Stop Dead (DI Geraldine Steel)

exhaustion.

     
    When her phone rang, she answered it reluctantly. Although she loved her job, and always felt slightly depressed by the hiatus between cases, right now she was ready for a break. But her spirits rose when she recognised the voice of her former sergeant in Kent. They had worked together on several cases, becoming friends in the process.
    ‘Ian, it’s great to hear from you.’
    Just for a second she felt like crying, she was so pleased to hear his voice. Her new sergeant, Sam, was great, but Geraldine missed Ian.
    ‘I was wondering if you were planning to come over this way some time to visit your sister, and fancied meeting for a drink?’ he said.
    On the spur of the moment she told him she would be in Kent that evening. Saying the words made it true.

     
    Geraldine hung up, taken aback by the desperation of her impulse. She hadn’t realised how lonely she was in London. But there was no time to question the sense in driving for two hours to meet an old friend for a drink. It wasn’t as though she had anything else to do. Tidying her flat could wait. With a tremor of anticipation, she showered and pulled on jeans and a new jumper. Quickly she ran a brush through her short black hair, and flicked mascara lightly above her dark eyes to highlight her long lashes. The sky was overcast as she set off, threatening rain. Nearly October, the air had an autumnal chill and the evenings were drawing in. By the time she reached Kent it would be dark.

     
    Two hours later she was seated in a pub near her old police station, not far from the estate where Ian lived in a maisonette with his fiancée, Beverley. They were reminiscing about a case they had worked on together.
    ‘And do you remember his wife?’ Ian asked with a mischievous grin and Geraldine laughed.
    She gazed at his familiar features, blue eyes bright beneath neatly combed hair that would spring out of place as soon as he ran his hand through it. If she hadn’t known the care he habitually took over his appearance, she might have suspected him of making a special effort to look smart for her this evening, with his well-pressed shirt and coordinating tie. Yet despite his efforts, he still managed to look awkward, seated at a low table that exaggerated his bulk. With his broad shoulders and huge hands, Geraldine had found his presence reassuring when he had accompanied her as her sergeant.

     
    ‘You look well,’ she told him, although she actually thought he seemed downcast, and somehow older than she remembered him. Even in the poorly lit pub she spotted that he was greying around his temples. His shoulders drooped forward and he appeared to have lost his characteristic exuberance. She hoped he was tired, rather than bored with the evening. It had been his idea to meet, after all. He raised his glass.
    ‘Another one?’
    ‘I’d better not,’ Geraldine replied. ‘I’ll have a soft drink though.’
    ‘Cheap round,’ he grinned, standing up.
    ‘It’s good to see you again, Ian,’ she said as he returned from the bar and he smiled easily at her.

     
    ‘How’re the wedding plans coming along then?’
    His smile faded.
    ‘My God, Geraldine, you have no idea. It’s more complicated than any investigation … I wish we’d just gone off and done it quietly, but it’s too late now. Bev’s got the bit between her teeth and you’d think it was a bloody royal wedding the way she’s carrying on. The sad thing is, I don’t think she’s enjoying it, she’s so stressed, but when I suggested we drop the whole idea – of the big wedding, that is, not getting married – she went ballistic. Said we were too far committed to back out now, which I suppose is true.’ He sighed. ‘It’s crazy. But she had her heart set on this grand occasion. Cast of thousands. She wants me to wear a bloody penguin suit.’

     
    Relieved to discover the source of Ian’s dejection had nothing to do with her, Geraldine gave what she hoped was a sympathetic smile.
    ‘I’m hardly in a position to offer advice. I’ve never been even close to getting married.’
    That wasn’t strictly true. In her twenties, Geraldine had lived with a boyfriend, Mark, for six years. She had taken it for granted they would end up together until, without any warning, he had left her for someone else. With hindsight she should have noticed the signs. He was always complaining she put her work first, but she had been too wrapped up in her career to realise anything was