no.'
'I'll give him fuckin' painkillers,' Ramsden said.
Karen shot him a warning look.
'Listen, Kennet,' Elder said, leaning towards the head of the bed. 'Why don't you sit up? The sooner we get this done, the better.'
Nothing.
'Nurse,' Karen said. 'I wonder, could you help to sit him up?'
'I suppose so, I…' She faltered, for a moment uncertain. 'Mr Kennet, come along.' When she touched his shoulder, he shrugged her off.
'What seems to be the problem?' the doctor said, walking towards them. He was tall and bearded, mid- thirties, his accent from north of the border.
'These police officers,' the nurse said, 'they want to question the patient.'
'All right, nurse. Thank you.'
She wheeled her equipment trolley away.
'Detective Chief Inspector Shields,' Karen said, holding out her hand.
The doctor's grip was strong but brief.
'This man is charged with a serious crime,' Karen said. 'And we have reason to believe he can assist us with several more. It's important that we talk to him.'
'Now?'
'Now.'
The doctor lifted the chart from the end of the bed and gave it a cursory look. 'He seems to have been well medicated to control his pain…'
Ramsden snorted.
'If I can suggest, an hour or so might allow the more soporific effects of the medication to wear off and you'd likely get clearer answers to whatever questions it is you need to ask. Besides,' with a glance towards the handcuffs, 'he's not exactly going anywhere, is he?'
Outside, Karen spoke to headquarters on her mobile, while Ramsden lit a cigarette.
'Right,' she said, breaking the connection. 'We've got a warrant to search Kennet's flat. Mike, you get over there. Lee'll meet you there. Paul can stay here at the hospital. I'll arrange for him to get spelled by someone from the local nick.'
Grinning, Ramsden was on his way.
'How far's Vanessa Taylor's place from here?' Elder asked.
'Not far. She should be up to making a statement by now. Come on, I'll call her from the car.'
The traffic approaching the Archway roundabout was solid in all directions and they were stuck alongside an articulated lorry that was heading back to Holland and behind a people carrier ferrying half a dozen kids to school, several of whom were making faces out of the rear window. Karen fiddled with the radio, then switched it off.
'I don't suppose there are any witnesses?' Elder said.
'To last night? No.'
'Vanessa's word against his.'
'Pretty much.'
'And there are no injuries?'
'To her? Some bruising to the neck. Little else. Not a lot to pass round in front of the jury.'
'Maybe it'll look more spectacular this morning.'
'Maybe.'
'And the knife?'
'Forensics are checking it for prints. Hopefully he wouldn't have had time to wipe it clean.'
'You'll try and match it to the wounds on Maddy's body?'
'You bet.'
They slid forward another couple of metres. 'I thought Livingstone had sorted all this out,' Elder said.
'So he has.'
'I don't know how you put up with it.'
Karen smiled. 'I suppose the most you get's the occasional tractor?'
'Cattle. Sometimes a herd of sheep.'
'I don't know how you can do it, Frank.'
'What?'
'Live like that. Cut off from everything.'
'Everything?'
'Don't be obtuse. You know what I mean.'
The lorry turned off into the left-hand lane and Karen accelerated into the space, swung hard right, cutting up not one vehicle but two, then left again and down through the first set of lights, pulling wide round a 43 bus.
'You enjoy this?' Elder asked.
'Love it.' Karen grinned.
Vanessa was pale-faced and puffy-eyed. The bruises round her neck had intensified in colour. She made them coffee without bringing the water properly to the boil and the granules floated around the surface, only partly dissolved. Her account of the attack and what had led up to it was flat and emotionless, as if she were describing something that had happened to a distant friend rather than to herself. Only when she spoke of the moment Kennet had first jumped out at her, the knife to the side of her face, did her voice falter and break. Elder could see a faint red line traversing the skin.
'The man you reported seeing across the street,' he said. 'You think that was him as well?'
Vanessa waited a moment before answering. 'No, I'm not sure.'
'It hardly matters,' Karen said. 'From what you've said, it looks as if he was stalking you. Building up to last night.'
'Agreed,' said Elder. 'But if it was him, it suggests a pattern. Watching. Following.'
'You're thinking of Maddy, aren't you?' Vanessa said. 'What happened to her?'
Both Karen and Elder looked back at her.
'You think he killed her.'
'In the circumstances,' Karen began, 'we have to consider -'
'Oh, come on!' Vanessa almost shouted, suddenly angry. 'Don't give me that crap.'
'It's a possibility,' Elder said.
'It's more than a bloody possibility.'
'Maybe.'
'Sod maybe!' Flushed, Vanessa went towards the door, stopped and turned back. Nowhere to go. 'Kennet, what's he saying?' she asked.
'So far, nothing.'
'He threatened me with a knife; half-choked me. He was going to rape me.'
'I know,' Karen said. 'I know.'
'He was going to kill me.'
Karen reached for her hand, but she pulled away; crossed to the sink and turned on the cold tap and then nothing, simply stood there, watching it run.
After a few moments, Elder went over and switched it off. When he brushed her shoulder accidentally she jumped.
'We ought to go,' he said quietly.
'Then go.'
'Vanessa,' Karen said at the door, 'you should arrange to see somebody.'
'Somebody?'
'You know what I mean. A counsellor. They'll sort it out at the station, I'm sure.'
