Murder On Account Page 15
“I can text you with the amount if you like?”
“Yes, please. And is it okay if I pay in cash? I don’t want Ralph to see anything on the bank statement.”
“Cash will be fine.”
The cost of the taxi journey from the hospital to Christine’s house would be included on her bill, but I couldn’t in all conscience justify taking another one to get back home. Instead, I was forced to endure a forty-five minute train journey via London Bridge.
By the time I arrived back at the flat, it was after eleven, and I had just about enough strength to climb into bed.
Chapter 18
It was Sunday morning; my favourite day of the week.
I’d set the alarm, so I’d be up in time to go to the park with Luke and Rexy. Needless to say, the young lad wasn’t too impressed that he had to put up with my company again.
It turned out to be another no-show from Mr Beale, so I promised Luke I’d let him walk Rexy alone from then on. I could only assume that Toerag Senior had decided that being embarrassed in front of his son once was enough.
Back at the flat, I was debating what to do about breakfast when my phone rang.
“Zero? What’s up?”
“I didn’t wake you, did I, Kat?”
“Course not. I’ve been up for ages. Is something the matter?”
“No. Toyah had to work this weekend, so I took a look at the Premax CCTV yesterday.”
“You must have been really bored if that’s the most exciting thing you could come up with to pass the time.”
“I like this kind of stuff.”
“How on earth did you ever get a girlfriend? And why bother with the Premax tape? I’ve dropped that case.”
“I know, but I just thought I’d take a look anyway. There’s something I think you should see.”
“What?”
“I can’t really explain over the phone. I thought if you weren’t doing anything today, we could meet at the office.”
“What makes you think I’m not doing anything? I’ll have you know I have a hectic social calendar.”
“Oh? Okay, then.”
“Zero, wait. I was only kidding. There’s something I need to talk to you about anyway. I was going to do it tomorrow, but I guess we could get together today. It’ll give me an excuse to get breakfast at Joe’s. I might even treat you to a full English if you ask nicely.”
“That’s okay. I’ve already had some Shredded Wheat.”
“Yummy, yummy. Lucky you.” I checked my watch. “How about I see you at the office at eleven? That’ll give me time to grab breakfast first.”
“Okay. See you later.”
Wow! I certainly couldn’t knock that young man’s work ethic. When I was his age, I didn’t realise that Sunday mornings even existed. The Premax thing was a waste of time, but I wanted to update him on Christine Mather’s case, and also to tell him about what happened to Graham. If I was right that I’d been targeted because of something Roy or Westy was working on, it was just possible Zero could be in danger too.
***
“Is your calendar fast or something, Kat?” Joe was by himself behind the counter in the cafe. “It’s not Monday, you know.”
“No rest for the wicked. It’s quiet in here. I’m surprised you bother opening on a Sunday.”
“If I didn’t, I’d have to spend time at home with the missus. What are you doing here today, anyway?”
“I’m just on my way into the office. I thought I’d treat myself to one of your full English specials first.”
“You’re out of luck. It’s just toast or cereals on a Sunday.”
“What? Crap!”
“I’m just messing with you. Do you want brown or white toast with your breakfast?”
“White, please.”
“What’s happening to the business now that your boss has gone and got himself murdered?”
“I’ve taken over. I’m going to keep the place going if I can.”
“Good for you.”
Ten minutes later, my full English was on the table.
“Did that fella catch up with you yesterday, Kat? The guy with the bushy sideburns?”
“No. Did he say what he wanted?”
“No. He said he’d been to your offices but there was no one in. I told him to try again tomorrow.”
“Okay, thanks.”
Zero was already at his desk when I arrived.
“Shredded Wheat?” I shook my head. “Seriously?”
“Toyah reckons they’re good for you.”
“It could be worse. It could be muesli. Let’s go through to my office.”
Zero was keen to get started. “The first time I watched the CCTV footage, I didn’t—”
“Whoa! Have you forgotten something?”
“Coffee?”
“Correct. And make it strong. By rights, I shouldn’t even be out of bed at this time on a Sunday morning.”
He only made the one cup because he’d brought a bottle of water in for himself.
“Shall I show you what I found on the CCTV?” He grabbed the mouse.
“In a minute. I need to tell you a couple of things before we get started on that. First, I’ve wrapped up the Christine Mather case, so I need you to prepare the bill.” I fished into my pocket and produced the receipt for the taxi. “Make sure you add that in.”
“What happened?”
I told him all about Ralph and Fiona, and my trip to the hospital. “And, I remembered to log it all in TimeLogMaster. Aren’t you impressed?”
“Surprised, more like.”
“Cheeky sod.”
“What’s Christine going to do?”
“I’m not absolutely sure, but I’d guess she won’t say anything to him. She’ll just carry on as if nothing ever happened.”
“How will she explain away our bill?”
“Oh, yeah. It’s a good job you mentioned that. Don’t post it to her whatever you do. Let me have it, and I’ll text her the details. She’ll be paying by cash.”
“It doesn’t sound like you had much of a break yesterday.”
“You haven’t heard the half of it.”
I told him what had happened outside the Gerbil, and about my other visit to the hospital.
“And you reckon the guy in the car was trying to hit you?”
“Positive. First Roy, then Westy and now me. It’s too much of a coincidence. Whoever it is must think we have the file that Roy and Westy were working on.”
“But we don’t have it.”
“Yeah, but they don’t know that. We’re both going to have to be on our guard.”
“Me?” He clearly hadn’t seen that coming.
“You’re most likely not in any danger, but better safe than sorry.”
“Do I get danger money?”
“If you’d gone with me to Joe’s, I’d have stood you a full English, but you blew me off for a couple of Shredded Wheat.”
“Don’t you think you ought to tell the police that someone tried to kill you?”
“I have. Sort of, anyway.” I finished off the last of the coffee. “Let’s take a look at what you found on the CCTV.”
A few clicks of the mouse later, and we were viewing the CCTV footage taken from Premax.
“This is from inside the loading bay,” Zero said.
“I recognise it.”
He pointed to the screen. “Watch that door.”
I did as he said, and moments later, it opened, and in walked me and the rest of the cleaning crew.
“Those overalls don’t get any better.” He laughed.
“Less of the cheek.”
“Keep watching.”
On screen, I and the other cleaners had left the loading bay, and disappeared from view. After that, there was nothing much to see.
“What am I supposed to be looking for?” I asked.
“There! It just happened.”
“What just happened? I didn’t see anything.”
“I’ll play
it again from the point where you and the others disappear, but this time I’m going to zoom in on that section of wall between the door and the loading bay gate.”
“O-kay?”
He reran the footage, but this time all I saw was the wall.
“If this is some kind of wind-up—?”
“You’re not watching closely enough.” He rewound it again, but this time played it at a much slower speed. After a few seconds, he pointed. “Do you see that?”
I had to strain to see what he was pointing at. “That black mark?”
“It isn’t a mark.” He zoomed in even closer.
“A spider?”
“Bingo.”
“So what?”
“Keep watching.”
I was just about to tear a strip off him for wasting my time when—
“It jumped!” I yelled.
“Have you ever known a spider to jump?”
“Certainly not like that one just did.”
One moment, the spider had been walking in a straight line across the wall, and the next, it was on the other side of the screen, almost out of frame.
“Do you realise what that means?” Zero was clearly excited about something, but I didn’t have the first clue what.
“Not really.”
“Someone has edited the tape.”
“What about the timestamp?”
“The timestamp doesn’t show a gap, but there must be one otherwise how did the spider get from there to there?”
“So you’re saying that someone has deliberately doctored the footage by removing a section?”
“Yes. There can’t be much missing, so whatever happened must have taken place very quickly.”
“Immediately after we’d entered the building?”
“Correct.”
“But isn’t there a camera focussed on the outside of that door?”
“There is, and the footage from that camera doesn’t show anything untoward. My guess would be they doctored that too, but there’s no spider there for me to check it with.”
“If what you’re saying is correct, then whoever is operating their CCTV must be in on this too?”
“Definitely.”
“Zero, you’re a genius.”
“I like to think so. What are you going to do?”
“I don’t know. I’ll need to have a think about it.”
“There’s something else I wanted to tell you, Kat. I think I’ve tracked down Lisa.”
“Seriously?”
“Yeah. Well, to be more precise, I’ve tracked down her phone.”
“What’s her address? I’ll pay her a visit.”
“It might not be as simple as all that.”
“Why not?”
“If I’m right, and I think I am, she’s in a hotel close to Waterloo station.”
“Room number?”
“I’m good, but I’m not that good. I can’t pinpoint the phone to a specific room. Not from here, anyway.”
“Fair enough. What’s the hotel?”
“Waterloo Gardens. It has over three hundred rooms.”
“Right. That’s not great but it’s more than we had before.”
“I could go to the hotel now if you like.”
“And do what?”
“See if I can figure out which room she’s in.”
“How will you do that?” He gave me that now familiar look of his. “Let me guess. I don’t want to know.”
“It’s just better that you don’t.”
“How will you get past reception?”
“It’s a budget hotel, so I won’t look out of place. There’ll be crowds of tourists coming and going all the time. I don’t think I’ll have any problems.”
“Just don’t go getting yourself arrested. I’d offer to go with you, but I really ought to go and check on Graham.”
“How long have you and he been an item?”
“We aren’t. Friday was the first time we’d been out together.”
“Wow!” He laughed. “That was some first date.”
“It wasn’t a date. We just grabbed something to eat.”
“If you say so.”
***
Graham answered the door on his crutches.
“Hey, Hopalong, how are you doing?”
“Not bad. I think I’m slowly getting the hang of these things. I wasn’t expecting to see you today.”
“I just thought I ought to—”
“Graham!” The female voice came from inside the flat. “Was that the door?”
The next moment, a leggy blonde wearing a tad too much make-up appeared at his side.
“Err, Kat, this is Sharon. Sharon this is Kat Royle.”
She stepped forward, all smiles and ringlets, and offered her hand. “Hi. Pleased to meet you.”
“Likewise.”
“Sharon just popped over to see how I was doing,” Graham said.
“That was very kind of her.”
“Did you hear what happened to him?” Sharon said. “Poor little love.”
“Skydiving, wasn’t it?” I raised an eyebrow at Graham.
“No, he got knocked down by a car.” Sharon corrected me.
“Really? That’s terrible.”
“Kat’s just joking,” Graham said. “She was with me when it happened.”
“Oh?” Sharon gave me a closer look. “I didn’t realise.”
“Anyway.” I took a step back. “I can’t stay. I just wanted to check that you were okay.”
“Thanks for coming over, Kat,” Graham said.
“Yeah, thanks—err—” She stumbled on my name.
“Kat.”
“Don’t worry about Graham. I’ll make sure he’s okay.”
“Great. Bye, then.”
What was it with me and men? How did I always end up picking losers, cheats or liars?
I’d just exited the building when someone shouted my name.
“Kat!” Graham came hobbling after me.
“Slow down. You’ll do yourself an injury.”
“I didn’t want you to leave before I’d had the chance to explain.”
“There’s nothing to explain. I only came over to check that you were okay, and you clearly are.”
“I had no idea that Sharon was going to come over.”
“I think it’s sweet that you two have stayed in touch.”
“We haven’t. Not really.”
“Just the occasional conjugal visit, then?”
“No, nothing like that, I swear. This is the first time she’s been here, honestly. Her mother works at the hospital where I was admitted. She told Sharon that she’d seen me. I had no idea she was coming over until she turned up this morning.”
“Right. I still have to get going.”
“Before you do.” He hobbled a little closer. “I was going to do this the other night. Before I was hit by that car.” He leaned forward, and planted a kiss on my lips. “I really would like to see you again, Kat. What do you say?”
“Maybe, provided that you don’t bring Sharon.”
“I won’t. I promise.”
Chapter 19
The next morning, at a quarter past six, I was having the best dream. I was in a deckchair on a beach somewhere, next to a clear blue ocean. I was drinking a cocktail while being serenaded by a handsome man, playing a Spanish guitar.
When my phone rang and dragged me back to reality, I was not best pleased.
“What?” I yelled.
“It’s me, Kat.” Zero had spent the night at the Waterloo Gardens hotel.
“Sorry. Morning, Zero. Was your room okay?”
“It’s great. This is the first time I’ve ever stayed in a real hotel.”
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
“It’s true. I’ve stayed in lots of B&Bs and a few AirBnBs, but never in a proper hotel.”
Tragic.
The previous night, Zero had contacted me to confirm he’d identified which room Lisa was staying in. There’d been n
o sign of her by ten o’clock, so I’d told him to go home, and return the next day. He’d been the one who’d pointed out he’d be able to make an earlier start if he stayed there, and it wouldn’t be much more expensive than the taxi fares home and back. The client would eventually pick up the tab for it, so I agreed. The actual booking of the room proved to be quite problematic, though. Zero had virtually no cash on him, and didn’t possess a debit or credit card. In the end, I’d been forced to make the booking online.
“I take it Lisa is still in the hotel?”
“Yeah. Or at least her phone is.”
“What time will you be able to start monitoring her room?”
“I’ve been watching it for the last half-hour.”
“Well done you. Give me a call if you see her. I’ll pop over to see you shortly, but there’s somewhere I need to check first. I’ll call you when I’m outside the hotel.”
“Okay. Oh, and Kat—”
“Yeah?”
“Am I okay to get breakfast?”
“Of course you are. Have you got enough cash on you?”
“Yeah. There’s a McDonald’s just up the road. I’ll nip out and get a McMuffin.”
“Okay. I’ll reimburse you when I see you later.”
What a little love. When I’d first agreed to take Zero on, the most I’d hoped for was that he’d be able to handle the admin and bookkeeping that Sheila had looked after. He was already doing so much more than that. The guy was a superstar.
***
Before I contacted Kevin Lockhart at Premax, I needed to check that the last piece of the jigsaw fitted.
Deptford Commercial vehicles carried a wide range of vans and minibuses, and according to their website, they had just the vehicle I was interested in.
“Morning, darling.” The guy was classic car salesman: Slicked back hair, faux sheepskin coat and an enormous cigar.
“Morning.”
“Got anything in mind? We’ve just had a new delivery of small vans.”
“I’m actually looking for a minibus.”
“You’ve come to the right place. We’ve got more than a dozen. Beauties, all of them.”
“Can I take a look at that one, please?”
“That’s what I like to see: A lady who knows her own mind. Wait there, and I’ll get the keys.” He disappeared into the office, and returned moments later, keys in hand. “I’m Robbie, by the way. But don’t worry, I won’t be robbing you today.” He snorted at his little joke. It was a line that I assumed he repeated to every customer. “What’s your name, darling?”