Frozen Grave (Willis/Carter #3)(42)

‘No, sorry.’

‘Please keep this list and check if any of the phone numbers on it match contacts you have. Someone could be under a different name.’

‘Yes. Okay.’

‘When are you performing the post-mortem on the homeless woman, Lorraine Chance?’

‘As soon as I have a slot free. I’ll let you know what I find.’

Outside, Carter and Willis walked back across to Harding’s car to take another look.

‘Guv? I didn’t know we had a new case? Lorraine Chance?’

‘Known as Lolly. She was found in the lorry park at Shadwell. She works that area. She’s well known to the patrols. It looked to me as if she’d accidentally overdosed. Coroner’s ordered an enquiry into how she died.’

‘She’s the woman from the Faith and Light hostel?’

‘Yes. I presume so.’

He shone his torch on the damage. There were large deep punctures on the driver’s door.

‘She didn’t seem to think this was anything, did she? Why didn’t she want to do anything about it? This is serious damage to property.’

‘She seemed a little shaken up by it. Most of the damage is on the driver’s side.’

‘Unless she knows who did it and she doesn’t want to say. She didn’t make a comment when you said thank God she wasn’t in the car when it happened, did she?’ said Willis.

‘You think she was?’ Carter asked as he took photos of Harding’s car with his phone.

‘To me, it looks like someone’s tried to get at her through the window. She said she was visiting a friend; could be she doesn’t want their name mentioned?’

‘But, this is too bad to just ignore it. If this was my car, would you tell me to ignore it? No. Exactly!’ said Carter. Willis didn’t answer. Carter looked at her expression and shrugged. ‘You’re right – it’s none of my business, I suppose. Come on – I’ll buy you a drink at the tavern.’

They drove down Holloway Road and parked outside the Shamrock Pub.

Willis ordered a Coke. Carter had a bottle of lager. They sat in a booth. Cricket from the other side of the world was on a screen at the other end of the pub.

‘What do you think about Harding?’ Carter asked.

‘There’s an honesty in her admitting about the sex sites but I’m still surprised she does it. I never thought she had trouble with getting one-night stands.’

‘It’s a case of the more the better, I think. Plus, she obviously likes the anonymity of it all. And she could be useful to us. She could talk to some of the men from the Naughties site that we’re interested in; we’re not looking for anyone new to the site. If the killer was in touch with Olivia, it’s very likely he’s tried his luck with Harding at one time.’

‘I think it’s dangerous to use her in that way. Plus, it’d be embarrassing for her if it comes out. I don’t know how we can promise her anonymity.’

‘We can’t.’

‘But you did.’

‘And she knows I was lying. She just wanted me to say it; she didn’t expect me to mean it. In reality, she doesn’t give a toss.’

‘Maybe. It’s hard to know with her.’

‘If we find out anything through her then “confidential sources” will have to do.’

He paused, looking at Willis. He thought how tired she looked. She hadn’t been right since the case that ended just before Christmas. He made a mental note to go and see Tina in the canteen. She was Willis’s housemate and she might tell him if he was missing something. He was so busy worrying about his own father, who had throat cancer. The love he had for his dad was a million miles away from Willis’s feelings for her mother.

‘So how was Mommie Dearest?’ Carter took a drink, rubbed his hands together as the cold from the bottle hit them. He searched Willis’s face.

‘She hasn’t changed.’

‘What’s she after? She knows that trying to commit suicide means messing up any chance she might have of transferring to a jail.’

‘She’s bored and she wanted my attention.’

‘You think that’s it?’

‘Yes. She managed to find herself a man in the hospital, a male nurse, and I’m not convinced he’s the only one – they shouldn’t put men anywhere near her. She got tired of him so she self-harmed. My mother is a bright woman. She knew exactly where to cut. If she wanted to hit an artery – she would have. But she didn’t. She just made a nasty mess of her arms. She wanted attention. She wanted me to rush to her bedside.’ Willis sighed. ‘She wants to have a say in my life.’

‘How can she hope to have that from where she is?’

Willis shook her head.

‘She says if I visit her she’ll tell me about my father.’ Willis looked up from her lap. ‘She has photos.’

‘Don’t you know anything about him?’

She shrugged. ‘I know he was from Jamaica . . . and I know he was much younger than her – a young athlete over in the UK for some sponsorship promotions. They met in a bar. He never knew about me. They lasted a few weeks and then he went home. She didn’t put him on the birth certificate and she never contacted him again.’