“What about Annie?”
“Annie? It’s…complicated.”
“Why? She’s in love with you.”
“Stop it. Don’t be ridiculous. It’s not as easy as that.”
“She is. A woman can tell these things.”
“But you’re just a girl.”
“Really? I’m twenty-four. And still waiting for my latest birthday card, by the way. Anyway, let’s just put it all behind us, shall we? Start afresh.”
“That’s okay with me,” said Banks. “But we do need to talk.”
“I know. I know. And I’ve been dreading it. I’ve had enough of that.” She pushed her basket aside.
“You used to like it.”
“When I was ‘just a girl,’” Tracy sipped her white wine. “Around the same time I used to like McDonald’s and Take That.”
It was true, Banks realized. His daughter was a young woman now, and it was about time he accepted that and learned how to deal with it. “Do you want to tell me what happened? From the start.”
Tracy rested her elbows on the table. “I knew this was coming,” she said. “I’ve been dreading it.” She wasn’t wearing any makeup today, and Banks thought she looked quite beautiful. Even the piercings beside her eyebrow and below her lip couldn’t detract from it. Her skin was naturally pale, her pink lips well defined and shapely, and she had her mother’s eyes. The short hairstyle suited her, too. But then he was biased.
“Take a deep breath and plunge right in.”
“Okay,” Tracy said, and inhaled. “But you already know most of it.”
“Humor me. How did you meet Jaff?”
“Through Erin. They met at that restaurant she worked in, down The Calls. I didn’t know him well at all, but he sort of hung out with us sometimes at the clubs and whatever.”
“And you found him attractive?”
“Hard to believe, isn’t it? But at one time I suppose I did.”
“Oh, it’s not so hard to believe. He was handsome, and I’m sure he was charming enough,” said Banks. “And he was a bad boy. It’s quite a heady combination.”
“That’s Erin’s thing, not mine. He was her boyfriend.”
“Did you know he was a criminal, a drug dealer?”
“No way!” said Tracy. “If I’d known any of that I would have stayed well away. Like I said, it was just a superficial relationship at first. We danced sometimes, chatted about music and stuff. It was just fun…you know…a laugh.”
Banks sensed that Tracy might be avoiding the whole issue of drugs, and he didn’t want to push her on it. He didn’t imagine for a moment that she was a total saint. He assumed that, like a lot of kids who go clubbing, she probably took E now and then, the way people smoked pot or dropped acid in his day. Maybe she did that, too. He just hoped she was careful about what she did, and didn’t use anything harder, like coke or heroin. But there was no gain in opening that route right now. “What changed things?” he asked.
“One night he kissed me on the dance floor. I know it sounds like a cue for a tacky old song, ‘And Then He Kissed Me’ or something, but it’s true. And it was a bit romantic.” Tracy blushed. “Pity the romance didn’t last,” she said.
“What happened?”
“Well, him and Erin had a blazing row right there in the club. It was so embarrassing, even if the music was so loud nobody could hear. She called me some names, then stormed off. Fast-forward to me coming home from work a few days later, and Rose telling me the police had searched the house, then all the stuff on the news later, about Mr. Doyle, the gun…police all over our old street…”
“Slow down. Why did you dash over to Jaff McCready’s flat immediately?”
“To tell him what had happened. He was still Erin’s boyfriend. Something had happened to her. Something was dreadfully wrong. I mean, I know there’d been a misunderstanding, a row, but it was just a kiss. Honest. I mean, we didn’t sleep together or anything.” Her lower lip trembled. “Not…not then.”
“One thing at a time,” Banks said, putting his hand on her forearm. “Take it easy.”
Tracy held her glass up and tried to smile. “I could do with another one of these. Dutch courage.”
Banks went to the bar and got them both refills. “Daughter?” said Cyril, the landlord, nodding over in Tracy’s direction.
“Yes.”
“That the same young lass you used to bring in here for a Coke and a burger years back, when you lived just down the road?”
“One and the same.”
“Haven’t seen her for a long time. She’s grown up into a fine-looking young lass.”
Banks looked over at her. “Indeed she has. Thanks, Cyril.” He paid for the drinks and went back to the table. Paul Jones came on singing “I’ve Been a Bad, Bad Boy.” These oldies were making him feel sad. He had almost forgotten that one.
“What happened when you went to Jaff’s flat?” Banks asked when Tracy had sipped some wine.
“He went berserk,” she said. “He scared me. First, he went in his bedroom and came out just raving, calling her a stupid bitch and God knows what. I didn’t know at the time, but he’d been looking for the gun she took.”
“How did you feel about that?”
“I was frightened,” said Tracy. “I mean, I thought he was nice, but suddenly he seemed so angry, so unpredictable. I didn’t know what he was going to do. I was only the messenger.”
“What happened next?”
“He grabbed me and said we had to get out of there.”
“We?”
“Yes.”
“So you were already a hostage, right from the start?”
“I suppose so. I don’t know what he was thinking. All I know is that he needed a place to go and he was taking me with him.”
“How did you end up at my cottage?”
Tracy turned away. “He…he made me take him there. He said he’d got nowhere to go, and he needed to be somewhere nobody could find him for a while, till things got sorted out. He asked me if I knew anywhere. I was really scared. It was all I could think of. I thought he might hurt me if I said I didn’t know anywhere.”
“Did you feel that you were free to leave him at this time?”
“No. I don’t know. It all happened so fast. I mean, I wasn’t tied up or anything, but he had hold of my arm, and he was hurting me. I thought of your cottage. I knew you were on holiday. I’m so sorry. I…Look, I’m confused. You’re interrogating me just like one of your suspects. I don’t know why it all happened the way it did. I look back and it all seems like a blur, a terrible nightmare. All I know is that I’m the victim here.”
“Calm down, Tracy,” Banks said. “I know this is difficult for you.” Tracy wiped her eyes and sipped more wine. One or two people were looking over, but Banks ignored them. The machines were still making enough noise to drown out their conversation, and “Be My Baby” was playing. Banks kept his voice down, all the same. “I’m not interrogating you,” he said, “but I have to ask these questions. Okay?”
Tracy nodded. “Okay.”
“On the way out of Leeds, Jaff stopped at Victor Mallory’s house. Why?”
“To change cars. Jaff was worried that the police might be looking for him in his own car.”
“So you knew about the gun by then, right?”
“No. He didn’t tell me about that until we got to your cottage, otherwise I might have been more concerned about getting away. He just seemed in a desperate hurry to leave Leeds. I thought maybe…you know…he was worried about getting busted for drugs.”
“You said you didn’t know he was a dealer.”
“I knew he had stuff from time to time. Just not a dealer like you mean.”
“Why didn’t he head straight for London?”
“Because he said he needed to make some phone calls, set up some deals. I didn’t know what he meant at the
