where they were now. Red, white and blue.
In the far distance, he could see a single light. Its rectangular shape blinked through the swirling snow like a beacon as it floated in the blackness over the snowficld. He thought for a moment of the bright star in the cast that the Wise Men had followed. Rut
o
this light was in the north, and it was not a star. Cooper realized it was the uncurtained bedroom window of a retired farmworker, where a man might even now be counting his regrets.
A little way to the west, there was a dark shape in the snow. I hat was the stone wall of the dam and the cold expanse of Blackbrook Reservoir. Cooper pictured Pilot Officer Danny McTeaguc, staggering from the wreckage of his Lancaster bomber and about to set off across the moor to find help. In another few minutes, it would be completely dark, as it was when McTcague walked away from Sugar Uncle Victor. And then he wouldn’t be able to see the reservoir only the light.
‘At least you helped George Malkin, Lawrence,’ said Cooper. His souvenirs produced a bit of money for him, didn’t they?’
Still Lawrence didn’t answer. But Cooper stared at his face as
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il he had spoken. It was as ii Lawrence had just said something perceptive that Cooper hadn’t thought of before.
‘Yes,’ said Cooper. ‘You did help George Malkin - didn’t you, Lawrence?’
The wind was really getting up now. Cooper heard an answering moan from the rocks behind him and felt a spatter of frozen snow on the back of his neck where it was blowing off the top of the drifts. There was a pain in his ears, but it was nothing to what Marie Tennent must have felt as she lay out in the snow the night she died. Where his hand had been plunged into the snow, it looked red and raw. He rubbed it on a dry part of his trousers and thrust it back into his glove. But the glove had got snow on the inside, too, and it didn’t help.
‘I know you weren’t involved in Nick Easton’s murder. And Marie’s death wasn’t your fault. Rut you have to tell us where the baby is, Lawrence.’
Was mat the noise of a helicopter, that dull thudding in his ears? Or was it his own heart struggling to push the blood through his veins? If he could convince Lawrence that rescue was on its way, perhaps he would decide not to die. Perhaps he would rouse himself and they could share their bodv heat to survive together.
Cooper held his breath in his hands to prevent it from drifting awav, afraid it might take his life with it. But LawTence wasn’t going to rouse himself. There was no warmth left in his bodv to share. Cooper lay over him, covering both their bodies with the cagoulc, leaving only his head and his feet free. I le needed to be able to hear the helicopter so that he could signal their position. He didn’t know whether he was going to be able to do that in the dark, but somehow he would have to. AH he had was his torch, and the moor was a big place. If anyone were thinking properly, they would have thermal imaging equipment on board to locate their body heat. If there was any body heat left by then.
^ V ^
That was definitely the sound of a helicopter.
‘I think they’re here, Lawrence,’ he said.
Cooper put his hand to Lawrence’s face to attract his attention. His fingers touched something hard and cold, an incongruous blemish on Lawrence’s cheek. It was a single tear, slowly freezing to the skin.
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35
JDiane Fry pulled out of the divisional headquarters car park and fell in behind the lights of a patrol car on its way down West Street. Dawn was creeping over the roofs of Rdendale. Beside her, Ben Cooper looked pale and exhausted. He should have keen at home in bed, hut had refused to stay away.
‘We should have insisted on looking in all the rooms while we were there,’ he said.
‘How could we? We had no search warrant. We had no grounds (or making an arrest. Not then.’
‘There were more rooms above that floor he showed us. That’s where he lives in the attic rooms. They would he the old servants’ bedrooms.’
‘We’ll soon find out.’
Fry could tell Cooper was uneasy. He fidgeted with his seat belt like a restless child. But at least her car would stay clean. She had left Gavin Murfin behind this morning.
‘I should have known there was something wrong about Frank
c 2?
Baine,’ said Cooper. ‘There were so many gaps in what he told Alison Morrissey. He didn’t mention George Malkin to her, and he didn’t let her see the books about the aircraft wrecks. Walter Rowland might have been willing to talk to her, but Baine discouraged him.’
‘Yes, I suppose so,’ said Fry.
‘And of course, Baine told Alison that Sergeant Dick Abbott’s family had left the country. But Marie Tennent was right here in Rdendale. They ought to have been able to meet. It would have meant a lot to both of them.’
‘I expect so.’
‘There could have been some kind of reconciliation,’ said Cooper.
‘Yes, Ben.’
Fry drove through the roundabout and up Hulley Road towards the traffic lights. She was following the patrol car
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because she wasn’t sure how to get into Nick i’ th’ Tor to reach Eden Valley Books.
‘I should have known he was manipulating Alison. She was determined enough that he couldn’t have stopped her coming over. But Baine was with her all the time, making sure he knew what she was doing, pushing her in the direction he wanted her to go, keeping her away from the truth. Of course, he’d keen to see everyone himself before Alison ever arrived here, and he’d alienated them all, scared them off talking to her. Bainc only started
