Seven Days(34)

Best looked up at her, his eyes wary.

‘What were you doing last night? With Maggie Cooper’s brother?’

‘Nothing.’ He stood up, wincing in pain. ‘It was a simple coincidence.’ He gestured at the front of the house. ‘The park is there. I was walking home and I saw him come out. I didn’t know he was related to the Coopers.’

Wynne stared at him. ‘I don’t believe you,’ she said. ‘I don’t believe a word you say. You’re a lying piece of shit.’

He shrugged. ‘He was in the park getting drunk. How could I have had anything to do with that? He was drunk on the street outside my house and I was concerned. That’s all there is to it, Detective Inspector Wynne.’

It was true: James had confirmed it. But still. Why was he watching? And would he have done the same for another teenager?

‘So you took him home?’

‘I did. Like I said, I was concerned.’

‘Do you make a habit of that? Driving drunk young boys home?’

‘No, I don’t. This was the first time it has happened.’

‘And by coincidence it was the brother of Maggie Cooper.’

‘Yes.’

‘Whose mother you taught.’

‘Yes. I taught a lot of the people in this town.’ He sighed. ‘I’m afraid you’re chasing shadows. I saw a young man in need of help. That’s all. I look out for my fellow citizens.’

‘Especially the young girls.’

‘This again.’ He ran his hand over his face and shook his head. ‘I told you last time, it’s not true. My wife and I had a very messy break-up and she invented the whole thing to discredit me. It was scurrilous nonsense. And it cost me a lot of money in the divorce. She threatened to spread her lies to more people if I didn’t give her whatever she wanted.’

‘But you paid,’ Wynne said. ‘Didn’t you? You settled with her. Why would you, if it wasn’t true?’

‘Because people would have believed her. She is a very unpleasant and unstable woman and I was happy to be rid of her.’

Wynne shook her head. ‘You’re lying to me.’

‘I hope you can prove it.’

The problem was, he was right. She was skating on thin ice. She had no right to be here – his wife had dropped the charges against him and they had found no photos at the time. Wynne was sure he had been taking them – and that he continued to do so – but she had no proof. Best was too clever to leave any evidence in the house.

There wasn’t much she could do.

Best rubbed his shin. ‘This is harassment, and if it continues I will report you to the Police Complaints Commission.’

‘No you won’t,’ Wynne said.

‘I will, and you’ll be in all kinds of—’

Wynne prodded a finger in his chest.

‘Go to the PCC,’ she said. ‘Go and tell them what I did, and when you do, I’ll explain why. There’ll be all kinds of attention on you – and I think that’s the last thing you want, Best.’

‘Look,’ he said. ‘I understand what you’re thinking, and I have every sympathy with you. You think there is a coincidence here – because you believe my wife’s accusations you think I may have something to do with the disappearance of this young girl. Then you discover I brought her brother home, and I taught her mother. But there is no coincidence, because those accusations are untrue. I have no …’ he paused, searching for the right word, ‘… unnatural interest in young girls, and I had nothing to do with whatever happened to Maggie Cooper. Once you discount my wife’s accusations then you’ll see all that happened is I helped out a young man – remember, I was a teacher, so I understand teenagers – who is the son of someone I taught … And there are many sons and daughters of people I taught in this town.’

She looked at him, keeping her face expressionless. What he said was perfectly plausible, but only if you accepted that his wife’s accusations were false. And Wynne didn’t.

‘Moreover,’ Best said. ‘If you return here, I will not let you in unless you have the correct legal status, by which I mean a warrant. And then, even if you have one, when you fail to find anything, I will lodge my complaint.’ He looked at her. ‘I imagine you are quite proud to have achieved your rank, Detective Inspector. No doubt you are considered promising and talented. What you lack is the wisdom to know when you are mistaken – as you are now.’

Wynne put her hands behind her back. She dug her fingernails into her palms. She wanted to grab him by the throat and squeeze the truth out of him. Squeeze the life out of him.

But she couldn’t. That would end her career.

And there was always the possibility that she was mistaken. All she had to go on was a feeling, and that was not enough, at least not in a court of law.

She turned, and walked to the front door. She closed it behind her and walked away. It was her only option, but she could not shake the feeling that she was making a terrible mistake.





Twelve Years Earlier, 31 July 2006


1


Maggie lay on her side, her knees to her chest. She didn’t know what to do, whether to sit or stand or lie down. Even the choice between keeping her eyes open or closed was beyond her: if she opened them, she was reminded of where she was, the horror of her situation. If she closed them, images of the man in his bathrobe came to her.