back inside the car and I thought of the way, only a year ago, I had cursed the straps on Elsie’s baby-seat, the awkward angles at which I had had to extract her from the old Fiat. I saw a jeaned leg emerge and then a young woman stepped out. She was blurred by the coarse grain of the old window. I saw jeans, a navy-blue jacket, dark hair, pale skin, nothing else. I heard a knock at the door and walked down the stairs.
Baird stepped into my house with an avuncular, possessive air that repelled me. I suspected that all of this wasn’t his idea, or at least that
‘This is DC Angeloglou,’ Baird said. ‘And this is Dr Daley.’ The man gave me a curt nod. He was unshaven but looked none the worse for that. He looked around him with narrowed eyes. He seemed suspicious, as well he might. ‘And here is Miss Fiona Mackenzie. Finn Mackenzie.’
I held my hand out to her, but she wasn’t looking at me and didn’t see it. I turned the action into a meaningless fluttery gesture. I invited them through to where there was a sofa and we all sat down awkwardly. I offered them tea. Baird said that Angeloglou would make it. Angeloglou stood up looking irritated. I went with him, leaving silence behind us in the sitting room.
‘Is this really a good idea?’ I whispered as I rinsed out some mugs.
He shrugged.
‘It might do some good,’ he said. ‘We’ve got sod all else, but don’t tell anyone I said so.’
When we returned, it was to a silent room. Baird had picked up an old magazine from the floor and was looking at it absently. Dr Daley had removed his coat and, wearing a rather startling yellow shirt which might have come from an expensive Italian designer or from an Oxfam shop, was sitting beside Finn on the sofa. I held out two mugs of tea and Daley took them both and placed them on the table. He felt in his trouser pockets as if he’d lost something and didn’t know what it was.
‘Can I smoke?’ His voice was almost unnaturally deep, with a certain languid drawl. I remembered the type from med school. Socially assured in a way I never felt myself to be.
‘I’ll get an ashtray,’ I said. ‘Or an equivalent.’
I immediately felt more at home with him than with Baird or Angeloglou. He was well over six foot; the cigarette packet looked slightly too small in his long-fingered hands. He lit a cigarette immediately and was soon tapping the ash into the saucer I gave him. He must have been in his mid forties, but he was hard to assess because he looked tired and distracted. He had dark smudges under his grey eyes and his straight sheet of hair was a bit greasy. It was a curiously crowded face, with fierce eyebrows, high cheek-bones and a wide, sardonic mouth. Finn looked small and frail and rather bland beside him. The paleness of her face was only accentuated by her thick dark hair and her sombre clothes. She had evidently not eaten for days; she was gaunt, her cheek-bones prominent. She was unnaturally still, except that her eyes flickered, never settling on anything. Her neck was bandaged and the fingers of her right hand constantly strayed to the edge of it, picking at it.
I ought to be saying that my heart went out to this cruelly abused creature, but I felt too compromised and confused for that. This was an absurd setting for meeting a new patient, but then she wasn’t my patient, was she? But exactly what was she? What was I meant to be? Her doctor? Older sister? Best friend? A stool-pigeon? Some kind of amateur police forensic psychologist sniffing for clues?
‘Are you enjoying life in the country, Dr Laschen?’ asked Baird airily.
I ignored him.
‘Dr Daley,’ I said, ‘I think it would be a good idea if you and Finn went upstairs to look at the room where Finn will be staying. It’s the room at the back on the left looking over the garden. You can have a look round and tell me if I’ve forgotten anything.’
Dr Daley looked quizzically at Baird.
‘Yes, now,’ I said.
He led Finn out of the room and I heard them mounting the stairs slowly. I turned to Baird and Angeloglou.
‘Shall we step out into some of this countryside that I’m meant to be enjoying so much? You can take your tea with you.’
Baird shook his head as he saw the state of my kitchen garden.
‘I know,’ I admitted, kicking a pink plastic object Elsie must have dropped out of the way. ‘I had this vision of being self-supporting.’
‘Not this year,’ said Angeloglou.
‘No,’ I said. ‘It seems as if I’ve got other things to do. Look, Inspector…’
‘Call me Rupert.’
I laughed. I couldn’t help myself.
‘Are you serious? All right. Rupert. Before I start anything, there are some things we need to talk about.’
I extracted the old envelope from the pocket of my jeans.
‘Is this official?’ he asked.
I shook my head.
‘I don’t give a fuck whether it’s official or not. You got my name as an authority on trauma.’
‘An authority on trauma with an isolated house in the country near Stamford.’
‘Fine, well, I should start by saying, even if it’s only to you two that, in my professional capacity, I don’t consider this to be professional.’
‘It’s convenient.’
‘I don’t know whose convenience we’re talking about, but Finn ought to be in familiar surroundings with people she knows and trusts.’
‘The people she knows and trusts are dead. Apart from that, she has absolutely refused to see anybody she knows. Except for Dr Daley, of course.’
‘As I’m sure you’ve been told, Rupert, that is a standard response to what she’s been through, and it’s not in itself a justification for projecting her into an entirely new environment.’
‘And we have some reason to believe that her life could be in danger.’
‘All right, we’re not arguing about that. I just wanted to give you my objective medical opinion.’ I looked down at my envelope. ‘Secondly, do you see me as playing some sort of informal part in your investigation, because if you do…’
‘Not at all, Dr Laschen,’ Baird said in a soothing tone that enraged me. ‘Quite the contrary. As you know, Miss Mackenzie has said nothing about the murders. But there’s no question of you being expected to poke around trying to stir up memories and find out clues. This would do more harm than good. Anyway, I understand that this is not your therapeutic style.’
‘That’s right.’
‘If Miss Mackenzie should wish to make a statement, she is no different from any other citizen. Just contact me and we will be glad to hear what she has to say. We in our turn may occasionally visit her here as part of our inquiries.’
‘What makes you think she’s under threat?’
Baird did a mock double take.
‘Have you seen her throat?’
‘Do murderers normally come back if they’ve failed the first time?’
‘This is an unusual case. They wanted to kill the entire family.’
‘Rupert, I’m not interested in the details of your investigation. But if you’re trusting me to look after Finn, you must trust me with any relevant information.’
‘Fair enough. Chris?’
Angeloglou, caught with a mouthful of tea, choked and spluttered.
‘Sorry,’ he said. ‘It’s possible that there is an animal rights connection. It’s a line of inquiry.’
‘Why would they want to kill Finn?’
‘To save little pigs from having lotions and potions administered to wounds deliberately fostered in their flesh. She is guilty by family association.’
A sudden thought occurred to me.
