a mote of dust to ruin the perfect surfaces.
‘It’s beautiful, isn’t it-an American marine paint, expensive but beautiful.’ Poppy knelt to switch off the motor and stood for a moment, a critical frown on her face, admiring the gigantic female bottom.
‘Does it have a title?’ Kathy asked.
‘Mmm, I’m thinking of My Mum’s Weary Bum Has Seen It All. What do you think?’
‘I think I’m the wrong person to ask.’
‘Oh, I don’t know. Is this a social call?’
‘No, it’s official. Something’s happened that I need to talk to you about.’
‘Ah.’ Poppy was abruptly still, her hand frozen in the action of shaking her hair out of a plastic cap. ‘Let’s go outside.’
She led Kathy through the jumble of benches and equipment that cluttered the workshop to a steel-framed glass door and out into a small courtyard, lit by the glow of the autumnal afternoon sun on brick walls. Weeds poked between stone flagstones on the ground and old stone benches ringed the perimeter. It made Kathy think of a prison exercise yard. She sat down beside the artist.
‘The women from the pie factory used to come out here for their breaks,’ Poppy said. ‘The benches are worn away by thousands of weary bums. Why do you want to speak to me?’
‘I need your help. Last night we found one of the missing girls and arrested a man.’
‘Oh, that’s great! Was it Tracey?’
‘I’m afraid not. The thing is, to find her we have to be very sure of our facts.’
‘Yes, of course.’
‘Especially about people’s movements on the night Tracey disappeared.’
Poppy tugged a pack of cigarettes and a lighter out of a pocket of her overalls and took her time lighting up. She blew a narrow column of smoke into the cool air and said, ‘I didn’t see Tracey at all that weekend, or the night she was taken. I can’t help you, I’m sorry.’ She rubbed her nose with a thumb.
There was a theory that lying makes the nose tingle. The Pinocchio syndrome, it was called. Kathy wasn’t sure she believed it, but Poppy certainly did seem to have an itchy nose.
‘What about Gabe?’
‘Yes, he bought me lunch on Sunday at the pub.’
‘And did you see him later?’
‘Don’t think so. Can’t remember, really. Ask him.’
‘This is very, very important, Poppy. Tracey’s life may depend on it. We need the truth now. Or was that just bullshit, that stuff you were telling me about truthfulness?’
Poppy took a long drag, sighing out the smoke. ‘I did see Gabe that Sunday night. I didn’t lie to anyone, ’cos nobody asked me that before. When he talked to you he was embarrassed, that’s all. He was stoned that night, and I guess he didn’t check on Tracey. He may have massaged his story a bit, to make himself look better. But it doesn’t make any difference.’
‘Tell me about Sunday night.’
‘Gabe came over here about ten. He’d been drinking and he was bored. He had a bottle and he knocked on the door of my room.’
‘He was on his own?’
‘Yeah. He didn’t say anything about Tracey. I didn’t think to ask.’
‘Go on.’
‘Well, we talked, had a few drinks, then Stan looked in. He’d been drinking at the pub. About one or one- thirty, I’m not sure, they left together, and I went to bed.’ Another puff, another scratch of the nose.
Kathy stared at her, waiting.
‘That’s all.’
‘No it’s not.’
Poppy frowned, then said, as if she’d forgotten,‘Oh, I did walk a little way with them, to get a bit of air before I went to bed. Down the lane behind West Terrace, then I turned back. We were a bit pissed, larking around. I squealed or something. I think that was what Betty heard, what she thought was a scream.’
‘And Stan went on with Gabe, to his house?’
‘What? Oh, no. He came back with me, to his own flat upstairs, near mine.’
This didn’t sound right, Kathy thought. ‘Come on, Poppy. And the rest.’
Poppy glared at her, suddenly angry. ‘Christ, you’re a pain, you know that?’
‘Just tell me. You know you have to. You care about Tracey, don’t you?’
‘Yes, I do, but…’
‘But what?’
‘But I don’t want to end up with my face cut, that’s what.’
‘Who would do that?’
Poppy took a deep breath, her hand dropped to her lap and finally she said,‘Yasher.’
‘From the sandwich shop?’
‘Yes. He’s our dealer.’
‘I thought Fergus Tait was.’
Poppy grinned briefly.‘Not art dealer-the other kind. He gets stuff for us-Gabe, mainly. About one o’clock Gabe decided he wanted some coke, so he gave Yasher a call. He wouldn’t come here, to The Pie Factory, but he said he’d meet us in the buildings they’re doing up on West Terrace. There’s a room in the basement of one of the houses where the builders keep their tools. The three of us went down there, and Yasher sold Gabe some stuff, coke and something else-speed, I think. Gabe insisted we all try some of his coke, and for half an hour or so we had a bit of a party, the three of us and Yasher. Then I began to get tired and said I was going. Like I said, we fooled about a bit in the lane, Yasher pinned me to the wall, I screamed. It was just a bit of fun. Then I came back.’
‘With Stan?’
‘No. He wanted to stay a bit longer with the other two. I fell asleep as soon as I got into bed and I never heard him come back.’
Kathy sensed they’d passed the block that had held Poppy back before. Now she wanted to tell it all. ‘I woke up on Monday morning with the phone ringing. It was Gabe. He’d passed out on his bed when he got home, he said, and he’d just woken up and gone to get Tracey, and she wasn’t there. He sounded confused, as if I might know where she was.’
‘What time was this?’
‘Quarter past six.’
The time Rudd’s alarm had been set for, Kathy remembered.
‘I said I’d go over and help. We searched the house, but there was no sign of her. I thought he must have got mixed up and that she was with her grandparents, but he insisted they’d brought her back the previous afternoon, only he had no idea where she was now. Tracey’s window was open and the back gate unlocked, and in the end we decided he’d have to call the police. He gave me his drugs to keep for him over here, and we agreed not to mention anything about him being out the previous night, or me being there that morning. He seemed to be most worried about what Tracey’s grandparents would make of it-he kept saying they’d crucify him. You know they wanted to get custody of Trace?’
Kathy nodded.‘Anything else?’
‘That’s about it. Only, I am serious about Yasher. He seems a charming sort of bloke, but he can be really mean if you cross him, and he’s got some very ugly friends. They carry guns some of them. That stuff I told you about him selling drugs-I’m not going to put that on the record.’
‘Okay, I’ll do what I can to keep you out of it. Thanks for this, Poppy.’
‘I’m glad I’ve told you now. I went along with Gabe at the time, but afterwards I didn’t like keeping quiet about it. I hope it helps.’
‘So do I. You are really fond of her, aren’t you, Poppy?’
‘Oh hell, yeah.’ She stamped her cigarette out and began to rise to her feet.‘We were good mates.’
‘And she was your model.’
Poppy smiled.‘Sure. She has a lovely face, real cute and innocent.’
‘And her body as well? Your cherubs are very explicit -anatomically, I mean. She modelled for the bodies, too,
