Roots of Evil(149)

‘So,’ said Jennie drily, ‘did his victims. Is he ever likely to be let out?’

‘Oh God, no,’ said the senior psychiatrist at once. ‘He’s in here for life.’



‘There are two spare rooms,’ said Alice, shortly before midnight. ‘My room’s at the front and Michael’s is there as well, and the guest rooms are at the back of the house. I don’t mind who stays the night, or who sleeps where. Michael, you can sort out sheets and so on if anyone wants to stay, I expect.’

‘Of course.’

‘I don’t mind, either, if any of you want to drive back to London,’ said Alice. ‘Or to that place where you were last night—’

‘The White Hart,’ said Michael.

‘Yes.’ She studied them thoughtfully. ‘A remarkable day, wasn’t it? And the first meeting for us all.’

‘But not the last,’ said Lucy, rather tentatively.

‘I do hope not.’ She considered Lucy for a moment, and then said, ‘I was right when I said you were like Conrad. It’s quite uncanny.’

‘I can come again, can’t I? Properly, I mean, when everything’s sorted out. Edmund and everything. There’s so much I want to know,’ said Lucy.

‘I hope you’ll come soon and stay as long as you want,’ said Alice. ‘I want to hear about you, about the family. Tonight it’s all been me, but next time we’ll focus on you.’ She gave them the speculative look again. ‘I’ll say goodnight. I expect you can sort yourselves out regarding sleeping arrangements.’

‘You have to admit,’ said Liam, after she had gone, ‘that when it comes to exit lines, she’s Oscar-level.’ He looked at the others. ‘Well? Life’s full of decisions, isn’t it? Who’s going and who’s staying? And who’s sleeping in whose bed, I wonder? I think,’ said Liam before anyone could respond to this, ‘that as far as I’m concerned, I’d better drive back to Ashwood. I’ve had a couple of drinks, but I don’t think I’m over the limit, and I’ve got an office to deal with in the morning. So anyone heading south is welcome to a lift. But I don’t know who’s got a car here and who hasn’t.’ He looked at Lucy as he said this.

‘My car’s here,’ began Francesca.

‘And mine’s at the White Hart,’ said Lucy. ‘As the crow flies it isn’t so very far, but it would well after one a.m. by the time I got there – always assuming one of you would drive me – and so I think it would be easier for me to go back to London, and get a train back tomorrow to collect it. If I did that, I could drive over here again and see Alice – would that be all right, d’you think?’

‘She’d love it,’ said Michael.

‘She’ll be all right, won’t she?’ said Lucy slightly anxiously. ‘I mean – all this won’t have been too much for her?’

Michael smiled. ‘Meat and drink,’ he said.

‘In that case,’ said Lucy, suddenly finding the prospect of driving home with Liam very attractive, ‘I’ll take up your offer if I can, Liam. It means driving into London, though. Would that be all right?’

‘Perfectly all right. I should tell you I have absolutely no sense of direction, though, and it’s God’s mercy I even got to this house. I’m quite likely to land you on the gypsy road to Romany, or the route to the Elysian Fields. Still, that might be rather fun, you know. How about you, Michael?’

‘I’d better stay put,’ said Michael. ‘My room’s always more or less ready.’ In a voice that was just slightly too casual, ‘Francesca? Had you better drive back as well, or can you take one of the spare rooms?’

‘Well, if you’re sure I won’t be in the way if I stay—’

‘You won’t be in the way,’ said Michael.



‘I think,’ said Lucy, peering through the rain-drenched darkness as they sped through the night, ‘that we should get off this stretch of motorway in about another mile.’

‘What an efficient lady you are. Will we look for the sign yet?’

‘It should be coming up any minute. It’ll siphon us off to the left,’ said Lucy.

‘Siphoning’s the right word in this weather, isn’t it? It’s taking all my concentration to keep—’

‘On the straight and narrow?’ demanded Lucy caustically.

‘Well, I always had trouble with the straight and narrow, and I’d certainly never find it in this downpour. Wait though, is that our turning up ahead?’

‘I think so.’ Lucy wiped some of the condensation from the windscreen. ‘Yes, it is. I thought we’d probably find our way in the end.’

‘O Faith that meets ten thousand cheats, yet drops no jot of faith—’

‘Do you really not know the way?’

‘I do not. Do you?’ He took his eyes from the road for a moment to direct a very straight look at her. ‘For all I know,’ said Liam, ‘this could be the road to Mandalay or the pathway to the stars, or even the Golden Road to Samarkand.’

‘If you keep straight on from here,’ said Lucy prosaically, ‘you’ll be bound to pick up the M25 eventually.’