laugh was forced and apprehensive.
Cole caught Janet's exaggerated look of indignation and laughed
out loud.
Janet moved into the kitchen. Butler topped the glasses again before
he turned to Cole.
“So how was Ticker?”
Butler shrugged weakly. “Anian held her own.”
Cole glanced at the girl and murmured, “I expect she did.”
Butler put in quickly, “Jack's not interested, told me to put it to
bed.”
“So what's the problem?”
“The problem, Guv, is that three of the four women are pregnant.
What are the odds on that happening? It'd make the lottery look good.
On our patch we've got four missing women, forget the kids, the
runaways. Just concentrate on adult females. We've got four.”
“And three are pregnant?”
“Right,” Butler said earnestly. “And statistically, pregnant women –
those with a partner – don’t take off. Single, yes. They run from
parents or the perceived shame. And the forties and fifties, they take
off after the kids have left, looking for the last-chance saloon, looking
for something better or someone better, or maybe they’re wanting
space again, I don’t know. But not when they're pregnant. Not unless
the father lives someplace else.”
“How pregnant?”
“They range from a few weeks to four months. Helen Harrison only
just found out. You know that.”
“And do they play around?”
Anian raised her eyebrows and shook her head.
“It's a fair question,” Cole said sharply. “You're a copper, not a
social worker. Coppers can't afford the luxury of being politically
correct or non-judgemental. A spade is a spade and around here, like
everywhere else, married women do fuck around.”
She didn't like it but she nodded.
Butler didn’t like it either for it touched an open wound. He sighed
and said, “You tell me about Helen. But the others, who knows? How
the hell do you tell? My guess would be that they don't, play around
that is, but what do I know?”
Cole smiled at the detective sergeant's wry humour. Selfdeprecation
suited the worry lines on his face.
“Does Jack know about the pregnancies?”
Butler shook his head. “Until we knew about Helen it was only two
out of three and it didn’t even register. Two’s a coincidence but three’s
a wake-up call.”
Cole said, “So, talk to me. What do you want?”
Anian sat listening intently, steadying her glass on the arm of the
sofa, her fierce eyes more on the DI than the DS.
Butler spread his hands. “I'm in a fix. I've got a gut feeling about it,
Guv.”
Cole nodded. “Get on to the index and spread out. Go back a few
years and find some common ground, anything. There might be some
cold files knocking around. If you come up with something then stick
it under Jack's nose. If he's not interested then come back to me. But it
won't come to that. If you find something then he'll be interested. But
you should have mentioned the pregnancy connection. It seems pretty
relevant, particularly in view of your earlier comments. You’ve been
looking for a connection and you’ve got one.”
Anian said abruptly, “So what are we looking for? Prenatal clinics?
Marie Stopes? There’s an awful lot of places around here where you
can turn up with five-hundred quid and an overnight bag and get in line
with the girls from Dublin?”
The DI glanced at Butler. “I think that might be jumping the gun.
But it might be worth having another look at the odd one out.
Clutching at straws, but that's what we do best. If you can eliminate
her then all your girls are pregnant. I’m still not sure it will get you
anywhere. Jack does have a point. To be honest, pregnancies or not,
I'm leaning towards him on this. You're not looking for a villain here,
you're looking for a crime. At the moment you haven't got one and
we’ve got plenty of others to concentrate on. It can't go on
indefinitely.”
“Christ, Rick, it was you who asked me to see Ticker!”
“You’re right, and it has added weight to your pregnancy
Cole caught Janet's exaggerated look of indignation and laughed
out loud.
Janet moved into the kitchen. Butler topped the glasses again before
he turned to Cole.
“So how was Ticker?”
Butler shrugged weakly. “Anian held her own.”
Cole glanced at the girl and murmured, “I expect she did.”
Butler put in quickly, “Jack's not interested, told me to put it to
bed.”
“So what's the problem?”
“The problem, Guv, is that three of the four women are pregnant.
What are the odds on that happening? It'd make the lottery look good.
On our patch we've got four missing women, forget the kids, the
runaways. Just concentrate on adult females. We've got four.”
“And three are pregnant?”
“Right,” Butler said earnestly. “And statistically, pregnant women –
those with a partner – don’t take off. Single, yes. They run from
parents or the perceived shame. And the forties and fifties, they take
off after the kids have left, looking for the last-chance saloon, looking
for something better or someone better, or maybe they’re wanting
space again, I don’t know. But not when they're pregnant. Not unless
the father lives someplace else.”
“How pregnant?”
“They range from a few weeks to four months. Helen Harrison only
just found out. You know that.”
“And do they play around?”
Anian raised her eyebrows and shook her head.
“It's a fair question,” Cole said sharply. “You're a copper, not a
social worker. Coppers can't afford the luxury of being politically
correct or non-judgemental. A spade is a spade and around here, like
everywhere else, married women do fuck around.”
She didn't like it but she nodded.
Butler didn’t like it either for it touched an open wound. He sighed
and said, “You tell me about Helen. But the others, who knows? How
the hell do you tell? My guess would be that they don't, play around
that is, but what do I know?”
Cole smiled at the detective sergeant's wry humour. Selfdeprecation
suited the worry lines on his face.
“Does Jack know about the pregnancies?”
Butler shook his head. “Until we knew about Helen it was only two
out of three and it didn’t even register. Two’s a coincidence but three’s
a wake-up call.”
Cole said, “So, talk to me. What do you want?”
Anian sat listening intently, steadying her glass on the arm of the
sofa, her fierce eyes more on the DI than the DS.
Butler spread his hands. “I'm in a fix. I've got a gut feeling about it,
Guv.”
Cole nodded. “Get on to the index and spread out. Go back a few
years and find some common ground, anything. There might be some
cold files knocking around. If you come up with something then stick
it under Jack's nose. If he's not interested then come back to me. But it
won't come to that. If you find something then he'll be interested. But
you should have mentioned the pregnancy connection. It seems pretty
relevant, particularly in view of your earlier comments. You’ve been
looking for a connection and you’ve got one.”
Anian said abruptly, “So what are we looking for? Prenatal clinics?
Marie Stopes? There’s an awful lot of places around here where you
can turn up with five-hundred quid and an overnight bag and get in line
with the girls from Dublin?”
The DI glanced at Butler. “I think that might be jumping the gun.
But it might be worth having another look at the odd one out.
Clutching at straws, but that's what we do best. If you can eliminate
her then all your girls are pregnant. I’m still not sure it will get you
anywhere. Jack does have a point. To be honest, pregnancies or not,
I'm leaning towards him on this. You're not looking for a villain here,
you're looking for a crime. At the moment you haven't got one and
we’ve got plenty of others to concentrate on. It can't go on
indefinitely.”
“Christ, Rick, it was you who asked me to see Ticker!”
“You’re right, and it has added weight to your pregnancy
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