Page 165 of The Hallmarked Man
‘Know what?’ said Robin.
‘Probably shouldn’t say,’ said Kim, maddeningly smug. She pulled on her coat, and left.
Meanwhile, in the inner office, Strike was trying to contact his old friend, lawyer Ilsa Herbert, the woman through whom Strike had met Bijou in the first place. Ilsa couldn’t be blamed for Strike and Bijou’s two-night stand; indeed, she’d tried to warn him off the woman after their first night together, telling him she was mouthy and indiscreet, but Strike – exasperated by the unsolicited advice and angry about Robin’s deepening relationship with Murphy – had made it clear to Ilsa that his private life was none of her concern.
Ilsa’s mobile was engaged. Strike redialled several times, and the five minutes it took him to reach her felt like an hour. At last, she answered.
‘Hi, Corm.’
He knew immediately from her tone that she knew what he was calling about.
‘I’m just going to get somewhere a bit more private,’ she said.
Strike listened to her footsteps, wishing she was running. At last Ilsa spoke again, her voice echoing slightly.
‘OK, I can talk.’
‘What d’you know about Honbold and Bijou Watkins?’ he said.
‘How—?’
‘I’ve just had a tip-off he’s having her followed.’
‘Oh, God. Well, rumours are flying that Honbold’s taken out a super-injunction.’
‘Why?’
‘To stop the papers printing that he doesn’t know whether Bijou’s baby is his or yours.’
Strike didn’t speak immediately, because the worst of the imaginings that had run through his head while waiting for Ilsa to pick up had just come true.
He’d used protection when he’d slept with Bijou, because he wasn’t a fool. After he’d told her he didn’t want to see her again he’d realised that her target, all along, had been the married QC whom she hoped to force to leave his wife; Strike had been an enjoyable diversion and a possible means of making Andrew Honbold jealous. Bijou and Strike had both subsequently lied to the QC, saying their acquaintanceship had never gone further than drinks. Honbold, a well-known scourge of the tabloid press, had been thrown out by his wife after his affair with Bijou hit the papers, and until this morning, Strike had considered the matter closed, assuming, in the absence of other information, that Honbold would be marrying Bijou once his divorce came through.
‘It’s not mine,’ he said, and then, ‘it can’t be, if she hasn’t had the kid yet.’
‘She has, she had it early,’ said Ilsa. ‘Well, she’s saying it was early…’
‘Can’t they tell?’ said Strike, who was almost entirely ignorant of everything concerned with birth and newborns.
‘I don’t know the details, Corm.’
‘Why the fuck does Honbold – has shetoldhim we—?’
‘Shedidn’t tell him,’ said Ilsa hesitantly. ‘Corm – I’m sorry, I tried to warn you. The whole of chambers knew you and she had slept together, it was bound to get back to Honbold at some point – I mean, before she got pregnant, shewantedhim to hear about it, to make him jealous. Apparently a journalist got wind of the fact that Honboldthinks the baby might be yours, and Honbold went straight to the High Court to stop him printing. He doesn’t want to be all over the papers again, but I think he and Bijou have broken up. I suppose he’s having her followed because he’d rather not pay child maintenance. He’s trying to prove she’s still sneaking around with you.’
‘It can’t be mine,’ said Strike.
He didn’t like the silence that followed.
‘What?’ he said aggressively.
‘I don’t—’
‘You know something.’
‘Corm—’
‘Just say it!’
