‘Why can’t you just print them out?’ asked Bryant, looking over the top of his spectacles. He was completely surrounded by loose pages with scrawled-in margins, Prospero marooned on his island of books.
‘Because nobody uses paper any more.’
‘Well, I do.’
‘You mean you want me to create a document and print it so that you can read it, screw it into a ball and then throw it away? That’s very old-fashioned and wasteful.’
‘So am I. Just do it.’
Banbury sighed and returned a minute later, setting the sheet on Bryant’s desk. ‘Waters wasn’t driving to assignments, because they’re usually all in the centre of town and he hates paying the congestion charge. He took the Tube, and touched in and out with his Oyster card. So we get eight fifty a.m. out of Belsize Park, then just after one p.m. back in at Belsize Park, touching out at Blackfriars. The cameras picked him up in Fleet Street, Salisbury Court, then St Bride’s Church—’
‘He went into St Bride’s?’
‘He was inside for about five minutes. Cameras show him waiting around but you can’t see much in the courtyard because of the trees. It’s a problem at this time of the year, most of them should have been trimmed back but the weather—’
‘Get on with it.’
‘OK, the next one is Piccadilly Circus, then back in at Oxford Circus, suggesting he walked up Regent Street, but I can’t get access to those cameras at the moment because the Met’s using the footage to find a gang of Ukrainian shoplifters, then out at Russell Square at four fifteen p.m., which points him in the direction of Coram’s Fields. I think he spent the day looking for the kid or waiting to get her alone, and it might not have been the first time he did that. His Tube card has similar times and destinations on other days.’
‘Hm. I imagine he was so busy watching out for the girl that he didn’t notice someone was following him. Amy O’Connor died in St Bride’s Church. This has to be connected.’
‘You don’t know that.’
‘O’Connor spoke to two small children before she entered the church. What if the little girl Waters met was one of the kids who were there that day? I want the O’Connor case.’ He picked up the phone and called Oskar Kasavian.
‘Are you absolutely sure this is relevant to my wife’s situation?’ Kasavian asked after Bryant had put forward his argument.
‘I think we’re going to find there’s a clear chain of events linking her to the earlier death,’ Bryant replied.
‘You mean you don’t have evidence yet.’
‘Not quite. Does your wife like children?’
‘Not especially. Why?’
‘I can’t see how she would get to know a little girl. One doesn’t tend to come across them in central London.’
‘I’m sorry, you’re losing me. What little girl?’
‘Amy O’Connor spoke to two children shortly before she died.’
‘What has that got to do with her death? Were they related to her? Did she tell them she wasn’t feeling well or something?’
‘No, I don’t think she knew them. But nobody else came near her, and something made her die. Healthy young women don’t just drop dead. That’s why I need the case. I want to look into O’Connor’s background, her medical records, her employment history, and I need Home Office sanction to do it.’
‘All right,’ said Kasavian finally. ‘I’ll do what I can. The City of London Police are bound to kick up a fuss, but I’ll see if we can get things moving from this end. If you honestly reckon it will help Sabira I’ll do whatever it takes, but you may have to leave it with me for a few days. Things don’t move as quickly here as they do in your world.’
Bryant ended the call. ‘It looks like he’s going to get us O’Connor,’ he said. ‘Dan, how soon can you tackle Waters’s apartment?’
‘I’ll go right after this.’
‘Good. I need to find out what else connects Waters to Sabira Kasavian. Check his computer and his cameras, look for the pictures he was taking on the night they met. I’d like to know if she sent him to St Bride’s Church.’
‘Wouldn’t it be easier just to ask her?’ said Dan.
‘I’d get clearer answers from the cat.’ Bryant tapped his false teeth with a chewed biro, thinking. ‘Speaking of which, ask Meera to see if Crippen has given birth yet. I don’t want to be treading on kittens. You know, it would be better if we can find a link, because it doesn’t sound as if Kasavian’s department is going to come up with anything overnight. The more we’re delayed, the more we risk.’