‘And he never said what sort of medicine he practised? Neurology, orthopaedics, whatever?’
‘No. I never asked.’
Never mind. It would be among his papers, Slider thought. ‘Would you like to tell me about this morning?’ he asked gently, and at once an alarmed look came to her eyes, and she leaned back against the pillows and twisted the fold of the sheet between her fingers.
‘This morning. Yes. Well. He got up early, said he had to go in to work. Five o’clock! I mean, we hadn’t long been asleep, and he gets up at five. Fair go, he says to me I can sleep a bit longer, but I was awake anyway. No, wait – he had a phone call. That’s what woke me up. The phone went off about ten to five, he listens a minute, rings off, and goes into his dressing-room and rings someone on his mobile. I mean, what’s that all about?’
‘Did you hear any of the conversation?’ Connolly asked.
‘What d’you think I am? I don’t earwig.’
‘It might be very important,’ Slider suggested.
‘I didn’t really hear anything,’ she said, mollified. ‘It was just like hello, yes, no, all right – that sort of thing. But when he came back into the bedroom he looked sort of worried, and said he had to go in to work. He said I could sleep a bit longer while he got ready – I never knew a bloke take so long getting washed and dressed and everything. I mean, I’m quicker, putting on a full face! But I have to say he’s always beautifully turned out. Immaculate. Every hair just right. Anyway, he says I’ve got to leave when he does. He’s never left me in the house without him. He said the burglar alarm was too complicated for me to set.’
Modern burglar alarms weren’t complicated to set, Slider thought. More likely it was just natural caution. There were many reasons for not leaving a girl you’d only known a few weeks alone in your pad.
‘So what happened next?’ he prompted her.
‘Well, he’d done all his bathroom stuff and he was getting dressed. I took the chance to get in the bathroom for a pee, and when I came out he was in trousers and shirt and picking out a tie, and he says to me I’d better get dressed because he’ll be going soon. Well, I was just in this bathrobe he lends me.’ She looked across at it, lying on the back of the chair in the corner of the room – dark blue velvet towelling, thick and plushy – and her lips trembled at this reminder of him.
‘Did he say where he was going?’ Slider asked quickly, to keep up her momentum.
‘No, he just said to work. The hospital, I suppose. Anyway, then there’s this ring at the doorbell.’
‘Do you know what time that was?’
‘I dunno, but it must have been about a quarter past six, because he’d said he was leaving at half past and he was all but ready.’
‘How did he react when the bell went?’ Connolly asked.
‘Dunno, really.’ She frowned in thought. ‘He didn’t say anything, just went downstairs.’
‘Do you think he was expecting it?’
‘Maybe. He wasn’t that surprised, really.’
‘He wasn’t anxious, or afraid?’
‘I dunno. I don’t think so. Well, like I said, he’d been a bit worried since the phone call, but not, like, sweating it. Just – thoughtful, sort of. Anyway, so he goes downstairs and I hear him opening the front door, and talking to someone. I couldn’t make out what they were saying. I’d gone to the door of the bedroom, but I could just hear, like, the murmur of voices. And then – and then—’ She had come to the hard part. Her eyes were wide and staring. ‘I heard this gunshot.’
‘How did you know that’s what it was?’ Slider asked.
‘I dunno really. I just knew. I watch a lot of cop shows on the telly,’ she explained. ‘It was a gunshot. With a silencer.’
‘Just one shot?’
She nodded. ‘And then a sort of thump, like someone falling down. I knew it was David. I knew someone’d shot him. I started shaking all over. I wanted to go downstairs to him, but when I got to the top of the stairs I see this sort of shadow move and I knew the killer was still there. And then I realized if he knew I was in the house he’d come after me next. So I ran back in the bedroom, and I see his mobile, where he’d left it on the bedside table, and I grabs it to ring 999, but then I hear the bannister creak and I know this man’s coming upstairs. God, I was scared! I was gonna hide in the bathroom but I realize he’ll come in there looking for me and I’d be trapped. I could lock the door but if he’s a big bloke he could kick it open. Then I think of the balcony. The door was open – he always opens it when he gets up, to air the room, he says. If I get out there I can climb over the railings and, like, let myself down by my arms and then drop the last bit. It’s not gonna be that far to drop, like six feet or something.’
She gulped for air, her hands still now, but gripping the sheet so hard her knuckles were white. There was a sheen of sweat on her face.
‘I could hear his feet on the stairs so I get out on the balcony. There’s this stupid plant in a pot and I have to get past it. I climb over the railings at the side. I’m still crouching there, trying to sort me feet out when he comes into the bedroom.’
‘You saw him?’
‘Just, like, this shape in the doorway. He comes into the room. I could hear him opening drawers, looking for something. I hear him go in the bathroom and come out again. Then I think: if he comes to the balcony door he’ll see me. I thought I was going to die. I can’t tell you – it was like I could
‘Why didn’t you drop and make a run for it?’ Connolly asked.
‘I was too scared. All I could think was keep still, girl, keep quiet, maybe he won’t find you. If he’d come out on the balcony he’d have seen me, but he just stood at the door, and that stupid plant hid my hands, hanging on to the railings. And then this pigeon flew down on the railings, making this noise with its wings. I nearly screamed, it frit me so much. The pigeon sees him and flies off, and I hear this beep, like an alarm on a watch. And he goes. I’m gonna let go then and drop, but me hands have kind of frozen up, and I can’t make them let go. And I’m nearly crying with fright now because he’s come out of the front door, and if he looks up he’ll see me. But he walks off the other way, and when he turns the corner my hands give up on their own and I fell down into this bush.’
She stopped abruptly, and tried to reach out for the glass of water on the cabinet beside her, but her hands were shaking too much. Connolly got up and did the honours, and gave her a tissue to wipe the sweat from her face.
‘You’re doing really well,’ Slider said. ‘Take a minute to catch your breath.’
‘You were really brave,’ Connolly cooed to her, proffering the water again. ‘Fantastic, really.’
Cat turned her eyes up at her. ‘You think so?’ she whispered.
‘You were brilliant. I could never be that brave. I’d fall apart.’ Slider thought this an unwise thing for a police officer to say, but it seemed to do the trick, and Cat took a steadier breath and seem ready to go on.
‘So let me help you along for the last bit,’ Connolly said when she resumed her seat. ‘You knocked on next door’s window . . .?’
‘I could see them behind the glass, looking out. They must have heard me fall in the bush. I kind of staggered over and banged on it and said something – I can’t remember what. They looked shit scared. But they let me in. I can’t remember much after that. I kind of went to pieces.’
‘And no wonder. You’d done so well,’ Connolly said.
‘Just one more little bit,’ Slider said, ‘and then we’ll let you rest. About this man. What can you tell me about him? Did you know him?’
‘I never saw his face.’
‘Had you ever met any of the doctor’s friends or work colleagues?’
‘No. It was always just him and me.’
‘So, tell me what you did see of the killer.’
‘Just the shape of him across the room. And then when I was hanging there, he came to the balcony door, and I saw, like, his feet, between the pot and the wall.’
‘What kind of shoes was he wearing?’
‘I dunno,’ she said, seeming dazed. Then, ‘Work boots. Yeah, he had, like, work boots on. And dark-blue trousers. Not jeans. Like, Chinos.’
