The lift was on the twentieth floor and descending. She hoped it would arrive at the ground floor before the concierge saw her: it did. Quickly, she pressed thirteen on the row of buttons, the speed of the lift surprising her.
Exiting the lift, she moved swiftly to flat number 1304. She pressed the bell, a woman came to the door. Wendy apologised, said she had mistaken the numbers, and it must be 1340.
The concierge barely noticed her, as she brazenly exited the lift on the ground floor and walked out of the building. He did not see the broad smile on her face.
***
Isaac knew that the situation had changed. Marjorie Frobisher was alive and well; the evidence, indisputable. Wendy had been sure, and she did not make mistakes. As she had stated, when she phoned him from Canary Wharf, ‘I know that woman as well as my own mother.’
How to proceed concerned him. If he confronted her, what could he say? She had been missing for a long time, but she had not committed any crime. What would he ask her? Who was this mysterious child? Who killed Sutherland and Sally Jenkins? Why did she choose to stay missing?
If the woman decided to remain mute, there was not a lot he could do. And then, if she was scared again, she could disappear without a trace. She had done it once successfully; she could do it again.
And if he was being watched, those interested in the woman could follow him out to Canary Wharf. Could she end up dead if he acted inappropriately? Farhan, as good as he was, was not sufficiently experienced to advise on the matter. Sure, he could offer valuable advice, but what if it went wrong. Who would take the blame? He knew the answer without asking – it would be him. Richard Goddard, his detective superintendent, was the ideal choice for advice, but he was looking for a promotion, apparently very friendly with Angus MacTavish. Could either of them be trusted?
The questions outweighed the answers, and now there was the disturbing information about Linda Harris, apparently sleeping with Richard Williams for Queen and Country on official orders.
Angus MacTavish had phoned some hours earlier; said that he had been advised that Linda Harris was involved and that she was a very smart woman – devious, the word he used.
But who was MacTavish? Did he genuinely believe that no political party, even his, deserved to be elected if it sanctioned government approved murder?
Isaac felt that he had to make decisions based on his own sense of decency and to see how they turned out.
Richard Williams, the executive producer, somehow seemed integral to solving the murders. Isaac reasoned the best approach would be to meet him again. He still felt that of all the people involved, he was probably the most innocent, but then there were doubts there, Sally Jenkins being the most obvious.
What if Linda Harris was giving an alibi for Williams purely to ensure that when Marjorie Frobisher reappeared, she would be able to report to her superiors? Was she sleeping with Williams, and if she wasn’t, why did she go along with his statement that she had?
Isaac could see that he had to confront Linda Harris, hope that Marjorie Frobisher was safe, at least for a couple of days. He had already asked Wendy to stake out Canary Wharf, and see if she could keep the missing, now found, woman safe.
***
Farhan and Isaac met again in the office later that day: Farhan to further discuss what Aisha had suggested; Isaac to assess how to handle the situation with Richard Williams, and whether he could be involved or not in his former PA’s death.
Farhan was in a good mood; his regular conversations with Aisha continued, and his wife was no longer talking about a reconciliation. Apparently, her parents, despairing of her ‘no good’ husband, had suggested a divorce from Farhan and marriage to a cousin of hers, someone she genuinely liked: a devout Muslim and a good provider, as he owned a number of shops close to the family home.
He should have been distraught at his children being taken from him, but he was a practical man, moderated by his years in the police force. Life, he had come to see, was not black and white, right or wrong, good or bad. Life was about compromises, not absolutes, and his children being with a good man and a good woman, even if the man was not the biological father, was better than being in the conflict zone of a liberated man and a pious woman. He would accept the decision and wish them well.
He felt relief – as if a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. Aisha still remained a problem – an irresolvable problem.
Isaac wanted to sound out Farhan about what they had. It was evident to both of them that the situation was coming to a head. Too much was going on not to have a breakthrough in the near future. Richard Goddard had been pleased when Isaac had phoned him earlier, and let him know that he felt confident it was all coming to fruition. He failed to mention that Marjorie Frobisher had been discovered.
The detective superintendent had always been a mentor to Isaac, and it upset him that he could not be entirely honest with his boss, but there remained some uncertainties. The detective superintendent was in line for a significant promotion. Angus MacTavish could have some bearing on that promotion, and he was a definite uncertainty. Isaac could not be sure about his boss at the present moment, although nothing in his history had indicated a subversive, dishonest nature.
‘Farhan, let’s come back to what your friend said before.’ There was to be no jesting
