Bones in the Nest (26 page)

‘Who did you see, Saleem?’ Sean said. ‘When you arrived at Eagle Mount Two? We need a name.’

‘Starkey – it was him, with the knife, cutting down there, like—’ Saleem’s eyes filled up and he rubbed his knuckles into them to take away what he’d seen. ‘Kamran added a bit of spice to make sure they’d go through with it. He told them Mo had raped a girl, a little white girl.’

‘Was Kamran there?’ Sean said.

‘No.’

‘And did Starkey see you?’

Saleem shook his head. ‘I came in and I went back out. I wasn’t hanging around. One of the other boys must have told him I’d been a lookout because Starkey didn’t say nothing when he did this,’ he fingered the front of his T-shirt, ‘but I swear, if he knew I’d been there, he’d have finished me.’

‘And when Mohammad was being chased, Starkey’s mother was watching from her window. Another lookout,’ said Lizzie.

‘Ghazala said Mohammad was happy when he left the shop that night,’ Sean said, quietly.

‘She keeps saying she should have stopped him,’ Saleem said. ‘She used to talk to that girl. I think they became friends. My sister doesn’t have many friends. And now the girl’s dead too.’

Saleem was still, as if he’d finally run out of energy.

‘Taheera was a virgin, Saleem,’ said Lizzie. ‘Whatever else they were doing upstairs, it wasn’t that.’

The boy stared at his hands.

‘I was so scared,’ he said.

Sean took a deep breath. ‘Come on Saleem, let’s go round
to the police station, you can hand yourself in there for the arson. I’m not actually on duty right now, just having a nice quiet lunch with a friend. I can’t promise anything, but if you can stick to this story under oath, I think we might be able to help you. You’ve done the right thing in telling me, Saleem. Remember that.’

‘And you remember,’ Saleem said, ‘that you promised to look after my sister.’

Sean nodded, but he wasn’t sure that Ghazala needed his help; she seemed more than able to stick up for herself.

‘Right, I’d better come with you and give this to DCI Khan,’ Lizzie picked up the brown envelope. ‘And then, Sean, you and I need to have a bit of a talk.’

‘Oh?’

‘We need to talk about your sister, your new half-sister.’

Through the glass window of the observation room, Sean and Lizzie could see Kamran Ahmed sitting back in the chair, as if this was just a casual conversation. A night in custody had done little to ruffle his appearance, only his hair sat a little flatter. He pressed his hands together, fingers straight, and nodded slowly at something his interviewer was saying.

‘He’s controlling his responses,’ Sean said, ‘look at the muscles in his forearm. Tight as anything.’

Lizzie flicked a switch and the sound of Khan’s voice reached them.

‘… at Halsworth Grange you kissed her and said goodbye. Was she still alive?’

The brown envelope containing the DNA result lay on the table between them. Kamran shook his head.

‘You’re indicating that she was already dead?’

The young man looked up and opened his mouth but no sound came out. His hands went to his face and he covered
his mouth and nose, but it was too late; the truth was forcing its way out.

‘Are you going to tell us how it happened, Kamran?’

Khan’s voice was gentle. Lizzie squeezed Sean’s hand and they waited.

‘It will be up to the court to get to the bottom of why you did this, but I want to know for myself, so humour me,’ Khan said. ‘You kill your sister’s boyfriend and then you kill her. Because you’re jealous of her?’

‘No.’ It came out as a whisper. ‘I couldn’t stand by and let her bring shame on the family.’

‘Who was bringing shame, Kamran?’ Khan said. ‘She’d done well. Got a degree. She was working with women who’d been in prison, helping them get back on track. What’s shameful about that? It seems to me that she was doing something any parent would be proud of.’

‘No!’ Kamran Ahmed suddenly raised his voice. ‘If she wasn’t ashamed, then why all the secrecy? If she didn’t know it was wrong to have sex with that piece of trash, why sneak around behind everyone’s back?’

‘What right do you have to call anyone trash?’ Khan’s voice quivered with rage. ‘Mohammad Asaf was going straight, Kamran. He was doing what he could to get out of the very same culture of drugs and gangs that you were so keen to get into. How dare you sit here before me and try to defend yourself, when your own father won’t send his lawyer to stick up for you.’

The room was silent and Kamran Ahmed slumped back in his chair. Sean held his breath. Lizzie stood so close to him their hips touched.

‘Why did you kill her, Kamran?’ Khan said. ‘It’s too late to pretend you didn’t, because we know you did.’

The young man’s eyes filled with tears.

‘What was I supposed to do?’ He blinked and the tears streamed down his face. ‘After that boy was dead, she shut herself in her room; wouldn’t speak to anyone. She wouldn’t tell my parents what was wrong. And then I started to get scared. I thought they’d get it out of her sooner or later, about the boy. Or that girl in the shop would say something.’

‘Go on.’

‘When there was nothing on the news, I thought, I don’t know, maybe Terry Starkey had cleared it up, but then there was that fire at the shop and Terry was on the TV, talking about it, like he hadn’t been part of it. I had to do something and …’

‘You panicked?’

‘Yes, no …’ Ahmed sniffed back the tears and rubbed his eyes. ‘She shouldn’t have been seeing that boy. Why couldn’t she have waited? Been more like my other sister and let our parents choose?’

‘That’s a smokescreen, Kamran, and I think you know it.’

‘I need a glass of water.’

Somewhere off camera they could hear water being poured and a uniformed arm reached forward to put a plastic cup down in front of Kamran Ahmed. He sipped slowly.

‘He’s buying time,’ Lizzie said.

‘Why’s he bothering?’ Sean said. ‘He’s up to his neck in it, isn’t he?’

‘I don’t know, but it’s almost as if he wants Khan’s approval.’

‘How did you persuade her to meet you at Halsworth
Grange?’ Khan had dropped his voice to a calm, relaxed tone and it appeared to work. Kamran nodded two or three times, gathering his thoughts before he spoke.

‘I told her I knew who’d killed her boyfriend and we could meet him, trick him into admitting it, then call the police. I told her he used to work up at Halsworth Grange, in the garden, and he’d be going there to pick something up.’

‘I see.’

‘He stayed in the car.’

‘Starkey?’

‘Mm. He wasn’t needed. Just …’

‘Yes?’

‘He gave me the knife and the gloves. Told me what to do. She was waiting by her car.’ He paused. ‘I said, let’s walk across the meadow. She came with me.’

‘She didn’t want to know why?’

Kamran shook his head. ‘I asked her if she remembered it, when we used to have picnics there, when we were kids. She said, yes. Then she wanted to know what I had in my hand. I said it doesn’t matter. We walked towards the edge of the field and she said she didn’t want to live any more.’

‘And you went ahead?’

‘It was my duty.’

‘No,’ Khan’s fist came down on the table and the crash distorted the observation room speakers. ‘It is never anyone’s duty to take an innocent life.’

Sean turned to Lizzie. She was biting her lip, holding back her own tears. He put his arm round her shoulder.

‘Let’s go.’

At six-twenty that evening Sean and Lizzie arrived at the hospital. A strict ward sister told them they’d have to wait until visiting started at half past. Sean decided not to show his badge to speed things up. He knew that Chloe wouldn’t want any unnecessary attention. They asked a young houseman how she was, and it felt like another white lie, telling the doctor he was family, even though now it was apparently true. The doctor said she’d collapsed due to malnutrition and dehydration, but she was going to be all right. They had her on a drip and a gradual diet and she was waiting to see a psychologist. They had put her in a side room for now, to give her some peace and quiet. The doctor wanted to know if she had any history of eating disorders.

‘I’m sorry, I don’t know,’ Sean said. ‘We haven’t been exactly close.’

He tried not to catch Lizzie’s eye, but he could see she was trying to hide a smile.

‘You’re going to have to decide what to do about publicity,’ she said, as they walked towards Chloe’s room.

‘What do you mean?’

‘It’s a great story. Policeman saves woman’s life, only to discover she’s the sister he never knew he had. You’ll be on the sofa with Fern Britton before you know it.’

‘I don’t think so,’ Sean said. ‘Fern Britton doesn’t do that daytime show any more. Seriously though, I’m not a fan of being on the telly and it’s the last thing Chloe needs. I think we’ll keep it between us, the three of us, if you don’t mind.’

‘Just us? What about your dad? Doesn’t he deserve to know he has a daughter?’

‘Maybe one day, if he ever sobers up,’ Sean said. ‘I’ll tell Nan first. She’ll know what to do.’

Chloe was awake. She turned her head on the pillow and smiled when she saw him.

‘I’ll leave you two for a minute,’ Lizzie said and stepped outside the room, letting the door close softly behind her.

‘You’re the policeman, aren’t you?’ Chloe’s face was pale and her lips barely moved.

‘Yes.’

‘I’m a bit rubbish at trying to kill myself, aren’t I?’

‘It’s a good thing, really,’ he said.

‘People keep trying to save me.’

‘Aye, well. It’s my job but …’

‘It’s OK. Thank you,’ she said. ‘I know now, there was a reason I had to stay alive. I had to tell someone about Terry.’

‘Oh?’

‘Did you hear what I said, on the top of the flats?’

‘Yes.’

‘It was all true.’ She looked up at the ceiling and took a long breath. ‘Jay didn’t want anyone to know, even after he was dead. Said it would destroy his mum. But you can’t keep having secrets, can you?’

‘No, Chloe, you can’t,’ Sean said. ‘Or would you rather be Marilyn?’

‘I was always Linnie to Jay. Then inside I got Lyn. Now I’m Chloe. I’ve lived all these lives, you see? Better at living then dying.’ She closed her eyes and her breathing settled. He wondered if she’d fallen asleep.

‘Chloe?’ he said.

‘Yes?’ she said, but her eyes remained shut.

‘They’re going to review your conviction. I think there’s a good chance they’ll overturn it. You’ve got a lot of people wanting to help you.’

She opened her eyes and looked at him for a few seconds before she spoke.

‘I won’t get the last ten years back though.’

‘No,’ he said. ‘You won’t.’

Her eyes fluttered as if she was too tired to keep them open. The room was very warm. Sean loosened his collar.

‘Who’s your friend?’ Chloe said. ‘That woman outside?’

‘That’s Lizzie.’

‘She’s pretty.’

‘Yes.’ He turned towards the door. The back of Lizzie’s head was visible through the window, the light catching the shine in her dark hair. ‘Yes, she is.’

As he watched, a large man and a short, stout woman approached Chloe’s room. The man was carrying an enormous bunch of blousy-headed flowers, wrapped in a cone of brown paper. Lizzie spoke to them and nodded towards Sean.

‘You’ve got visitors,’ he said.

Chloe raised her head to see.

‘Bill,’ she said. ‘And Brenda.’

‘Shall I tell Lizzie to let them in?’

‘Not yet,’ her head dropped back into the pillow. ‘Is she your girlfriend?’

Sean thought about what had passed between him and Lizzie before they had arrived at the hospital. They’d sat for an hour in The Salutation pub, discussing the case, until Lizzie had said.

‘Let’s talk about us.’

‘There’s an “us”?’ he’d said.

‘I hope so’. And she’d kissed him. He was still wondering if he’d imagined it.

He took Chloe’s hand.

‘Yes,’ he said, ‘I think she is my girlfriend.’

‘That’s nice. And thank you, for what you did.’

‘You’re welcome, Chloe, you’re very welcome.’

She smiled weakly and closed her eyes again.

‘And welcome to my family,’ Sean said quietly, but he wasn’t sure if she heard him. 

Many thanks to everyone who has helped me in my research, especially Ghazala Fateh, Brian Watson, Alex, Boris, The Captain, Reza Ben Gajra and Maggie Pearson. Thank you to Andy Morgan and Benedict Wallbank for their structural knowledge of ten-storey tower blocks and all my friends on social media who have answered random questions over the last eighteen months. Thank you Josh Parker for gardening advice, love and food; you have been unwavering in your support for my writing and I am eternally thankful that we found each other.

Thank you to everyone who has given me encouragement along the way, especially Carole Bromley, Lesley Glaister, Rivka Fine, Claire Malcolm and the team at New Writing North. Thank you to Laura Longrigg at MBA Literary Agents for looking after me so brilliantly and Allison & Busby; an amazing team who have made this all possible.

Thank you to Fiona Barrows, Livia Nicholson, Allison Loftfield, Chris Bridge and Eleanor Wilson for reading various drafts and versions. A huge thank you to my family for your ongoing support.

Particular thanks to the residents and colleagues at HMP Askham Grange and YOI Wetherby.

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