‘Fuck me,’ he muttered as he saw the driver climbing out of the vehicle. ‘Tomek!?’
Chey peered round his monitor, searching for Tomek, but the sergeant wasn’t there.
‘Anyone know where Bowen is?’ he called to the half-empty office, standing out of his seat.
‘He’s gone out, I think,’ Rachel replied.
‘Think he’s gone to give Rose Whitaker the news about her husband,’ Martin added.
‘Shitting Nora.’
Tomek held his breath as he reached the final step. Cautiously, he poked his head through the open door and knocked loudly, but it was drowned out by the sound of banging. Rose, dressed in white overalls covered in paint, had her back to him, and was in the middle of demolishing a bookshelf unit with a hammer.
‘Rose!’ Tomek called.
Still no answer.
He didn’t want to approach her. Not while she was wielding a hammer. He could only imagine the damage she might do to him if she thought he was an attacker. Or, worse, her husband coming back for round two.
Instead, he grabbed a piece of broken plywood and launched it gently in her direction. It collided with her left leg, and she spun on the spot, brandishing the hammer in both hands, ready and willing to use it. As soon as she recognised Tomek, the tension in her body released and she lowered the object to her side. Before saying anything, she rushed over to the speaker and switched off the music.
‘Tomek,’ she said, sauntering towards him, brushing the hair out of her eyes. ‘What are you doing here?’
‘Sorry to interrupt,’ he said. ‘I didn’t want to come anywhere near you, not while you’ve got that in your hand.’
Rose looked down at the hammer, then set it on a toolbox.
‘Have you come to help?’
‘Not really,’ he said. ‘This type of thing’s never been for me. My dad used to build houses for a living, had his own construction company, so this is right up his street.’
‘Should invite him over. Maybe he could give me a hand.’
‘I’ll see if he’s about.’ Tomek placed his hands on his hips and surveyed the room. In the day since he’d last been there, Rose had managed to gut the kitchen entirely, and tear down a wall that connected it with the living room, leaving a nice, open-plan space. ‘You’ve been busy.’
‘I’ve been through a lot,’ she answered. ‘Turns out destroying stuff is good for the soul and the immune system.’
Tomek chuckled.
‘Are you here to compliment my work?’
‘No.’
‘If you haven’t come here to help,’ she started, ‘and if you haven’t come here to compliment my work, then what have you come here for?’
‘It’s about Johnny.’
At the mention of her husband’s name, the joy in her face fled.
‘Oh.’
‘We’ve charged him with Angelica’s murder and attempted murder on yourself this afternoon. He’s being sent to HMP Chelmsford, where he’ll be on remand until the trial. We don’t have a date yet, but I imagine you’ll be expected to appear in court, especially after what he did to you.’
Rose grabbed a towel from the toolbox and began wiping her hands. Then, without saying anything, she turned her back on him and moved into the kitchen area. Tomek followed her. To his right, he spotted a massive hole in the wall.
‘Did you fall through by accident?’ he joked.
Rose pointed to a sledgehammer on the other side of the kitchen floor. ‘No, but that bad boy did.’
Standing in what had once been the doorway, Tomek observed the rest of the skeleton of the kitchen. Brown circles littered the floor from spillages over the years. Wires and cables protruded from the walls in the place where the oven and washing machine had once stood. Tools and debris littered the linoleum floor, and there was a large box on the other side of the kitchen.
Rose dropped her towel onto it. Tomek watched it fall onto the box, and then immediately wished he hadn’t.
There, hiding beneath the towel, was an item that gave him cause to hold his breath: a welder’s mask and black coveralls. The outfit of the mysterious woman from The Nights of Eden parties. The outfit of the woman that Angelica had spent several nights with. The woman who had taken her from Emilia Solveig. Beneath, protruding from the material, was something Tomek recognised instantly. Another invitation from Micky Tatton to The Nights of Eden. Addressed to Angelica.
Tomek opened his mouth, but stuttered.
‘Everything all right?’ Rose asked.
He stumbled. In his pocket, his phone began to vibrate.
‘You…’ His thoughts were running away with themselves. ‘You said… You said the bathroom was finished? Is it all right if I use it?’
‘You haven’t even offered me a drink yet,’ she replied.
‘Ha. Sorry. I…’
