‘You’ll die if you don’t say her name.’
We reach the middle of the river. I park the oars and we drift gently in the current. The pleasure boat is a couple of hundred yards away now. Its lights are visible and so are the people on its deck. Our little boat rocks gently when I shift to the side.
‘What are you doing?’ He knows he’s trapped. Good!
‘I’m swimming back to the garden. You, on the other hand are going under that boat. If you’re lucky, the keel will hit your head and you’ll be knocked unconscious. Of course, if you’re not . . .’ My voice tails ominously off.
‘You wouldn’t do that.’
The water is still cold when I slip into the river but it’s soothing now. When I rise to the surface, I turn on my back and gently paddle with my feet.
‘Eva!’ He’s panicking now. I look at the stars and swim away. ‘Eva!’
‘Say her name!’
‘Eva!’
There’s a silence before he gets one final chance. The boat is close now, its engine thumping away and a woman squealing on the deck, but we’re far too small for anyone on board to see us. Danny will be run down.
My last yell is so clear that it drowns out the noise of the river-borne revellers. ‘Say her name!’
‘Hope.’
‘Can’t hear!’
His voice is strangulated with terror and with sobs, like those of the missing women in their final moments no doubt.
‘Hope! Hope!! Hope!!!’
Has he left it too late? Have I left it too late? I desperately need Danny alive so he can face justice. The boat nearly capsizes under my weight as I clamber aboard and begin thrashing at the oars. Out of the corner of my eye the boat appears, its massive hull lit up by green and red navigation signals and flashing orange and red lights on the deck to illuminate the dance floor. The backwash comes over the sides of our boat as it goes past but it also pushes us towards the bank.
A man appears at the railing of the boat. He’s wearing a uniform and a peaked cap and he shouts abuse at me. ‘What are you doing on the river at this time of night? With no lights? You’re an idiot! You could have been killed.’
I shout back in triumph. ‘Her name is Hope!’
He shakes his head as he disappears into the darkness.
Waiting for us on the riverbank are Sugar, Ronnie and Commander John Dixon accompanied by four other police officers.
CHAPTER 47
‘Have you found anything? Any evidence?’
My tight question is directed at John Dixon, who I find in Danny’s so-called operations room. Commander John Dixon. The policeman had the honour of arresting Danny on a host of charges. However, these still don’t include charges concerning the death of Hope, Amina and Sheryl in 1994, due to lack of evidence.
I’m in dry clothes again, some of them Miriam’s from her stash at Danny’s house. Sugar is right beside me. We’ve been standing here for a time, me and Sugar, observing Commander Dixon search through Danny’s room. There’s something about the quickness of the way his gloved hands move, the controlled stiffness of his back, the angle of his head that show his years of searching through criminals’ lairs on the hunt for something that will put them behind bars.
His cheeks are red with anger. ‘I found this,’ he answers, holding up the photo that Danny thought he’d cleverly hidden away. It shows him shaking hands with two men in front of a brand poster of Pretty Lanes. Dixon places it inside an evidence bag.
‘He’s going down. Also, any other parties connected to wrongful activities at Pretty Lanes. I know Danny Greene’s business dealings were dodgy, but being involved in murder? Anyway, a forensics team is on its way. And,’ he adds dramatically, eyes only on Sugar, ‘the blood sample has been found. Tests are already underway.’ Please let it put Danny away for good. His tone softens. ‘Sugar, get your daughter the rest she needs. When you’re ready I’d like to conduct an interview with you and Eva myself.’
Me and Sugar step inside, and with a control I know he doesn’t feel, Sugar carefully and quietly closes the door. A charged silence has entered the room with us.
Dixon’s hyper-observant gaze swings between us. ‘Is there a problem? Something else about Danny Greene you think I should know?’
He directs the hesitant question to Sugar but it’s me who follows through. ‘You could say that.’ I take out a single piece of paper from my pocket and hand it to him. Every muscle in my body strains and hurts, but I don’t care. If my head was missing that wouldn’t stop me from what I’m about to do.