‘Look,’ he said, ‘can’t this wait? I promised Caroline that I’d stay with her.’
‘I’m afraid not,’ the officer said. ‘You are under arrest. You do not have to say anything, but if you do not mention now something which you later use in your defence the court may decide that your failure to mention it now strengthens the case against you . . .’
Sarah couldn’t concentrate on the counts. She kept losing track and didn’t want to discuss the numbers with any of the other scrutineers. Her colleagues were each watching one of the counters: local government workers on overtime. The result would be closer than anybody could have predicted. Impossible to say how close.
What if she won? Superstitiously, Sarah hadn’t planned a speech. It was down to the winner to thank the police and the returning officers but the rest was a blank. Winston was walking over. He had just completed the most contentious part of the evening, when the candidates or their representatives checked the spoiled ballots and marginally unclear votes. The returning officer had the final say over which ones were valid and which weren’t, but the parties could have their say, too. If there was a recount, every decision had the potential to be crucial. But Sarah had never been involved in a recount. She thought of them as a kind of urban myth. Before Winston got to her, Sarah’s mobile rang.
‘Is that Sarah Bone, the MP?’
‘Yes.’
‘I’m the custody sergeant at Canning Circus police station. We’ve got a gentleman under arrest who insisted on making his mandatory phone call to you.’
‘Is it one of my constituents?’
‘I don’t think so, ma’am.’
Sarah wasn’t a member of the royal family, but sometimes the police got their knickers in a twist over rank and titles. Sarah let the ma’am work in her favour.
‘What’s his name?’
‘Nicholas Cane.’
‘And what’s he done?’
‘Driving a taxi cab without the appropriate license.’
‘And you’ve got him in custody for that?’
‘He’s on probation, ma’am.’
Probation. Of course he was.
‘Even so, it’s hardly a hanging offence, is it? He’s supposed to be collecting me later on. He’s my driver for the evening.’
‘He doesn’t have a taxi permit.’
‘I don’t think he was going to charge me. From what he told me earlier, he was borrowing the cab from his brother to help out with my campaign today.’
This was a fib but, if the last thing she did as an MP was getting an ex-boyfriend released from custody, it wouldn’t be a bad night’s work.
‘Do you want me to put him on, ma’am?’
‘I do. And when I’ve finished talking to him, if you haven’t changed your mind, I’m going to track down Eric and get him over to sort you out. I think he’s coming to my party later. Possibly Mr Cane would be driving him home, too.’
The Chief Constable wasn’t invited to the party, but using his first name seemed to have an effect.
‘I see, ma’am. I’ll have a word with the arresting officer.’
There was a long, tense, infuriating delay during which Sarah had to wave away several supporters. It was nearly one when a sheepish Nick appeared on the phone. ‘Sarah, I’m so sorry. Yours was the only mobile number I had. They caught me speeding, taking my sister-in-law to hospital. She’s having a baby as we speak. But evidently the police were already watching me. I’ve got a solicitor, Ian Jagger, but I haven’t seen him since I got out and I don’t have his number.’
‘Ian’s probably at the party,’ Sarah said, ‘I can get his number for you, but it might not be necessary.’
‘The custody sergeant wants a word,’ Nick said, sheepishly.
The sergeant came back on. ‘We’re prepared to let him go tonight,’ he said. ‘Seeing as you say he was helping you out earlier and not charging anybody. But earlier today we had a tip off that he’s been working for his brother for weeks.’
Sarah was aware that this was true. Somebody had it in for Nick Cane. She knew exactly who it was.
‘Sounds like a malicious call to me, sergeant. I know Nick’s done some silly things in the past, but I’ll vouch for him now.’
‘Fair enough, ma’am. We’ll send him to you.’ He put Nick back on just as Winston began signalling to her. ‘I’ve got to go,’ she said. ‘They’re about to announce the result.’
‘Do you want me to come and collect you from the count?’ Nick asked, as she walked into the hall, still talking on the mobile, not the image she wanted to present to the watching TV cameras.
‘No, meet me at the party after you’ve checked on your sister-in-law. And, Nick, leave the car. After what you’ve been through, I expect you could do with a drink.’
The other candidates were already lined up on the stage. In the end, it hadn’t been close enough to require a recount. Sarah climbed the shallow stairs, prepared to meet her fate.
31
Nick raced into the delivery room. It was less than an hour since he’d taken Caroline in.
‘Here’s the father,’ said a breezy nurse. ‘Better late than never.’
Caroline gave her a tired but brave smile. Seeing Nick, her expression returned to that of the perpetually pissed-off school teacher.
‘Not the father. His brother. Again. Where is he, Nick?’
‘Not sure. Stuart said he’d call the party. I’ve come straight from the police.’
‘How did you go on?’ Caroline said. ‘Sort it out?’
‘I think so,’ Nick said, leaning over his tiny, new, wrinkled niece. The thought of going back to prison for three years scared the fuck out of him. But he couldn’t allow himself to focus on that, not here. Not now.
‘She’s beautiful.’
‘Thank you,’ Caroline said. ‘And thank you for earlier. I’m sorry if it caused you grief.’
He kissed her on the cheek. ‘How do you feel?’
‘I’m good, now it’s over. Aching, but good. Where the fuck’s Joe?’
‘I’ll go and call him,’ Nick said.
The nurse directed him to a phone down a corridor. Stuart answered.
‘Caroline wants to know where Joe is. Any ideas?’
‘None at all. I asked for an announcement to be made over the PA at that party, but it sounded pretty noisy there. I’ve been trying his mobile every ten minutes, left a message each time. Has she had it yet?’
‘Little girl. Mother and baby fine. Have you got a mobile number for Nas?’
‘Afraid not,’ Stuart said, awkwardly. Nick wished he hadn’t asked.
‘I guess I’ll head over to the party.’
He explained to Caroline that the party was very loud and the message might not have got through. ‘I’ll go and see if I can find him.’
‘Thanks. Oh, your ex-girlfriend . . . did she win?’
‘I don’t know yet.’
They were alone. Caroline looked exhausted but happy. Nick wanted to get away before she quizzed him about Joe’s whereabouts again. He wanted to find out Sarah’s result. But he couldn’t just leave. So he squeezed his sister-in-law’s hand. She burst into tears.
‘I’m so sorry.’
‘What about?’ He thought she realized how likely he was to end up back in prison. Or maybe she was emotional about Joe’s absence.
‘You’ve been so nice to me since you got out. You never once dropped a hint to Joe that we were once, you know . . .’
‘He still doesn’t know?’ Nick asked.
‘He never suspected a thing. But you must have worked out what happened. I don’t know how you found it in your heart to forgive me.’