Part 3 (1/2)

Chapter Nine.

Jack read the label on the b.l.o.o.d.y lump of flesh in the box.

ZEE BROKE MY HEART SO I TOOK HERS. BUT YOUR NAME WAS ON IT. YOU CAN KEEP IT.

The initials JB were scratched into the muscle below the flag.

'I'll phone the police.' Alice picked up the receiver.

'No,' Jack whispered hoa.r.s.ely. 'Not until after you've phoned Zee.'

Sergeant Ben Miller tossed the Valentine card that Inspector Amy Stuart had given him aside. 'Valentines are supposed to be secret, not handed over in person.'

'Given the way you avoid people, especially women people, were you expecting a card from a secret admirer?' Amy demanded.

'I lead a full private life.'

Amy looked Ben in the eye. 'You do?'

'I do,' he repeated. 'And, what's this?' He held up a voucher folded into the card. 'What's a one-legged man supposed to do with six free sessions in the gym?'

'Get fit,' Amy suggested through a mouthful of hot dog.

'Like you?' Ben mocked. 'I've never known a woman eat so much junk food.'

'That's why I go to the gym every morning. To work off the calories. Dare you to meet me there at six o'clock tomorrow morning?' she asked.

'The way you two argue, anyone would think you've been married for years.' Superintendent Davies joined them at their desks.

'Try uncle and niece,' Ben corrected.

Amy's father had worked with Ben Miller for fifteen years. The car crash that had cost Ben Miller his leg had killed Amy's father. Ben had taken a year to recover. When he'd returned to the force, he'd had to fight to remain on active service. Amy had fought alongside him, arguing that Ben's brains weren't affected by his missing limb.

'More like annoying interfering uncle and despairing niece, ma'am. You have a case for us?' Amy pushed the last of her hot dog into her mouth.

'A case, or a sick practical joke,' Barbara Davies answered. 'Someone sent Jack Barnes a heart.'

Amy wiped her hands on a tissue. 'Jack Barnes. The restaurant owner Jack Barnes?' Jack Barnes wasn't only an entrepreneur and owner of a chain of restaurants. He was a popular celebrity who 'guested' on TV shows. Amy had seen him several times. He was always witty, amusing and well informed about whatever topic was being discussed.

'That Jack Barnes,' Barbara confirmed.

'It's Valentine's Day,' Ben pointed out.

'The heart's real.'

'Human or animal?'

'The lab's checking. The message that came with it suggested it belonged to Jack's wife Zee. Her mobile's switched off. The last signal came from the apartment building they live in.'

'How do you want to proceed, ma'am?' Amy reached for her notebook.

'I've sent Sergeant Reece and a team to Barnes Building. Jack and Zee Barnes live in the penthouse. Sergeant Reece has orders to interview the residents and begin a search. He'll report to you. I suggest you begin by interviewing Mr Barnes.'

'We're on our way.' Amy grabbed her bag.

'Jack Barnes is high profile. The tabloids will make this front page, so avoid journalists. Here's what little paperwork I have.' Barbara handed Amy a thin file.

'Inspector Amy Stuart and Sergeant Ben Miller to see you, sir.' Alice showed them into Jack's office.

Jack was at his desk but he'd turned his chair to the window. His face was grey, his eyes unnaturally bright.

Amy spoke first. 'I'm sorry, Mr Barnes, we've no news. We were only a.s.signed to the case twenty minutes ago.'

'Zee ... my wife ...'

'Officers are searching for her,' Ben a.s.sured him.

Jack glanced at his watch. 'The parcel arrived three-quarters of an hour ago. I wanted to go to the apartment but the porter said she'd left the building ... We were meeting here for lunch. Her phone's switched off. She never switches it off ...'

'Are there any friends she might have visited?' Amy interrupted.

'My brother and sisters live in the building. The porter said Zee left around twenty past eleven. I feel so useless. The heart? The constable took it away for tests ...'

'We haven't had the results yet, sir.' Amy changed the subject. 'What about shops? Are there any between your apartment and here that your wife might have visited?'

'Dozens.' Jack looked at his watch again. 'But it's ten to one. Even if she went shopping, she'd be here by now. We lunch at one o'clock and she's always early.' He stared at the tiny figures walking on the street below. 'I don't know what to do ...'

'We agreed it would be best for you to wait here, Jack,' Alice said softly.

'The officer who took the heart said it could be just a sick joke. He thought it could be the heart of a pig or a sheep?' The look in Jack's eyes said what he couldn't put into words. He wanted it to be a hoax.

Amy's mobile rang. She answered it.

'Sergeant Reece here, ma'am. We've found a body in Barnes Building. The murderer was next to it. Holding a knife.'

Chapter Ten.

'I've been expecting you two.' Patrick O'Kelly, the most eccentric of the Home Office pathologists who worked with the police was drinking coffee from a specimen beaker. A heart was on a slab in front of him.

'This is a quick stop. Sergeant Reece found a body in Barnes Building and a man next to it holding a knife.'

'The body-'

'Has a heart.' Amy referred to the notes Barbara had given her and looked around. There was no sign of the box the heart had been packed in, or the wrapping.