The Death Messenger (Matthew Ryan Book 2)(108)

‘Whatever gave you that idea?’ Her voice was noticeably weaker.

‘You have a habit of cutting me off. That’s not polite.’

‘Something came up.’

‘Like what?’

‘Nowt important.’

There was a noise in the background. Caroline had her head on one side, concentrating. When she made no attempt to draw Ryan’s attention, her brother took it as a cue to continue. She hadn’t nailed the sound.

‘Do you have company?’ Ryan asked.

‘Do you?’

Clever.

‘C’mon, you can tell me. Did someone come in? Was it Santa? You must’ve been extra good for him to call this early.’ Ryan listened carefully, one eye on Eloise. Her panic was gone. Spielberg was her Get Out of Jail Free card. Forsythe may as well cancel their dinner reservation. ‘Is he with you now?’ he asked. ‘Is that why you can’t talk?’

‘No, I’m alone.’ Her voice broke.

‘C’mon, it’s Christmas. Why so down in the mouth? You should be out celebrating.’ When she didn’t answer, Ryan carried on: ‘Anyone would think you were party to our intelligence.’

‘What’s that supposed to mean?’

‘We have an eyewitness, Marge.’

‘Bully for you.’

‘You were seen outside the British Embassy in Copenhagen. You think you turned away when the security guards came? There were other people watching you. The person who saw you will do well on the witness stand. She thought you had a close personal relationship with the man you were with. I think that man is very important to you. Is it your brother, Mark?’

In the silence that followed, Caroline immediately became animated. She tugged at Ryan’s sleeve, causing him to face her, used her index fingers to draw tears on her face. Ryan squeezed her hand as a thank you. He changed tack. It was time to stop being flippant.

He might have an in here.

‘Are you still there, Sophia?’ It was the first time he’d called her by her real name, personalizing their relationship. She didn’t reject it. Maybe her work was done and she didn’t care. Maybe she was finally getting ready to do everyone a favour and end it all. If Robert Parker was correct, she’d threatened to do it once before. ‘Has something upset you? C’mon, spit it out. You can talk to me. Nothing is ever as bad as it seems. I can help.’

She cleared her throat. ‘Sod off, I’m fine.’

Caroline shook her head. Sophia was lying. The others didn’t need her to tell them that. If Montgomery was getting upset, there was a reason for it. It signalled a definite chink in her armour that Ryan might capitalize on. He tried again.

‘Clearly you need to talk, Sophia. If you have a problem let’s discuss it.’ No response. ‘Something is bothering you – I think I know what it is.’ Still nothing. Ryan glanced at his watch. Montgomery would ring off before the call could be traced. Time to let her know that his luck finding a witness in Denmark wasn’t all he had.

Turn the screw.

‘You lied to us, Sophie. You told us, time and again, that your victims deserved what you doled out. That wasn’t true though, was it? The guy you killed in Whitley Bay didn’t do anything to you, did he? He was an innocent bystander. Is that what’s upsetting you, the fact that you’ve killed a man who wasn’t part of your plan? I know he wasn’t part of your plan. I worked that out already. You did it because he saw you, because he could ID you, isn’t that the truth of it?’

O’Neil and Forsythe were nodding encouragement. Interview technique was not about giving suspects information that would benefit them in any way, rather to prove that detectives hunting them were closing in and to provoke a reaction from cavalier offenders like Montgomery. Up to now, Ryan had kept communication flowing, but he was running out of time.

‘The guy you killed was a nurse, a person universally liked, someone who’d spent his adult life in the service of others. I can appreciate how bad that makes you feel. Who did it, Sophia? Was it you or Mark?’ She didn’t admit or deny anything. To Ryan, the dialling tone was like his case flat-lining.

Montgomery was gone.

‘Good job, son,’ Forsythe said. ‘I’d say you came out on top there.’

Ryan didn’t feel worthy of praise. Unaware of his discontent, or possibly ignoring it, Forsythe turned to face his twin. ‘And you, my dear, must be Caroline. I’ve heard so much about you from so many barristers. All good, I hasten to add. My colleagues at the bar aren’t known for giving compliments unless they’re justified. I knew your father. He was a good man, a credit to his uniform.’

‘Thank you, sir.’

O’Neil studied Ryan. ‘Why the face? You did well.’

‘I did nowt.’ He scowled. ‘She never even said why she called.’

‘I have a view on that,’ Caroline said.

‘Go for it! I can do with all the help I can get.’

‘She was like Ice Woman on the tapes and didn’t flinch when you were goading her about the nurse, even though it must have appalled her to discover that Fraser was a medic if, as you suspect, her brother has the disease. Sophia won’t cry easily. Her tears would suggest that she’s upset about something far more serious than killing someone who got in her way, perhaps something personal or, dare I say, monumental.’