substances that might help an identification.
‘We thought at first there was a good chance they belonged to the Snowman,’ said Kitchens. ‘The shirts are a similar quality to the one he was wearing.’
‘Rut … ?’
‘They’re the wrong si/.e.’
‘Damn.’ Tailby’s face creased in annoyance. ‘Do you mean some idiot’s been spreading clothes around the landscape just for a bit of a joke? Do these people do it on purpose to waste our time?’
‘They may actually have come from the blue bag, for all we know,’ said Hitchcns.
‘But if they’re the wrong size
‘It’s only an assumption that the bag was the Snowman’s. There was other rubbish dumped in that lay- by.’
‘Good point.’
‘However, we do have this,’ said Hitchcns. ‘We found it in the pocket of the coat he was wearing.’
He held up a smaller evidence bag. Whatever was in it was so small that officers a few” feet away had to lean forward to be sure there was anything there at all.
‘It got a bit wet from the snow, but fortunately the printing is good and hasn’t washed away. Aside from the Snowman’s apparent visit to Woodland Crescent on Monday, this is the best lead we’ve had to date, folks.’
‘What is it?’ said Fry.
‘An admission ticket. It’s for entry to an air museum at a place called Lcadenhall.’
187
When Ben Cooper left Walter Rowland’s house, he walked into an awkward deja vu. Alison Morrissey was standing in the road, with her hands shoved in the pockets of her coat. A few yards away, Frank Baine stood by a black Ford estate.
Morrissey watched Cooper as he began to walk back towards his car. For a futile moment, he thought he was going to get away without speaking to her.
‘Detective Cooper, isn’t it?’ she said. ‘Can I have a word, please?’
Cooper pulled his coat up round his ears. ‘Is this a coincidence?’ he said.
‘No,’ said Morrissey. ‘Frank lives near here and he saw you arrive, so he phoned to tell me. I’ve been waiting for you to come out of there.’
Cooper couldn’t read her expression, but he didn’t think shewas happy. It might have been the cold making her face flushed, but on the other hand, it could have been anger.
‘I accepted that the local police aren’t going to help me,’ she said. ‘But I didn’t realize they would set about interfering and trying to stop me.’
‘That’s not what I’m trying to do,’ said Cooper.
‘No? It looks very much like it from where I’m standing. You appear at the home of the Lukasz family, and you pop up here, checking on people I want to talk to.’
‘I have no intention of interfering.’
o
‘I presume your superiors have given you instructions to keep an eye on me, in case I cause trouble.’
‘Nothing like that.’
‘But you visited the Lukasz family. I suppose you talked to the old man, Zygmunt. And I suppose it was you who warned M them not to speak to me.’
‘Why should I do that?’
‘You’ve had your instructions, I expect. I was disappointed that the police wouldn’t give me any help. But I never expected that they would set out to actively hinder me.’
J J
Embarrassed, Cooper tried to edge towards his car, which was parked on the steepest part of the street. But Morrissey moved with him.
188
‘Well, let me tell you something, Detective Cooper/ she said. ‘Your attempts to obstruct me will only make me more determined to find out the truth. I guess I’m just that sort of person. I’ve always been pretty awkward — I tend to go the opposite direction to the one I’m being pushed in.’
‘I wasn’t able to speak to Zygmunt Lukasz,’ said Cooper.
‘Oh, no?’
‘No.’
She hesitated, as if not sure whether to believe him. ‘You had a long chat with his family, though, I bet.’
‘I had to sec them about a few other things.’
o
But even as Cooper said it, he knew it sounded weak and unconvincing. Morrissey gazed at him with something like contempt.
‘I don’t know why you bother to lie to me about it. Not when you were at Mr Rowland’s house as well. Are you going to tell me that you had to go and see him about a few other things too? That really would be a coincidence, wouldn’t it?’
