'Check anyway.' He rapped his forehead with his knuckled hand. Something was worrying him. The car keys. Where the hell were the car keys? 'First thing tomorrow, Taffy, you turn that flat upside down. The car keys have got to be there somewhere — she didn't hot wire the bleeding thing.' He called the station to get the car collected for forensic examination and was just slipping the radio back in his pocket when it squawked his name. 'Control to Inspector Frost.'
'Yes?'
'Can you get over to Denton Hospital right away, Inspector, liase with DI Maud.'
'Why?'. badly beaten up.
'Young girl just been admitted She's a prostitute.'
'On my way,' said Frost.
Liz Maud was waiting for them by the entrance and led them up to the admission ward. 'Could be a tie-in with last night. She's been beaten up pretty badly — bruising, cracked ribs.'
'So what happened?'
'A lorry driver spotted her lying by the side of the road near Denton Woods. He thought she'd been the victim of a hit and run and phoned for an ambulance. The doctor says she's been punched and kicked.'
'Do we know who she is?'
'She won't say a blind word to me. Her handbag's full of condoms and the name on her credit card is Cherry Hall… In here.'
They followed her through a darkened ward and then into a side room where a heavily bandaged figure lay still on the bed. The bandaging covered most of the head and all that could be seen of her face was a pair of grey eyes stabbing them with hostility.
Frost flopped down in the chair by the bed. 'You look like Queen bleeding Nefertiti,' he told her. She didn't answer. He unhooked the chart from the foot of the bed and studied it, shaking his head in mock concern. 'It says, 'Condition very serious, but cooperate with the police and you'll live.' '
'I'm in pain,' hissed the girl. 'I want to be left alone.'
'Greta Garbo wanted to be left alone,' said Frost, 'and now she's dead!' He checked to see there was no nurse in sight and stuck a cigarette in his mouth. 'Come on, love. Tell me what happened and I'll go, cubs' honour.'
'Nothing to tell. I'm at Denton Terrace, freezing cold, not much trade about, when this bloke pulls up. I didn't like the look of him, but he wasn't going to get trampled in the rush, so we agrees a price and I get in his car. He drives off to somewhere near the woods and parks. I'm starting to unbutton my dress when the bastard belts me one… That's it. I don't remember any more.'
'He just beat you up — for no reason?'
'Yes.'
'That wasn't very sociable. You didn't make any disparaging remarks about his appendage or anything?'
'I never saw his appendage, only his bleeding fist and there was nothing wrong with the size of that.'
'Describe him.'
The bandaged head shook. 'I don't remember.'
'Come on,' urged Frost. 'You remembered enough to say you didn't like the look of him.'
'Middle age, medium height, medium build, dark clothes.'
'Clean-shaven?'
'Yes.'
'We've got him then,' said Frost. 'There can't be more than twenty million blokes with that description.' He puffed smoke up to the ceiling. 'What sort of car?'
'Just a car. I know nothing about cars.'
'Old, new, big, small, diesel, petrol, steam-driven?'
'Medium sized… fairly old.'
'Colour?'
'Darkish.'
Frost flicked ash on the floor. 'You're sodding me about, aren't you, love? You could describe him Perfectly if you wanted to.'
'I've told you all I can remember.'
'How old are you?'
'Seventeen.'
'Been on the game long?'
'Couple of months.'
'Got a pimp?'
'No.'
'I thought not. You say this bloke picked you up at Denton Terrace? That's where Harry Grafton's girls flash their knickers. I bet they didn't like a young piece of stuff like you encroaching on their turf?'
'It's a free country.'
'I reckon they warned you off, but you gave them the two-fingered salute, so Harry sent one of his persuaders to teach you a lesson. Right?'
'I'm saying nothing.'
'He smashed you up, love — are you going to let him get away with it? He could have killed you!'
She just lay stiff and still, willing him to go.
Frost sighed. 'If you want the bastard to get away with it, that's your prerogative. Like you said, it's a free country.' He pinched the cigarette out and dropped it in his pocket. Liz and Morgan followed him out.
The night sister was at her desk behind a newly delivered large bunch of flowers. She looked up at the inspector. 'Did Cherry tell you who did it?'
'Sudden loss of memory,' Frost told her.
'Whoever did it wants locking up. I hardly recognized her when she was brought in.'
Frost stopped in his tracks and walked back. 'You know her?'
The nurse nodded. 'She used to work here… in the staff canteen.'
Frost exchanged glances with Liz. 'When was this?'
'About four months or so ago. She didn't stay long.' The nurse rose from her chair and picked up the bunch of flowers. 'Perhaps these will cheer her up.'
Frost held up a hand. 'Hold on… Someone's sent her flowers?' He checked the card on the bouquet of red and pink carnations. 'To Miss Cherry Hall, Nightingale Ward… To Pastures New… Bon Voyage…' 'Who the hell would have known she was here — let alone get the right ward?'
'People can always phone the switchboard and ask,' the nurse told them. 'They have an updated list of admissions.'
Frost's eyes lit up. 'Do you tape all calls?'
'Yes,' said the nurse. 'In case people claim we've given the wrong information.'
Frost sent Liz to go down to the switchboard to check, then he picked up the bunch of flowers and waited in the corridor. He was on his second cigarette when the clatter of shoes on parquet flooring signalled Liz's return. She was panting and had to wait a while to catch her breath. 'The stairs in this place…'
Frost nodded. He knew all about the stairs. His wife had been up on the fourth floor. 'You've got something?'
One last gasp before she was ready to talk. 'Yes. A man phoned about half an hour ago. Asked how Cherry Hall was and what ward she was in. They told him and he hung up.'
'And…? I can see from your face there's more.'
She fluttered a hand telling him to be patient. 'I listened to the tape of the call… It was the same man who phoned last night.'
Frost expelled a mouthful of smoke, then picked up the flowers. 'Right. Let's pay her another visit…'
She was still lying motionless, eyes tightly closed, pretending she was asleep and hadn't heard them return. He squeaked the chair noisily and thudded down in it. 'The bloke who beat you up sent you some flowers. Wasn't that nice of him?'
She didn't answer.
