Diamond Solitaire

The bell sounded a second time.

By now the two gunmen would be flat to the wall on either side of the door.

'Fredrik, are you there?'

Something was being unfastened.

The woman's voice said, 'Hi, Fredrik, could you possibly step downstairs a minute?'

'What the fuck do you want?' Lundin's voice demanded.

'I have a small problem with a client. Please.'

'What kind of problem?'

'Um… he won't leave.'

'What do you mean?'

Come on, come on, Diamond mentally urged him. Just step outside, will you.

'Like I said. He's being difficult.'

'He won't leave the apartment? He had a trick and he won't leave?'

'I can't force him.'

'Who is he?'

'Some guy. I don't know him. I can't work if he won't leave.'

'Okay, okay, you go back. I'll see to it.'

The door closed.

Diamond clapped his hand to his head in frustration.

Dixie the call girl came downstairs markedly faster than she'd gone up. She pushed her way in past Diamond and Stein. 'That's all I'm doing for you guys,' she told them. 'You'd better not mess up now, or I'll be dead meat'

'Zip it up,' said Stein. There isn't much credit in helping the police.

The wait began again, and it seemed longer, even though it was under five minutes.

Then footsteps crossed the floor upstairs and Lundin could be heard unfastening the latch on his door. This time he definitely stepped out onto the landing, because there was a shout of 'Freeze-police!'

Rashly, Lundin chose not to obey the order. He could be heard making a dash for the stairs. He must have got down two or three when a shot was fired, followed by two more almost immediately. A shriek of pain gave way to the sound of a body hitting the stairs and thumping down several steps.

'They got him,' said Sergeant Stein. He stared through the gap while shouts were being exchanged by the police in the hall, checking that it was safe to close in on the wounded man. 'Let's go.'

When they opened the door, a man in a white T-shirt and black jeans was lying near the bottom of the stairs and one of the cops was standing over him. Stein ran straight past, up the two flights, with Diamond close behind.

The door to Lundin's apartment stood open. The light from inside was dazzling after the long wait in darkness. The place was lavishly furnished in brown leather furniture, cream-colored units and a Chinese carpet. There were huge indoor plants and pieces of bronze abstract sculpture.

But mere was no little girl.

Diamond checked the other rooms-bedroom, kitchen and bathroom. He tugged back the bedding, flung open cupboards, and-with grim apprehension-looked into the bath.

She was not there.

He went back into the living room, looking around for some place he may have missed.

'Mr. Diamond.' Stein had followed him into the bathroom and was still there.

Diamond found him kneeling by the toilet pedestal.

'Would this be the kid?'

A question that struck horror into Diamond.

'I always look in the John,' the sergeant explained. 'They panic and try and flush things away.' He was holding up some small torn pieces of a photo.

Diamond arranged them on the floor. There were seven altogether, and they made an incomplete, but recognizable picture.

'Yes,' he said. 'That's her.'

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Diamond was being difficult again.

'Apart from anything else, I just don't think you're built for this,' Lieutenant Eastland told him. 'Stein can drive you to the hospital in comfort.'

'I'm going in the ambulance,' Diamond insisted. He had his foot on the step and it was just a matter of climbing inside. He would have appreciated a helping hand, because it was a high step for a heavy man.

'The paramedic has to travel in the back and so does one of our officers.'

'Let the officer ride in the front,' said Diamond. 'I'll keep an eye on the prisoner for you. Look, the man isn't going to run away with two bullets in his leg.'

'You can question him at the hospital.'

'I want the answers now, Lieutenant. You've wasted too much time already.'

This touched Eastland on a raw nerve. 'We wasted time? You wanted to run this thing like a Thanksgiving party, not me. The subtle approach. You were bothered about the kid, remember?'

'Correct. And I'm still bothered about her.' With that, Diamond leaned into the ambulance and grabbed the end of the stretcher to hoist himself aboard, with near-disastrous consequences, because the stretcher was mounted on a trolley and started rolling towards him. He had just about enough momentum of his own to climb in and stop the thing from upending himself and the hapless Lundin in the street. Then he sank onto the spare seat beside the paramedic. For a man of his bulk, occupation was more persuasive than argument. 'See you later, Lieutenant.'

Eastland glared and delivered his parting shot. 'If you're typical of England, I'm not surprised it pisses with rain every day. It should crap as well.' He nodded to the driver to close the doors.

'How long will this take us?' Diamond asked the young man beside him as suavely as if nothing had been said.

'You mean to the hospital? Six-seven minutes.'

'Right' He leaned forward to get a better view of the prisoner's face at the far end of the stretcher.

'Careful of his leg,' cautioned the paramedic.

'Careful of my leg,' said Lundin with even more concern. He'd been given a painkilling injection, but a stray hand hovering over the wounded limb must have been painful in prospect

'Never mind his leg,' said Diamond. 'Show me his arm. The right'

The paramedic pulled aside the sheet from Lundin's torso. On the right arm was a razor blade tattoo.

Lundin spoke up. 'You think I'm a needle freak, you're wrong.'

'You're not too far gone to talk, then,' said Diamond. 'I want to know about the child. Where is she?'

'I want a lawyer.'

That old gambit, thought Diamond. 'You know something, Lundin?' he remarked. 'Nobody likes weirdos like you who play around with little girls. Accidents keep happening to them in jail.'

'Little girls? What are you talking about?'

'Don't give me that I saw you pick her up at JFK. With her mother.'

'So that's who you are,' said Lundin as realization dawned.

Diamond was rather put out that he hadn't been recognized right off. Once seen, he was seldom forgotten. To be fair, Lundin had a difficult view from his stretcher. Anyway, they seemed to have got over the potential difficulty of requiring a lawyer in attendance. 'Right So we know each other. I'm the fellow you knocked over and you're the child molester.'

'That's a lie.'

'You definitely knocked me over with a luggage cart.'