The Tooth Tattoo(94)

‘Not sure. I just caught glimpses through the bushes.’

‘Why didn’t you say?’

She didn’t answer.

‘He’ll have to cross the bridge if he’s coming after us.’

Diamond said. ‘He’ll be out in the open then. Wearing a hoodie, you said. What colour?’

‘Dark blue.’

‘I’ll walk on with Mel. Why don’t you double back and see if you can catch him and find out what his game is.’ For Mel’s benefit he added, ‘Parks are favourite places for weirdos.’

Ingeborg did as she was asked. On the other side of the bridge she left the path and headed into the undergrowth to the right.

‘Will she be all right?’ Mel asked.

‘He’s the one who should be worried,’ Diamond said, glancing back. ‘She’s a black belt.’

They stopped to look. A minute or two went by. They’d lost sight of Ingeborg. The scene was peaceful. People were playing tennis on the courts to the left. A light breeze rustled the leaves.

‘There he is.’

A dark figure broke from cover and sprinted through the trees with Ingeborg in pursuit. At first the hoodie appeared to be heading across the open ground towards Beckford Road. Then Ingeborg cut the angle to intercept him and he veered in their direction again.

‘She’ll trap him,’ Mel said. ‘He won’t get over the canal.’

‘Dead right,’ Diamond said. ‘He’s had it.’





22





The hooded man was less fit than his pursuer. And unfortunately for him, he’d picked the wrong direction.

‘He doesn’t know he’s heading straight for the canal,’ Mel said. ‘You can’t tell from where he is.’

Diamond just folded his arms and watched.

At the end of the eighteenth century when the canal had been dug through Sydney Gardens the main demand of the committee was that it should be invisible to the promenaders, so it was sited at a depth of twelve feet. From where Diamond and Mel stood, its sinuous route was obvious, but you had to be really close.

‘Does she know it’s there?’ Mel asked.

‘Ingeborg? She was on the bridge with us.’

Gasping and flailing like a marathon runner in sight of the finish, the hoodie was no more than thirty yards ahead of Ingeborg. He covered the last uneven stretch and reached the stone parapet that was there for safety purposes. Now he would see the sheer drop.

Instead of giving up, or turning to fight, he didn’t hesitate. He bent low, gripped the top of the wall, heaved himself over, swung his body down and held on with his fingertips. For a moment he hung there. Then he dropped the remaining six feet or so to the towpath. He could have broken both ankles, but he didn’t. He bent his knees as he hit the ground, staggered a few steps and straightened up. Then he was up and running again, jogging along the towpath towards the north end.

Diamond put his hands to his mouth and yelled to Ingeborg. ‘Don’t try it. Let him go.’

She would have followed, but had the sense to obey instructions. Hands on the wall, she leaned over to see where her quarry had gone.

He was about to disappear into the long tunnel beneath Beckford Road.

‘It’s not worth it,’ Diamond called out. He’d walked that tunnel more than once with Paloma and he knew it wasn’t far short of a hundred yards.

He grabbed the mobile from his pocket and called Bath Central. He couldn’t really expect a patrol team to be close enough to arrest the stalker as he emerged at the other end, but it had to be tried. And even as Diamond was doing his limited best to describe the suspect, part of his brain was asking what crime the guy had committed. Threatening behaviour? Resisting arrest?

Not too convincing.

‘Who was he?’ Mel asked when Diamond finished the call.

‘If you don’t know, I’m sure I don’t. It’s you he was following.’

‘How do you know?’

‘It can’t be us. We only came into the gardens because Tippi told us you were here.’

‘D’you think he’s the Megane driver?’

‘I can’t think of anyone else.’

Ingeborg crossed the bridge and joined them, in a foul mood. ‘He was slowing up, for God’s sake. I could have caught him.’

‘You did okay,’ Diamond told her.

‘I’m not feeble.’

‘Whatever gave you that idea?’

‘Yes, but – ’

He knew better than to get into an argument about her physical ability. ‘It’s taken care of. I told control, asked for assistance.’

And she had the good sense not to persist. ‘What can we do him for?’

‘I want to know what he’s up to, that’s all.’