Page 21

chapter twenty-one

Gabriella invited James up to her flat.

She didn’t want the evening to end, and she wanted to tell him about the news on her father.

James had tried to look for him for her a few months back, as much as it was possible for him to do without abusing his position at the Met, and she wanted to talk to him about the repercussions now that she knew more.

There was silence behind the door of Jerome’s flat, but it was Monday, and he might well be tucked up for an early night.

“Coffee?” she asked as she hung her coat on the rack.

“I want to say yes, but I haven’t had enough sleep these last few days, and coffee keeps me awake.” He hung his own coat up.

“Tea it is.” She was slowly developing a taste for it.

“Can you stand to tell me more about the body this morning?” James asked, pulling down two mugs from the cupboard while she put the kettle on.

“The age of the woman, you mean?” Gabriella asked. She thought about it. “I could only see part of her face, but it seemed to me she was around late twenties, early thirties. Wearing a neat tweed skirt and a brown jacket. I didn’t see her handbag anywhere.”

“And it was in your borough?” he asked.

She nodded. When they each had their tea, she sat down and blew on the surface to cool it. “Constable Evans took my statement, and the statement of the tradie who found her.”

He nodded. “I’ll go round tomorrow and speak to him.” He seemed distracted, moving his cup round and round.

“You think it’s the same person who killed the woman at the old bomb site?” she asked.

He raised his head. Gave a brief nod. “And two others.”

“The body in the allotment?” she asked, surprised.

“And another one we found just before I went home to Wales.” He finally took a sip of tea. “But she’d been dead over a month by the time we found her.”

“So four women over two months?” Gabriella set her mug down. “But all left at different places?”

“All hidden, or half-hidden.” James lifted a shoulder. “I shouldn’t really be telling you about this.”

“I won’t say anything.” Gabriella had a stake in this. Not just because she’d been there for the discovery of two of the bodies, but because it was so clearly dragging James down. “Hidden like the way he left the woman I found on the far side of the debris pile?”

James nodded. “He left the woman we found in the allotment in a ditch, and scooped some sand over her. The first one was thrown into a deep hole at a construction site, and you said today’s body was hidden in a skip bin.”

Gabriella thought about it. “Not hidden, really. Lying on top. But no one could see her from the ground and he’d put the box he must have used to stand on in order to throw her in back up against the church wall. It was only because the tradie was up the side of the tower, looking down, that he noticed her.”

“There seems to be no link between the places, so it could just be convenience, a handy place to put them without drawing immediate attention, but something about it seems more deliberate than that.” James rubbed long, broad fingers over his mouth.

“Teddy Roe said he knew the place where I found the woman in the rubble. He helped evacuate that building when it was originally bombed.” Gabriella thought back to what he’d said. “He said one of the bodies they recovered was murdered, not killed by the bomb strike.”

James straightened. “What?”

She shrugged. “He said the one woman he pulled from the wreckage had been deliberately killed. But no one would believe him, and it was never reported as a murder.”

“He’s sure?” James asked.

“It’s Teddy Roe, so who knows,” Gabriella said. “But yes, he seemed pretty sure to me. And sad. I think he knows his erratic behavior meant no one took him seriously.” The first World War had done a number on Teddy Roe, and he’d never been the same.

“I’d like to talk to him.” James tapped the table, his gaze unfocused, as if he was planning in his head.

Gabriella pushed her mug away. “I only just remembered what Teddy Roe told me because the vicar at the church this morning said they found a woman beneath the rubble when the church was bombed during the war. The bomb never exploded but it crashed through the roof. The next day they found a woman dead inside the church. They said she’d probably taken cover inside when the air sirens sounded, and was very unlucky to have been in there when the bomb hit.”

James looked up, eyes suddenly very focused. “They didn’t suspect foul play?”

Gabriella shook her head. “Why would they? She was found under the debris from the roof.”

“Did they identify her?” James asked.

“Yes. It took a month, but they did eventually, using dental records. The vicar told me there’s a commemorative plaque to her inside the church.” She tilted her head. “Do you sense a pattern?”

“The allotment.” James was back to tapping his fingers. “They told us it used to be a factory that burned down during the Blitz. They found a woman inside it, as well.”

“And the first site?” Gabriella asked. She could feel her heart rate increase. The horror of what she was thinking had her in its grip.

“I don’t know.” James stood. “I’ll need to find out.”

“And if it is?” Gabriella got to her feet as well. “Are you thinking someone who killed women during the Blitz and hid their bodies in a way that made it look like they died in the bombings is back, and leaving his new victims at the same sites he used before?”

His gaze snapped to her. “That’s exactly what I’m thinking.” He ran a hand through his hair again. “God, Gabriella. This is huge. If we’re right, he’s killed at least eight women since the Blitz, maybe more.”

“Why now? Why again after all this time?” she wondered.

“I don’t know what set him off again, but I think he’s using the heavy fog to hunt them down.” James stood with fists clenched.

“Or, is the heavy fog what sets him off?” Gabriella wondered. “Like the blackouts during the Blitz, he’s got the night to himself.”

“Maybe.” James looked down at the ground, his whole body held tight and ready.

She moved to him, took his hand with both of hers. “Even if you’re right, there is absolutely nothing you can do about it now.”

“I know.” He blew out a breath. “I’m not sorry for discussing it with you, because you telling me what Teddy Roe and the vicar said has made it fall into place. But it’s not fair to put this darkness in your head.”

She let go of his hand, slid her arms around his waist. “I’ve found two of his victims personally,” she said. “The darkness was already there.”

He bent his head, brushed his lips against her temple. “I want to sleep with you.”

He went suddenly still, as if he hadn’t meant to say that out loud, and Gabriella leaned back, smiled up at him.

“I know.”

He grinned down at her. “Do you, now?”

She lifted up on her toes, kissed his neck, his chin, his cheek—little touches of her lips on his scruff-shadowed skin. “I’ve known for ages.”

“And what are your thoughts on the matter?” He tried to keep his voice lighthearted, but she heard the slight rasp of tension in it.

“I think we need condoms.” She held her gaze steady on his. “I’m not getting pregnant, James.”

He stared down at her, mouth slightly agape.

She reached up and gently closed his jaw.

“I can get condoms,” he told her.

“Good.” She leaned in closer, and he closed his arms tighter around her.

“You were going to tell me what has happened in your life these last few days,” he said. “Go on. I need the distraction.”

She smiled against his chest. “Do you remember the man who I fined in the green Jaguar? The one where you pulled up and got between us?”

“I remember it clearly. I’ve never seen someone react like that to getting a small fine.” He rubbed a hand down her back.

“He’s been following me. I think for quite a long time. He even waited outside station headquarters for me. When I tried to approach him, he roared off.”

“Gabriella.” He pulled back to look at her. “It was definitely the same car?”

“Different license plate—I compared them—but it was the same man. Then, when I got home on Saturday night, he was parked outside, watching the flat.” She tightened her hold on him, preventing him from whirling away to pace. “Solomon, George and Jerome noticed him.”

James tensed. “Will someone be finding his body somewhere?” His voice was careful.

“No, no. It was all very cordial.” She paused. “Well . . . not cordial, but no blood was spilled. On either side. Turns out the car’s in his wife’s name and she wants to know what he was doing parked in that part of town where I fined him. Apparently she’s hired a private detective to ask me which house he came out of.”

“He’s having an affair?” James guessed.

Gabriella lifted a shoulder. “Probably. Whatever it is, he’s dead scared she’s going to find out, and he was trying to threaten me into silence.”

“I might still have his details.” James’s eyes were narrowed.

“It doesn’t matter. He’s been convinced to keep away from me.” She sighed, still enjoying the feeling of relief as he drove off. “But that isn’t the main news.”

“You have more?” He pulled her toward her window seat, the only place other than her bed or the tiny kitchen table where they could sit together, and slid her onto his lap.

She nestled in close. This was nice. “Ruby Everett found my father for me.”

His hold tightened. “For sure?”

Her lips twisted. “As sure as possible. My friend Ben works as a junior solicitor at Temple Chambers. He and his senior are going to handle the confirmation for me.”

James frowned. “Why so formal? Why not just approach him?”

“Because it turns out he’s a viscount. A married viscount.” Gabriella watched as the implications hit him.

He blew out a breath. “That’s . . . crazy.”

“And I’m not exactly going to be popular. With either him or his new family.” She thought that was probably an understatement.

James pulled her back into his arms. “This has to be hard for you.”

She sighed. “I think it’s going to be harder for him.” She listened to his heart beat in his chest for a while, then straightened up. “Now, your news. There’s something wrong that you’re not telling me.” He was too dragged down, too low for it to be simply a hard case.

The look on his face was almost funny. She could see he didn’t think he should tell her anything.

“Come on, you know you want to.” She held his gaze.

He leaned back against the wall with a sigh. “Whetford set Hartridge up in a compromising situation while I was away. I’ve always known he was dirty, but Hartridge told me what happened, and it’s worse than I thought. He’s got another DS working with him, Galbraith, and they seem to be shaking down low level criminals for their own gain.”

Of everything she’d expected him to say, this had not been it. It was her turn to gape.

With a small smile, he lifted her lower jaw back up.

She blinked. “What are you going to do?”

“Things have escalated. I think Whetford set Hartridge and me up for an attack yesterday at the CND march.”

“What!” Gabriella was outraged. “I’ve never seen such peaceful protesters as the CND.”

James laughed. “Not always, but I agree, they’re mostly very law-abiding. I think the people who were going to beat us up were police officers who are in bed with Whetford. And they were going to lay the blame at the CND’s door. Don’t worry, I managed to put a spoke in Whetford’s wheels.”

“And now? Do you think he’ll give up?” She had met Whetford, and had found him sexist and condescending. She couldn’t see him taking being bested very well.

James laughed. “No. I have a plan, but if it goes wrong . . .”

“Tell me,” she said. “I’ll do anything I can to help.”

He shook his head. “If I think of something, I’ll tell you. But this is going to be played out inside the walls of New Scotland Yard. And I might be fired at the end of it.”

She hadn’t realized the stakes, but, of course that could be the outcome. “That doesn’t seem fair. Whetford is the one who should be fired. Should be in jail.”

“That’s unlikely, but if I can get him and his thugs to leave me and Hartridge alone, that will be enough of a win for now.” He slid his fingers through her hair, cupping the back of her head. “And I’d prefer to kiss you, and forget about that bastard.”

She leaned into him, and lifted her own hands to his shoulders. “Forget about who?”