“She slept with a man she liked. Is that so terrible?”

“That’s not what he said.”

Annie looked puzzled. “What who said?”

Soames looked at Winsome. “You know who,” he said.

“He means Kev Templeton, Guv,” Winsome said.

Annie had worked that out for herself. “What did DS Templeton say?” she asked.

“I won’t repeat the words he used,” Soames said. “Vile, terrible things. Disgusting things.”

So Templeton’s inflammatory language had set Soames off on his rampage, Annie thought, as if she needed more evidence of his culpability. Even so, she cursed him again under her breath. “What about the drink?”

Soames scratched his head. “I won’t say I’m proud of that,” he said. “I used to be a hard-drinking man, but I got it under control, down to a couple of pints for the sake of being sociable. I let myself…” He stopped and put his head in his hands. Annie wasn’t certain what the next words were, but she thought she heard him say, “…her mother.”

“Mr. Soames,” she said gently. “Calvin, would you speak clearly, please?”

Soames wiped his eyes with the backs of his hands. “I said she was just like her mother.”

“What was her mother like?”

“A good-for-nothing slut.”

“Kelly said she thought you were talking to her as if she were her mother. Is that true?”

“I don’t know. I just saw red. I don’t know what I was saying. Her mother was younger than me. Pretty. The farm… it wasn’t her sort of life. She liked the town and the parties and the dances. There were men. More than one. She didn’t care whether I knew about them or not. She flaunted it, laughed at me.”

“Then she died.”

“Yes.”

“That must have torn you apart,” said Annie.

Soames gave her a sharp glance.

“I mean she caused you so much pain, but there she was, dying, thanks to medical incompetence. You must have felt for her despite how she hurt you.”

“It was God’s judgment.”

“How did Kelly react to all this?”

“I tried to keep it all from her,” he said. “But she’s turned out to be just the same.”

“That’s not true,” Annie said. She was aware that the tape was running and she was exceeding her role as interviewer, but she couldn’t help it. Let Superintendent Gervaise give her another bollocking, if that was what it came down to. “Just because Kelly slept with someone, it doesn’t mean she was a slut or any other of those words men like to call women. You should be talking to your daughter, not beating her with a chair leg.”

“I’m not proud of what I did,” said Soames. “I’ll face the consequences.”

“Damn right, you will,” said Annie. “And so will Kelly, unfortunately.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean she’s lying there in a hospital bed because of you, and do you know what? She’s worried about you, about what will happen to you.”

“I sinned. I’ll take my punishment.”

“And what about Kelly?”

“She’ll be better off without me.”

“Oh, stop feeling sorry for yourself.” Annie didn’t trust herself to continue the interview. She shoved a statement sheet over to him and stood up. “Look, write down in your own words exactly what happened, what you can remember of it, then DC Jackman here will see that it’s typed up for you to sign. In the meantime, the police surgeon will be coming in to look you over, just routine. Anything else you want to say?”

“Kelly? How is she?”

“Recovering,” said Annie, her hand on the doorknob. “It’s nice of you to ask.”

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

As Banks sifted through the files on his desk on Saturday morning, he noticed the extra photocopy he had made of the list of numbers at the back of Nick Barber’s book. It reminded him that he hadn’t heard back from DC Gavin Rickerd yet, so he picked up the phone. Rickerd answered on the third ring.

“Anything on those numbers I gave you yet?” Banks asked.

“Sorry, sir,” said Rickerd. “We’ve been snowed under. I haven’t had a lot of time to work on it.”

“Any ideas at all?”

“It might be some kind of code, but without a key it could be very difficult to crack.”

“I don’t think we have any keys,” said Banks.

“Well, sir…”

“Look, just keep trying, will you? If I come up with anything that I think might help you I’ll let you know as soon as I can.”

“Okay, sir.”

“Thanks, Gavin.”

As Banks put down the phone, Annie came in to tell him that after fairly exhaustive inquiries made by the Metropolitan Police, there was no evidence to suggest that Nick Barber had been involved with the cocaine business.

“That’s interesting,” said Banks, “seeing as it was Chris Adams who suggested we look there.”

“A bit of nifty misdirection?”

“Looks like it to me. I want another word with Adams anyway. Maybe I can intimidate him with the old wasting-police-time routine.”

“Maybe,” said Annie.

“Any news on Kelly Soames?”

“She was discharged from hospital this morning. She’s staying with an aunt here in Eastvale for the time being.”

“Calvin Soames can’t just walk away, Annie, no matter how contrite he is. You know that.”

“I know,” said Annie. “You don’t think I want him to get off scot-free, do you? But it’s Kelly I’m concerned about at the moment.”

“Kelly’s young. She’ll get over it. I doubt that any magistrate or jury is going to put Calvin away, should he even see the inside of a courtroom.”

“He’ll plead guilty. He wants to be punished.”

“I’ll bet you Kelly won’t go into the witness box, and we won’t have much of a case without her testimony.”

“What’s that?” Annie pointed at the list on Banks’s desk. He realized that she hadn’t been with him when he’d found it, and he hadn’t looked at it since he gave the copy to Rickerd. “Some figures Nick Barber had scribbled in the back of his book.”

Annie peered at it. “Of course. The Kelly Soames business put it right out of my mind, but I was meaning to ask you about that. Barry Gilchrist in the computer shop mentioned that he saw Nick Barber writing in the back of a book while he was on the Web. I wonder what it is.”

“Does it mean anything to you?” Banks asked.

“No.” Annie laughed. “But it does remind me of something.”

“Oh? What?”

“Never mind.”

“Seriously. It could be important.”

“Just something I used to do when I was younger, that’s all.”

Banks could hardly keep the exasperation out of his voice. “What?”

Annie gave him a look. He could see that she was blushing. “You know,” she said. “Ring dates?”

“What dates?”

“For crying out loud.” Annie glanced over her shoulder and lowered her voice. She still sounded as if she were shouting at him. “Are you thick or something?”

“I’m trying not to be, but you’ve lost me.”

“My period, idiot. I used to ring the day of the month my period was due. It’s something a lot of girls do. I know this isn’t exactly the same, not the same time between them, for a start, but it’s the same idea.”

“Well, pardon me, but not being a girl and not having periods-”

“Don’t be sarcastic. Maybe it’s family birthdays or lottery numbers or whatever, but it amounts to the same thing. I’ve told you what you want to know. It reminds me of when I used to ring dates on the calendar to mark the start of my period. Okay?”

Banks held his hands up. “Okay?” he said. “I surrender.”

Annie snorted, turned away abruptly and left the room. Still feeling the disturbed air buffeting in her wake, Banks sat and gazed at the numbers.

6, 8, 9, 21, 22, 25

1, 2, 3, 16, 17, 18, 22, 23

10, , 13

8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 15, 16, 17, 19, 22, 23, 25, 26, 30