They exited the lift and Kelly took him to meet Ted, who was the picture of professionalism, as he always was when he met traumatised relatives. She loved him for his sensitivity. He explained to Fabian how the process worked and Fabian said he was ready.

‘I’ll wait here,’ Kelly said.

Fabian turned to her, as if to plead with her to accompany him, but thought against it, and disappeared with Ted.

Chapter 53

Kelly went back to the cafe and bought a bottle of water and some tissues. She was beginning to feel as though her sinuses were clogging again and she imagined curling up in front of the fire at home, and going into a deep sleep. She tried to concentrate, expecting Fabian to come out of the mortuary soon, and for Ted to call her, but, after half an hour, he hadn’t, so she packed up her things and went back to the lift.

Updates on the case were steady and she’d been able to read more phone printouts from the crash site. Of the six mobile phones discovered in the helicopter, two of them had been confirmed as belonging to the pilots, another had been Donald’s private mobile, and another his work mobile. That left two, which they assumed were Bart’s. George Fellows’s number had appeared a total of twenty-three times on one of them, and the other was used solely for one single number: an untraceable pay-as-you-go. It wasn’t uncommon for somebody in Bart’s position to use several phones, and to be calling hundreds of people each day, all over the world. What they needed to do, though, was find out who he’d been speaking to in the hours before his death. One thing was for sure; he’d been talking to George Fellows.

Kelly made a note to ask Fabian why his father might be contacting his firm’s private investigator while he was attending meetings in the Lake District, and enjoying leisure time. Perhaps George Fellows was the fixer she assumed him to be. If Fabian could secure a meeting with him this afternoon, then many of her questions would be answered.

When she got to the mortuary, Ted looked at her oddly.

‘He left ages ago,’ he said.

‘Where did he go?’ Kelly asked.

Ted shrugged. ‘I assumed he was free to go,’ he said.

‘Don’t worry, it’s no problem, it’s just he was supposed to do something for me before he left.’

‘It looks like this snow is settling again. I’ll head over to yours when I’m done if that’s all right with you?’ he asked.