Another car splashed through the puddles, illuminating a couple of executives making for their cars, too worried about getting wet to care about the presence of police cars and ambulances. The new arrival skidded to a halt only feet away from the front of Dorotheas Mercedes. The doors swung open, switching on the interior light and the impossible happened.
Things got worse.
Twenty minutes later, I was sitting in the Northerners green room, instantly commandeered by the police as a temporary incident room until their own purpose-built caravan could be brought over. Opposite me sat Detective Sergeant Linda Shaw, her hands wrapped around a cardboard cup of instant coffee. I didnt mind Linda; she probably had more in common with me than shed ever have with the hard-nosed bastard she worked for.
I suspected Detective Chief Inspector Cliff Jackson had an auburn-haired doll in his desk drawer. I was convinced he stuck pins into it at regular intervals. It was the only explanation I could think of for that stabbing pain I sometimes got in my left ankle. Jackson had been one of the senior murder detectives in the city for the last seven years or so. Youd think hed be pleased that Ive made a significant contribution to his clear-up rate. Youd be wrong. Now, whenever the planets really want to gang up on me, they send me an encounter with Jackson.
Linda Shaw stood between Jackson and me like a buffer zone between warring Balkan armies. As soon as hed seen me palefaced and shivering in the cab of Dorotheas van, the wheels had started going round in his head as he imagined the many ways he
Working, I said. How about you?
He turned scarlet. Dont push your luck, Brannigan, he stormed. Im here less than a minute and already youre looking at spending the night in the cells. You just dont know when to keep your smart mouth shut, do you?
If you want me to keep my mouth shut, thats fine by me. Ill make my one call to my solicitor and then youll get no comment from here to eternity, I snarled back. And as soon as I get home, Ill be on the phone to Alexis Lee. The world should hear how a material witness in the murder of the nations favorite astrologer gets treated by Manchesters finest.
Sir. Lindas voice was quiet but urgent. Sir, youre needed inside the van. The scene-of-crime lads are right behind us, and the rest of the team has just got here. Why dont I find a quiet corner and take a statement from Ms. Brannigan? Then well have an idea where were up to?
I dont want you sticking your nose in this, Brannigan, Jackson snapped, straightening an electric-blue tie that clashed disturbingly with his lilac shirt. You give your statement to DS Shaw and then you bugger off out of it. Thats not an invitation, its an instruction. Id love to arrest you for obstruction. But then, I shouldnt have to tell you that, should I? Shes all yours, Detective Sergeant.
I had led Linda from the van to the production building, suggesting it would be a good idea to get someone to contact John Turpin to tell NPTV what was going on and find out where we could talk. Shed got it sorted, right down to discovering where the nearest coffee machine was. Finally we had a moment to give each other the once-over. I saw a woman hovering around the crucial cusp of thirty, the skin around her eyes starting to show the attrition of long hours and late nights, the slight downturn to her mouth revealing the emotional price of dealing with people who have been violently bereaved, and the ones responsible for smashing those lives to smithereens.
I had led Linda from the van to the production building, suggesting it would be a good idea to get someone to contact John Turpin to tell NPTV what was going on and find out where we could talk. Shed got it sorted, right down to discovering where the nearest coffee machine was. Finally we had a moment to give each other the once-over. I saw a woman hovering around the crucial cusp of thirty, the skin around her eyes starting to show the attrition of long hours and late nights, the slight downturn to her mouth revealing the emotional price of dealing with people who have been violently bereaved, and the ones responsible for smashing those lives to smithereens.
I didnt want to think about what she saw. I opened the batting. Detective Sergeant, eh? Congratulations.
Thanks. I hear youve come up in the world too. Brannigan and Co, not Mortensen and Brannigan any more.
Cliff keeps tabs on me, does he? At least I get to be my own boss. But youre still stuck being Jacksons bag carrier.
There are worse jobs in the police service, she said drily.
Especially if youre a woman.
She inclined her head in agreement. So, help me to keep my job and tell me what happened here tonight?
You know I dont have any problem with you, Linda. Ask what you want. As long as you dont expect me to breach my clients confidentiality, Ill tell you all I can.
She took me through the reason for my presence, then on to the precise circumstances of my discovery. Wed just got to the part where I described trying to find Dorotheas pulse when the door crashed open. Gloria staggered in dramatically, hair plastered to her head, eye make-up spreading like a bad Dusty Springfield impersonation. Kate, she wailed. Thank God youre all right! Oh Kate, I cant believe it. Not Dorothea, she continued, stumbling towards me. Think Vanessa Redgrave playing King Lear. I had no choice but to jump to my feet and support her. Shed have had no problem collapsing in a heap for effect. I had no doubt that she was sincerely upset, but being a thespian she couldnt help going over the top so much she made the Battle of the Somme look like a little skirmish.
I put an arm round her and steered her to the nearest sofa. Linda was staring at her with avid eyes. I didnt think it was Glorias bedraggled appearance that had gobsmacked her. She was star struck. Ive seen it happen. Normal, intelligent people faced with their heroes become open-mouthed, wittering wrecks. Back before she became crime correspondent, Alexis once got to interview Martina Navratilova for the features department. She claims the most intelligent question she managed to come out with was, What did you have for breakfast, Martina?
So now I had a star-struck detective, an hysterical soap star and a cop who wanted to arrest me for daring to find a murder
I cant believe it, Gloria was saying for the dozenth time. This time, however, she moved the narrative forward. I keep thinking, I must have been the last person to see her alive.
The words brought Linda back to something approximating normality. What do you mean, Ms. Kendal? she asked gently, crossing to the sofa and sitting next to Gloria.
Gloria, this is Detective Sergeant Shaw. Shes involved in the inquiry into Dorotheas death.
Gloria fixed Linda with eyes brimming with sooty tears. When this was all over, Id have to speak to her about waterproof mascara. What happened, chuck? All theyd say out in the car park was that there had been an accident, that Dorothea were dead. Id gone out looking for you. You were gone so long, I was beginning to worry. I had this feeling Her voice tailed off into another whooping sob. Oh God, I cant believe it, she wailed. I got up and silently fetched her a glass of water. She emptied it in a few swift gulps then clutched it histrionically to her bosom.
Linda patted her free hand. Its hard to grasp, losing a friend, she said. But the best thing you can do for Dorothea now is to help us find the person responsible for this.
It wasnt an accident, then? Gloria demanded. I saw an alertness spring into her eyes that hadnt been there a moment before.
Linda obviously hadnt. Youll have to brace yourself for a shock, Im afraid, Gloria. It looks like Dorothea has been murdered.
Glorias face froze. The tears stopped as suddenly as they would when the director yelled, Cut. Murdered? she said, her voice an octave lower. I dont understand. Dorothea were fine when I left her. And Kate went right back to her. How could anybody have murdered her?
Thats what were here to find out, Linda said reassuringly. Much more of this and I was going to throw up. A couple of generations ago, it was the professional classes who got this kind of veneration from the police. Before that, you had to have a title. But
I cleared my throat. Apart from the killer, it seems likely that Gloria was the last person to see Dorothea alive.
Do you have any idea what time that might have been? Linda asked Gloria.
Just before six, I said. Id been sitting in Glorias car in the car park, waiting for her to finish her half past five session with Dorothea. And before you ask, I didnt notice anyone hanging around suspiciously, just a lot of people rushing to their cars and a few others crossing from the production building to the admin block. At five to six, I left the car and went to the camper van. I knocked, and Gloria came out.
Did you see Dorothea? Linda asked me. I couldnt believe she was getting into this with Gloria present. It broke all the unwritten rules about interviewing witnesses separately.
No, I didnt enter the van.
Did you hear her voice?
I shook my head. The wind was blowing, there were cars driving past, she wouldnt have been shouting anyway.
I could see the implications registering with Linda. I could also see her dismissing the possibility that Gloria could have killed Dorothea for no more substantial reason than that Brenda Barrowclough could never have done such a thing. She said cheerio to me and said shed expect Kate along in a few minutes. But Kates right. She wasnt shouting. There was no reason why she should, and she wasnt one for raising her voice at the best of times, Gloria said kindly, as if she was explaining something obvious to a child.
Was the door on the latch, or did it automatically lock behind you? Linda asked.
Just on the latch. Wed all knock and walk in when it were time for our appointments, Gloria said. She were strict about not overrunning, was Dorothea.
And how long was it before you got back to the van? Linda asked me.
Id already given the timing a lot of thought. Ten minutes, tops.
Its not long, Linda observed.
Suddenly, Gloria burst into tears again. Its terrible, she wailed. Its a warning. Its a warning to me. All those letters, and Dorotheas premonition. Theres a killer out there and hes after me!
I couldnt quite see the logic, but Glorias fear seemed real enough. She sobbed and hiccuped and wailed. Linda and I exchanged desperate looks, neither sure how to deal with this. Then, as abruptly as her hysterics had begun, they ended and she took control of herself. This is aimed at me, Gloria said, her voice shaky. Everybody knew I relied on Dorothea. Everybody knew Dorothea had predicted there was death in the room that last time I saw her. Shes been killed to put the fear of death into me.