Page 95
Chapter 51
EstelleDoyle wasn’t a convicted prisoner; she was on remand. That meant, among other things, she didn’t have to wear the prison uniform. Poe doubted she’d ever worn an outfit like this, though. A shapeless jumper, and jeans so baggy she had to hold them up with her left hand. Straight out of the prison spares cupboard, no doubt. She looked like a child who’d lost her school uniform. When she reached across the table to shake their hands with her right, Poe held her hand a little longer than he was comfortable with. Her thin, strong fingers, gripped him back. He looked down and saw blue veins visible under her translucent skin. He turned her wrist slightly and checked her lower arm for bruises. There weren’t any.
‘Don’t worry, Poe,’ Doyle said softly. ‘They call me Doctor Death in here. My cellmate, a lovely heroin addict called Britney, was, in her words, “clucking like a C-word” last night. She used a sharpened toothbrush on the inside of her thigh, just to get away from me. Nicked her femoral vein. I tried to help, apply pressure to the wound, but she was so scared of me she pressed the panic button. I think she survived.’
Poe let go of her hand and sat on one of the four moulded plastic seats. The Formica-topped table was scarred with cigarette burns. A tinfoil ashtray was the only thing in the room that wasn’t bolted to the floor. The cubicle smelled of body odour, industrial disinfectant and despair.
‘It’s better to be feared in here,’ he said.
She held him in an intense gaze. ‘I disagree,’ she said finally.
‘May I hug you, Estelle Doyle?’ Bradshaw asked.
‘I think I’d like that, Tilly.’
Bradshaw walked around to her side of the table. The two women held each other for a long time, long enough for the prison officermonitoring the official visits suite to get interested. Poe shook his head at him. ‘It’s OK,’ he mouthed.
When they’d finished embracing, Doyle sat down. Poe could see her eyes were glistening. He pretended not to notice. Sometimes Bradshaw’s innocence was exactly what people needed.
‘Shall I ask for the wine list, Poe?’ Doyle said.
‘He only drinks beer, Estelle Doyle,’ Bradshaw said.
Doyle smiled. Poe did too.
‘What?’ Bradshaw said.
‘Your solicitor tells me she’s knocked down the CPS’s motivation,’ Poe said. ‘That your father’s new will didn’t materially change that much.’
‘So I’ve been told.’
‘Without motivation our alternate theory holds more water.’
‘And what alternate theory is this?’
‘Someone is setting you up.’
‘That’s your theory?’
‘No,’ Poe said. ‘It’sourtheory.’
‘I’m a doctor and a pathologist. I’m not in a position to make enemies like this.’
‘You’d be surprised how easy it is for someone to work up a good grudge. Tilly’s profiling people you’ve given evidence against.’
‘If this is true, some—’
‘It is.’
‘—Someone’s gone to an awful lot of trouble,’ Doyle said. ‘If they hate me that much it almost seems rude to fight it.’
Poe considered this. ‘Sod that,’ he said.
‘How long are you up here?’
‘Another three days. I’m hoping Northumbria will release the crime scene before we have to go back down south.’
‘I’d prefer it if you didn’t go to my father’s home, Poe.’
Table of Contents
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
- Page 13
- Page 14
- Page 15
- Page 16
- Page 17
- Page 18
- Page 19
- Page 20
- Page 21
- Page 22
- Page 23
- Page 24
- Page 25
- Page 26
- Page 27
- Page 28
- Page 29
- Page 30
- Page 31
- Page 32
- Page 33
- Page 34
- Page 35
- Page 36
- Page 37
- Page 38
- Page 39
- Page 40
- Page 41
- Page 42
- Page 43
- Page 44
- Page 45
- Page 46
- Page 47
- Page 48
- Page 49
- Page 50
- Page 51
- Page 52
- Page 53
- Page 54
- Page 55
- Page 56
- Page 57
- Page 58
- Page 59
- Page 60
- Page 61
- Page 62
- Page 63
- Page 64
- Page 65
- Page 66
- Page 67
- Page 68
- Page 69
- Page 70
- Page 71
- Page 72
- Page 73
- Page 74
- Page 75
- Page 76
- Page 77
- Page 78
- Page 79
- Page 80
- Page 81
- Page 82
- Page 83
- Page 84
- Page 85
- Page 86
- Page 87
- Page 88
- Page 89
- Page 90
- Page 91
- Page 92
- Page 93
- Page 94
- Page 95 (Reading here)
- Page 96
- Page 97
- Page 98
- Page 99
- Page 100
- Page 101
- Page 102
- Page 103
- Page 104
- Page 105
- Page 106
- Page 107
- Page 108
- Page 109
- Page 110
- Page 111
- Page 112
- Page 113
- Page 114
- Page 115
- Page 116
- Page 117
- Page 118
- Page 119
- Page 120
- Page 121
- Page 122
- Page 123
- Page 124
- Page 125
- Page 126
- Page 127
- Page 128
- Page 129
- Page 130
- Page 131
- Page 132
- Page 133
- Page 134
- Page 135
- Page 136
- Page 137
- Page 138
- Page 139
- Page 140
- Page 141
- Page 142
- Page 143
- Page 144
- Page 145
- Page 146
- Page 147
- Page 148
- Page 149
- Page 150
- Page 151
- Page 152
- Page 153
- Page 154
- Page 155
- Page 156
- Page 157
- Page 158
- Page 159
- Page 160
- Page 161
- Page 162
- Page 163
- Page 164
- Page 165
- Page 166
- Page 167
- Page 168
- Page 169
- Page 170
- Page 171
- Page 172
- Page 173
- Page 174
- Page 175
- Page 176
- Page 177
- Page 178
- Page 179
- Page 180
- Page 181
- Page 182
- Page 183
- Page 184
- Page 185
- Page 186
- Page 187
- Page 188
- Page 189
- Page 190
- Page 191
- Page 192
- Page 193
- Page 194
- Page 195
- Page 196
- Page 197
- Page 198
- Page 199
- Page 200
- Page 201
- Page 202
- Page 203
- Page 204
- Page 205
- Page 206
- Page 207
- Page 208
- Page 209
- Page 210
- Page 211
- Page 212
- Page 213
- Page 214
- Page 215
- Page 216
- Page 217
- Page 218
- Page 219
- Page 220
- Page 221
- Page 222
- Page 223
- Page 224
- Page 225
- Page 226
- Page 227
- Page 228
- Page 229
- Page 230
- Page 231