The Stone Wife

The image Halliwell had mentioned, of Paul’s corpse being slung into the river, was haunting Diamond’s thoughts. Hellish as it was to face the unthinkable, he had to be professional and outguess the perpetrators. ‘They’ll dispose of the body first and then go into hiding. They may well make for the airport. He probably has houses abroad. We’d better alert all the ports and airports. Would you get onto that?’

‘Keith has already done it, guv. Every patrol in Avon and Somerset is looking for them.’

The next phase would be tough to endure. The real action — if any — was out of his immediate control. He would remain here in Leigh Woods until there was some sort of breakthrough. Unlikely as it seemed, Nathan could yet return.

Back in the house, he used his abundant manpower to begin a search of the building and outhouses. He called everyone to the hall and announced his wish list of items, starting with Nathan’s passport, credit cards, wallet, iPhone, address book and keys, any of which might have been left in the house in the hurry to get away, and going on to documentation for the cars. He added that there might also be stray firearms about the building, even though it was known where the main cache was stored.

‘Do you want to take a look at the gunroom now?’ Ingeborg asked him. In all the concern over Paul’s fate, her big discovery had been pushed down the agenda.

‘It’s as good a time as any.’ Action of any sort was welcome.

She led the way up the main staircase to the corridor she knew floorboard by floorboard and pointed out Nathan’s room at the end, the door still open. ‘While I’m here, I must remember to collect some of Lee’s clothes,’ she said. ‘She’s only got her night things with her.’

‘Is she still in your flat?’

‘I left her asleep. I doubt if she’ll leave. She should be safe from Nathan there.’

‘I hope so, for both your sakes.’ To Diamond’s eye, the décor in the bedroom was nauseatingly kitsch, the huge double bed under a coronet drape in pink chiffon and the oversized soft toys on the lace-edged pillows. Lee’s choice, he imagined. He didn’t say anything to Ingeborg in case she, too, had the home life of a fairytale princess, but he doubted it. He opened every one of the cupboards and drawers and found nothing of help to the inquiry. ‘So where’s the gun collection?’

The panic in this place a couple of hours earlier must have been extreme, because the door to the secret bathroom had been left ajar. Ingeborg showed him inside. ‘You’ve got to give them credit for deception,’ she said. ‘It’s amazing. Doesn’t it look genuine? The plumbing is in place and it works. The only thing that doesn’t work is the shower and you’re unlikely to turn that on and risk getting a soaking if you’re making a search. It took me two goes to suss it.’ She gripped the sides of the shower cabinet and rattled it to demonstrate how robust it was. Then she pressed her foot on the drain and demonstrated how it clicked to its lower position, allowing the cabinet to move.

‘Full marks,’ Diamond said. ‘I’m damn sure I would never have worked it out.’

With the confident air of one who had been here before, Ingeborg pushed the whole structure forward and slid the door open and a dog leapt at her throat, teeth bared, snarling hideously.

The Dobermann had been shut inside the gunroom, making no sound. Ingeborg swayed back, karate-trained to react against sudden attacks, if not from dogs. But her shoes slipped on the metal floor of the shower and she keeled into Diamond’s arms with the dog’s front paws clawing at her chest. All three, a shrieking, growling melee, crashed heavily on the bathroom floor. Forced away from Ingeborg’s neck, the dog closed its jaws on Diamond’s shoulder. He was wearing his suit, but he felt the points of the teeth penetrate the cloth. With a yell, he rolled away, taking Ingeborg with him. His right hand came in contact with soft fabric that he supposed was Ingeborg’s cotton shirt until he felt how chunky it was. He’d grasped the bathroom mat, a large oval of white candlewick. Taking a stronger grip, he tugged. He rolled some more, got to a kneeling position, jerked the mat from under Ingeborg and swung it free.

Extreme situations call for extreme reactions. In a continuous movement, Diamond flung the mat over the Dobermann, wrapped, lifted and slung the snarling and snapping beast through the shower cabinet into the gunroom and shut the sliding door.

Ingeborg sat up. ‘Christ almighty.’

‘Are you okay?’

‘I think so. How mean was that, leaving the dog in there?’

‘There are no rules in this game.’ He held out his hand and helped her upright. She was shaking, and so was he. ‘At the back of my mind, I knew something didn’t add up about this place. I clean forgot to ask where the dog was. Are you sure you’re not hurt?’

She shook her head. ‘I’m fine. More than I can say for your jacket.’

He checked it. The sleeve was ripped from the shoulder.

Ingeborg said, ‘Thanks, guv. It would have had me. The gunroom will have to wait for another day.’