Chapter 112

Poe's phone rang five minutes after he had joined the M6. Bradshaw had wanted to drive him home but he assured her he was fine. He squinted at the car's onboard display. It was Superintendent Nightingale. He wondered if Joshua had already made a complaint. He considered ignoring it, but he had too much respect for her to hide away from bad news. He accepted the call just as the sun crested the skyline. Visibility immediately went from full to zero as the low sun beamed into the car like the ‘punter blinders', the harsh lights a band aim at the crowd during a rock concert. All he could see was a filthy windscreen, smeared with grime and welded with bug entrails. He reached for his sunglasses but dropped them in the footwell.

‘Damn,' he said.

‘Excuse me?'

‘Not you, ma'am. Just been blinded by the sun. Give me a second.'

He fumbled around his feet until he found them. Visibility improved, but not by much. He moved into the left-hand lane, tucked himself behind a Tesco wagon and took advantage of the shade.

‘Sorry about that,' he said.

‘Poe, we have a problem.'

‘Joshua Meade? I know he used to be a solicitor, but that was quick.'

‘It's not Josh—'

‘And obviously I'll take full responsibility. One of the bonuses of me not being a Cumbrian cop.'

‘Poe, will you shut up a second,' she said. ‘This isn't about Joshua Meade.'

‘Oh. What is it?'

She told him.

‘Shit,' he said.

‘An understatement.'

‘How is that even possible?'

She told him.

‘Shit,' he said again.

‘I'm telling you this as a courtesy,' she said. ‘For obvious reasons, I don't want it getting out.'

‘My lips are sealed.'

‘Are you nearly home?' she asked, changing direction.

‘I'm popping in to see Eve Bowman first, ma'am. I know I messed up with Joshua Meade, but Eve needs to be warned before the press get hold of her.'

‘She does, but you need sleep, Poe. Let uniform do it.'

‘It should be someone she knows, ma'am.'

‘It's early, Poe.'

‘She gets up early,' he said. ‘Does yoga every morning before she starts work. But if the lights aren't on, I'll wait.'

‘Fine,' she sighed. ‘But I want you to call me the moment you're done.'

‘Of course.'

‘And do me a favour while you're there: get some photographs of Aaron Bowman. The one we have on file is an old photocopy. Tilly wants something better to put through her age-progression program. As soon as we've done that, we can start flushing him out.'

‘I'll get as many as I can, ma'am,' Poe confirmed.

‘Thanks, Poe. And try not to worry about that other thing. If it wasn't today, it would have been tomorrow. People like that always find a way.'

‘I'm sorry, ma'am.'

‘About what?'

‘I know it's an awful thing.'

‘But?'

‘But I just don't care.'