‘I still don’t trust him,’ Morrison said plaintively.
Broadbent opened the door, saying quietly, ‘Neither do I. He’s a clever bugger... and now he’s a hero. But even clever buggers make mistakes. Just be patient.’
Chapter 36
It was three thirty and Jack was heading for the station’s main reception with a spring in his step, but Collingwood put a hand on his arm. ‘Better to use the back entrance and leave through the station yard, Jack. The press are out front in force. No doubt they want to get a few quotes from the hero of the hour.’
‘Bloody hell,’ Jack said.
‘Somehow they got wind of your name and rank and since then they’ve been laying siege to the place.’
Jack patted Collingwood’s arm. ‘I’ve got a lot to thank you for, Mike.’ He shook his head. ‘I can’t believe Morrison searched my house.’
‘I’d say it’s your wife you need to thank, Jack — big time. Come on, I’ve got a car waiting.’ As the patrol car swept out, Jack looked back and saw the scrum of reporters and photographers milling around outside. But his relief at having dodged them was shortlived. As the patrol car parked up outside his house, a journalist popped up, seemingly out of nowhere, with a photographer close behind.
‘Detective Jack Warr, I’m from the Daily Mail, and I have a few questions...’ Jack resisted the temptation to push the photographer out of his way. Instead, he kept his head down and sidestepped him as he hurried to the front door. He fumbled to get his keys out as the photographer started snapping away, finally managing to open the door and slam it shut behind him. He stood in the hall for a few moments, taking deep breaths.
‘Maggie?’ he called out, walking into the kitchen. It was a mess. All the drawers had been emptied and the contents left scattered on the floor, along with grocery lists and takeaway leaflets. The sink was full of dirty pans and crockery, and there was a pile of dirty washing beside the washing machine.
Jack hurried up the stairs. ‘Maggie! Mum!’ Their bed had been left unmade, and going into the nursery, he found a pile of Charlie’s dirty clothes beside his cot, while his changing table was littered with empty bottles of milk and dirty food bowls. He could feel his heart pounding as he went into Hannah’s bedroom and saw the same disarray. Even Penny’s room looked as if it had been ransacked, with an unmade bed, drawers open and clothes strewn across the bed as if she’d left in a hurry. The whole house was like the Marie Celeste.
Going back down to the kitchen, he called the hospital, pacing anxiously while he was put on hold. ‘I’ve just come out of surgery. I’ve only got a minute,’ she said curtly.
‘I’m home, Maggie, everything’s fine...’
‘We have a lot to sort out, Jack,’ she said, as if she hadn’t heard him. ‘I’ll be home around seven. Penny’s taken Hannah to a dance class, and Charlie’s with a baby minder at the school. Marius is with them. I have to go... we’ll talk later.’
Jack stood holding the receiver. Never in the entire time he had been with Maggie had he heard that cold, dismissive tone in her voice. He stood there, unsure how to deal with it, before replacing the receiver and running up the stairs to his office. He was expecting the worst, but he was still shocked by the state of it. It looked as if the contents of all his drawers and what had been on his desk had been tipped onto the floor, along with the phone, but what made him really furious was the way the old children’s toys had clearly been kicked around. He picked up one of Hannah’s old broken dolls, now with its arms ripped off, and flushed with anger.
He took a moment to calm himself, then got down on all fours and searched through the debris for the plastic cart. He turned it over and sighed with relief when he saw the duct tape was still in place. Getting to his feet, he took another deep breath and returned to the kitchen.
After making himself a cup of tea, he went back upstairs and took a shower, washed his hair, shaved and put on a clean T-shirt and jeans. It was now after six, and he was expecting Penny and the children to be home before Maggie. Suddenly he heard Hannah singing at the top of her voice. He hurried down the stairs; Hannah was twirling round and round, wearing a pink leotard, white tights and ballet shoes, while Penny was taking Charlie out of his pram. When she saw him, she ran into his arms with an excited yelp.
‘I’ve been at ballet class, Daddy!’
Penny gave Jack a disapproving look. ‘She wouldn’t get changed,’ she said.
‘You were on TV... I saw you on TV!’ Hannah shrieked.
‘I was going to order a takeaway,’ Jack said, giving Hannah a hug.
‘We’ve already eaten, and this little boy needs changing so I’ll take him straight upstairs,’ Penny said coldly.
‘Mum, everything’s all right. I’m home, and it’s over.’
‘You’ve got a lot of explaining to do... we’ve had a terrible time here,’ Penny said, shaking her head.
‘I can make some hot chocolate for everyone,’ Jack suggested.
‘We had some at McDonald’s. Mustn’t have too much sugar when they have to go to bed.’
It was obvious Penny wasn’t going to talk to him, so he went up to his office to see what Maggie had done with all his research on Detmar Steinburg. He heard the front door closing and ran downstairs. Maggie was taking off her coat in the hall. Ignoring him, she went straight into the kitchen, putting a pizza box down on the table.
‘Mags...’ He went to embrace her, but she pushed him away.
‘Go up and ask Penny to show you all the TV footage and newspaper articles, then come down and we’ll have pizza.’ Jack did as he was told.
Fifteen minutes later, he came back down to find Maggie had opened a bottle of wine. ‘OK, I’ve seen enough,’ he said.
‘Sit down,’ Maggie told him. ‘I’ll put the pizza in the oven, and you can pour me a glass of wine.’ Jack poured two glasses of wine. Maggie took two warmed plates out of the oven and searched a drawer for the pizza cutter.
‘So, what did they arrest you for?’
‘Obstructing an investigation and withholding evidence.’
‘Those are criminal offences, right?’
Jack shrugged. ‘Sure, but that prick DCI Morrison already tried and failed to pin them on me. I don’t know why, but he’s got it in for me.’
‘So, it was not until the footage from the gallery was released that they suspected you of withholding evidence for the second time.’
‘Yeah, someone at the gallery was bound to have got me on their mobile.’
‘So, after you had done your hero bit, you just walked out?’
Jack shrugged and took a sip of wine. ‘Yeah, by then Mike Collingwood was in control of the situation. I just wanted to get home.’
‘So it was very fortunate he was there in good time,’ Maggie said.
‘Well, it was kind of down to me. I told him to get as many officers as possible to the gallery asap because I knew something was going down.’
‘You contacted him?’
‘I made an anonymous call to the station and got through to Mike. I didn’t want that shit Morrison getting the kudos.’
Maggie took out the pizza and cut it into slices.
‘This looks great,’ Jack said, rubbing his hands. ‘All I’ve had is a few biscuits in the last twenty-four hours.’
‘At what point did you know, as you put it, something was going down?’
Jack took a bite of pizza and chewed for a moment before he answered. ‘I thought I was right about the victim being Detmar Steinburg, but without your brainwave about that guy Joe Orton, I’d never have pieced the whole thing together. As soon as I saw Kurt running around like a nutcase, I knew he’d done it.’