Zelda smiled and touched his hand briefly. ‘I didn’t mean it that way. Just that, in my experience, when the police get fully engaged, as a force, as an institution, then they have their own rules to follow and justice isn’t always done. Remember, I grew up in the Soviet bloc.’ She paused, then said, ‘I saw Hawkins and Keane together once and had reasons of my own for wanting to know what they were doing together.’
‘And did you find out?’
‘Not really. I’ll admit I went a lot further than you wanted me to. That’s another reason I didn’t tell you. I followed Mr. Hawkins after work on a couple of occasions. One time he went into a restaurant in Soho, and I waited in a pub across the street, where I could see the place. After a while he came out, and he was with two other people. One was this Keane, and the other was a woman I didn’t recognise. I took some photographs.’
Banks thought he might like to see these photographs, but he didn’t want to interrupt the rhythm of their conversation by asking for them. ‘And then when you went to The George and Dragon, you found out that Hawkins had met Keane there, too? It was him, wasn’t it?’
‘Yes.’
‘Christ,’ said Banks. ‘You found out that Hawkins was meeting with Keane, who you already knew was connected with Tadić and who had once tried to kill me. For crying out loud, why didn’t you tell me? Or someone. Hawkins could have been selling NCA information to Tadić’s gang. Or he could have been in trouble. You knew what Keane was. Annie and I told you. A killer. A pyromaniac. And you know Tadić, too, from painful experience.’
‘Yes. I was curious, that’s all. They parted company, and I followed Keane and the girl.’
‘Where did they go?’
‘Just window-shopping on Oxford Street. Then they got a taxi on Regent Street and I never saw Keane again.’
Banks just shook his head slowly. ‘Another drink?’ he asked.
Zelda gave him a thin smile. ‘Some more water, please.’
Banks went to the bar and got himself another pint and Zelda a large glass of tap water. His head was spinning with information. What did all this mean? What might he have done if he’d known six months ago or more? But somehow, he didn’t think Zelda’s story was over.
She was sitting as he had left her, gazing over the broad valley, smoking. The spider was still spinning its intricate web beside her. ‘I’ll miss this place,’ she said softly.
‘You’re going somewhere?’
‘Oh, I think so, don’t you?’ She sipped some ice water. Her beer was still untouched. ‘Thank you.’
‘With Ray?’
As Zelda told him about her experiences with immigration and worries about the pre-settlement form, he sensed a deep sadness in her, almost a sense of defeat, as if she felt no matter what she did, what happiness she found, it was bound to be snatched away from her before long, either by sex traffickers or immigration officials. She went on to tell him about Danvers and Debs hinting that her French passport didn’t quite cut it, and that her past actions left a lot to be desired.
‘It hasn’t happened yet,’ he said when she’d finished. ‘And if it’s of any comfort, I don’t think you’ll be going anywhere. Not if you don’t want to. Ray’s a wealthy man. He can take care of you. It’s not as if you’d be a burden on the state. You’re not poor.’
‘I don’t want to be a burden on Raymond, either.’
Banks laughed. ‘I hardly think that’s possible,’ he said. ‘Ray adores you.’
Zelda flushed. ‘I’ve made money from my work, too,’ she said, then paused. ‘I mean my art work. The jewellery and sculptures, maybe not original paintings, but some copies I have made for people. But I haven’t paid tax. I haven’t filled in the proper forms. Not ever. I just came here from Paris and started living in London, doing that pavement art thing and living in a squat with a group of other immigrants. I didn’t register or fill in any forms. Then Raymond came along and... You know the rest. They’ll get me if they want me. What is it they say? I’m undocumented.’
‘Is that another reason why you didn’t tell me anything? Because you’re afraid of immigration?’
‘You can’t understand this if you are not a stranger here. How it feels. It might have put me on their radar. As it happens, this Danvers and his woman have done that.’
‘No,’ said Banks. ‘You did it yourself. They were only doing their jobs.’
‘Ah,’ she said. ‘There you go. You’re all the same, covering each other’s bottoms.’ She stubbed out her cigarette viciously. Sparks flew. ‘I did nothing to draw attention to myself. I just did my job, made sculptures and jewellery, and lived a quiet life with Raymond.’
Banks couldn’t help but smile. ‘Calm down,’ he said. ‘Believe it or not, I’m on your side. And it’s arses, not bottoms.’
‘It doesn’t sound like you’re on my side.’ Zelda sulked for a moment then drank some water. ‘There’s more,’ she said. ‘You might as well know it all. Do you want to hear?’
‘Of course. Go on.’
‘The girl who was with Keane.’
‘Faye Butler.’
‘My God, you know about her, too!’
‘I heard just the other day. Burgess again. She was Keane’s girlfriend back then.’
‘I’d like to meet this Burgess who knows everything.’
‘I don’t think so,’ Banks said. ‘But he’s on your side, too, or we wouldn’t be here having this nice friendly little chat right now.’
Zelda put her head in her hands and sighed, then took a deep breath and ran the backs of her hands over her eyes. Her fingers were long and tapered, like a musician’s.
‘Do you know what happened to her?’ Banks asked.
‘She’s dead. Murdered. I read about it in the newspaper.’
‘Yes.’
‘The waitress in the restaurant knew where she worked. I went back there and asked about her. She was a regular customer. After that it was easy.’
‘You went and talked to Faye Butler at Foyles?’
‘Yes. I thought I might be able to get to Keane through her, but I hit a dead end. They had split up. She hadn’t seen him for months. She didn’t know where he lived. He was going by the name of Hugh Foley. I would have told you then, honest, if I had been able to find him for you.’
‘And that was it?’
‘That was it. I know I was going against what you told me, but I thought that if I could locate Keane for you it would be good for us all. I would find the Tadićs and others like them and just maybe you would be able to arrest them. Maybe even Annie would start to like me, too.’
‘Annie doesn’t dislike you,’ he said. ‘She’s jealous, that’s all, and protective of her father. Forgive the amateur psychology, but her mother died when she was very young, and she’s felt responsible for Ray ever since.’
‘Must have been quite a life,’ Zelda said with a smile. ‘Feeling responsible for Raymond.’
Banks laughed. ‘I should imagine it took a lot out of her. But things will improve. Believe me. She’ll accept you in time.’
‘Do you really think so?’
‘I do.’
Banks finished his drink and they left with a passing goodbye to Sally Preece. They walked back to Gratly mostly in silence, with heavy steps, each lost in thought, and as he gazed on the rolling hills, drystone walls, grazing sheep, and flimsy white clouds snaking across a clear blue sky, Banks had the strangest fleeting feeling that they were leaving some sort of paradise behind and danger lay ahead. He shivered despite the heat of the sun.
6
It was early that Monday evening, and Banks was pottering about in his garden out back to a soundtrack of Schubert lieder sung by Anna Lucia Richter when he heard a car pull up in front. Curious, he walked through the house and opened the door to find Ray Cabbot standing there, hands on hips.