Pop Goes the Weasel | страница 113

‘Then where did you see her?’

‘We worked the same places. Empress Road, Portswood, St Mary’s. But her favourite was by the old cinema in Upton Street. You could usually find her there.’

Helen carried on quizzing her for a few moments longer, but already she had what she needed. All the places the girl had mentioned were in the north of the city, which fitted her theory. But more than that it was the mention of the old cinema that had set Helen’s heart beating. Tony had filled her in on his latest debrief with Melissa, which had also pinpointed the cinema as one of Anton’s haunts. It seemed too much of a coincidence to be ignored. Was this where Anton and Lyra had come to blows? Had he been killed there? Would she still be haunting this lonely and desolate spot?

Helen called it in immediately, ordering a plain-clothes CID officer to secure the old cinema swiftly and quietly, so that a SOC team could slip in and do their work. Simultaneously a surveillance team would set up camp on the street. Already Helen was impatient for results. Something in her waters told Helen that the old cinema would prove crucial in cracking this case. Maybe they were finally getting close to Lyra. Maybe their phantom was about to become flesh.

The car slipped quietly along the street, shadowing her. Charlie had been so wrapped up in her own thoughts that she hadn’t noticed it at first. But there was no doubt that she was being followed. The car was keeping its distance but also keeping pace – did they want to know where she was going or were they just waiting for the right moment to pounce?

Suddenly the car sped up, roaring past her before mounting the pavement and coming to an abrupt halt. Now the door swung open. Charlie’s hand immediately reached for her baton.

‘Have you missed me?’

Sandra McEwan, aka Lady Macbeth. An unwelcome reminder of past mistakes.

‘I’ll take that as a “yes”. Sometimes it’s so hard to put your feelings into words, isn’t it? Oh, excuse the amateur dramatics,’ McEwan continued, nodding to the car slewed across the pavement. ‘Sometimes the boy gets overexcited.’

‘Get it off the pavement now and be on your way.’

‘By all means,’ McEwan replied, nodding at her lover to move the car. ‘Though I was rather hoping you’d come with us.’

‘Dogging’s not really my thing, Sandra. We’ll have to take a rain check.’

‘Very funny, Constable. Or is it Sergeant these days?’

Charlie said nothing, refusing to give her the satisfaction.