Necessary as Blood

ask how he had come by the information.
    ‘I don‘t know, except that they all seem to be connected. But I think I‘d like to have another word with Mr Azad.‘
    ‘I‘ll come with you.‘ Weller dropped the reading glasses on top of a stack of reports, looking as if he was glad of an excuse to escape.
    But Kincaid stood quickly, retrieving his cup. ‘I think I‘ll go on my own, if you don‘t mind. Just for a friendly chat, this time without the lawyer. I thought I might catch him at the restaurant. I might even have a curry.‘
    ‘Good luck with that.‘ Weller sat back in his chair, his expression making it quite clear that he knew Kincaid had just pulled rank, and that he was not pleased. ‘And you can drop that swill in the bin on your way out.‘

    Gemma slogged away on Thursday, determined to set things right on her own manor. Not only was she behind in her work, but she felt guilty for having taken advantage of her guv‘nor‘s goodwill the day before. Still, she thought what she‘d learned about Gail Gilles had made her dereliction worthwhile, if only she could figure out what to do with the information. And if nothing else, the tip about Gail‘s furniture-shopping expedition might move Kincaid‘s investigation forward.
    By late afternoon, she had made a dent in things. She was opening up the last case report in her in-box when Betty Howard rang her mobile.
    Picking up the phone, she said, ‘Hi, Betty. Is everything okay?‘ Her instant fear was that Betty had had another call from the caseworker.
    ‘Oh, everything‘s all right, Gemma,‘ Betty said softly. Gemma could hear the music from an afternoon children‘s programme on the telly in the background. ‘It‘s just that little Charlotte keeps asking me for her ducky pencils, and I‘m not rightly sure I know what she means. I‘ve given her every pencil in the house, and none of them will do. I can‘t console the poor thing, and I‘m that worried.‘
    Casting her mind back over the things she‘d seen in Sandra‘s studio, Gemma thought she remembered a cup of coloured art pencils in a mug on Sandra‘s work table. ‘I might know the ones she means. They were her mum‘s. Maybe Charlotte was allowed to play with them.‘
    ‘Is there any way you could get them for her? And she‘s needing some more clothes, too. I‘d be glad to buy some things for her, and I‘ve got the allowance from social services, but it might be better for her to have her own things. Something familiar, you know.‘
    ‘Let me see what I can do. I‘ll ring you back.‘
    The Fournier Street house was no longer officially a crime scene — had the investigating team turned the keys over to Naz‘s executor, Naz‘s partner Louise Phillips? And if so, would Phillips give Gemma permission to go into the house and get some things for Charlotte?
    She pulled out the little notebook she kept in her handbag and flipped back through the pages until she found the number she had written down for Naz and Louise Phillips‘s office, that first night. Glancing at the clock, she saw that it was not yet five — hopefully Phillips would not have left for the day.
    She punched in the number. A woman answered on the first ring with a brusque, ‘Malik and Phillips.‘
    ‘Could I speak to Louise Phillips, please?‘ asked Gemma.
    ‘Speaking.‘ The voice was no less brisk. ‘Receptionist‘s gone home for the day. What can I do for you?‘
    Gemma explained who she was and what she wanted. ‘I wondered if you could meet me at the house? Of course, I‘d need your approval for anything I took for Charlotte.‘
    There was such a long pause that Gemma thought Phillips meant to refuse her request altogether.
    Then Louise Phillips said, so slowly that Gemma thought the brusqueness had been a cover for exhaustion — or grief, ‘I haven‘t been in the house. I just — I couldn‘t... Why don‘t you meet me at my flat, in an hour or so. I‘ll give you the keys. You can pop them back through my letter box when you‘re done. And you can make a list of anything you remove, for protocol‘s sake, but I‘ll assume you‘re trustworthy. You‘d better be‘ — she gave a hoarse laugh — ‘because at this point I‘d be none the wiser if you walked off with the entire contents.‘
    Phillips gave Gemma an address, then added, ‘You‘ll find the place easily enough. It‘s just off Columbia Road.‘

Chapter Twenty

So the house has a mission, and it believes that the natural state