I See You(78)

We clap wildly when Isaac takes to the stage to tell us ‘This is where the interval will be’, laugh in all the right places, and sit in sympathetic silence when the lighting guy messes up his cues and plunges Olivia and Sebastian into darkness. By the final curtain call I’m dying to jump out of my seat and find Katie. I wonder whether Isaac will take us backstage, but Katie runs on to the stage and hops down into the audience with us. We crowd round her, and even Justin tells her it was ‘all right’.

‘You were amazing …’ I realise I have tears in my eyes, and I blink them away, laughing and crying at the same time. I hold both her hands. ‘You were amazing!’ I say again. She hugs me and I smell grease paint and powder.

‘No secretarial course?’ she says. She’s playing with me, but I drop her hands and instead cup my palms around her chin. Her eyes are glittering and she’s never looked so beautiful. I rub a smudge of make-up away with one thumb.

‘Not if it isn’t what you want to do.’

I register the surprise on her face, but now isn’t the time to talk. I step aside and give the others a chance to tell her how brilliant she was, basking in her reflected glory. From the corner of my eye I see Isaac watching her. He catches my eye and walks over.

‘Wasn’t she brilliant?’ I say.

Isaac nods slowly, and as if she can feel his eyes on her, Katie looks up and smiles.

‘The star of the show,’ he says.





25


The London Underground CCTV hub still had the smell of new carpets and fresh paint. Twenty wall-mounted monitors faced the row of desks, behind which three operators switched deftly between cameras using joysticks and computer keyboards. In one corner a door led to the editing suite, where footage could be captured, enhanced and circulated to investigating officers. Kelly signed in and made her way to Craig’s station on the far side, one eye on a follow at Kings’ Cross being monitored by one of the other operators.

‘He’s passing Boots now … something dumped in the bin below the clock. Green hoody, black Adidas tracksuit bottoms, white trainers.’

A uniformed officer ran across the screen, gaining on the tracksuited figure, who was now level with Claire’s Accessories. All around them stood people with suitcases, briefcases, shopping bags. They looked up at the huge screens above their heads; waiting for platform information, train times, delays. Oblivious to the crimes that went on around them every day.

‘Hi, Kelly, how’s Met life treating you?’

Kelly liked Craig. He was in his early twenties and desperate to join the job. He soaked up everything officers said, and had better instincts than half the coppers Kelly had worked with, but the fitness test was proving a bit of a challenge.

‘It’s great, I’m loving it. How’s the training going?’

Craig looked proud. He patted his not-inconsiderable stomach. ‘Four pounds down this week. Slimming World.’

‘Good for you. Can you help me find someone?’

Locating Luke Friedland on CCTV was easy; Zoe Walker’s timings were spot on. The platform at Whitechapel was too crowded for Kelly to clearly see Zoe, but after the train had pulled away, taking the crowd of people with it, the camera footage showed her standing opposite a tall man.

Luke Friedland.

Assuming that really was his name.

If she hadn’t been aware of the context, Kelly would have taken them for a couple. They seemed at ease together, Friedland touching Zoe lightly on the arm as they said goodbye.

‘Play that clip again for me,’ she asked Craig.

A swell in the crowd, like a muted Mexican wave, indicated some sort of commotion as the train approached, but it was swiftly replaced by the surge of commuters getting on to the train. The camera was too far away to see exactly what had happened to make Zoe trip.

Kelly’s phone vibrated against the desk. She looked down to see a text message from Lexi, and flipped the phone on to its front so she could ignore it. Let Lexi leave another voicemail – Kelly didn’t want to speak to her.

U dont undrstnd, Lexi’s last text had said.

Kelly didn’t. What was the point in the job she and her colleagues did? In the CPS files, the court system, the prison service? What was the point in fighting for justice if victims – people like Lexi – couldn’t be bothered to support proceedings?

She gave Craig the second date and time. Tuesday 24 November; around 1830 hours. Zoe’s second encounter with Friedland; when he had accompanied Zoe from the train at Crystal Palace to the exit, then asked her out for a drink. Had he downloaded other women’s profiles from the website? Tried the same approach with them? Andrew Robinson had seemed confident his Cyber Crime team would identify the man behind the website, but how long would it take? In the meantime Kelly was treating the case in the same way she’d tackle a drugs ring; from the bottom up. Gordon Tillman had refused to answer her questions, but perhaps Luke Friedland would be more talkative.

‘This him?’ Craig pressed pause and Kelly nodded.

They were walking towards the barriers; Kelly recognised Zoe’s red waterproof jacket, and the more formal overcoat she’d seen Friedland wearing in the previous clip. Exactly as Zoe had said in her statement, as they approached the ticket barriers, Friedland waited, letting Zoe go first.

Kelly smiled as she saw Friedland tap his Oyster on the barrier. ‘Gotcha,’ she muttered, noting down the precise time on the screen. Picking up the phone, she dialled from memory. ‘Hey, Brian, what’s new?’