Blue Genes - By Val McDermid Page 0,37

know it were sudden like, and God knows they've had their ups and downs, but I can't believe he killed her!"

I closed my eyes momentarily. "It's nothing like that. As far as I'm aware, there's nothing at all suspicious about Mrs. Sheridan's death. Look, can I come in for a minute? This is a bit difficult to explain."

She looked dubious. "How do I know you're who you say you are?"

I spread my hands in a shrug. "Do I look the dangerous type? Believe me, I'm trying to prevent a crime, not take part in one. Mr. Sheridan is about to be robbed unless you can help me here."

She gasped again, her hand flying to her mouth this time. "It's just like the telly," she said, ushering me into a narrow hallway where there was barely room for both of us and the mountain bike that hung on one wall. "What's going on?" she demanded avidly.

"A particularly nasty team of crooks are conning be¬reaved families out of hundreds of pounds," I said, dress¬ing it up in the tabloid style she clearly relished. "They catch them at a weak moment and persuade them to part with cash for cut-price gravestones. Now, I'm very close to completing a watertight case against them, so I don't want to alert them to the fact that their cover's blown. But I can't just sit idly by while poor Mr. Sheridan gets ripped off."

"So you want me to go and tell him there's a crook in his living room?" she asked eagerly.

"Not exactly, no. I want you to pop around in a neigh¬borly sort of way, just to see he's all right, and do what you can to prevent him parting with any money. Say things like, 'If this is a respectable firm, they won't mind you sleeping on this and talking it over with your funeral director.' Don't let on you're at all suspicious, just that you're a cautious sort of person. And that Angela wouldn't have wanted him to rush into anything without consulting other members of the family. You get the idea?"

She nodded. "I've got you. You can count on me." I didn't have a lot of choice, so I just smiled. "I'll get around there right away. I was going to pop around any¬way to see how Tony was doing. We got on really well, me and Angela. She was older than me, of course, but we played ten-pin bowls in the same team every Wednesday. I couldn't get over it when I heard. Burst appendix. You never know the hour or the day, do you? You leave this to me, Kate," she added, glancing at my card again.

We walked down the path together, me heading back to my car and her next door. As we parted, she promised to call me on my mobile to let me know what happened. I was on pins as I sat watching the Sheridans' house. My new sidekick was definitely a bit of a loose cannon, but I couldn't think of anything else I could have done that would have been effective without warning off Alien's partner in crime, particularly since they'd be on their guard after the earlier debacle at Richard's house. About half an hour passed, then the front door opened and my target emerged. Judging by the way she threw her brief-case into the car, she wasn't in the best of moods. I'd had my phone switched off all day to avoid communicating with the office, but I turned it back on as I pulled out behind the woman.

She was back inside the block of flats by the time my new confederate called. "Hiya," she greeted me. "I think it went off all right. I don't think she was suspicious, just brassed off because I was sitting there being dead neg about the whole thing. I just kept saying to Tony he shouldn't make any decision without the kids being there, and that was all the support he needed, really. She real¬ized she wasn't getting anywhere and I wasn't shifting, so she just took herself off."

"You did really well. Do you know what she was calling herself?" I asked when I could get a word in.

"She had these business cards. Greenhalgh and Edwards. Tony showed me after she'd gone. Sarah Sargent, it says her name is. Will you need us to go to court?" she asked, the phone line crackling with excitement.

"Possibly," I hedged. "I really appreciate your help. If the police need