Burning Bright

Chapter 2

‘Abdul, can we use your interview room, please? This could take a while.’

Reluctantly he led me to the room where his assistant was doing something inexplicably horrible to his feet and Abdul ushered him out. There was, at least, a ceiling fan in there, although really all it did was stir the hot, sticky air. Eoin had pulled his T-shirt back on, presumably in honour of the seriousness of the occasion. We took a seat opposite each other at the formica-peeling table.

‘I’m sorry, Kate. I just thought it was all a misunderstanding.’

‘Unfortunately, you picked the wrong man to accidentally shoot.’

‘So what happens now?’

‘Well, first of all, is there anyone you’d like us to contact on your behalf?’

‘Erm, my Mum, I suppose,’ and he gave me the number.

‘Anyone else? Wife? Girlfriend?’

‘No, neither of those. Erm, probably my agent,’ and he gave me the details, although couldn’t remember the phone number. ‘You . . . er . . . you may get some press interest.’ He obviously saw my raised eyebrow. ‘I’ve done some TV work . . .’

‘You have?’

‘Yes. Did you watch Merlin?’ he asked hopefully.

‘No.’

His face fell. ‘In that case, you probably won’t have seen me. I played Sir Gwaine.’

‘Oh.’

‘And I’m on twitter a lot.’

‘Oh.’

‘Do you use twitter?’

‘No.’

‘Oh.’

‘Right. Well, we’ll deal with any press enquiries or announcements if they’re required. Can you tell me exactly what happened?’

I started off making copious notes as the story unfolded, but eventually just gave up and listened in disbelief.

‘. . . and that’s when they jumped on me and brought me here.’

There was a very long pause where the only sound was the faint whirring of the fan. ‘Right,’ I began, although had no idea now where to take this.

He was looking at me so hopefully that it was like seeing a puppy at the local dogs’ home . . . and knowing I had to leave him there.

‘Right,’ I said again. ‘Well, we can apply for bail, but . . .’

‘But?’

‘The application has to be endorsed by . . . the Chief of Police.’

‘Oh. Shit.’

‘Although a good lawyer should be able to press for it on your behalf.’

‘Do you know any good lawyers?’ I handed over a list of local companies. He glanced at both sides of the A4 sheet. ‘Where do I start?’

‘Well, I’m not really supposed to recommend anyone . . .’

‘Please?’ The puppy dog eyes again.

I relented. I pointed to the third company on the list. ‘They’ll probably be prepared to take on your . . . challenging case. I doubt whether many of the others would consider it. No one wants to fall out with the Chief of Police.’

‘Oh. Yes. I see your point. I don’t suppose you could . . .?’

‘I’ll phone them.’

‘Thanks Kate. You’re the only person I know in India.’