Silas Nash Book 1: Hush Hush Honeysuckle: Chapter 26

When Nash rounded the corner at Happy Mount Park, he swung into a parking bay at the farthest point from the bustle of the busy parts of the prom. Not many people came this far on foot, the occasional dog walker, maybe. It was quiet. He was facing the sea. Nash used to bring Sandy here all the time.

‘I’m not that kind of boy, Inspector Romeo.’

'Shut up and pass me my briefcase.'

Nash took out the plastic Tupperware box and two apples. He threw one to Jones, who caught it in one hand. ‘Here, I’ve made you a sandwich.’

‘Thank you, Mother, that’s very kind of you.’

‘Oh, piss off.’

‘Hey, seriously, though, that’s a nice thing to do. Thanks, Nash. You can put some of that Radio 4 shit back on if you want.’

As they ate, they watched the ocean. The water was grey, and the white tips of the waves frothed and spat backwards as they crashed against the sea breaks. She wasn’t angry yet, but she could turn in an instant.

When they’d finished, Nash handed Jones a serviette from the packet that he kept in his door caddy. He used another one to wipe out the container, put the lid on and put it back in his briefcase.

That’s when he saw the envelope, and he wouldn’t have reacted, but it was unexpected and a shock to see it there. He’d emptied his case in the evidence room when he got to work that morning, as was his custom. All that was in it after nipping home at lunchtime and discovering the graffiti was their lunch.

And now an envelope as well.

He grabbed it as he put the tub in and closed the case. He had a cursory glance at the envelope, trying to keep his face as neutral as possible.

Detective Chief Inspector Silas Nash

He stuffed it into his pocket.

‘What’s up?’

‘Nothing, why?’

‘No reason. You just seemed to tense up when you got that letter out. Hey, listen, man. How much are you a copper on duty at this moment?’

‘I’m always a copper on duty. Why?’

‘If a bloke was caught short and had to go for a pee around those rocks, you wouldn’t be evil-minded enough to arrest him, would you? What’s the penalty for peeing in public?’

‘PND? eighty quid.’ He’d have had plenty to say about moral responsibility if his mind wasn’t on the letter. He would have refused to be a party to any law-breaking, but right this second, he needed Jones out of the car. ‘Just be discrete and don’t wave it around like a conductor’s baton.’ The thought of him getting back into Nash’s car and touching things after he’d touched his thing disgusted him, but he let it go.

He waited for Jones to disappear and grabbed the letter from his pocket. His name was printed in a sans-serif font. He tore into it, and his hands shook as he read the words on the paper that had been folded in half.

Twenty grand in cash. I’m not an unreasonable man, Silas. You’ve got two days to get it ready. And don’t get any clever ideas about running tests on the note. I’m sure you don’t want the whole world to know your secrets. I’ve got very friendly with a certain reporter at The Mail. Mixed with a few juicy details from the case, I’m sure he’d like to know about you, Mr Chief Inspector.

I’ll be in touch with instructions.

Toodle pip.

He refolded the note and put it in his breast pocket. He would give the envelope to the lab later. He wasn’t aware of Jones getting back in the car until he slammed the door too hard. Nash didn’t react.

‘What’s up?’ Jones asked for the second time.

Nash had another piece of evidence but had to keep it to himself. It wasn’t case-related, and he wasn’t sure if Jones could have done it. Nash wracked his brain for any second that Jones could have got into his briefcase. And there it was—a second where he’d leaned down and scratched his lower leg inside his sock while Nash had been concentrating on the road. He said the tag bracelet was annoying him. He could have reached over then and put the envelope in Nash’s bag.

He didn’t know how else it could have got there. It was empty when he went home. He dropped it by the front door when he came in. The kitchen was at the far end of the hall after three open doors. He kept them open through the day, even though it played with his tidy mind, to give Lola the run of the house. The only explanation was that an intruder—the killer—had been in his house the whole time. He was a hardened cop, but the thought that the Florist had been in his home made his blood run cold. It signalled him as the next target. The only piece of useful intel was that the person in his home and the one leaking the information were the same guy.

Was The Florist one of his team? If so, it was somebody close to him that he would trust with his life.

He looked at Jones, who was pressing the seat-warming button like a kid with a new toy. In that instant, he was a harmless buffoon. But, Nash preferred to think it was him, blackmailing him as one of his mind games, rather than a deranged murderer coming to gouge his heart out with a corkscrew.

Amanda Keys sat with her eyes closed and rubbed her fingers over Paige’s necklace again.

‘There was somebody. He was in the café before Paige died—come on, show me, yes, okay, okay—he has brown hair, it’s quite long, past his collar. I can see him reaching over the counter. He was stealing from the till, I think. A traveller. I think he may be a gipsy. I can see him living in a caravan.’

‘A traveller killed Paige?’ Jessica asked.

‘I think she tried to stop him from taking the money.’

‘Like that other murder twenty-odd years ago. Could it be that gipsy lad Johnston that killed his cousin?’

‘No. Maybe. I don’t know. It’s not clear.’

‘We need to tell the police.’

‘It’s changing. I’ve got it wrong. He liked her. I’m getting a warm feeling. Lots of red. Red all over. Romance. He wanted to ask her out but was too shy,’ Amanda said.

‘Maybe the red was blood.’

‘I’m seeing something else. That little boy again. He’s running down a corridor. Nope. It’s gone. I’m sorry.’

‘It’s okay. Maybe we can try again later?’

‘Yes, Nash will be here soon. And he’ll be expecting a freak show. Their negative energy doesn’t help me get information across clearly. Could you put the kettle on, please? I need five minutes to clear my chakras.’

When the bell rang, Jess went to let Nash and Jones in and led them through to the conservatory where the psychometry reading was taking place.’

Nash was impressed. It was a beautiful room with luxurious cane furniture topped with soft, comfortable cushions. The light was perfect and ignited the room with a wash of autumnal colours. The lawn was littered with fallen apples. And as he sat, Nash watched one fall from the tree to be pounced on by an opportunistic squirrel ignoring the other apples all over the lawn. He wanted that one. The incident with the envelope had thrown Nash off his game, and he wasn’t paying attention to the introductions.

‘I’m sorry, please forgive me. You both know me, and this is Mr Jones.’

‘He doesn’t look like a policeman. Jess said, eyeing his Converse.

‘He isn’t.’ The colour had left Amanda’s face, and her expression was set and grim.

‘What?’ Jess said.

‘It’s him. The man I saw in our reading, the one from the café.’

Nash sat forward in his chair. She couldn’t know that. It hadn’t been released, and no photographs of Max had been leaked to the press.

‘I told you this was a bad idea, boss.’

Jess was screaming. ‘Did you kill my sister? Was it you?’

‘No. Calm down, love. Honestly, I swear. I only saw her once. She was kind and sweet, and I would never hurt her.’

‘What the hell’s going on, Inspector? Why is he here?’ Jessica said.

Amanda put her hand up for silence. ‘That chain around your neck—give it to me,’ she said to Max.

‘No way, not a chance, lady. You look very nice, and I expect you like puppies and kittens, but you aren’t pulling any of that voodoo shit on me.’

‘Your chain, please.’

Max looked to Nash, who’d said he didn’t believe any of this crap, but he nodded for him to do it. Psychometry is what they were there for, if only to get Jessica Hunter off their backs. Max was reluctant as he handed his necklace over. ‘If this is some sort of trick, it’s not going to work. I’m telling you now. I’m innocent.’

Amanda rested back in her chair with her eyes closed. She rubbed her fingers over the chain and came back to the clasp several times. She shook her head as though speaking to somebody and murmured a few times. There were some hairs trapped in the opening mechanism, and she focused on them. She gasped, and her eyes opened, staring at Max.

‘What?’ they all said at once.

‘What have you seen?’ Jessica asked. ‘Is it Paige?’

‘No. It’s bad. I can’t say.’

‘Oh, for goodness sake, Ms Keys,’ Nash said. ‘Please, let’s cut the theatrics. If you’ve got something to say about Mr Jones, just say it. And then we can get out of here and do some real police work instead of this ludicrous fiasco. I have no patience for this charade when there’s a killer out there.’

Amanda’s voice hardened. ‘I can’t say, Inspector, because we have a code of practice, and there is certain information we will not divulge to a read subject.’

‘If you’re going to say what I think you are, I already know, honey. I’ve done all my bawling and wailing so you can spit it out,’ Max said.

Amanda smoothed her tailored green trousers and straightened her blouse to buy herself time before she spoke. ‘You have been to the hospital recently.’

‘Yep, that’s me. Guilty as charged. But that’s all I’ve done.’

Amanda leaned forward and touched his hand. ‘Sweetheart, I can confirm that your time on this earth is short.’

Jessica gasped.

‘Correct.’

Nash was flummoxed. His brain wanted to come up with the word impressed, but there was nothing impressive about some tart with money, preying on the lost, lonely and, in this case, dying.

‘Where did you get that information?’ he asked.

Amanda sat back and put her hand on the right side of her head above her ear. There is darkness here. It’s a large shadow covering the healthy parts of the brain. I can see people waiting. They are here ready to take you home when the time comes.’

‘Oh, for Christ’s sake.’ Nash wanted to end this rubbish and get out of there, but Amanda kept talking.

‘Such a sad little boy. You’re sitting on a big staircase, in a hall, with mosaic tiles on the floor next to some suitcases. A lady wearing fur is kissing you on the forehead, and another lady takes you away. I’m getting so much love around this woman. No nonsense, so much love. She’s singing. I'm gonna see the folks I dig. I'll even kiss a sunset pig. California, I'm coming home.’

Max had tears rolling down his cheeks, and Amanda put her hand over his to comfort him.

‘What the hell is all this nonsense? Jones, we’re leaving.’

‘She couldn’t have plucked that song out of thin air. It’s impossible. Nanny Clare sang it to me in my playroom. Nobody knows that but me.’

‘They have ways of finding things out. What about your sister? She might have posted something on Facebook. Fake mediums go back for years on a timeline,’ Nash said.

‘But you never told her I was coming. This is the first time she’s known about me.’

‘Okay, we’ll play for a little longer, but I warn you, Jones, I’m getting pretty sick of this.’ Nash was rattled. If she could reduce Jones to mush in seconds, he was terrified of her starting in on his private life. ‘Bring it forward and get to the point, lady. We’re only interested in the murders.’ He saw Jess flinch. For God’s sake, that’s all he needed. Was the lovesick puppy going to start stalking the sister now?

‘I can only give you what comes through. I can’t request an order for specific information. This isn’t a Chinese takeaway, Mr Nash.’

Who did she think she was, talking to him like that?

Amanda ignored Nash’s scowl as though he wasn’t there and went back to talking to Max. ‘You have a big name. No, lots of little names, she says. She’s laughing. I’m getting Barty and Nanna.’

‘Nanny. Nanny Clare.’

‘Are you buying this?’ Nash asked.

‘Shut up. I want to hear this.’

‘Oh, bless you, sweetheart. Yes. I’ll tell him.’

Nash grunted. Amanda, Max and Jessica glared at him.

‘I’ve got a lovely young man here. He says you know him, Max. His passing was violent. He’s showing me the left side of his face, and it’s all battered.’

‘Oh, God. Not another one,’ Max said, and Nash sat forward in his chair again. ‘Yes, yes, I’m saying it. He’s not part of this case. He passed about ten years ago. He’s showing me the numbers. Yes, ten years when he first came to this country, he was beaten and left for dead. He says he came to you for help, Max. But you did nothing.’

‘You’re wasting police time, Keys,’ Nash said, ‘and that’s a criminal offence. Give us something relevant to today, or I’ll arrest you.’ They all ignored him.

‘I don’t know anybody who was beaten to death ten years ago,’ Max said.

‘He’s showing me a small room, lots of shelves and stationery. He says he’s sorry for knocking you over, but you frustrated him. He’s saying, “Find the man. You find him.” He looks very sad.’

Max jumped out of his seat in his excitement. ‘Kami, that’s Kami. A refugee.’

‘He says yes. From a place beginning with I. Come on, give it to me, Iraq? Iran?’

‘Kami was dead? But I saw him. That day, when he knocked me over—was he already dead? But he was right in front of me.’

Amanda laughed at something the spirit said. ‘He says you’re a bit slow. He was trying to get your attention. He wants you to find his murderer.’

‘Has this got anything to do with The Florist?’ Nash asked.

‘Not a thing, Inspector, and you’ve chased him away now with your negativity.’

‘Get him back. Tell him I’ll try,’ Max said.

‘He’s gone, love. I need a minute to try and clear the room of negative vibrations. Perhaps you’d prefer to wait outside, DCI Nash?’

‘I’m not going anywhere.’

‘Okay, but please try not to block me with your damaging energy. I’m trying to help you. There’s a girl—but it’s not Paige. Tattoos. I’m getting the name Zola. Lola. Zola?’

‘Lola is my cat, Ms Keys, and the only crime she’s ever committed is being too cute for her own good.’

‘I’m sorry. It’s a zed. Zara, Zoe.’

‘Been in the papers and all over the news.’

‘She wasn’t a lesbian. She says it would have been cool if she was, but she wasn’t that interesting. She says to tell Max she didn’t want marriage, but the Scottish loch would have been nice. She says never stop looking for Nessie. Does that make any sense to you?’

Max was choked up, and Nash saw that he was filled with emotion. He just nodded.

‘This is all very sweet, but it’s not catching a killer,’ Nash said.

Amanda was quiet for another couple of minutes. ‘I’m getting nothing violent. I can’t tell you who the killer is, but I can tell you that it’s not the wearer of this chain. This man didn’t kill anybody, Inspector. But I am getting a warning from my guide to be careful. They are getting closer?’

‘They?’ Jessica asked.

‘He’s gone. I don’t know, just an expression, maybe. I can’t tell if it has relevance or not. He, they, I’m not sure which he said now. He. He is getting closer.’

‘Let me put this very simply, Ms Keys. In your opinion, is there more than one murderer?’

‘And let me answer in words of one syllable or less, Inspector. I don’t know. That’s it for today. I’m exhausted and feel quite weakened.’ She stood up and swooned back into the chair. Nash was glad to get the hell out of there.

Max gushed about her all the way home in the car until Nash felt like committing murder himself. The gullible fool.

‘Wasn’t she amazing? I mean, wasn’t she, though? She was fabulous—and the medium woman wasn’t bad either.’

She had hit on a few points. Two murderers threw them right back into the land of Max and an accomplice—and then there was that letter.