As Annie turned the corner, she saw a black BMW parked under the streetlamp outside the cottage she shared with Sheena Pearson. She slowed her own car, immediately on her guard for anything untoward. As she drew closer she realised that the car was one of the unmarked vehicles belonging to the force. Jennings had confirmed earlier that a security operation was to stay in place for the time being and Sheena would be provided with as much protection as possible.
As she pulled up behind it, the driver and passenger doors opened and two uniformed officers emerged. She climbed out to meet them. ‘Evening, boys. How’s it going?’
It was clear that one of the officers had no idea who she was, but the other grinned and nodded. ‘Evening. It’s been very quiet, I’m glad to say.’ He turned to his baffled-looking colleague. ‘DI Delamere. She lives here.’
It took the other officer a moment to process this. ‘Oh, right. Yes, of course.’ It was evident that, as usual in the force, Annie’s reputation preceded her.
‘Are you two scheduled to be here all night?’
The first officer shook his head. ‘Afraid not. We just don’t have the resources. Chief Inspector Cowley asked us to hang around until you returned, but we’ll have to head off shortly. We’ve arranged for a patrol car to come past every half-hour or so, and we’re geared up to respond urgently to any requests for help, but that’s about as much as we can do.’
Annie knew only too well the pressures the force was under, and she suspected Alan Cowley had already stretched his resources to the limits in allowing the two officers to remain here. Jonny Garfield had probably been right about one thing. If the police couldn’t offer decent protection to a public figure like Sheena, they were never going to be able to do much for the likes of Garfield. ‘Thanks for your efforts, anyway. Hope it’s not been too boring.’
‘Rather that way than the other,’ the first officer said. ‘Anything else we can do before we disappear?’
‘Thanks, but we should be okay now. Or if we’re not you’ll soon hear from us.’
‘Bit of a lonely spot,’ the second officer observed.
‘Thanks for reminding me.’
The cottage was actually only a couple of miles from the centre of Chesterfield, giving Annie an easy drive to police HQ while allowing Sheena to access the direct London trains. The nearest village, with a couple of decent pubs and a small scattering of shops, was only a fifteen-minute walk away. Even so, the cottage felt as if it could easily be a long way from anywhere. At this time in the evening, with the dark thickening, no other lights were visible and there were no other signs of human life. Normally, that was precisely what Annie loved about the place. Today, it felt as if they’d chosen to thumb their noses at the fates.
She waited while the two police officers climbed into the car and pulled out back towards the main road, then she turned her own car into the driveway. After a moment’s thought, she backed out again and left her car parked across the front of the drive, where the police vehicle had been. That would make it easier for them to make a quick exit if necessary, with no risk of being boxed into the drive.
Christ, she thought, do I really need to be thinking like this?
Some of it was almost second nature, of course, the kind of caution that’s drilled into you as a serving police officer. Just basic common sense. But for the moment she was going to have to exercise even greater caution. You tended always to assume it wouldn’t happen to you. But it nearly had happened to Sheena twice in as many days.
She walked back to the front door and dug out her keys, finding herself now constantly glancing back over her shoulder. The front garden was relatively small, with nowhere for anyone to hide, other than a line of thick shrubbery along one boundary. The rear garden was more of a concern. It was potentially accessible from the woodland at the rear, and offered a number of places – thick bushes, a dense hedge and a row of trees at the far end – where an assailant could potentially be concealed.
The house itself was reasonably secure, and Sheena had further tightened up security when concern had initially surfaced about potential threats to MPs. They’d fitted CCTV around the property, installed an improved alarm system and installed security windows and doors on the ground floor of the house.
No doubt they’d tighten it up still further now. Sheena herself hated it. She hated the sense of being imprisoned in her own home. She hated the way these developments had inevitably distanced her even further from her constituents. Ironically, her contact with the protestors had been one of her few unplanned meetings with her constituents in recent months. Her surgeries now were appointment-only, and all local meetings were carefully vetted in advance.
Annie opened the door and stepped inside. ‘Sheena?’ She’d phoned before leaving to say she was on her way, but she didn’t want her to suffer a moment’s anxiety about who had entered the house.
‘In the kitchen.’
Annie followed the sound of Sheena’s voice into the farmhouse kitchen at the front of the cottage. Sheena was standing in front of the Aga, in the process of tasting what smelled like some kind of chicken casserole.
‘You should have left that to me,’ Annie said. ‘You’re only just out of hospital.’
‘It’s just displacement activity. Gives me something to think about other than that there’s someone out there trying to kill me.’ Sheena gestured behind her towards the large kitchen table. ‘There’s a bottle of wine opened. To cook with, you understand.’
‘Did you put some in the casserole as well?’
‘Very funny. Now you’re here you might as well at least make yourself useful and pour us a glass.’
Annie did as she was told, placing one of the filled glasses beside Sheena on the corner of the Aga. She took a sip of her own. ‘Sorry I’m so late back. We got stuck waiting to interview this guy, and then I made the mistake of going back into the office to drop Zoe off. Ran into the Assistant Chief, who clearly wanted to talk.’
‘About me?’
‘Partly. He’d already had the official line from Stuart Jennings and from Andy Dwyer, the guy in charge of the case, but I think he was looking for an inside track.’
‘And did you give him one?’
‘I told him what I knew. Not sure it was anything he didn’t know already. I reckon he was just checking that Stuart and Andy were really on top of things.’
‘Is he any good, this Andy Dwyer? You reckon he’ll get whoever’s behind this?’
‘Dwyer’s a decent cop, as far as I know. Ambitious sort, so he’ll want this on his CV. We’ll get this toerag soon enough.’
‘I just hope that really is soon enough,’ Sheena said. ‘Before he has another go.’
‘Amen to that.’ Annie could sense that Sheena was looking for reassurance, even if she was reluctant to say so. ‘He can’t stay hidden for long. Either we’ll pin him down through CCTV or someone will shop him.’
‘You reckon it’s a he?’ Sheena asked.
‘This kind usually are. But, no, I’m not assuming that. There’s no practical reason why it couldn’t be a woman.’
Sheena placed the lid back on the cast-iron casserole dish, then lifted it back into the oven of the Aga. ‘Another half-hour or so.’
Annie topped up their wine, and they made their way back through to the spacious lounge. Sheena lowered herself on to the sofa, stretching herself its full length. She was dressed in jeans and a sweatshirt, as she invariably was at home. Her working image, by contrast, was carefully cultivated, as she’d explained to Annie – smart enough to be taken seriously by her more antediluvian colleagues, but not so smart that she seemed intimidating or elitist to her constituents.
‘You wouldn’t even have to think about that stuff if you were a man,’ Annie had pointed out. She sometimes wondered how long Sheena would be able to put up with it. But she’d gradually realised how resilient Sheena was, and how determined she was to make Parliament work in the interests of her constituents. She was perhaps fighting a losing battle, but Annie knew she wouldn’t give up easily. Even after a day like today.
Annie sat herself on the carpet beside Sheena and took her hand. ‘What about you, though? How are you doing?’
‘A bit shaken. Yesterday was bad enough, but today…’ She’d closed her eyes, as if trying to block out the world. ‘I don’t like the thought that someone is actively targeting me.’
‘I’m not keen on the idea either, funnily enough.’ She squeezed Sheena’s hand. ‘I wish we could provide more protection for you.’
‘I’m not sure I’d want it, to be honest. I’d feel bad if too much resource was being diverted to looking after me. You lot have enough on your plates.’
‘You have to stop being so bloody selfless, you know. It doesn’t help anything if someone in your position gets hurt.’ For a moment, Annie found herself almost growing irritated with Sheena’s apparent stubbornness. But she knew this was just Sheena’s way of coping, of not allowing herself to be ground down by anxiety.
Sheena smiled. Her eyes were still closed but it was as if she’d read Annie’s thoughts. ‘Don’t get me wrong. Just at the moment, I’m happy to accept whatever help you can provide. But having banged on about policing cuts for the last four years, it wouldn’t be right for me to get special treatment. The guy who came today reckoned our security here was pretty decent already, and they’re getting me this personal security device that connects directly to 999. There are a few more things they can do. Including installing some panic buttons and some more security lighting and cameras outside. Should be done in the next day or two.’
‘And no doubt the Daily Mail will complain about you claiming it on expenses.’
‘No doubt. Just this once, I reckon I can live with that. That’s what really angers me about this. We’ve been playing with fire for years on this stuff. The tabloid press. Some of my less responsible colleagues. Even some of them on our side of the House. Stirring up anger and resentment. You’d think one death would have been enough to warn them, but even that got brushed under the carpet.’ She pulled her mobile phone from the pocket of her jeans. ‘You’ve seen the kind of stuff I get on social media. They’ve even been at it today.’
‘You’re joking.’
‘Do I look like I’m joking? I mean, I’ve had loads of supportive messages, which is great. But plenty of abuse, even some threats. Unbelievable stuff.’
‘You’ve told Dwyer’s people?’
‘They’re monitoring the relevant feeds. Partly in case it gives them any leads into who was involved yesterday and today, and partly just for general nastiness.’
‘Let’s hope that one or two of the fuckwits out there get a bit of a shock when the police come calling,’ Annie said. ‘It’s incredible that people can carry on spewing out that stuff after what happened today.’
‘Amazing but true,’ Sheena said. ‘And apparently it should all be in a day’s work for a conscientious MP.’
‘You’re sure you want to go on with this, Shee?’ It was the question that Annie had been wanting to ask since the previous day’s incident. It was a question that, in truth, she’d been asking since even before Sheena had been elected. ‘Being an MP, I mean. After what’s happened.’
‘What else would I do?’ It was her standard semi-serious response to Annie’s recurrent question. She’d been a university lecturer in politics prior to her election. Her academic career had been relatively successful, and she’d been in increasing demand as a commentator and pundit. But Sheena had never been sure if it was a life she wanted to return to now she’d experienced politics on the front line.
‘There’s loads of stuff you could do,’ Annie said. ‘I know you feel you’re doing something worthwhile as an MP, but there are roles where you could do even more.’
‘Are there? Maybe there are. But I’m not sure I fancy sitting behind a desk driving some charity or campaigning group, however worthy they might be.’ She eased herself up on the sofa and took another sip of wine. ‘Anyway, it’s academic. I’m not going to be driven out of the job by something like this. If and when I decide to move on, it’ll be my own decision, not because I’ve been intimidated into it.’
Annie hadn’t seriously expected her to say anything else. She knew she’d feel the same if their positions were reversed. ‘Just take care, then, won’t you?’
‘I always do. As much as the job allows, anyway.’
‘That’s what worries me.’
Sheena pushed herself fully upright on the sofa. ‘I know you think I’m a bit reckless sometimes, but I’m really not. I take as much care as I can. But if I lock myself away completely, I might as well not be doing the job. Shall we get some food?’
‘By which you mean: will you just shut up about this? Fair enough. For what it’s worth, I don’t think you’re reckless. I just worry about you.’
Sheena nodded and then grinned. ‘I know that. And I know you mean well. Now, will you just shut up about this?’
They ate at the kitchen table. Generally, even after dark, they left the kitchen blinds open, untroubled by any thoughts of an intruder in the garden. Tonight, Annie noticed that Sheena had already lowered the blinds, as if she wanted to exclude as much of the outside world as possible. She seemed calm enough, Annie thought, but it was impossible to know what thoughts or emotions might be churning through her brain. Annie knew there was no point in pushing the issue further than she already had. She knew Sheena well enough to know she’d talk when she was ready to, if at all, and not before.
After supper, they returned to the living room. Without any open acknowledgement of what they were doing, both women returned immediately to work, sitting opposite each other with their laptops open on their knees. Annie had accessed the force’s secure network and was checking her emails from the day. The vast majority were just routine administration that she could either ignore completely or at least disregard until some notional time when she was less busy. There were a few messages from various members of the team updating her and Jennings on various aspects of the enquiry, including a report on the second crime scene from the Senior CSI and a couple of long-shot leads relating to vehicles caught on traffic cameras in the areas surrounding the two killings. She dutifully ploughed through the material, sending responses where appropriate, knowing it would be one less task for the following day.
Sheena, opposite her, was working her way through her constituency emails. Annie had risked further wrath by asking whether she wouldn’t be better taking a break at least for that evening. Sheena, in response, had gestured towards Annie’s own laptop. ‘I don’t see you taking a break.’
‘I’ve not been in hospital.’
‘I was only in for observation. It’s not as if I’ve been ill.’
‘No, you’ve just been shot at. Twice. Some people might think you deserved a break.’
‘Some people haven’t seen the rate at which my constituency emails pile up.’
‘That’s because your constituents all know you’re a soft touch.’
‘Too ready to help them deal with unsympathetic government departments, dodgy landlords and the general problems of poverty and homelessness, just to take a few examples from today’s mailbag. Is that what you mean?’
‘You’re just a do-gooder, that’s your trouble.’ It was an old joke between them, but tonight there was a slight edge to the banter.
‘I guess it is. Anyway, if I don’t deal with these tonight, they’ll just keep coming. In fairness, the vast majority of today’s are just messages of support, same as on the social media accounts. Interspersed with the odd bout of unimaginative abuse, obviously.’
‘The police aren’t monitoring the email account, presumably?’
‘It’s a secure account and a lot of constituents write in confidence about personal issues, so I can’t give anyone else open access to it. But I’ve agreed to forward them any serious-sounding abuse, along with anything that might be pertinent to what happened yesterday at the protest.’
‘You had anything of that sort?’
‘Not since yesterday. When I originally made that statement about Mo Henley—’
‘Our friend Bulldog.’
‘That’s the one. He really does think it makes him sound Churchillian. Anyway, at that point I got a load of stuff from those kind of groups. Britain Alone. England for the English. Even one who called themselves the Sons of Robin Hood, would you believe? But there’s been a deathly silence since. I thought at least one of them might try to claim responsibility just to get a few inches in the local press, but nothing so far. Just the usual personal abuse from people without two brain cells to rub together.’
‘Even the brainless stuff is probably worth forwarding on,’ Annie said. ‘It doesn’t sound as if any of the people you were dealing with yesterday would exactly be Mastermind contenders.’
Sheena was still tapping at her keyboard. ‘I normally resent wasting even a moment’s thought on some of these numpties, but you’re right. I suppose any of these might provide a lead—’ She stopped suddenly, staring at the screen. ‘Shit.’
‘What is it?’
‘I’ve just opened an email. Sent tonight. About an hour ago. Usual abuse. But then it says: “Saw your dyke partner arrive back around eight tonight. Then the police car drive away. So I guess you’re both alone in there.” There’s a photo attached. Of the cottage. Looks like it was taken this evening.’ She looked up at Annie. ‘What do you think?’
‘I think I call it in,’ Annie said. ‘And we get backup round here straight away. Then we have to make some decisions. It’s probably just some arsehole trying to put the wind up us, but after today I’m taking no chances.’
It took Annie a few minutes to get through to the force enquiry desk. The call handlers had clearly been alerted to Sheena’s case, so no lengthy explanations were required. She was told that a squad car would be there as soon as possible. They had moved back to the kitchen, pacing or absent-mindedly tidying, neither able to sit at ease.
‘I’ll feel such a fool if no one’s out there,’ Sheena said, when Annie had ended the call.
‘Steel yourself then, because there probably won’t be. If someone just wanted to kill you, they probably wouldn’t announce the fact by email.’
‘I’ll bear that in mind. Very reassuring.’ Sheena’s defiant spark wasn’t evident now. Instead of laughing she was quiet and, Annie thought, more than a little scared.
Annie went to her and put her arms around her partner in a loose embrace, touching her head to Sheena’s. ‘Sorry. I’m a bit shaken by this. What I mean is, it looks to me like whoever sent that email is mainly intending to scare you. At least for the moment.’
‘You’re not making this any better, you know.’
‘I’m not sure sensitivity’s my strong point. Not at a moment like this, anyway. I just shift into police mode.’
‘I know. I’ve seen it enough times. I’m just joking. Well, kind of joking. Making light of it to avoid admitting how shit-scared I am. That kind of joking.’
‘The point I was clumsily trying to make is that this person is playing with us. They may or may not want to kill you. They may or may not be the same person who shot at you today and yesterday. It might well just be some local fuckwit who thinks they’re being funny. Whichever it is, they’ll have made themselves scarce as soon as they sent that email. They’re not going to hang around till the boys in blue show up.’
‘So we’re wasting police time?’ Sheena stepped out of Annie’s arms and leaned against the kitchen counter with her arms folded.
Annie sighed. ‘Shee, just try to put your liberal conscience on hold for once and think about your own well-being. If there’s the smallest chance there actually is someone still out there, we need to get that checked out. If nothing else, we need to get this incident formally recorded so the powers-that-be know there’s a genuine and continuing threat. Nobody’s going to begrudge taking a couple of uniformed officers off patrol to check it out. That’s what they’re there for. Take it from me, we’re far more pissed off if something like this is ignored and we end up with a full-blown murder investigation on our hands.’ She stopped as she realised the insensitivity of the remark. ‘Sorry…’
‘I suppose that’s reassuring in its own way.’
‘I do my best. The immediate question here is how this person got hold of our address.’
Sheena shook her head. ‘I’ve always felt guilty at keeping it confidential. Now I’m glad I did.’
‘You can probably blame or thank me for that,’ Annie said. ‘If I recall, I was the one who insisted on it.’ Shortly before Sheena had been elected to Parliament, the law had been changed to allow prospective candidates to keep their domestic addresses confidential. In the wake of the MPs’ expenses scandal, this had been a controversial move and a number of Sheena’s fellow candidates had chosen to be open with the information. Annie had felt that the combination of her own and Sheena’s roles potentially created an above-average security risk.
‘As always, you were right,’ Sheena said. ‘Mind you, I think most of my colleagues agree with you these days. It feels different even from when I was first elected. So how could they have got hold of it?’
‘I suppose it wouldn’t be that difficult if you really wanted to find out,’ Annie said. ‘The media always seem to manage it. And, like I say, it might mean that our friend is based locally. I’m guessing our presence isn’t exactly unnoticed in the local community.’
‘Everybody knows everything in a place like this,’ Sheena agreed. ‘And they’re usually only too happy to gossip about it.’
From somewhere in the distance, they could already hear the sound of a police siren. ‘Even if our friend was still out there,’ Annie said, ‘they’ll be off now my colleagues have announced their impending arrival. If I didn’t know better, I’d almost think they did it on purpose to avoid meeting any trouble.’ She smiled at Sheena. ‘Come on, then. Let’s go and waste some police time.’