‘Maria?’ said Keane. ‘What do you want? I’m very busy. What? Who reported it? Well, can’t you tell your neighbour it was…a play fight? Or something? Why, what’s complicated about it? All right, all right. I’m at home. Yes, see you in ten minutes. Bye.’ He threw the phone down. ‘Shit!’
‘What’s the matter?’ asked Ed.
‘Some curtain-twitcher in her street reported the disturbance to the police. They’ve just been round to see Maria.’
‘Did she tell them what happened?’ asked Ed, aghast.
‘Of course not. Said she must have had her TV on too loud and the neighbours heard it. They couldn’t have seen anything, the way her garden’s laid out behind that wall.’
‘Well…that’s all right, then?’
‘Not necessarily. They saw Crowley leaving and apparently they’ve got photographs. And of Ella here leaving in a taxi. Lucky I left it till morning before I came home. All the same…’
‘So what’s Maria going to do?’
‘That’s what she wants to talk about. She’ll be here in ten minutes. We’ll have to put her ladyship there somewhere out of the way. But first I need to talk to Rob.’
He left the room, and within seconds his voice could be heard speaking into his phone in the hallway.
‘Who’s Rob?’ I asked, able now to lift my face from the cushions.
‘Police inspector,’ said Ed, sitting down beside me.
‘So he’s even got tame cops?’
Ed looked at me as if he’d only just noticed I was there.
‘Oh. Well, I shouldn’t be talking to you about it…’
‘I know a lot about what Keane gets up to. And he told me most of it himself.’
‘Yes, but Ella, you shouldn’t…you really shouldn’t have got involved with him. I shouldn’t have got involved with him. He’ll be the end of my career, one of these days.’
‘It can’t go on forever,’ I said. ‘He thinks he’s untouchable, but he isn’t.’
‘Well, perhaps you’re right,’ said Ed. ‘But there’ll be hell to pay. For an awful lot of us.’
‘Perhaps a bit less hell if it doesn’t come out that you abducted and tortured one of your sub-editors?’ I suggested.
‘Nobody’s tortured you,’ said Ed.
‘Not yet. But the abduction thing. And tying me up. Not recommended, really. You’re a reasonable man. I’ve always thought so. Can’t you uncuff me and just let me quietly go?’
Ed shook his head. ‘If only you weren’t mixed up with Tom Crowley, I’d think about it. But can you seriously see him letting this go?’
‘He’s on to Keane,’ I said urgently. ‘Your house of cards isn’t going to last much longer. Let me go and I won’t tell him about this. At least it won’t implicate you in kidnapping, even if you do end up having to give up the Clarion.’
Ed contemplated this. ‘You know, the sad thing is, I’m just waiting for the Acme anvil to fall on my head now. I know it’s going to happen. It’s a question of when. I’m in terrible debt, my marriage is in ruins…there’s just the Clarion left to go.’
‘I didn’t know you were in debt.’
‘I’ve paid Maria thousands and thousands of pounds. The best doesn’t come cheap.’
‘No. Good old Maria.’
‘Good old Maria,’ he repeated. In the lull that followed, we could hear that Keane’s conversation with his rotten police apple was getting heated.
‘You do look terribly uncomfortable,’ said Ed. ‘Perhaps I could undo your wrists for a moment. Until he comes back in.’