Free Peter Diamond - 09 - The Secret Hangman by Peter Lovesey Page A

too soon to replace him. The birds can visit the garden in safety now.’
    ‘You have a garden? In the city?’
    ‘On the outskirts. I live in Lyncombe. We still think of it as our village, even though it was swallowed up by the city council about two hundred years ago. And you? Are you a Bathonian?’
    ‘I pay the council tax,’ he said. ‘I live in Weston. Don’t know if I can call myself a Bathonian.’
    ‘If you’re defending us all from villains, I’m sure you can. You’re the first policeman I’ve met on a social basis. That’s the best way to meet one, I suppose. Better than being stopped for speeding.’
    He told her he didn’t work in traffic.
    ‘More of a back-room boy?’
    ‘Back-seat boy.’ He wasn’t going to volunteer that he was CID.
    After the coffee, she said, ‘I’ve enjoyed this, Peter.’
    ‘You took the words out of my mouth.’
    She signalled for the bill. ‘I must get back now and do an hour or so on the internet. My clients expect a quick response.’
    He was relieved. She was drawing a line under this evening. She’d saved them both the awkwardness of the invitation home for another coffee or a drink, or whatever. He certainly wasn’t ready for whatever. She wasn’t pressing for a closer relationship and neither was he.
    They walked back to Green Park and talked about films they’d seen. As if by mutual consent they’d done enough exchanging personal data. When they reached her car she opened her bag and took out a business card. ‘As I was saying, you can look me up if you’re interested in the agency.’
    ‘Thanks. I’m not so well organised as you,’ he said. ‘Don’t carry a card.’
    ‘Now I feel pushy.’
    He shook his head. ‘I know when people are pushy, and you’re not.’
    She got into her car. ‘Where’s yours?’
    He pointed across the car park.
    She said, ‘Watch out when you reverse.’
    He came out with a line that made him cringe as soon as he’d said it. ‘After tonight no carrier bag is safe.’
    She smiled and drove off.

8
    O ne thing is worse than an alarm clock going off when you are sleeping, and that’s a phone. Diamond didn’t know where he was. He reached out to the sound and knocked over his glass of water.
    Now he knew. He’d been dreaming. This wasn’t Paloma’s bedroom. This was home.
    ‘Jesus,’ he said when he got the thing to his ear.
    This seemed to confuse the caller. After a long pause came a tentative, ‘Sir?’
    ‘I don’t expect calls in the middle of the night.’
    ‘Is that Mr Diamond?’
    ‘What do you want?’
    ‘I’ve got the Assistant Chief Constable for you, sir.’
    ‘On a plate?’
    ‘On the other line.’
    ‘What time is it?’
    ‘Six fifteen just gone, sir.’
    ‘Nearly lunchtime,’ he said with sarcasm that was wasted on the switchboard operator.
    ‘I’m about to connect you.’
    ‘Do I have a choice?’
    Georgina greeted him as brightly as if she was suggesting coffee and crumpets in the Pump Room. ‘Peter, are you up and about?’
    He could feel a tide of cold water advancing across the sheet he was lying on. ‘I will be shortly.’
    ‘You’re not an early riser, then? Listen, something has happened overnight. Another hanging, a man this time.’
    He was jolted fully awake. ‘Where?’
    ‘This is it, Peter. It couldn’t be more public. He’s over the Bristol Road near the railway station. Motorists are calling in to report it.’
    He couldn’t picture this. ‘Over the road?’
    ‘Hanging from the viaduct.’
    ‘What viaduct?’
    ‘By the station. You know where the railway crosses the river and the road, that thing that looks like a castle wall, with battlements? Uniform have closed the entire southern approach to the city and they want to cut him down. It’s going to cause horrendous traffic problems, but of course it could be tied in with this case of yours. Get down there, will you, and deal with it?’
    Some people start the day with a fried breakfast, he thought. I get