The Sister(149)

‘Your grandfather’s name?’

‘No, the bear!’ Miller looked at her closely to be sure she wasn’t mocking him.

He’d started the conversation from such an obtuse position; he reeled her in without even trying. She was hooked. It was a story she’d never heard before.

‘Anyway,’ he rattled off the rest of the bear tale and concluded the story. ‘The poor animal died in Edinburgh Zoo.’

‘If it’s true, that’s a very interesting story.’

‘Look it up,’ he told her. ‘You know, my grandfather always said it was a sad irony a bear that fought alongside men for our freedom, was never freer than while the war was on.’ He shook his head slowly, his expression the same as his grandfather’s had been when he first told him the story years before. ‘To have ended up in a cage when it was all over, the poor bear, that’s so sad.’

‘Well,’ she volunteered, ‘I guess he wouldn’t have been able to survive for long in the wild if they'd let him go, would he?’

‘I don’t know.’ The continuing contemplation on the fate of a bear that died so many years before suddenly seemed irrelevant. He changed the subject. ‘So, you travel up often?’

‘Once a week, for a long weekend.’

‘I’m surprised you don’t fly.’

‘Sometimes I do, if I’m pushed for time, but if I can, well, I prefer the train. I find it relaxing, and I usually find someone interesting to talk to.’ She smiled.

‘I hate flying,’ he confided in her. ‘I hate ferries, and I don’t know how you stand travelling backwards!’

She looked out of the window at the scenery disappearing forwards into the distance. ‘It doesn’t bother me. Besides, it’s safer if there’s a crash.’

‘Good point, although I have to say, crashing is not something I would usually associate with a train journey. It’s the one thing that surprises me about flying, we don’t all face backwards. It would be so much safer than trying to tuck your head down on your knees.’

‘Tell me something about yourself.’

‘Are you a psychiatrist?’ he asked.

‘Good heavens, no, I’m a reporter!’ She laughed. ‘I sometimes think I need one, though.’

They talked about the news. He asked her if she’d read about the vigilante case.

‘Funny you should ask that, it’s the reason I’m coming up this weekend, to find out more from my police mole.’

Miller was only slightly surprised about how forthcoming she was. People seemed to think they could confide all kinds of things to him. He concluded it must be something about his face.

‘Okay?’ he said, prolonging the word, inviting her to open up if she chose. She did.

‘What the newspapers don’t know yet – because the police haven’t told them – was that scenes of crime investigators found a baseball bat at the scene. Somebody used it to sodomise both men, and they left it protruding from the backside of one of them. It was obviously used on the other one, as well. Surprisingly enough, it hadn’t been used to batter the men, another blunt instrument had been responsible for that – a leather gloved fist.’ She reached into her bag, pulled out a pack of gum and offered it to him.

‘Thanks,’ he said and took one.

She picked up where she left off. ‘The only witness was the boy himself, who only caught a quick look at the face of the man before being told to look away. It’s thought the man was rough shaven in appearance. He also noticed the man had gloves on. Apart from boot prints and minuscule particles of leather in the mouth of one victim, there was no other forensic evidence. The handle of the bat had a set of initials carved into the end of it.’

‘Do you know what they were?’ If he wasn’t that interested before, she definitely had his interest now.

‘Three possible combinations: F.K.J, K.J.F or J.F.K.’

‘Like the American president?’

‘Yes, somebody else said that, but it’s a safe conclusion it didn’t belong to him, or the owner of the initials didn’t commit the crime.’

She said it so seriously, it made him laugh. She looked slightly offended, but then saw the funny side and laughed with him.

A few moments passed in silence; she regained her previous composure. ‘It seems they were part of a paedophile ring and from the information gathered, according to my mole, they’re thought to be responsible for over fifty kidnappings and possibly as many murders. They’re still analysing computers and things, but it looks like their victims—’

Miller put his hand up to stop her. ‘I’m sorry,’ he said, his expression pained. ‘Look, although I’m interested, as an outsider when it comes to cases like these where kids are involved, that’s where I like to stay, outside of it.’

She looked surprised.

‘You see; I have a natural inclination to try to solve things, but you know, in the end it’s... It becomes an unnecessary distraction for me when I’m working. I mean, the less I know the less chance there is of it distracting me. I don’t need anything else clouding my thoughts. Does that sound uncaring?’ He paused. ‘I can’t afford to care.’

‘I’m sorry you feel like that,’ she said. ‘Apparently the kid caught a glimpse of him, the vigilante. He had long hair and was unshaven and older looking than the kid’s granddad.’ Miller rolled his eyes.