Zoe rubbed her eyes. ‘I don’t remember a dog. Was there a dog, Charlie?’
Charlie sighed. ‘Never mind that, what about this mutt?’
Jeanie padded calmly around as if she’d always lived there. She investigated the bin in the corner of the room.
‘She’s not a mutt.’
‘Why the hell would you get a dog? See this is all part of what we’re talking about, you’re losing your grip on things.’
‘People get dogs all the time. They’re not all in the queue for the psychiatric ward, are they?’
‘You know what I mean.’
Zoe was petting the dog now, scratching it between the ears. ‘What’s she called?’
‘Jeanie.’
Charlie took his hand from Billy’s shoulder and moved away. ‘You are fucking kidding me.’
‘What?’
‘You called her after Mum?’
‘Why not?’
‘Why not?’ Charlie was raging. ‘Don’t you see what the fuck is happening to you?’
‘What do you mean?’
Charlie sucked in a deep breath and took something from his pocket. More pills. Billy didn’t recognise them.
Charlie held them out. ‘Ideally, you should speak to a shrink about this, but in the circumstances I don’t think that’s a good idea.’
‘So you’re just going to drug me up, is that it?’ Billy clicked his fingers to get Jeanie’s attention. She wandered over, unfazed by the raised voices.
‘It’s not like that,’ Zoe said.
‘Sounds like it. What are they anyway?’
‘Mood stabilisers.’ Charlie showed Billy the packet. It had Tegretol stamped on it.
‘Fuck off, I’m not taking them.’
Charlie gave him a look. ‘You’ve been taking plenty of other shit. Without asking. Don’t think I haven’t noticed.’ He offered up the pack. ‘Maybe you should lay off the uppers and downers, and try some of these instead.’
Billy stared at the packet for a long time, then reached out and took it from Charlie’s hand.
‘Now let’s all just fucking cool our jets,’ Charlie said.
Zoe came over and rubbed Billy’s arm. He stared at her.
‘I feel like we’ve hardly seen you,’ she said softly. ‘Come on, sit down, I’ll get you a beer.’
‘I can’t.’ Billy pulled his arm away. ‘I have to go out.’
Charlie sighed.
‘I have to meet a copper in the pub.’
Zoe looked at him. ‘Why?’
‘It’s Rose’s fuckbuddy, DI Price. He wants to talk to me.’
‘What about?’
‘Adele.’
Zoe’s eyes narrowed. ‘Why does he want to talk to you about Adele Whitehouse?’
Billy shrugged. ‘Because I got in and interviewed her, I guess. The police questioned her about Jamie Mackie. She’s Dean’s alibi. She didn’t give anything away.’
Charlie rubbed at his forehead. ‘You shouldn’t be involved in this mess. Stay out of it.’
‘I can’t.’
‘You have to, or it’ll kill you.’
Billy leaned down and ruffled Jeanie’s fur. ‘There’s one other thing you should know. The police have worked out it was a hit and run on Queen’s Drive, and they’re looking for a red car in connection with it.’
He left the room, Jeanie trotting after him, tail swishing. He heard Charlie over the sound of the television. ‘Fuck.’
18
He’d never been in The Montague before, despite living round the corner. In a neighbourhood awash with students on happy hour, it was a dull grey old man’s pub, populated by halfway jakeys and off-duty coppers from St Leonard’s across the road.
There were a handful of burly law-enforcement types bursting out of their shirts and guzzling pints of Best as Billy walked in, trailing Jeanie behind. The woman behind the bar had faded tattoos and a kind face.
Billy wangled a bowl of water and bought some crisps for Jeanie, opening the packet and placing it on the floor by his feet. She gobbled at them and lapped at the water, nudging the bowl across the floor with her snout so that water spilled on Billy’s trainers. He knelt down and stroked her back.
‘I’ll get you something proper to eat once we’re finished here.’
‘I didn’t know you had a dog.’ It was Rose standing over him. She was in a floral print dress. He’d never seen her in a dress before. Her breasts were spilling out the front. Beside her, DI Price couldn’t take his eyes off them.
Billy straightened up. ‘Just got her today.’
‘At the Dog and Cat Home?’
Billy nodded and Rose laughed.
‘You are really something. Sure you’re up to the responsibility of a pet?’
Billy shrugged.
Rose put a hand on Price’s chest. ‘Stuart, what can I get you?’
‘I’ll get these,’ Price said. ‘The lady never buys the first round.’
Billy followed Rose to a table, bringing Jeanie’s water bowl with him.
‘Now,’ Rose said. ‘Just play it straight with Stuart, OK? He’s one of the good guys.’
‘I like your dress.’ Billy raised his eyebrows at the low-cut front.
‘Shut it.’
Price arrived with drinks.
‘I take it Rose told you what this is about,’ he said to Billy.
‘Kind of.’
‘Well, as I’m sure you’re aware, I’ve been reasonably helpful to Rose in releasing information about the case to her early.’
‘Yeah, I noticed.’
Billy looked round. They were getting more attention now from the regulars and off-duty police. A detective inspector sharing a drink with two reporters, one of them with Double Ds on display.
‘Anyway, being helpful is a two-way street. So I want to talk to you about Adele Whitehouse.’
‘I believe you had her in for questioning.’ Billy tried to think about what he was supposed to know and what he wasn’t. He couldn’t get it clear in his head. Outside the window, shafts of evening sun lit up Salisbury Crags. Everywhere he went, the Crags were glaring down at him. He rattled the Tegretol in his pocket and took a swig of lager. Jeanie’s ears pricked up at the noise from his pocket, then she lost interest when he pulled an empty hand out.
‘Indeed,’ Price said. ‘She is providing an alibi for Dean Whitehouse for the time of Jamie Mackie’s shooting.’
‘Makes sense, the two seem almost inseparable.’
‘And yet you’ve managed to get Adele on her own, haven’t you?’
Billy paused.
‘Your interview in the Evening Standard?’
