Page 284 of The Hallmarked Man
‘Are you the person who’s been calling me about a bridge?’
‘Dunnae talk aboot tha’!’ she said furiously. ‘Ah need ye tae come!’
‘Where are you?’ said Strike, trying to tug his notebook out of his pocket again.
‘Jus’ come tae the Golden Fleece, f’ fuck’s sake!’
‘Where is that?’
‘Ye know where, it’s the only place Ah’m safe, kinda, but Ah’ve gottae be careful, Ah think they’re watchin’ me—’
‘Are you Rena Liddell?’
‘DUNNAE SAY MAH FUCKIN’NAME!’ she howled.
He heard the clunk of a call box receiver being slammed down.
Shit.
Strike was now exceptionally hungry in addition to being slightly drunk, so he caved in and ordered chips and calamari rings from the bar snack menu. Barely had the waiter departed than Kim entered the bar at last.
‘I’m so sorry, I’veneverbeen late for a job,’ she mumbled.
As she sat down beside him, Strike saw by the limited illumination of the booth that he wasn’t the only person with facial injuries. Someone had very obviously gouged Kim’s face, leaving deep, bloody scratches. Her right eye was puffy and Strike could see bruises forming around it.
‘What happened to you?’
‘I – it’s – Ray – you know, my ex?’
Rendered slower in comprehension than he usually was, because of all the Ardbeg he’d consumed, Strike said,
‘The jobless bloke, yeah –hedid that?’
‘No, it was – I told you he was with someone when we got together, didn’t I? Well, it was her.’
‘Christ,’ said Strike.
‘I opened my flat door and she was standing there, waiting,’ said Kim. ‘Look, I’m really sorry, can I get a proper drink, I really—’
In no position to refuse, given how much Ardbeg he’d already consumed, Strike raised a hand to summon the waiter and, as Kim was now sitting with her face in her hands and muttered ‘anything’, Strike ordered her an Ardbeg, too.
When her drink arrived, Kim took a large swallow then coughed and said,
‘God, that’s disgusting, what is it?’
‘Whisky.’
‘Oh… well, I s’pose it’ll do the job.’
She tipped more down her throat.
‘What made your ex’s ex turn up today?’ asked Strike.
‘Because Ray’s killed himself,’ said Kim baldly.
The image of Charlotte lying in a blood-filled bath swum up out of Strike’s subconscious. He remembered the shock of a previous suspect being found hanged in her garage.
‘Fuck, I’m sorry.’
