“Oh, yeah. Right. Thanks.” And he hurried inside.

“Seems a bit on edge,” Banks said. “A bit twitchy.”

Myers scowled. “Hardly bloody surprising, is it, the way you treated him just now. As if he doesn’t have enough on his plate already with these exams to worry about. You’re jeopardizing the boy’s future with these wild accusations. Do you realize that, Superintendent? In fact, I’m going to—”

“I suppose it prepares them for later life,” said Banks.

“What?”

“Exams. The stress.”

Myers seemed confused. “Is there . . . I mean, I’ve had enough of this. I need to go and see if Chris needs anything. If you . . .”

Banks glanced at Annie, and they both stood up. “No, that’s fine, Mr. Myers. We’re finished for the moment. We know where to find you if we need to talk to you or Chris again. It’s a great little spot you’ve got here. Easy to settle in for the afternoon, I should imagine.”

“If you’re finished, then.”

“Right. We’re off. Don’t get up. You stay here. We’ll see ourselves out.”

“Believe me, it’s no trouble,” said Myers.

Chris Myers was nowhere in sight. His father stuck with Banks and Annie all the way to the front door and seemed to close it behind them with a great deal of relief.

Chapter 14

14

THE FOLLOWING MORNING, BANKS LEFT ANNIE TO DIG UP as much background as she could on the Elmet Hill Neighborhood Watch and its members and took Gerry with him to St. Botolph’s. While it seemed unlikely that a member of a Neighborhood Watch group would murder an interloper, it wasn’t entirely impossible, Banks thought; especially if tensions were running high in the area, as they perhaps were after the burglaries and the sexual assault on Lisa Bartlett. Any members of the Watch Annie discovered to have criminal records would certainly be brought in for questioning.

Banks took the road northwest out of Eastvale, skirting the top of Elmet Hill, and turned off at the second exit of the big roundabout at the edge of town, which led deeper into the dale, to Lyndgarth and beyond. It was a B-road, which meant the surface wasn’t always smooth, and in places it was so narrow that there was a need for passing places. Luckily, they encountered little traffic coming from the other direction. Trees lined the road in a variety of gnarly shapes and sizes. As he drove, Banks played a selection of Vivaldi arias sung by Cecilia Bartoli, and Gerry seemed happy to sit back in silence and enjoy the music flowing over her.