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Banks laughed. “He was ahead of his time, was Steve. Where the hell is he, anyway? Surely he must have heard, someone must have been in touch with him.”

“Hadn't you heard?” Paul said.

Banks and Dave both stared at him. “What?”

“Shit. I thought you must know. I'm sorry. Steve's dead.”

Banks felt a shiver up his spine.
The Big Chill.
It was one thing to get to an age when the generation ahead started dying off, but another thing entirely to face the mortality of your own generation. “What happened?” he asked.

“Lung cancer. About three years ago. I only know 'cos his mum and dad kept in touch with mine, like. Christmas cards, that sort of thing. I hadn't actually seen him for years. Apparently he had a couple of kids, too.”

“Poor sod,” said Dave.

After a brief silence, they raised their glasses and drank a toast to the memory of Steve, early Dylan fan. Then they toasted Graham again. Two down, three to go.

Banks looked closely at each of his old friends and saw that Dave had lost most of his hair and Paul was gray and had put
on a lot of weight. He started to feel gloomy, and even the memory of Michelle naked beside him failed to dispel the gloom. His lip burned and his left side ached from where his assailant had kicked him. He felt like getting pissed, but he knew when he felt that way that it never worked. No matter how much he drank he never reached the state of oblivion he aimed for. Even so, he didn't have to watch what he drank. He wasn't driving anywhere that night. He had thought he might try to get in touch with Michelle later, depending on how the evening went, but they hadn't made any firm arrangements. Both needed time to absorb what had happened between them, Banks sensed. That was okay. He didn't feel that she was backing off or anything, no more than he was. Besides, she had a lot to do. Things were moving fast.

Banks looked at his cigarette smoldering in the ashtray and thought of Steve. Lung cancer. Shit. He reached forward and stubbed it out even though it was only half smoked. Maybe it would be his last. That thought made him feel a bit better, yet even that feeling was fast followed by a wave of sheer panic at how unbearable his life would be without cigarettes. The coffee in the morning, a pint of beer in the Queen's Arms, that late evening Laphroaig out by the beck. Impossible. Well, he told himself, let's just take it a day at a time.

Banks's mobile rang, startling him out of his gloomy reverie. “Sorry,” he said. “I'd better take it. Might be important.”

He walked out into the street and sheltered from the rain under a shop awning. It was getting dark and there wasn't much traffic about. The road surface glistened in the lights of the occasional car, and puddles reflected the blue neon sign of a video rental shop across the street. “Alan, it's Annie,” said the voice at the other end.

“Annie? What's happening?”

Annie told Banks about the Liz Palmer interview, and he could sense anger and sadness in her account.

“You think she's telling the truth?”

“Pretty certain,” said Annie. “The Big Man interviewed
Ryan Milne at the same time and the details check out. They haven't been allowed to get together and concoct a story since they've been in custody.”

“Okay,” said Banks. “So where does that leave us?”

“With a distraught and disoriented Luke Armitage wandering off into the night alone,” Annie said. “The thoughtless bastards.”

“So where did he go?”

“We don't know. It's back to the drawing board. There's just one thing…”

“Yes.”

“The undigested diazepam that Dr. Glendenning found in Luke's system.”

“What about it?”

“Well, he didn't get it at Liz and Ryan's flat. Neither of them has a prescription and we didn't find any in our search.”

“They could have got it illegally, along with the cannabis and LSD, then got rid of it.”

“They could have,” said Annie. “But why lie about it?”

“That I can't answer. What's your theory?”

“Well, if Luke was freaking out the way it seems he was, then someone might have thought it was a good idea to give him some Valium to calm him down.”

“Or to keep him quiet.”

“Possibly.”

“What next?”

“We need to find out where he went. I'm going to talk to Luke's parents again tomorrow. They might be able to help now that we know a bit more about his movements. I'll be talking to Lauren Anderson, too, and perhaps Gavin Barlow.”

“Why?”

“Maybe there was still something going on between Luke and Rose, and maybe her father didn't approve.”

“Enough to kill him?”

“Enough to make it physical. We still can't say for certain that anyone
murdered
Luke. Anyway, I'd like to know where
they both were the night Luke disappeared. Maybe it was Rose he went to see.”

“Fair enough,” said Banks. “And don't forget that Martin Armitage was out and about that night, too.”

“Don't worry. I won't.”

“What's happened with him, by the way?”

“He appeared before the magistrates this afternoon. He's out on bail till the preliminary hearing.”

“What about Norman Wells?”

“He'll mend. When will you be back?”

“Tomorrow or the day after.”

“Getting anywhere?”

“I think so.”

“And what are you up to tonight?”

“School reunion,” said Banks, walking back into the pub. An approaching car seemed to be going way too fast, and Banks felt a momentary rush of panic. He ducked into a shop doorway. The car sped by him, too close to the curb, and splashed water from the gutter over his trouser bottoms. He cursed.

“What is it?” Annie asked.

Banks told her, and she laughed. “Have a good time at your school reunion,” she said.

“I'll tell you all about it when I see you.” He ended the call and returned to his seat. Dave and Paul had been making uneasy small talk in his absence, and Dave seemed glad to see him come back.

“So you're a copper,” said Paul, shaking his head when Banks sat down again. “I still can't get over it. If I'd had to guess, I'd have said you'd end up a teacher or a newspaper reporter or something like that. But a copper…”

Banks smiled. “Funny how things turn out.”

“Very queer, indeed,” muttered Dave. His voice sounded as if the beer was having an early effect.

Paul gave him a sharp glance, then tapped Banks's arm. “Hey,” he said, “you'd have had to arrest me back then, wouldn't you? For being
queer
.”

Banks sensed the tension escalating and moved on to the subject he'd been wanting to talk about from the start: Graham. “Do either of you remember anything odd happening around the time Graham disappeared?” he asked.

“You're not working on the case, are you?” asked Dave, eager to be given a change of subject.

“No,” said Banks. “But I'm interested in what happened. I mean, I
am
a copper, and Graham was a mate. Naturally, I'm curious.”

“Did you ever tell them about that bloke by the river?” Paul asked.

“It didn't lead anywhere,” Banks said, explaining. “Besides, I think it's a lot closer to home.”

“What do you mean?” Paul asked.

Banks didn't want to tell them about the photograph. Apart from Michelle, he didn't want anyone to know about that if he could help it. Maybe he was protecting Graham's memory, but the idea of people seeing him like that was abhorrent to Banks. He also didn't want to tell them about Jet Harris, Shaw and the missing notebooks. “Do you remember Donald Bradford?” he asked. “The bloke who ran the newsagent's.”

“Dirty Don?” said Paul. “Sure. I remember him.”

“Why did you call him Dirty Don?”

“I don't know.” Paul shrugged. “Maybe he sold dirty magazines. It's just something my dad called him. Don't you remember?”

Banks didn't. But he found it interesting that Paul's dad had known about Bradford's interest in porn. Had his own father known? Had anyone told Proctor and Shaw all those years ago when they came to conduct the interviews? Was that why the notebooks and action allocations had to disappear, so that suspicion wouldn't point toward Bradford? Next to the family, Donald Bradford should have come under the most scrutiny, but he had been virtually ignored. “Did Graham ever tell you where he got those magazines he used to show us inside the tree?”

“What magazines?” Dave asked.

“Don't you remember?” Paul said. “I do. Women with bloody great bazookas.” He shuddered. “Gave me the willies even then.”

“I seem to remember you enjoyed them as much as the rest of us,” said Banks. “Do you really not remember, Dave?”

“Maybe I'm blanking it out for some reason, but I don't.”

Banks turned to Paul. “Did he ever tell you where he got them?”

“Not that I remember. Why? Do you think it was Bradford?”

“It's a possibility. A newsagent's shop would be a pretty good outlet for things like that. And Graham always seemed to have money to spare.”

“He once told me he stole it from his mother's purse,” said Dave. “I remember that.”

“Did you believe him?” Banks asked.

“Saw no reason not to. It shocked me, though, that he'd be so callous about it. I'd never have dared steal from
my
mother's purse. She'd have killed me.” He put his hand to his mouth. “Oops, sorry about that. Didn't mean it to come out that way.”

“It's all right,” said Banks. “I very much doubt that Graham's mother killed him for stealing from her purse.” On the other hand, Graham's father, Banks thought, was another matter entirely. “I think there was more to it than that.”

“What?” Paul asked.

“I don't know. I just think Graham had something going with Donald Bradford, most likely something involving porn. And I think that led to his death.”

“You think Bradford killed him?”

“It's a possibility. Maybe he was helping distribute the stuff, or maybe he found out about it and was blackmailing Bradford. I don't know. All I know is that there's a connection.”

“Graham? Blackmailing?” said Dave. “Now, hold on a minute, Alan; this is our mate Graham we're talking about.
The one whose funeral we just went to. Remember? Stealing a few bob from his mum's purse is one thing, but blackmail…?”

“I don't think things were exactly as we thought they were back then,” said Banks.

“Come again?” said Dave.

“He means none of you knew I was queer, for a start,” said Paul.

Banks looked at him. “But we didn't, did we? You're right. And I don't think we knew a hell of a lot about Graham, either, mate or not.” He looked at Dave. “For fuck's sake, Dave, you don't even remember the dirty magazines.”

“Maybe I've got a psychological block.”

“Do you at least remember the tree?” Banks asked.

“Our den? Of course I do. I remember lots of things. Just not looking at those magazines.”

“But you did,” said Paul. “I remember you once saying pictures like that must have been taken at Randy Mandy's. Don't you remember that?”

“Randy Mandy's?” Banks asked. “What the hell's that?”

“Don't tell me
you
don't remember, either,” said Paul, exasperated.

“Obviously I don't,” said Banks. “What does it mean?”

“Randy Mandy's? It was Rupert Mandeville's place, that big house up Market Deeping way. Remember?”

Banks felt a vague recollection at the edge of his consciousness. “I think I remember.”

“It was just our joke, that's all,” Paul went on. “We thought they had all sorts of sex orgies there. Like that place where Profumo used to go a couple of years earlier. Remember that? Christine Keeler and Mandy Rice-Davies?”

Banks remembered Christine Keeler and Mandy Rice-Davies. The newspapers had been full of risqué photographs and salacious “confessions” around the time of the Profumo scandal. But that was in 1963, not 1965.

“I remember now,” said Dave. “Rupert Mandeville's house. Bloody great country mansion, more like. We used to
think it was some sort of den of iniquity back then, somewhere all sorts of naughty things went on. Whenever we came across something dirty we always said it must have come from Randy Mandy's. You must remember, Alan. God knows where we got the idea from, but there was this high wall and a big swimming pool in the garden, and we used to imagine all the girls we fancied swimming naked there.”

“Vaguely,” said Banks, who wondered if there was any truth in this. It was worth checking into, anyway. He'd talk to Michelle, see if she knew anything. “This Mandeville still around?”

“Wasn't he an MP or something?” said Dave.

“I think so,” Paul said. “I remember reading about him in the papers a few years ago. I think he's in the House of Lords now.”

“Lord Randy Mandy,” said Dave, and they laughed for old times' sake.

Conversation meandered on for another hour or so and at least one round of double Scotches. Dave seemed to stick at a certain level of drunkenness, one he had achieved early on, and now it was Paul who began to show the effects of alcohol the most, and his manner became more exaggeratedly effeminate as time went on.

Banks could sense Dave getting impatient and embarrassed by the looks they were receiving from some of the other customers. He was finding it harder and harder to imagine that they had all had so much in common once, but then it had been a lot easier and more innocent: you supported the same football team, even if they weren't very good; you liked pop music and lusted after Emma Peel and Marianne Faithfull; and that was enough. It helped if you weren't a swot at school and if you lived on the same estate.