She started to walk away, then stopped.
‘Oh, there’s something else. A few names on a notepad that I think you said the clinic passed on to you?’
‘How many names were there?’ Jack had not even looked at it.
‘Three, but one of them — a Brian Henson — is deceased. I think he was second on the list, but I’m not sure.’
‘Well, I guess that’s one less to try and track down. Thanks again, Sara.’
‘Would you like me to bring you a coffee?’
‘That would be greatly appreciated — white with two sugars please.’
Jack returned to sifting through the files and copies of more newspaper articles about the fire. One article had photographs of the little girls and one of Karen, their mother. She was very attractive with long blonde hair and was quoted as saying she was ‘beyond despair at losing her two little angels and did not know how she would live without them.’ There was a small news item with the headline saying Mother of tragic children dies, with the same photograph of Karen. She had died from a heroin overdose ten months after the fire.
He closed the file as Sara returned with his coffee and a KitKat. Jack said it was just what he needed and thanked her again. She hovered for a moment, then said she would leave him to get on with his work.
Jack continued working on his report and did not finish until after 11 p.m. By the time he got home he felt drained and couldn’t be bothered to heat up the stew that had been left on the stove. Instead, he got himself a tumbler of whisky and went up to his office.
He looked into the bedroom to see Maggie fast asleep, then continued up the stairs. All was silent, and Penny and Hannah were also sleeping so he moved carefully in order not to disturb them.
He sat at his desk sipping his drink. As tired as he was, he started making more notes for himself. He wanted to check on Amanda Dunn. If her mother seemed not to even want to travel to London, he was concerned about what could happen to her. Would she return to the basement flat? He opened his briefcase and started removing some of the files he had not had time to look over. He was annoyed that they did not include any police reports of Rodney Middleton’s previous arrests, but then he found copies of Anthony Middleton’s criminal records. He had moved from petty crime to house burglaries, and then there were charges of assault and battery connected to a car theft ring that he had been involved with. He was sentenced to three years. All his criminal activities had resulted in short-term prison sentences, until the last, when he received ten years for armed robbery. That was four years ago.
Jack sighed. The robbery had occurred after the fire, and after the death of his wife Karen. He recalled Anthony saying that there was nothing on the outside for him. And he certainly had no feelings for his son, Rodney.
Jack was about to call it quits for the night when his mobile rang. He made a frantic search for it as he didn’t want to wake anyone up, then found it in his jacket pocket. It was Ridley.
‘I hope this isn’t too late?’
‘No, sir, I was just doing some research.’
‘I need to talk to you.’
‘Do you want to come over?’
‘No. Can you meet me tomorrow? Turk’s river cruises, just by John Lewis car park entrance. It’s closed, but there’s a slip road, I’ll be outside on their dock, at 7 a.m.’
‘Yes, of course. I’ll be there.’
‘No word to anyone, Jack. It’s important and I’m depending on you. Good night.’
Jack leaned back in his chair, puzzled by the call but at the same time pleased that Ridley had at least made contact. He physically jumped when Maggie walked in.
‘I heard your phone going... it woke me up. Is everything alright?’
‘I’m sorry, darling. I was in here working and I should have turned it off.’
‘Do you want a hot drink? I think I might make myself one as I’ll need to take a sleeping tablet to get back to sleep now.’
‘Why don’t you go back to bed. I’ll bring you up a Horlicks. I might have one myself.’
She hunched her shoulders, smiling. ‘Sounds good to me... and maybe a biscuit?’
Jack turned off his laptop as she went back into the bedroom. By the time he had heated the milk, searched the cupboard for the Horlicks and found the biscuit tin, it was midnight, and he was suddenly tired out. Maggie was sitting up in bed with a shawl wrapped around her shoulders. She reached out for the tray with both hands.
‘Oh, I need this. Soon as I wake up, I can never go back to sleep because I start thinking about everything I need to be doing. I’ll have to go to the ATM tomorrow as I had to give Penny cash for the grocery shop.’
‘I’ll just brush my teeth,’ Jack said, watching her place her hot drink on the bedside table.
‘I already paid Mum yesterday morning. I gave her fifty quid. I meant to transfer some more money into her bank account, but I had a long day. I’ll do it tomorrow.’
Maggie sipped her drink, frowning. ‘I gave her forty pounds this morning before I left, and she shouldn’t need her bank account topping up until the end of the month. She has her pension, and obviously doesn’t pay rent or any of the bills.’
‘We would have to cough up a lot more if we hired a live-in nanny to take care of Hannah like Mum does.’
‘That’s not my point, Jack. She’s obviously worth her weight in gold but I’m just a bit concerned about what she’s spending all her money on.’
‘Bingo!’ Jack grinned.
‘Oh, be serious! And she doesn’t pay for her mobile, you do. The allowance we pay her is really just for extras, as everything else is covered. I know it doesn’t amount to that much, but remember, Penny refused to accept any money from us because she said she had her pension and some money from your dad, but we insisted... are you listening?’
‘Sorry, I was nodding off. I’ll have a chat with her in the morning.’
‘I think you should. Not that I mind paying her whatever she needs. She is a life-safer for me.’
Maggie took a sleeping pill and drained her Horlicks, placing the empty mug on her bedside table. She just managed to retrieve Jack’s half full mug before it toppled onto the duvet as he was fast asleep. She had to reach over him to turn his bedside light off, and then her own, as she snuggled down beside him.
These long days at the hospital were not good for their love life. She started counting how many nights it was since they had actually had sex, and it quickly became like counting sheep because she was soon fast asleep.
Chapter Five
Maggie was woken by Jack’s mobile phone alarm, which he had set for 6 a.m. He almost fell out of bed trying to cancel the alarm, tripping over the tray from the previous night’s hot drinks and falling backwards onto the bed.
‘My God! What are you doing, Jack?’ Maggie sat bolt upright.
‘Sorry, I’ve got a meeting at seven and I really need to get going!’
By the time he had taken a shower and shaved, Maggie was down in the kitchen cooking breakfast. Jack checked his watch as he went downstairs and was pulling on his leather jacket as he went into the kitchen.
‘I have to go, I’m sorry. First, I wake you last night, then I fall on top of you this morning! Can you put a coffee in the Thermos for me so that I can have it on the way to work?’
‘Where on earth are you going at this hour? It’s only six thirty?’
Jack grabbed a piece of toast from the toaster and began to lather butter over it. Maggie poured some freshly made coffee into the flask that was always left on the side of the draining board as he rarely remembered to take it with him.
‘It’s top secret... I promised I wouldn’t mention it to anyone, but...’