Aftermath

scene. Even if she’d gone, she would be at hospital, and he would be able to find her there easily enough.

He left the tumbler, still half-full, on the low table and went to grab his jacket. Before he could put it on, the phone rang again. Thinking it was Annie calling back with more news, he answered. It was Jenny Fuller.

“I hope I haven’t called at an awkward moment,” she said.

“I was just going out.”

“Oh. An emergency?”

“Sort of.”

“Only I was thinking we might have a drink and celebrate, you know, now it’s all over.”

“That’s a great idea, Jenny. I can’t do it right now, though. I’ll call you later, okay?”

“Story of my life.”

“Sorry. Got to go. I’ll call. Promise.”

Banks could hear the disappointment in Jenny’s voice, and he felt like a real bastard for being so abrupt with her – after all, she had worked on the case as hard as anyone – but he didn’t want to explain about Janet Taylor, and he didn’t feel like celebrating anything.

Now it’s all over, Jenny had said. Banks wondered if it would ever be all over, the aftermath of the Paynes’ rampage, if it would ever cease taking its toll. Six teenage girls dead, one still unidentified. Kathleen Murray dead these ten years or more. PC Dennis Morrisey dead. Terence Payne dead. Lucy Payne paralyzed. Now Janet Taylor dead and a young girl seriously injured.

Banks checked for his keys and cigarettes, and headed out into the night.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I would like to thank my editor, Patricia Lande Grader, for her help in reshaping the unruly early drafts, and my wife, Sheila Halladay, for her perceptive and helpful comments. Also, many thanks to my agent, Dominick Abel, for all his hard work on my behalf, and to Erika Schmid for her fine copyediting.

As far as research goes, the usual crowd came through: Detective Sergeant Keith Wright, Detective Inspectors Claire Gormley and Alan Young, and Area Commander Philip Gormley. Any mistakes are entirely my own and are, of course, made in the interests of dramatic fiction. Also, thanks to Woitek Kubicki for his advice on Polish names.

A number of books proved invaluable in understanding the “killer couple” phenomenon, and among those to which I owe my greatest debt of gratitude are Emlyn Williams, Beyond Belief; Brian Masters, She Must Have Known; Paul Britton, The Jigsaw Man; Gordon Burn, Happy Like Murderers; and Stephen Williams, Invisible Darkness.

About the Author

Peter Robinson grew up in Yorkshire, England. His previous Inspector Banks novels include In a Dry Season, which was nominated for the Edgar and won the Anthony Award as well as being named a New York Times Notable Book. His most recent Inspector Banks novel, Cold Is the Grave, was a Los Angeles Times bestseller and was nominated for the Los Angeles Times Book Award.

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