries on the way he has been behaving. If he’s lucky, he’ll only hurt himself.’
‘I just wonder,’ Brian Emery said evenly, ‘if it’s worth even trying.’
‘It’s always worth trying.’
‘What if he’s gone too far to be helped?’
‘Then at least you know you tried.’ I squeezed the bridge of my nose. I was thinking about Morgan and Oliver Norris, two brothers whose competitiveness had led them to behaviour that was literally lethal. ‘I don’t want anyone else to be harmed, Mr Emery – you, or your stepson, or your wife, or whoever Nolan comes across next.’
‘I’ll think about it,’ he said eventually.