Page 5 of Fortune's Ashes
‘Amplifying it?’ I didn’t get it.
‘Thereby diminishing his own identity.’
I squeezed my eyes shut. ‘This is stupid.’
‘Yes.’
‘He’s a kook, right? He’s trying to get attention?’
‘He seems serious enough, Emma. He has engaged a solicitor.’
I rolled my eyes. ‘That doesn’t mean anything.’
‘I don’t think that he’ll go away,’ Barnes said carefully. ‘This is going to become a thing.’
‘A thing,’ I said flatly.
She shrugged. ‘It happens.’
My mouth tightened. ‘Get him to prove it. Get him to die then let’s see what happens.’
‘Mr Cobain has requested that we shoot him dead so we can witness his resurrection twelve hours later. Obviously, we can’t kill a man in order to a test a theory.’
‘He could kill himself while you watch.’
Barnes’s looked mildly exasperated. ‘You know we can’t allow a suicide to occur in front of our eyes.’
I drew in a shuddering breath. ‘What am I supposed to do about this?’
‘I recommend that you take some legal advice. We can help you with that, or you can find your own representation. I just wanted to warn you that there may be some trouble ahead. Both I and the Met Police are going to support you, but things might become a little – fraught.’
I pushed back my hair. ‘Can I meet Mr Cobain? Or at least talk to him on the phone? Find out what this is really about?’
‘That’s not a good idea,’ Barnes told me. ‘Not with possible legal action on the horizon.’
I cursed aloud.
‘Hopefully this will come to nothing, Emma.’ Her face suggested otherwise. ‘But it might cause you some problems. You need to be prepared.’
Unbelievable. How was it possible that my week was getting worse instead of better? It wasn’t wholly unexpected that somebody like Cobain would eventually crawl out of the woodwork, but I wished he hadn’t chosen to do it now. His timing sucked.
I was sure that I could sort it out within minutes if I could talk to him face to face. I’d prove I was the phoenix, he’d admit he was lying, job done. I had much better things to do than worry about a random chancer looking to make a quick buck or get his fifteen minutes of fame.
DSI Barnes stood up and offered me a kind smile. This time it felt genuine. ‘Try not to worry about it.’ That was easy for her to say.
My stomach lurched, flipping over and over, and I froze. Throwing up in front of DSI Barnes was not on my agenda for today. Or any day.
She raised her eyebrows. ‘You’re turning green, Emma. Perhaps you should drop by your doctor before your next shift.’
I pushed my hair away from my forehead, suddenly aware of how clammy my skin felt. ‘Yeah,’ I muttered. ‘I might do that.’
* * *
I didn’t haveany enthusiasm for making an appointment with my GP. I wasn’t even that ill. It was probably stress – I was hardly living my best life right now. And if it wasn’t stress, it was a touch of food poisoning or some nasty little bug that nobody else had caught. A good night’s sleep would cure me. And perhaps some peppermint tea.
I looked across the road at the small pharmacy then at Tallulah. I supposed I could spare five minutes and pick up some medicine. It was better than dwelling on the likes of Alan bloody Cobain.
I crossed the road briskly, continuing to ignore the vamp trio who looked even more out of place here than they had at the library. When I pushed open the pharmacy door, it jingled loudly.
