‘Get out of my way, little man,’ Knight said in a tone so threatening that his mother’s assistant stood aside without further protest.
Knight opened the door of his mother’s studio without knocking. Amanda was hunched over her design table, cutting fabric. A dozen or more original new creations hung on mannequins around the room.
His mother looked up icily. ‘Haven’t I made it abundantly clear that I wish to be left alone, Peter?’
Walking towards her, Knight said, ‘Mother—’
But she cut him off: ‘Leave me alone, Peter. What in God’s name are you doing here? It’s your children’s birthday. You should be with them.’
It was the final straw. Knight felt dizzy and then blacked out.
Chapter 92
KAREN POPE HURRIED THROUGH the drizzling rain and the dimming light towards Knight’s house in Chelsea. She’d been tipped off by the
But Pope kept getting an odd beeping noise and then a voice saying that his number was ‘experiencing network difficulties’. She could see the police barrier ahead and …
‘Oi, Peter call you in too, then?’ Hooligan asked, trotting up beside her. His eyes were red and his breath smelled of cigarettes, garlic and beer. ‘I came from the bloody gold-medal game. I missed the winning goal!’
‘Missed it for what?’ she demanded. ‘Why are the police here?’
He told her and Pope felt like crying. ‘Why? Why his kids?’
It was the same thing she asked Pottersfield when they got inside.
‘Peter believes that it’s a diversionary tactic,’ the inspector said.
Hooligan could not hide the slight slur in his voice, saying, ‘Maybe. I mean this Marta was here for the past fortnight, right?’
‘Give or take, I think,’ Pope said.
‘Right, so I’m asking myself why?’ Hooligan replied. ‘And I’m thinking Cronus sends her in as a spy. He can’t get someone inside Scotland Yard, but he can get this Marta inside Private, right?’
‘So?’ Pottersfield said, squinting.
‘Where are Peter’s computers? His phones?’
‘He’s got his mobile with him,’ Pottersfield said. ‘House phone is in the kitchen. I saw the computer upstairs in his room.’
Twenty minutes later, Hooligan found Pottersfield and Pope talking with Billy Casper. ‘Thought you’d want to see this, inspector,’ he said, holding up two small evidence bags. ‘Picked up the bug on the phone and the keystroke recorders on the DSL cable. I’m betting his mobile’s bugged as well. Maybe more.’
‘Call him,’ Pottersfield said.
‘I tried,’ Hooligan said. ‘And texted him. I’m getting no answer, other than something about network difficulties.’
Chapter 93
DARKNESS WAS FALLING outside Amanda’s studio. Knight’s mobile lay on the coffee table. He sat on the couch, looking at the phone, his brain feeling scalded and his stomach emptier than it had ever been.
Why hadn’t they called?
His mother sat beside him, saying, ‘It’s more than anyone as good as you should have to bear, but you can’t give up hope, Peter.’
‘Absolutely not,’ Boss said emphatically. ‘Those two barbarians of yours are fighters. You have to be as well.’
But Knight felt as beaten as he had while holding his newborns and watching his wife’s body rushed to the ambulance. ‘It’s their birthday,’ he said softly. ‘They were expecting what any three-year-old expects. Cake and ice cream and …’
Amanda reached out and stroked her son’s hair. It was such a rare and unexpected gesture that Knight looked at her with a feeble smile on his face. ‘I know how horrid life’s been for you lately, Mother, but I wanted to thank you for caring about them. The only presents they got to open were from you.’
She looked surprised. ‘Is that so? I didn’t think they’d get there so soon.’
‘I took them over,’ Boss said. ‘I thought they should be there.’
Knight said, ‘Thank you, Boss. They loved them. And I must say, Amanda, that putting the pictures of Kate in the locket was one of the kindest and most thoughtful things you’ve ever done.’
His mother, normally stoic, got tears in her eyes. ‘Boss and I worried because they weren’t toys.’
‘No, no, they loved them,’ Knight insisted. ‘Luke was wearing that watch as if it was a gold medal. And the necklace fits Isabel perfectly. I don’t think she’ll ever take it off.’
Amanda blinked several times, and then glanced at Boss before asking, ‘You think they’re wearing them now, Peter? The watch and the necklace?’
‘I would assume so,’ Knight replied. ‘I didn’t see them in the house.’
Amanda looked at Boss who was grinning. ‘Did you activate them?’
Boss replied: ‘Even before I registered the warranties!’
‘What are you two talking about?’ Knight said.
‘Didn’t you look at the boxes they came in, Peter?’ Amanda cried. ‘The necklace and watch were manufactured by Trace Angels, a company I’ve invested in. There are tiny GPS transmitters embedded in the jewellery so that parents can track their children!’
Chapter 94
KNIGHT BOLTED OUT the door of his mother’s house, watching two tiny heart-shaped icons pulsing and moving slowly on a map on the screen of his iPhone.
According to the map, Luke and Isabel were less than two miles away! That realisation had caused Knight to run from his mother’s without a moment’s hesitation, going out into the street to find a cab and to see why his
