Just as he was leaving the station, Graham Whiteside had run after him. “Sir, don’t you want me to come along?”

Simon remembered his previous sergeant. Nathan was constantly at his side and had often been present at his thinking sessions. But Simon’s relationship with Graham was different. Indeed, he had no relationship. Graham’s personality jarred and irritated.

“Sir, it’s about that tramp. The one in the hangar c”

But Simon had pretended not to hear and had accelerated away.

Now his peace was shattered as a party of walkers came piling into the bar, filling the room with chatter and the clump of boots on the wooden floor. Simon groaned and finished his drink. As he made his way out, a woman to his left was saying, “Makes you think twice about getting married, doesn’t it?”

He stopped dead. It had happened before, a chance remark or something glimpsed letting light into a dark place. He left his car and walked on up the lane into the village street. Flowers were still blooming in front gardens, apples and plums were heaped under trees here and there. There was no one about. This was another dormitory village for Lafferton. There was no shop or school, though the church was handsome, set up on a high bank and dominating the village. He opened the gate and walked up between the leaning headstones. A rabbit bounced away out of sight, a woodpecker yaffled from a fir tree. The church was locked.

A wedding. Why fire at a wedding party? Serrailler did not believe in random. There was always something.

Makes you think twice about getting married, doesn’t it?

He groaned. He’d missed it. How could he have missed it when it was there in front of him?

He ran down the path and back to the car to put in a call.

He pushed the Audi up to seventy on a clear road, thinking, thinking, clicking things into place.

Seventy-three

The ball banged down the wooden slope and the skittles crashed, raising a cheer.

“Ours,” Duncan Houlish said.

Clive Rowley clenched his jaw. He hadn’t been to a bowling alley for what, five or six years? Longer? He had not wanted to come tonight, but now he was here, he revelled in it. Roll, bang, smash. Roll, bang, smash.

“Useless,” Ian Dean said.

The whole lot of them had come. It was almost like a ritual of some sort before the big day.

Roll, bang.

“Yesssss!”

Further up, a gang of shrieking girls threw the balls down the aisle and through the gaps or into the skittles, equally hysterical no matter what the result.

“Jeez.”

“Looks like a hen party.”

“Sounds like a parrot house. Why do women shriek?”

“Not all women shriek.”

“Oh yes they do. My sister shrieks, my missus and her girl friends shriek, my mam shrieks, the girls across the road c”

Another lot of shrieking.

They finished a session and went up to the bar at the same time as the girls.

“Must be a thousand of them,” Clive Rowley said.

“Oi, what was that?” one of them said.

“I said happy days.”

“Can I buy you ladies a drink?”

“There are seventeen of us, and no thanks, we’ll get our own.”

“That’s a relief.”

Ian and Clive came slowly across with three pints each, weaving between the tables and the chairs and the girls. They set the glasses down.

“Look at that. Didn’t lose a drop.”

“Great stuff. Cheers. You all right, Clive?”

“What? Yeah.”

“Right. Where are you tomorrow?”

“Top of the tower with Ian.”

“You OK with heights?”

“Love “em. You reckon it’s someone’s twenty-first?”

“That lot? They’re way over twenty-one.”

“What did you say?”

“Listeners never hear good. Stop earwigging.”

Shrieks. They had five tables pulled together.

Dale groaned. “Pink feathers coming out,” he said. “And the handcuffs.”

“I was right. Bloody hen night, innit?”

Louise Kelly, the only woman among the policemen, stuck her head down into her glass. She was married and separated.

“You have a hen night, Lou?”

“Sort of. Mam said they were bad luck so a few of us just went for a pizza. Sort of compromise. Bad luck was, he and his mates walked into the same pizza place.”

“Your mum had a point then.”

“What do you reckon about tomorrow?”

“Keep your voices down.” Duncan. Bronze Command. Conscious they had just the one chance to get the thing right. Or very wrong.

“Be fine,” Louise said. “I’m going to enjoy it. I’m over on the left where the cars come up. Got a grandstand view. It’s uniform I always feel sorry for. Don’t get a look, faces to the bloody crowd.”

“I was surprised they’re bringing in mounted.”

“They’re bringing in the bloody works. Surprised there aren’t tanks.”

“Be glad when it’s this time tomorrow, me.”

“I’ll drink to that,” Clive said. He sneezed.

“Oi, watch it. I don’t want your snot in my beer, thank you.”

“Told you I was heady.”

The hen party got up and started the conga round the room, police helmets, pink feathers, handcuffs, maids’ aprons, fishnet tights. Shrieking.

“Come on, lads, get on the back.”

A couple of them joined on. The rest cheered.

“Last pint,” Ian said. “That’s your lot. This time tomorrow we can all get bladdered.”

The shrieks went up a few decibels and Clive Rowley sneezed again.

Seventy-four

“I’m sorry but you can’t stay here, you’ll have to go right back.”

“Where to?”

The special constable indicated the cordons. “Behind there.”

The women groaned. “But we won’t see anything.”

“Course you will.”

“Well, we haven’t brought binoculars.”

“Brought your chairs though.”

“Can’t stand for hours and hours.”

They folded the camp stools they had brought and went slowly in the direction of the pointing hand. The area behind the cordons was filling up.

Tactical Team Bronze Command Duncan Houlish looked up to the tower. Two officers up there and it should have been three. He had two men down, Bannister whose father had died the previous night and Clive Rowley who had rung in with a cold.

“I’ll bloody cold him. He was perfectly all right last night.”

“Bannister said he could come in, but he won’t be focused. Not fair anyway.”

“Look, your dad dying is one thing and a snuffly nose is another. I’ll bollock him on Monday.”

“If he’s in.”

“Thinks because he was some sort of five-minute hero he can take the piss.”

“Talking of that, you know the woman he rescued?”

“What about her?”

“They found her son’s body last night. Bottom of the multi-storey.” His walkie-talkie crackled.

Behind the cordon the women settled down.

“I feel sorry for these,” one said, nodding to the constable facing them. “They never get a look at what’s going on, just at our ugly mugs.”

“Place is bristling with them today.”

“Do you wonder?”

“They still won’t confirm whether Charles and Camilla are coming or not. I’ve asked three of them but they’re staying shtum.”

“They’ll be here. There wouldn’t be all of this c helicopter buzzing and everything.”

“I hope so. I like a big wedding but I wouldn’t be sitting out here in this cold just for that.”

“Lovely day though, even if it’s cold. Just right.”

“I got married on a day like this.”

“Did you? Mine was pouring down.”

*

Two miles away, Serrailler was arguing down the telephone.

“I know it’s a hunch, ma’am, but I have to trust it. It’s got everything he needs and no risk. I do urge you to go with me on this.”

“Simon, I can’t conjure up an ARV out of thin air.”

“Then take one of the armed vehicles from around the cathedral.”

The Chief sighed. “And if things kick off at this wedding? I couldn’t live with myself.”