Chapter 56 Harrison
HARRISON
Carter goes outside but insists on standing on the bloody doorstep, as though guarding the front door, which he has refused to close.
Every now and then he turns to look through the crack at us, as though he thinks I might be about to attack his boss.
I’ve realized tonight, and too late, that the boy cop isn’t as dumb as I thought.
And DCI Bird isn’t as smart.
“You can’t arrest me,” I tell her. “Take these bloody cuffs off.”
“No,” she says calmly, but then she grimaces, as though she might be in pain, and I remember how ill she is.
Thanatos told her how little time she has left and this is how she chooses to spend it.
In Hope fucking Falls. It isn’t what I would have done in her situation.
She’s a beautiful woman. The clothes—the tweed jacket and sensible shoes don’t do her any favors—but the plaited hair is a nice touch.
I almost feel sorry for her as she paces up and down the hallway, trying to put the remaining pieces of the puzzle together. Trying to make them all fit.
They do not make a pretty picture.
Unlike the one of my daughter in the hall.
It’s an old photo, I only just put it up. It hides where one of Eden used to be. Gabriella was eight when it was taken, just before her accident. I see the detective stop and stare at the picture as though she has just seen a ghost. Because she recognizes my little girl.
Just like I knew she would.