The Victoria Vanishes by Christopher Fowler

Author:Christopher Fowler [Fowler, Christopher]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Transworld Digital
Published: 2010-05-13T23:00:00+00:00

25

* * *

RITE OF PASSAGE

The atmosphere at the PCU had changed from a state of indecision to one of purpose. Like it or not, Longbright knew that this was partly down to Jack Renfield. There was a general feeling that his pragmatic approach to policing was just what the PCU might need to survive.

The detective sergeant was forced to consider the idea that her bosses’ old-school methods were reaching the end of their natural lifespan. Renfield came from a world that dealt in quantifiable results. Under Bryant and May, the PCU was like an old-time company that nurtured talent and won out on aggregate, but its new accountability required it to operate on case-by-case wins. Longbright wondered if she was the only one to feel that something unique and precious was about to be lost.

She needed to be useful. There was no point in thinking about her passing life, her unpaid bills, her empty fridge and even emptier bed. Whipping out a mother-of-pearl compact made for Alma Cogan in 1958, she applied a fresh layer of make-up, then repainted her eyes. Within seconds she began to feel calmer. Right, she thought, cracking her knuckles. Witness statements – let’s close the net on this son of a bitch.

‘You missed the debrief.’ Meera Mangeshkar was not good at hiding her feelings. Right now she had a face like a half-sucked lemon. ‘Everybody else managed to get here.’

‘I got a lift,’ Bimsley explained. ‘Someone kindly dropped me off.’

‘From what I heard, you had trouble getting out of the car.’

‘What do you care? I thought I didn’t exist in your world. The only time you stop ignoring me is when you’ve got something horrible to say. Stop the press, a woman found me appealing.’ He glared at her.

‘Are you going to see her again?’

‘What am I, stupid? No, don’t answer that, I think I know where you stand on that question.’

‘You were supposed to be working, not picking up girls.’

The room temperature dropped another eleven degrees.

If Bimsley was even dimly aware of the reason for Meera’s annoyance, he might have displayed a glimmer of understanding, but he was not, and so could not. Instead he blinked and stared and frowned and fidgeted, before his confusion was replaced with the warm memory of Izabella’s perfumed embrace, at which point he smiled with a scrunch of his freckled nose, only to recoil in surprise when Meera stormed past him and slammed out of the room, making the same kind of noise that Concorde managed when it passed through the sound barrier.

On Friday morning it was decided to split-shift the unit so that a team would be working around the clock, and Renfield seemed happy to be put in charge of the organization.

After grabbing a nap on his couch, Bryant headed off for the second of his hypnosis sessions with Mrs Mandeville. Everyone was searching for a lead on their common suspect. In the meantime, April and Janice Longbright ducked out for a working breakfast on the

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