Deadly Secrets (Detective Erika Foster #6)(60)

‘If you didn’t bother to learn my bloody landline, that’s not my problem.’

Erika slapped him around the face. They both froze. A door further along opened, and a little old lady’s face peered through the gap where the chain was on.

‘James, is everything alright?’

He turned to her. ‘Yes, sorry Doris, everything is fine. We’re just…’

He heard the communal door close and saw Erika walking away towards her car. He ran outside after her.

‘Erika!’

But she started the engine and drove away, swerving dangerously in the snow. He watched as her car vanished over the top of the hill. ‘Shit,’ he said, looking down at his bare feet in the snow.





Forty-Two





Isaac Strong loved to make bread. There was something deeply soothing about rolling up his sleeves and kneading dough. He loved his kitchen, tastefully decorated all in white: white cupboards, floor, walls, and surfaces. The absolute deal-breaker was the large white Butler sink, which had cost a fortune. He couldn’t have dealt with any stainless steel; he saw enough of that at work. As he kneaded, he listened to Gardeners’ Question Time, and to a very serious young woman who was having a terrible time with her indoor plants, which were suffering from Mealybugs. He was listening to the radio through the BBC iPlayer app on his phone, and the programme abruptly cut out as his phone started to ring. He saw it was Erika and answered with his elbow, carrying on kneading.

‘Are you home?’ she asked. Her voice sounded bleary and odd.

‘Yes, of course.’

‘I’m outside.’

When he opened the door, he saw an Erika he had never seen before. Her eyes were red and streaming with tears. She looked broken. He didn’t say anything, and reached out and gave her a hug. She came inside and they went through to the kitchen.

‘Drink?’ he asked, reaching for a bottle of whisky.

‘Please.’

She sat down at the table.

‘It’s James Peterson. He has a son…’

‘What?’

She launched into the story. Isaac listened, poured her another drink, and listened some more.

‘I never thought we would have children together,’ she finished. ‘And I knew from him, and from the times I’ve met his mother that he wanted kids… But there was this selfish part of me that thought we might end up as this childless couple… You know, happy and content.’

Isaac raised an eyebrow. ‘For someone as intelligent as you, Erika, that is the stupidest thing I’ve heard you say.’

She burst out laughing and wiped her eyes. ‘When he opened the door, he looked so happy. He was a father. It suited him. And there’s a little boy who now has a father. I could never take that away.’

‘Nor should you.’

Erika nodded and took another sip of whisky. She grimaced. ‘That’s disgusting.’

‘You didn’t say that about the first two glasses. That is a twenty-five-year-old Chivas Regal.’

‘It tastes like Benadryl.’

‘You fancy a beer?’

‘Yes, please.’

He went to the fridge and got her one and popped it open.

‘Thanks,’ she said, as he set it down in front of her. She took a long pull on it and wiped her mouth. ‘Oh god, this is such a mess. I have to work with James. He must have told Moss, because she was asking if we’d managed to have a “chat” the other night. God knows how long she’s known for? And what about everyone else on the team? Did they know, and I’m the only one, stomping about in the dark?’

‘Come on, this is Moss, I don’t think she would keep this from you out of malice. She’s loyal. Straight down the line… What’s Peterson’s son called?’

‘Kyle. He looked very sweet.’

‘And the girlfriend, or mother?’

‘I’ve forgotten her name…’ Erika took another deep pull on the beer. ‘She’s pretty, and she looks sorted.’

‘How does someone look sorted?’

‘She had a pullover slung over her shoulders, catalogue style, and her hair was sleek and straightened.’

‘What if she’s a catalogue model?’

Erika looked at him.

‘What if she was rehearsing for a job?’

‘A catalogue bitch,’ said Erika darkly, picking at the beer bottle label.

‘Don’t go down that road, Erika. You’re better than that. And the name Catalogue Bitch will stick in your mind, and you’ll end up calling her that at the wrong moment.’

Erika stared gloomily ahead and rubbed her eyes. ‘You’re right.’

Isaac went back to his dough and dumped it in the bin, then he started to wipe down the counter. ‘How is the case going?’

‘Impenetrable,’ she said, draining the last of her beer. Isaac went to the fridge and got her another.

‘You’re not going to join me?’ she said.

‘I’m on antibiotics. I had a chest infection.’

‘Two cases have merged. The murder case, and now another case concerning a man in a gas mask who attacks his victims close to public transport late at night, or early in the morning. I am clueless on both counts.’ Her phone began to ring and she saw it was Crane. ‘Sorry, I have to take this. Hello?’