Hard Girls (31 page)

James Delacroix came into her mind, but she dismissed him straightaway. But maybe there was another regular, one that the girls weren’t afraid of. But then, they had interviewed so many of the girls’ contemporaries, and none had ever said anything that rang any warning bells. All said the same thing, a few nutters, but that’s why they w shook her head in mock despair. N away fromgoorked the flats and the houses. They were safer there. This man had the girls’ trust, and only certain people gained the trust of the brasses. Working girls were hard in many respects, immune to the usual daily banter and emotions. If they weren’t that way inclined, then they couldn’t do the job.

Kate looked around again. Maybe it was a policeman; after all, they were guaranteed admittance anywhere. But she had asked all the witnesses, on the quiet, if they had seen a uniform at any time and all had answered no. Lionel Dart sprang to mind. She half dismissed the notion, even as she knew she would have to actually question him about his association. He should know, better than anyone, that no one was above the law. She was quite looking forward to it, see how he felt to be on the hook for once.

‘Jennifer, calm down. You did the right thing, you called me, and you called Peter. Kate will sort it out. Now, drink that brandy, you’re in shock.’

Jennifer was white-faced and shaking, she looked every year of her age and then some. Patrick had never seen her look so terrified by anything before. And Jennifer was not easily frightened, she was as hard as nails. She had come up the hard way as well. Her mother had been a drunk, and her father had been an even bigger drunkard, if that was possible. She had dragged herself up and, to her way of thinking, she had made something of her life.

Pat knew the murders were gruesome, but ordinarily he would have had first-hand knowledge from Kate, and so he had not really understood just how macabre they actually were. It was his fault, he had not read about them because he didn’t want to be upset by them. Not just because they were too awful to contemplate, or he didn’t care. He cared deeply because he owned some of the properties where the girls were murdered. Though he knew that was just a coincidence, he still felt a level of responsibility. But his main reason for not wanting to know too much was because Kate was at the centre of it all. She would be pivotal in the investigation, and he knew she had every right to feel angry with him.

Jennifer held her hand over her mouth and bolted for the bathroom. He could hear her retching loudly, and poured her a glass of iced water. He had never seen Jennifer so rattled and, for the umpteenth time, he wondered how Kate did her job on a daily basis.

Margaret Dole was still trying to access files and information. It was a slow process because hacking into government databases was getting harder and harder. They were difficult to access, but not impossible. She was working on a computer that was still waiting for the latest in technological advances, and consequently it was a hard slog. She looked around her desk and picked up her coffee cup, only to find it empty.

She walked through the building to the canteen and, as she poured herself a large black coffee into a Styrofoam cup, she saw Miriam Salter sitting alone. She wondered, like a lot of the officers, whether she ever went home these days. She was still wearing the outlandish clothes she had been wearing two days previously and she was staring into space. She had taken a nasty blow to the head and Margaret wondered if this might be what ailed her.

As Margaret passed her table she asked gently, ‘How are you, Miriam?’

Miriam broke out of her reverie and said happily, ‘Why thank you for asking. I’m fine. Just thinking. Poor Jemimah, it’s unbelievable that she’s gone, poor child.’

Margaret sat down opposite her. ‘I hear you were quite appreciatedc that wasye close to her.’ She sounded sympathetic and concerned, and was amazed to find that she was.

‘She was a lost cause. I really thought she had turned over a new leaf, she seemed desperate to get out of the life. I suspect she must have taken on one last punter for a bit more cash to take to Spain, and look what happened.’

It sounded feasible, it was something a girl like Jemimah would do, and Margaret nodded her agreement. ‘Well, she picked the wrong one this time.’

Miriam shrugged, her heavy shoulders almost making contact with her ears. ‘The trouble is, they think that what they look like is everything, that they are doing no harm to anyone, least of all themselves. They never stop to think of the families they help destroy, or the danger they might be in. It’s all about them, and making money. They look all sweetness and light, but they aren’t, Margaret. They’re hard. Hard girls, and they think about no one but themselves. But I know that if they would just listen to their hearts they would see the error of their ways. Then they would see that they’re living their lives in a vacuum, that they’re not allowing themselves to reach their full potential. But it seems I have been wasting my time.’

There was a deep sadness in Miriam’s voice that made Margaret feel, for the first time ever, a genuine liking for this strange woman. ‘You tried, Miriam, which is more than most people do. You help lots of people, the victims of burglary, victims of rape and other violent crimes. You do a lot of good. It’s like us lot, we can’t solve every case. We wish we could, but there’re always those that get away from you.’

Miriam nodded, and her wiry hair looked almost alive. ‘Alec and I were kindred spirits and we really believed we had a vocation. But since I lost him, I wonder what I’m doing at times. It’s so very hard. He always knew the best thing to do, always had the right words for whatever situation we found ourselves in. I miss him so much.’

‘I’m sure you do, Miriam, but your faith is strong, isn’t it?’

Miriam sighed, softer this time. ‘Yes. My faith is still strong. But you see, Alec and I, we were a pair of misfits. I know that people stare at me, but I was born looking like this. I suffered my whole life because I wasn’t like the other girls. Alec and me, we teamed up as kids and we looked out for each other. We both felt the power of religion, and of helping people less fortunate than ourselves. Since he’s been gone, I don’t know anything any more. I feel shaken, unable to deal with everyday life.’

‘Well, I th do it.’

Chapter Eighteen

Annie was impressed by Patrick’s house, even the broken window didn’t detract from its beauty. She had just seen a young woman in a BMW tearing off the drive, she assumed that was the lovely Eve. She also guessed from the look on Patrick’s face that she had been the cause of the broken window.

But that aside, the house was breathtakingly beautiful, and the grounds were amazing { display: block; font-size: 0.75rem; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1em; margin-left: 8em; margin-right: 2em; margin-top: 0.5em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; } .fmepivdut the Grantley Police Station combination with lawns like parkland and huge electric gates. She tried to imagine what it must be like for Kate, relegated back to her old home. Not that it wasn’t a nice house but, in comparison with this place, it was almost a slum. She knew now why Kate never asked anyone from the station back here; it wasn’t just because it was so luxurious, it was also because she knew the other person would feel out of their depth. That was Kate all over. She always thought about others before herself. But Annie knew Kate well enough to understand that this house and its trappings wouldn’t make any difference to her feelings for Pat Kelly.

Annie had never in her life seen such a look of disappointment as she had glimpsed on Kelly’s face when he realised that Kate wasn’t with her. She felt sorry for him, he looked lost. As he waved her inside, he said gruffly, ‘Where’s Kate?’

Annie half smiled an apology as she said, ‘Still at the station. She’s hard at it.’

Patrick snorted in annoyance and embarrassment, he knew she had clocked Eve on her way in. ‘Yeah, I bet she is. Jennifer’s inside. Go easy on her, she’s had a fright.’ Pat pointed to a doorway to the left of the front door.

As she entered the large room, Annie noticed that Jennifer James was looking agitated and very nervous. She suddenly felt desperately sorry for her. Finding Jemimah’s body would have been a terrible shock. She let her talk.

‘It’s strange, you know. The other girls, because I didn’t see them, I didn’t know what had happened to them first-hand. It didn’t really register what they had gone through before they died. But seeing her like that . . . I had gone round there because she was late with the rent. The man who usually collects for me, Tom Prior, was umming and ahhing and I assumed she was paying him off in kind, if you get my drift. She wouldn’t be the first one to do something like that. If I’d depended on him to go and see her, it would have been at least another few weeks before I got the money.’

The thought of the girl lying there like that for weeks on her own set Jennifer off again. She stood up and started to retch. She couldn’t help herself, every time she thought of that damaged and tortured body, she wanted to vomit. It was as if the image had been burned into her mind and she knew she wouldn’t ever again have a decent night’s sleep because of it. She felt guilty, she was the one who had given the girls the opportunity to do the work they did. She saw the houses and the flats used by the girls as being somewhere safe, somewhere they could work in relative peace, without the eyes of the world on them. She’d felt she was helping them by giving them somewhere to work and to earn.

How wrong she had been and now, as she realised the consequences, she wanted just one thing. She wanted out, out of it all, and she wanted out sooner rather than later.

Suddenly Jennifer had had enough and she turned to Annie and said loudly, ‘I
didn’t
see anyone, I’ve already told you that. If I had, I would have said. For fuck’s sake, I
want
to help you more than anything, can’t you get that through your thick head?’

Annie sighed. ‘Can I ask you something, Jennifer?’

Jennifer nodded, her voice filled with angry determination. ‘’Course you can. I want to help you, how many fucking times . . .’

‘Have any of the girls ever said to you, however shook her head in mock despair. N availablego fleetingly, that they were spooked by a customer? Now, think hard, and think carefully. It doesn’t matter how long ago they might have said it, just try and think about it for a while before you answer.’

Jennifer did as she was asked. She racked her brains for the merest hint that any of the girls had been frightened, then she shook her head in sadness. ‘No, nothing. To be totally honest with you, the girls would be more likely to talk among themselves. And they would have told you anything they know because they want this man found, not just because he is killing their mates, but also because, until he is caught, none of them are safe.’

Annie knew she was telling her the truth.

Jennifer sipped at her glass of brandy once more and, settling herself in the chair again, she said seriously, ‘There’s something you need to understand.’

She cleared her throat gently and took an alarmingly large gulp of brandy before continuing, ‘A lot of these girls don’t see pain like me or you would. Some of them were brought up in homes, in the care system,
whatever
. Their idea of pain is our idea of a living nightmare. They are used to being used and abused so, in some respects, this job gives them a bit of power. I know that sounds crazy, but it’s true. For most of them it’s the first time in their lives they have earned enough to live well, to live like the people they read about in magazines. They can dress nicely, they can eat what they like, and, for the first time, they answer to no one else. That’s pretty heady stuff for a girl who has been pushed from pillar to post all her life. They’ve usually grown up lying, cheating and doing whatever they can to survive. They are a breed apart, love. Remember that, and you’ll be all right.’

Terrence O’Leary was huge. He was a bodybuilder and he had a mass of curly red hair and an engaging, very expensive, smile. Kate had always liked him, even knowing what she did.

As she was shown into his office, she felt the full force of his personality. He walked around the desk and gave her a bear hug. He smelled clean, of Lifebuoy soap and mouthwash. ‘Sit down, can I get you anything? A drink of some kind? Coffee, tea, water, a drop of the hard?’

Kate grinned. Terrence was impossible not to like. He was a naturally affable man, and his Cork accent gave people the impression he was a big softy, which he was, to family and close friends. But he was not a man to fall foul of. People who did tended to disappear, never to be seen again.

His answer to their whereabouts when questioned by police or his contemporaries was always the same. ‘Sure how the feck would I know anything about your man? He’s probably on his holidays.’

‘I’ll have a small Scotch if you’ve got one.’

Terrence was pleased. That meant he could have one as well. Ever the gentleman, he wouldn’t drink in front of a lady unless she was drinking as well. It was those same good manners around the fairer sex that had got him into trouble with his wife on more than one occasion.

He poured one for them both. ‘You’re looking good, Kate. Are you back with Patrick yet? I heard you two fell out. I saw him the other night, he looks like shite, and I told him as well. He’s missing you, girl, I know that much.’

Terry O’Leary could talk like that and not offend you. He always seemed so sincere and genuine that you didn’t mind, it was one of the thin { display: block; font-size: 0.75rem; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1em; margin-left: 8em; margin-right: 2em; margin-top: 0.5em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; } .fmepiva alongnlt dgs Kate liked about him. She grinned. ‘He can take a flying fuck as far as I am concerned. Now, Terry, I still work for the police, as you know. Purely in an advisory capacity.’

He nodded. ‘So, what is this then, Katie? An
official
visit?’ Terry’s voice sounded incredulous, and Kate could understand that, he paid out a hefty wedge to make sure that official visits didn’t happen to him very often.