Chapter Fourteen #3
‘He seems so peaceful right now,’ she whispered. ‘Could you close the door on your way out? I’d hate for anything to disturb him.’
‘Certainly, dear,’ said the nurse. ‘Call out if you need anything.’
‘I will. Thank you.’
She waited until the door closed, then leaned over, put her lips close to his ear, and whispered, ‘Tony.’
There was no response.
‘Tooooony,’ she half-sang more loudly. Then she followed it with a sharp ‘Tony!’ accompanied by a shove.
He kept sleeping.
‘Damn you,’ she muttered, sitting back in her chair. ‘I’m very disappointed by this, Tony. I really wanted to have one last conversation with you. I’ve had this moment planned for so long, and you are refusing to play your part in it.’
She looked up at the intravenous bottle hanging from a hook on the pole over him, then opened her bag and pulled out a hypodermic needle.
‘It’s a pity about the sedatives and the painkillers,’ she continued, holding it up and depressing the plunger until a drop of clear liquid appeared at the end of the needle.
‘I wanted you to feel this. I wanted there to be suffering involved right up to the end. I would have liked you to have known that it was me who brought it about, but I guess you can’t have everything.
Oh, by the way? The kiss wasn’t all that great.
In fact, I ran upstairs and threw up the second after I closed the door. ’
She stood and reached for the IV bottle with the syringe. Then Sparks burst through the door and hurled herself at her, grabbing Lowle’s wrist and twisting it. The syringe fell onto the pillow, close to Danforth’s face.
‘Let go of me!’ shrieked Lowle as she spun and drove her left hand at Iris’s eyes.
Sparks ducked the blow, causing her to relinquish her grip.
‘It’s over,’ she said. ‘Stop.’
‘Here, what’s this noise about?’ said the constable as he came in.
‘She attacked me!’ cried Lowle.
‘She’s trying to— no!’ yelled Sparks as Lowle made a grab for the syringe.
She leaped at the other woman and wrapped her arms around her in a bear hug.
‘Look at her hand!’ Iris yelled to the constable. ‘Get that needle away.’
‘I don’t know what the hell this is about, but the two of you have to stop this,’ said the constable.
He stepped forwards to separate them. The instant Lowle was free, she whirled and hit him in the throat with the heel of her palm, sending him to the floor, choking. Then she faced Iris.
‘My brother died because of him,’ she said.
‘Your brother was a bastard and a rapist,’ said Sparks. ‘He deserved everything that happened to him and more.’
Lowle screamed in rage and charged at her.
Sparks sidestepped her and tripped her up, shoving her down hard as she passed.
Lowle’s head slammed into the radiator as she fell.
She dropped to her knees and Iris grabbed her left arm, twisted it behind her back, then pressed her down to the floor and sat on her.
‘That’s one thing I can still do better than you,’ she said, panting.
‘Miss Sparks, what’s going on?’ came a voice from the doorway.
She looked up to see Parham looking down at the two of them, a pair of constables behind him.
‘Is this the person I’m supposed to be handcuffing?’ he asked.
‘One of them,’ said Sparks. ‘She just tried to kill Mr Danforth. Again. The syringe is lying over there somewhere. Oh, and she assaulted your constable just now. Sorry about the timing – I was expecting her later.’
Parham went over to the constable and helped him to his feet.
‘Are you all right, lad?’ he asked him.
The constable nodded, still coughing and rubbing his throat.
‘Go find yourself a doctor,’ ordered Parham. Then he turned back to Iris. ‘That’s Miss Lowle you’re sitting on.’
‘It is,’ said Sparks. ‘I’ll hold her until you get the cuffs on.’
Parham squatted by Lowle and handcuffed her. Sparks got up, and Parham hauled Lowle to her feet.
‘Take her to Serious Crimes,’ he called, and one of the constables with him removed her.
He turned back to Sparks.
‘One of them,’ he said. ‘There are more?’
‘One other,’ said Sparks. ‘Hang on.’
She retrieved her bag from where she had dropped it before coming into the room, then pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to him.
‘The man you want is Kenneth Lonsdale,’ she said. ‘One of our clients, the one Lowle dated before Danforth. That’s his address. Send someone to pick him up and search his place. I’ll explain everything on the way to your office. Oh, did you happen to see Mrs Bainbridge on your way in?’
‘Yes, I was going to mention that,’ said Parham. ‘There was a commotion going on in the lobby. There was some talk about arresting her for knocking out a porter.’
‘Talk them out of it, please,’ said Sparks. ‘I suspect the man won’t be pressing charges.’
‘I’ll see what I can do,’ said Parham. ‘Ah, there’s the syringe you mentioned. I’d better take that.’
He pulled a small manilla envelope from his coat and placed the syringe inside. Then he looked down at Danforth.
‘This chap slept through everything that happened,’ he said.
‘Yes,’ said Sparks. ‘Whatever they gave him, I’d like to get some to take away.’