She looked so beautiful. So peaceful.
He reached out and, very gently, brushed a strand of hair away from her mouth.
She rolled over in her sleep and Reed took a step back, fearing that he’d woken her, but she remained still.
He leaned forward and kissed her softly on the forehead.
‘I love you,’ he whispered, then rose to his feet and walked slowly from the bedroom, pausing in the doorway, his gaze still upon her.
He wouldn’t lose her.
No matter what it took.
He’d already lost his wife: he didn’t intend losing his daughter.
He pushed the bedroom door shut.
Maria Goldman woke with a start, her eyes staring wide, the last vestiges of the nightmare still imprinted on her mind.
She looked anxiously around the room, searching for that huge cloaked figure which had pursued her through her dreams.
The horned figure.
Was it hiding in the shadows of the room? Skulking in the blackness?
She let out a frightened gasp as she felt the hand touch her back.
Her husband, woken by her sudden movement, ran one hand over her soft skin and asked her if she was OK.
Maria nodded and moved closer to him, feeling his arm around her, sliding towards sleep, drifting quickly into oblivion once more.
She wondered if the horned figure would be waiting in the dark recesses of her dreams.
He couldn’t remember how long he’d been walking or even where.
Talbot might as well have been walking in circles.
Each street looked the same, every building indistinguishable from the next.
The darkness had grown colder as night had become early morning.
And still he walked, collar turned up to protect him from the biting wind that whipped down some of the side streets, tossing waste paper and empty cans before him.
Hands dug deep into his pockets, he walked on.
Sixty-two
Detective Sergeant Bill Rafferty knocked on the door of the office, waited a moment, then stepped inside.
The room was empty.
Talbot’s desk was unoccupied.
Rafferty muttered something under his breath and glanced to his left and right along the corridor. He spotted a uniformed man heading for the exit doors at the far end.
‘Have you seen DI Talbot this morning?’
‘No, sir’ the uniformed man called back.
Rafferty went back into the office, perched on the desk, and turned the phone to face him. He jabbed one of the buttons on it and waited.
He recognised the voice on the other end.
‘Colin, it’s Rafferty here,’ said the DS. ‘Have you seen Talbot this morning?’
‘I haven’t seen him for a couple of days’ DC Colin Penhallow told him. ‘What’s the problem, Bill?’
‘He’s not here, that’s the problem. I’ve had two messages from Macpherson over at Theobald’s road saying he wants to talk to him, but so far, no sign.’ The DS looked at his watch.
‘Sorry, I can’t help you, Bill’ Penhallow said apologetically. ‘What does Macpherson want with him anyway? He’s in charge of that child abuse case, isn’t he? That’s nothing to do with us.’
‘Try telling that to the DI. It seems to have been the only thing on his mind in the last few days.’
‘Why the hell is he so interested?’
‘That’s what I’d like to know.’ He glanced down and saw a red light blinking on the console. ‘Look, I’ve got to go, there’s another call on three. Cheers, mate.’
Rafferty jabbed the third button,
‘DI Talbot’s phone.’
‘Bill, is that you?’ said the voice at the other end.
It was low, rasping.
‘Who’s this?’ Rafferty asked.
‘It’s me.’ A cough. ‘Talbot.’
‘Jesus Christ, I’ve been trying to get hold of you for the last hour, are you all right?’
‘Yeah. Listen, can you pick me up from home in about an hour?’
‘No problem. Jim, Macpherson’s been on the line this morning, something to do with this child abuse case in Hackney.’
‘What did he want?’
‘He said he’s seen the medical reports on the kids that were taken into care.
A number of them were physically abused. He also left the name of the woman at Hackney Social Services who he said you wanted to talk to.’
‘Right, pick me up as soon as you can. I want to talk to her.’
‘Jim, if you don’t mind me asking, what the fuck is going on?’
‘What do you mean?’
‘This case at Hackney. Why the interest? We’ve got enough shit of our own to deal with. This is Macpherson’s problem.’
‘Right, you get on with what you’ve got to do - just give me this woman’s fucking name’ rasped Talbot.
‘Jim, I just asked. It seems like you’ve become obsessed with this bloody case and-‘
‘The name,’ Talbot snapped.
‘Maria Goldman.’
‘Right. Look, if you’ve got other stuff to do, then get on with it. I’m going to speak to this Goldman woman.’
‘I’ll pick you up,’ Rafferty said, wearily. ‘We’ve been digging around on those three suicides, too. Remember, the case we were working on before this shit at Hackney came up?’ the DS said, sarcastically.
‘And?’ Talbot said.
‘Apparently, two of the three dead men had reported strange phone calls about a week before they topped themselves.’
‘What do you mean, strange?’
‘Parriam and Hyde both got calls warning them off.’
‘How come this has just turned up?’
‘We spoke to their secretaries.’
‘You mean it’s taken this fucking long?’
‘Hyde’s had been away on honeymoon; Parriam’s has just come back from sick
leave.’
‘Were threats actually made?’
‘They were told to back off. That’s all.’
‘What about Jeffrey?’
‘Nothing strange there.’
‘Look, Bill, just pick me up as quick as you can, right? We’ll go over this shit later.’
‘I think it’s important-‘
Talbot cut him off. ‘So is this abuse case, now get a fucking move on.’
He slammed down the phone.
Rafferty looked at the handset for a moment then slipped it gently back onto the cradle.
Frank Reed held his daughter tight, feeling her warm breath against his cheek.
‘Did you have a good time?’ he asked her, glancing up at his wife who looked down at them impassively.
‘Come on, Becky, we’ll be late,’ said Ellen glancing at her watch.
Becky kissed her father on the cheek. ‘I love you, Dad’ she said then turned towards the door.
‘Go on, run out to the car’ Ellen told her.
‘I could have taken her to school’ Reed said, irritably.
‘It’s on my way to work’ Ellen said, picking up her daughter’s small holdall.
She turned to leave.
‘Thanks, Ellen,’ he said, almost grudgingly.
‘For what?’
‘For letting me have Becky for the weekend. I know I’ve got every right to access but…’
‘I’ll be in touch, Frank’ she told him and turned away.
He watched as she walked down the path towards the waiting car. Becky was already in the back, waving to him.
He waved back.
Christ, it hurt to see her leave.
Ellen slid behind the steering wheel and started the engine.
‘That’s it, Becky’ she said, a smile touching her lips, ‘You wave goodbye to your Dad.’ She glanced across and looked blankly at Reed for a moment, silhouetted in
the doorway. ‘It might be a while before you see him again.’
The car pulled away.
Sixty-three
‘As I explained to you when you rang, I can’t let you see any of the children’