poised, trembling in her
hand. She had tackled big cases before in her modest inquests, held in village halls in unlikely corners of the county; she had embarrassed corporations, exposed corrupt public officials and even
uncovered heinous crimes, but there was a peculiar kind of darkness that loomed out of her spiralling frenzy of notes. The fatal fire no longer seemed to carry the violent energy of an explosive
conflagration, but rather its opposite: the dark, inky centre of a very black hole. And underneath it was the nagging fear that what had happened just a few nights before was a strange and
not-unconnected echo of Susie Ashton’s vanishing.
‘DI Ryan for you.’
Jenny looked up from her computer, having finally managed to turn her mind to other things.
‘Shall I show him in?’ Alison asked.
‘Please do.’
Alison smiled, as if to say ‘I wouldn’t say no’, and ushered him in.
Gabriel Ryan came through the door dressed in a well-chosen outfit and greeted her with an amused smile.
‘Your officer’s very friendly.’
‘She had an accident,’ Jenny said quietly. ‘It’s her first day back.’
‘I heard about that. Sam Abbott told me. Drove into the path of a couple of mad Saudis out in the woods.’
‘I’m sure it lost nothing in the telling.’
‘I heard you handled yourself pretty impressively, too.’
‘I didn’t have a lot of choice.’ She pushed the painful memories of that night from her mind. Ryan wouldn’t have known what had happened to Ross. Her son’s
connection with events had remained a closely guarded secret. Even he didn’t know the whole story that had led to him nearly losing his life to a genetically modified bacterium.
Ryan gave her a look that was partly admiring, partly amused. He cast his eyes around her office in the same way he had done in her kitchen the day before. ‘When you hear
“coroner” you think – well, I didn’t think you.’
‘My officer mentioned you had something for me,’ Jenny said, in what she hoped was a convincingly formal tone.
He reached into his inside pocket. ‘I got hold of the passwords from Ed and the kids’ Facebook accounts. I haven’t asked for them to be taken down yet – you never know if
someone might post something useful.’
He handed her a single sheet of folded paper containing three email addresses and passwords. Ed’s was the vaguely poetic
Viewfromthew00ds
. Layla had chosen
Sexylilbitch
, and
Mandy
My89Hart
.
‘Says something about them, don’t you think?’ he said.
‘Really?’
‘Look at Ed’s, those two zeros like eyes staring out at you.’
‘Or the barrels of a shotgun?’
‘I hadn’t thought of that. Are you sure you didn’t study psychology?’
‘I sometimes feel like I have.’ She tucked the passwords away into her pad, aware of Ryan’s eyes on her. ‘Is that it? You came all the way over here just to give me
these?’
‘Not exactly.’ He tugged at his shirt cuff, the nervous gesture telling Jenny he was holding something back. ‘Have you spoken with Kelly?’
‘I met her this afternoon.’
‘You asked her about Ed’s message?’
‘I did. She denies there was anyone else in her life.’
‘That’s what she told me. I
think
I believed her.’
‘Meaning you did or you didn’t?’
‘Meaning I was worried that she felt it was her fault in some way. Even if there
was
someone else, it would be no excuse for anything.’
Jenny tried to read him, searching for a motive other than one that seemed too unlikely for a detective. ‘Are you worried about her? I am, though she did her best to reassure me, which
isn’t always a good sign. Her precise words were “I do still believe in something. I do still have a reason to live.”’
Ryan gave an uncertain nod. ‘You were right in what you said on the phone – a real detective would forget about it and move on.’
‘There’s something you might be able to help me with,’ Jenny said. ‘Have you seen the
hand. She had tackled big cases before in her modest inquests, held in village halls in unlikely corners of the county; she had embarrassed corporations, exposed corrupt public officials and even
uncovered heinous crimes, but there was a peculiar kind of darkness that loomed out of her spiralling frenzy of notes. The fatal fire no longer seemed to carry the violent energy of an explosive
conflagration, but rather its opposite: the dark, inky centre of a very black hole. And underneath it was the nagging fear that what had happened just a few nights before was a strange and
not-unconnected echo of Susie Ashton’s vanishing.
‘DI Ryan for you.’
Jenny looked up from her computer, having finally managed to turn her mind to other things.
‘Shall I show him in?’ Alison asked.
‘Please do.’
Alison smiled, as if to say ‘I wouldn’t say no’, and ushered him in.
Gabriel Ryan came through the door dressed in a well-chosen outfit and greeted her with an amused smile.
‘Your officer’s very friendly.’
‘She had an accident,’ Jenny said quietly. ‘It’s her first day back.’
‘I heard about that. Sam Abbott told me. Drove into the path of a couple of mad Saudis out in the woods.’
‘I’m sure it lost nothing in the telling.’
‘I heard you handled yourself pretty impressively, too.’
‘I didn’t have a lot of choice.’ She pushed the painful memories of that night from her mind. Ryan wouldn’t have known what had happened to Ross. Her son’s
connection with events had remained a closely guarded secret. Even he didn’t know the whole story that had led to him nearly losing his life to a genetically modified bacterium.
Ryan gave her a look that was partly admiring, partly amused. He cast his eyes around her office in the same way he had done in her kitchen the day before. ‘When you hear
“coroner” you think – well, I didn’t think you.’
‘My officer mentioned you had something for me,’ Jenny said, in what she hoped was a convincingly formal tone.
He reached into his inside pocket. ‘I got hold of the passwords from Ed and the kids’ Facebook accounts. I haven’t asked for them to be taken down yet – you never know if
someone might post something useful.’
He handed her a single sheet of folded paper containing three email addresses and passwords. Ed’s was the vaguely poetic
Viewfromthew00ds
. Layla had chosen
Sexylilbitch
, and
Mandy
My89Hart
.
‘Says something about them, don’t you think?’ he said.
‘Really?’
‘Look at Ed’s, those two zeros like eyes staring out at you.’
‘Or the barrels of a shotgun?’
‘I hadn’t thought of that. Are you sure you didn’t study psychology?’
‘I sometimes feel like I have.’ She tucked the passwords away into her pad, aware of Ryan’s eyes on her. ‘Is that it? You came all the way over here just to give me
these?’
‘Not exactly.’ He tugged at his shirt cuff, the nervous gesture telling Jenny he was holding something back. ‘Have you spoken with Kelly?’
‘I met her this afternoon.’
‘You asked her about Ed’s message?’
‘I did. She denies there was anyone else in her life.’
‘That’s what she told me. I
think
I believed her.’
‘Meaning you did or you didn’t?’
‘Meaning I was worried that she felt it was her fault in some way. Even if there
was
someone else, it would be no excuse for anything.’
Jenny tried to read him, searching for a motive other than one that seemed too unlikely for a detective. ‘Are you worried about her? I am, though she did her best to reassure me, which
isn’t always a good sign. Her precise words were “I do still believe in something. I do still have a reason to live.”’
Ryan gave an uncertain nod. ‘You were right in what you said on the phone – a real detective would forget about it and move on.’
‘There’s something you might be able to help me with,’ Jenny said. ‘Have you seen the
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