The case was closed, or in any case was closing. We had traced my keys to the night of the crime and on that night to the backbencher’s pocket. My run-in with the faceless men had convinced us that we knew too much. It was time to enlist the support of the professionals. All that remained was to present our findings. The police would have to do the rest. I had told Davis and Timothy it wasn’t necessary, and that I didn’t know whether we would have access to a data projector, but they were at that very moment sequestered somewhere preparing a PowerPoint presentation.
The Attorney-General’s head had rolled, but not out of the Cabinet room. He should have been out of politics entirely on the basis of the allegations against him: instead he was out of one particular role so he could proceed with his suit against those who had reported them. It did not feel like a victory for the good. It felt cynical, verminous, as though the man would be back. The good did not seem to win many victories. All the Prime Minister’s men were on hand to spin the reshuffle to the Government’s advantage. They wanted to convince a country that wasn’t buying it that this case was closed, or was closing, as well. The turmoil of March was behind us, they said. Caesar from Marketing had weathered the Ides. It remained to be seen whether the shock-treatment would take. The reader will already know that it didn’t. We had merely endured the first act of many: more were to follow in the dark months ahead. The wheels were about to come off the roll-out entirely.
I had awoken to an all-encompassing frost. The icy, dead days of winter were upon us. As I sat in my room and read the news, it occurred to me with a stab of guilt that I hadn’t thought about her in twenty-four hours. I had been caught up in the accumulation of clues and the dutiful trudge towards a conclusion. Of course, as soon as this thought had occurred to me, it also ceased to be strictly true. In one cruel moment it all came back to me: again I was alone. The hours could not pass quickly enough until the three of us were due at the station. We had managed to answer a number of questions and fill in some of the blanks. Those that remained, like puddles refusing to evaporate, were questions that could be answered only by her.