The Stone Wife

‘You’re right. Oh, God, this is difficult. I’m really up for it, only I don’t see how it’s possible.’

The conflict in Lee’s voice was painful to hear and Ingeborg felt desperately mean, but she couldn’t allow this call to end yet. ‘There must be a way round this. Can we meet somewhere and talk it through?’

Nathan raised both thumbs.

The pull of publicity was too much for Lee to resist. ‘Righty. I’ll meet you. Only it has to be somewhere I can feel safe. What the eye doesn’t see, the heart doesn’t grieve. Let me think.’

Ingeborg was tempted to tell her she’d think better if she stopped trotting out these stupid proverbs.

‘Do you know Queen Square?’ Lee asked.

‘I do, but where in Queen Square? It’s huge.’

‘The middle, where I can see in every direction.’

‘Where the statue is? Okay, what time?’

‘What is it now? Half-twelve? I can be there by two, just to meet, right, and work out what we do?’

‘Two it is.’

Nathan had a smile like sunrise over the Bristol Channel when the call ended. He didn’t ask for the phone back. ‘I heard your side of it. Queen Square. Did she say where she is now?’

‘No. She was being careful.’

‘She can’t be far off if she’s meeting you at two.’

‘True.’

‘Not long until I get her back.’

‘That isn’t what she’s expecting.’

He chuckled. ‘Women like surprises.’

‘Do you need me there, or can I go now?’ Ingeborg asked, already guessing what he would say.

‘You’ve got to be there.’

‘I feel like Judas.’

‘Relax. She’ll come to her senses when she knows how much I care about her.’ And his eager voice suggested he really did care. ‘Have you seen the sound studio I built for her? Come on, I’ll show you.’

Recording studios held no particular interest for Ingeborg, but the chance to see more of the house was unmissable. She followed Nathan from the room and through a spacious sitting room equipped with a plasma TV, on the lookout all the time for anything resembling an armoury. But this was a place to relax, more modern in style than the other living rooms she’d seen, with deep armchairs, sofas and subdued lighting.

‘We’re entering her private quarters now,’ Nathan said, pushing open another door. ‘I don’t often come in here. Had it built for her only three months ago. You can still smell the paint. There’s also a small gym. She’s quite an athlete, as you saw on the ship.’

‘Do you have your own gym?’ Ingeborg asked.

He laughed. ‘Christ, no. What do you think I am?’

‘What’s in your section, then — a cocktail bar?’

‘You don’t want to know what I get up to.’

‘But I do. Let me try. Men’s stuff. Snooker and darts?’

‘I’ll own up to that.’ He was leading her along a white-walled corridor into the extension.

‘A gun-room?’

He turned to stare at her. ‘What makes you say that?’

‘You’re a powerful guy,’ she answered as smoothly as she could. ‘I can see you target shooting and hitting the bull, no problem. Wouldn’t surprise me if you have some kind of shooting gallery as well.’

‘You’d be wrong,’ Nathan said.

‘About the gallery? Then I reckon you have a range somewhere outside. Or do you just shoot squirrels and pigeons?’ She was pressing him harder than she intended because she could see he was practically purring over the macho image she was suggesting for him. ‘As for foxes, I bet they know better than to come visiting your estate.’

‘Did Lily speak to you about me and guns?’ he asked after an uncomfortable pause.

‘No.’

‘What put this in your head, then?’

Stay cool, she thought. He’s not suspicious. He’s trying to be friendly, making conversation.

‘If you remember, I was squeezed between you and one of your employees in the car last night — close enough to feel what was clipped to his belt. And if your men are armed, I’d expect you to know how to handle a weapon.’

Satisfied, apparently, he gave a shrug and moved on. He hadn’t denied a strong connection with guns. He hadn’t denied anything except owning a shooting gallery.

They reached the door at the end of the corridor. ‘The studio.’

She entered a large oval room with chairs and cushions behind a semi-circular console and plenty of light from high windows. ‘You expected it to look like a bunker?’ Nathan said. ‘So did I before we designed this. It’s a myth that a studio has to be totally enclosed. Your musician needs to feel relaxed. Look around you. Everything she needs. She’s had a band in here and made recordings. I don’t clip her wings, whatever she may have said to you.’

‘It’s got a nice feel to it. I would have been happier here last night than in that tower room.’