Read Online No Other Darkness by Sarah Hilary - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Sarah Hilary
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where a mobile office sat in the shadow of a half-built high-rise.
Polythene wrapped the steel shell of Merrick Homes’ latest development. Bad weather had ratted at the polythene; unless it was real rats, up from the Thames in search of food or shelter. The polythene was filthy, months old. Investors losing their nerve? This part of London was a rash of glass and steel. It was hard to imagine room in the market for another office development. Everywhere was puddled by shadows from the building work.
They followed a route of greasy duckboards and gravelled ditches to where a mobile office was set up on concrete slabs. The office had chicken-wired windows and a conspicuousburglar alarm. Soot had put black stripes up its sides. A string of oversized fairy lights dangled off one end like a stripper’s feather boa.
Inside, they were back-slapped by the smell of egg sandwiches and armpits.
Ian Merrick was a balding middleweight wearing a high-vis jacket with the look of someone who wished he was less visible. He grimaced when Marnie produced her ID. ‘If this’s about health and safety . . .’
‘God forbid,’ she said. ‘It’s about a double murder.’
Merrick’s jaw dropped. Yellow egg yolk was trapped between his teeth. He put his hand over his bald spot, self-consciously, as if he missed his hard hat.
Noah looked around the office, seeing the inevitable girlie calendar: a strawberry blonde spilling her chest across the bonnet of a Porsche. The windows were filthy. One side had a bird’s-eye view of the chemical toilet. A pair of filing cabinets took up too much space. Shoved between the cabinets was a red nylon sleeping bag. Did Merrick camp here sometimes? Or was the sleeping bag for the on-site security crew?
Merrick flicked a glance at the girlie calendar and wetted his lips in embarrassment, shuffling papers noisily. ‘I don’t understand. The site is secure. Are you saying you’ve found something?’ He looked sick. ‘Bodies? Here?’
Marnie didn’t put him out of his misery, not right away. ‘You’d know, wouldn’t you, if dead bodies had been found on your site? Or isn’t the site secure?’
‘Of course it’s secure, but you said—’
‘It doesn’t look very secure. There was no one to stop us walking right in.’
‘We’ve had trouble with kids breaking in. We’re fitting new locks today. You said . . . murder?’
‘I said double murder.’ Dry ice in her voice and in hereyes, making them smoky blue. She was being Detective Inspector Rome. ‘How is your on-site health and safety?’
Merrick covered his bald spot again. Noah nearly handed him one of the hard hats. DI Rome had this effect on men. Not all men, but plenty.
‘Good,’ Merrick said, not quite stammering. ‘All the paperwork . . . the paperwork’s up to date.’ He took his hand from his head and gestured at the filing cabinets before flopping the hand down to his side. ‘Everything’s up to date.’
‘How long have you been based here?’
‘Nine, ten months . . .’ He tried for a smile, missed and managed a grimace. ‘Since November . . . You probably saw the fairy lights? We dressed the crane for Christmas, but it encouraged trespassers, kids coming to take pictures, so now we keep it low-key.’
‘You specialise in new homes, is that right?’
‘I wouldn’t say specialise , no one can afford to do that in this game, but yes. Some of our best places have been brown-belt developments.’
‘Beech Rise,’ Marnie said. ‘That was one of yours, wasn’t it?’
Merrick nodded. ‘Houses, in Snaresbrook. But this isn’t about that? We finished there years ago, without accident, one of the cleanest jobs I’ve worked on.’ He was either an excellent liar or he had no guilty conscience where Beech Rise was concerned.
‘Cleanest. Meaning what? That no one was hurt during the construction?’
‘That’s right.’ Merrick sat a little straighter behind his desk, as if he was sure of his
Polythene wrapped the steel shell of Merrick Homes’ latest development. Bad weather had ratted at the polythene; unless it was real rats, up from the Thames in search of food or shelter. The polythene was filthy, months old. Investors losing their nerve? This part of London was a rash of glass and steel. It was hard to imagine room in the market for another office development. Everywhere was puddled by shadows from the building work.
They followed a route of greasy duckboards and gravelled ditches to where a mobile office was set up on concrete slabs. The office had chicken-wired windows and a conspicuousburglar alarm. Soot had put black stripes up its sides. A string of oversized fairy lights dangled off one end like a stripper’s feather boa.
Inside, they were back-slapped by the smell of egg sandwiches and armpits.
Ian Merrick was a balding middleweight wearing a high-vis jacket with the look of someone who wished he was less visible. He grimaced when Marnie produced her ID. ‘If this’s about health and safety . . .’
‘God forbid,’ she said. ‘It’s about a double murder.’
Merrick’s jaw dropped. Yellow egg yolk was trapped between his teeth. He put his hand over his bald spot, self-consciously, as if he missed his hard hat.
Noah looked around the office, seeing the inevitable girlie calendar: a strawberry blonde spilling her chest across the bonnet of a Porsche. The windows were filthy. One side had a bird’s-eye view of the chemical toilet. A pair of filing cabinets took up too much space. Shoved between the cabinets was a red nylon sleeping bag. Did Merrick camp here sometimes? Or was the sleeping bag for the on-site security crew?
Merrick flicked a glance at the girlie calendar and wetted his lips in embarrassment, shuffling papers noisily. ‘I don’t understand. The site is secure. Are you saying you’ve found something?’ He looked sick. ‘Bodies? Here?’
Marnie didn’t put him out of his misery, not right away. ‘You’d know, wouldn’t you, if dead bodies had been found on your site? Or isn’t the site secure?’
‘Of course it’s secure, but you said—’
‘It doesn’t look very secure. There was no one to stop us walking right in.’
‘We’ve had trouble with kids breaking in. We’re fitting new locks today. You said . . . murder?’
‘I said double murder.’ Dry ice in her voice and in hereyes, making them smoky blue. She was being Detective Inspector Rome. ‘How is your on-site health and safety?’
Merrick covered his bald spot again. Noah nearly handed him one of the hard hats. DI Rome had this effect on men. Not all men, but plenty.
‘Good,’ Merrick said, not quite stammering. ‘All the paperwork . . . the paperwork’s up to date.’ He took his hand from his head and gestured at the filing cabinets before flopping the hand down to his side. ‘Everything’s up to date.’
‘How long have you been based here?’
‘Nine, ten months . . .’ He tried for a smile, missed and managed a grimace. ‘Since November . . . You probably saw the fairy lights? We dressed the crane for Christmas, but it encouraged trespassers, kids coming to take pictures, so now we keep it low-key.’
‘You specialise in new homes, is that right?’
‘I wouldn’t say specialise , no one can afford to do that in this game, but yes. Some of our best places have been brown-belt developments.’
‘Beech Rise,’ Marnie said. ‘That was one of yours, wasn’t it?’
Merrick nodded. ‘Houses, in Snaresbrook. But this isn’t about that? We finished there years ago, without accident, one of the cleanest jobs I’ve worked on.’ He was either an excellent liar or he had no guilty conscience where Beech Rise was concerned.
‘Cleanest. Meaning what? That no one was hurt during the construction?’
‘That’s right.’ Merrick sat a little straighter behind his desk, as if he was sure of his
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