but there’s an additional twenty percent off this weekend when you buy a new sofa!’
Ethan’s house was down at the far end. I parked as close as I could. Checked my watch: five past eight. Should have got here twenty minutes ago, but the Renault wasn’t exactly in rally-fit condition. And having to drop Dr McDonald off at her aunt’s place hadn’t helped.
With any luck Ethan would still be bumbling about inside: where’s my keys, is the toast burnt; have I got everything; don’t want to be late for work; hurry, scurry, hippity hop. Not quite as good as three in the morning for catching someone off guard, but it would have to do.
‘… and nothing to pay for eight months! That’s right, nothing to pay—’
I killed the engine and climbed out of the car.
Wind ripped through the street, shivering the trees’ naked branches, slamming into my chest like a cold fist. I gritted my teeth, stuck my hands in my pockets, and marched down the road towards Ethan’s house.
There was a clunk behind me and Rhona’s voice cut through the groaning wind. ‘Guv?’
Shite.
I stopped, turned, the tails of my jacket flapping around my waist. ‘Thought I told you—’
‘Don’t worry.’ She didn’t even bother trying to cover her mouth, just yawned like a hippo, showing off those large beige teeth. ‘He got home at half seven yesterday evening: hasn’t moved since.’
‘You’ve been here all night?’
‘Said I’d keep an eye on things for you, didn’t I?’ She produced a pair of black leather gloves from her pocket and pulled them on. ‘Besides, you’re going to need someone to hold him down.’
I closed my eyes, rubbed at my forehead. ‘Rhona, you can’t—’
‘What, he’s going to open the door for you? Guv, soon as he sees you through the peephole he’ll barricade himself in and call the cops. You need a nice approachable female face to put him at his ease, make sure the place is wide open for you.’
She had a point. ‘Well …’
‘And anyway, I read the wee bugger’s file. He deserves whatever he’s got coming.’
A smile pulled at my cheeks. ‘OK, you’re in.’
Rhona grinned back at me. ‘You ready?’
She rang the doorbell again, leaning on it for a good five or six seconds – long enough to be really annoying. Then turned and gave me the thumbs up.
I ducked back down behind the silver Mercedes parked outside the house – kidding on I was tying my shoelace, in case any nosey neighbour was looking.
Clunk.
Rhona put on her official police officer voice: ‘Mr Baxter?’
A man’s voice, slightly bunged up and jowly. ‘Look, is this important, because—’
‘Mr Ethan Baxter? Oldcastle Police, can I come in, please?’
‘I haven’t got time for— Hey, stop pushing! You can’t—’
Clunk.
I popped my head over the bonnet. The front door was closed, no sign of a struggle. Say what you like about Rhona, she did a good forced entry. I pulled on my own leather gloves, then strolled around the car, up the stairs and in through the front door. Closed it behind me, shutting out the groaning wind.
The hall was full of polished wood and things in frames.
Muffled struggling noises came from the other side of a half-glazed door at the end of the hall. It opened on a huge kitchen – the kind with a range cooker, prints of farmyard animals, and a wall packed with cookery books.
Ethan was sitting in a wooden dining chair, gagged with a tea towel, his hands cuffed behind his back. Soon as I walked in his eyes went huge above that squint nose of his. ‘Mmmmmmmmph. Mmmmmmphngn mmmphn!’
He’d let himself go: chubby cheeks flushed and shiny, a pot belly hanging over the waistband of his suit trousers. His hairline was quite a bit higher too, but for some reason he’d decided that the best way to compensate was to grow it long. Not a good look on an overweight, middle-aged man.
Rhona stood with her back against the range, smiling. ‘Nice house, eh, Guv? These architect bastards must be raking it in.’
I settled into the seat on the other side of the table. Flexed my black-leather fingers. Stared.
He blinked a couple of times, then looked away.
Silence: I let it thicken.
‘Mmphhmnnngh …’
‘You’ve been a naughty boy again, haven’t you, Ethan?’
He kept his eyes on the kitchen floor.
‘You were in Tesco on Wednesday night, the big one in Logansferry: clothes department, remember?’
A pause … then he nodded.
I leaned forwards. Up close he smelled of aftershave and old garlic. ‘Michelle was there too.’
His eyes widened. ‘Mmmmmph! Mmmmnnghph!’
‘She says you were watching her. Says she was in the changing rooms with Katie and when they came out, there was good old Ethan Baxter: lurking.’
‘Mmmphnnghmm …’
Rhona whistled. ‘They hand out restraining orders for a reason, Baxter. Did you really think you could sneak up on a woman you beat the shit out of for six months, and she’s not gonna recognize you? You’re even thicker than you look.’
‘Mmmgn mnnnph!’
I gave him a big theatrical sigh. ‘Ethan, Ethan, Ethan … Rhona’s right: you’re not a very quick learner, are you? Thought you’d actually got it last time, but obviously I was wrong. You need a refresher.’
He clamped his eyes shut, head bowed, shoulders shivering.
She leant over and spoke straight into his ear. ‘Nah: I know what he needs, he needs taking out and—’
‘Rhona, do me a favour and go keep an eye on the road. Don’t want someone popping past unannounced, disturbing Ethan from his lesson.’
‘You sure I shouldn’t—’
‘Now, Rhona.’
She pursed her lips for a moment, then nodded and wandered out, hands in her pockets, whistling a jaunty tune.
I stood, closed the kitchen door, then went around all the units, opening the drawers and rummaging about inside. Tea towels. Coasters and mats. Assorted bits and bobs. ‘Nice place you’ve got here, Ethan. Very swish.’ Cutlery
