Free A Deadly Thaw by Sarah Ward Page B

down at the gun. It didn’t look like the weapons you saw in the old cowboy films. Those were shiny with snub barrels. This one was long and sleek. Its wooden handle jutted out at a forty-five-degree angle with a long black barrel that resembled more a deadly fountain pen. ‘Have you touched it? With your hands, I mean?’ Mark’s voice was harsh.
    ‘I was scared to. It might be loaded. It fell out of the parcel it came in and then I picked it up with my scarf. I kept the end away from me.’
    He was looking at her. His expression unreadable. He moved back and went to the small coffee table separating the two chairs and grabbed a handful of tissues. He then picked up the gun and examined it. ‘You needn’t have worried anyway. Here.’ He was pointing at something at the top of the gun. ‘This is the lock. It stops the gun from accidentally firing if you drop it. It’s engaged. In any case it wouldn’t have mattered. There’s no ammunition. Look.’ He angled the barrel towards her, and she could see the empty chamber. ‘The bullets slot in here.’
    Kat let out a big sigh.
    He looked at her. Gone was the nervy client she saw on a weekly basis. Instead he looked calm and determined. ‘Do you know what gun this is?’
    ‘Of course I don’t know. I don’t know anything about guns.’
    ‘Is anyone in your family German?’
    ‘German? Of course not. Why do you ask?’
    ‘What about the military? Did any of your family serve in the wars?’
    ‘Not that I’m aware of. Dad was too young to fight Hitler. He was born in 1940. I don’t remember talk of either of my grandfathers serving in the First World War. What’s this about?’
    Mark was examining the gun intently. ‘It’s a Luger. A German gun. They gave them to the troops. It’s a beautiful weapon and pretty collectible. Can your sister shoot?’
    Kat repressed the desire to laugh. Because how much did she in fact know about her sister? The woman who had shocked everyone to the core by pleading guilty to the murder of her husband and who was clearly embroiled in a new subterfuge. ‘I don’t think she can. We never went hunting or anything. We weren’t a family into country pursuits. More reading and card games. I don’t think Lena can shoot.’
    Mark wrapped the gun back in its woollen covering. ‘But the boy who gave it to you said he knew Lena.’
    ‘Yes. What do you think I should do?’
    ‘Do? You need to give it to the police. Have you any idea what the penalties are for illegal firearm possession in this country? You need to get rid of it as soon as possible.’
    ‘But what shall I say?’ She looked up at him, and, for the first time, the relationship shifted. Mark was no longer the man trying to come to terms with his fifteen-year-old self, making a decision to cleave himself from his parent and start afresh. What she saw instead was the person he’d become. Capable and calm.
    ‘You tell them the truth. Andrew Fisher was shot. You really don’t want to be found with it.’ He picked her bag up from the table and put the gun into it.
    She took it from him. ‘I’m so sorry about dragging you into this.’
    He was looking at her impassively. ‘Why did you show it to me?’
    A wave of nausea washed over her. ‘I couldn’t bear it. When I saw it. It seemed so shocking, here in these rooms that I’ve tried to make a sanctuary for my clients.’
    ‘And?’
    ‘I had no intention of telling you. I was going to wait until I’d finished my sessions for today and then have a think but even when you arrived today, I felt a bit better. I knew you were someone who had at least seen a gun.’
    Mark looked grim. ‘I’ve done more than see them. You were right to show me, but now you need to give it to the police. Do you want me to come to the station with you?’
    Kat shook her head. ‘You’d better not. I’ve already breached client and therapist codes of conduct. I need to think about our future sessions.’
    ‘But we will still see each