PI Kate Brannigan Series Books 1-3: Dead Beat, Kick Back, Crack Down. Val McDermid

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СКАЧАТЬ wasn’t a way to soften the blow. I called it like I saw it. ‘She might be. She was on the streets, Jett. She was doing smack as well. But she’d checked into a clinic to clean herself up. Like I say, I’ll know more tomorrow. I’ll fax you a full update in the morning.’ He didn’t look like he was in the mood for details now.

      He nodded. ‘Thanks,’ he mumbled. I felt like the last of the great party poopers as I trudged across the room. I found Tamar halfway up the stairs, just where they split into two. Tears had done serious damage to her make-up. She looked like an aerial shot of a war zone. ‘Don’t bring her back,’ she pleaded with me. ‘You’ll spoil everything.’

      I sat down beside her. ‘What makes you think that?’

      ‘You wouldn’t understand,’ she said, pushing herself upright. She ran a hand through her hair like a tragedy queen. ‘Your kind never do. You just create havoc and walk away. Well, I’m telling you nobody wants Moira back. Not even Jett, not deep down. He doesn’t want her back out of love, or out of his desperation to make a good album. He wants her back so he can play the lead in the parable of the prodigal son,’ she complained cynically. ‘The thing he needs most of all right now is to feel good about himself, and she’s the perfect vehicle. I mean, where’s the kick in getting it on with me? I don’t need saving, I don’t need putting on track in my karmic journey. Moira’s a fucking godsend, literally.’

      She looked as if she was going to say more, but Kevin appeared at the head of the stairs. ‘For God’s sake, Tamar, pull yourself together. I don’t bloody want it any more than you do. But at least if you keep him happy, maybe he won’t fall for her shit again. OK?’

      He glared at me as he came downstairs. ‘Thanks for your contribution to the celebrations,’ he said sarcastically. ‘Have you found her yet?’

      I shook my head.

      ‘Good,’ he commented bitterly. ‘Take as long as you like. I’d rather pay your exorbitant fees for six months than have her back here.’ That made me realize just how serious Kevin was about Moira.

      Tamar sighed and headed upstairs. I followed Kevin down to the hall, in time to see Gloria lock her office behind her and head towards the ballroom. Good old Gloria. Nothing could make everyone’s life a misery like her literal interpretation of the boss’s instructions. Now she’d be able to toddle off and offer the hero a shoulder to cry on. He sure as hell wouldn’t be getting any offers of comfort from Tamar tonight.

Chapter 10

      I dropped the tape off in Shelley’s in-tray and headed home, determined to have some time to myself. I was in luck. Richard had gone to sit in on an Inspiral Carpets rehearsal session. The first time he’d come home talking about the band, I couldn’t believe my ears. Thought he’d finally started taking an interest in interior design. Silly me.

      After a languid bath, I booted up the computer. Until I met Bill, I’d always thought people who played computer games were intellectual pygmies. But Bill introduced me to role-playing adventures, so different from arcade shoot-em-ups that I can hardly bring myself to mention them in the same breath. The way the games work is that the player takes on the role of a character in the story, explores locations, achieves tasks, and solves complex puzzles. A really good game can take me up to a couple of months to complete. From there, I discovered strategy simulations, and that was the end of my relationship with the television set. Can’t say it shows signs of missing me.

      I loaded up Sierra’s Leisure Suit Larry and spent a bawdy hour as the eponymous medallion man in the white polyester suit, looking for love in all the wrong places, from a whore’s boudoir to a filthy toilet. I’ve played the game half a dozen times, but it’s one of the old favourites I always go back to whenever I want to relax rather than stretch my mind on a fresh set of puzzles. By the time I went to bed, I was feeling more laid back than any carpet, inspiral or otherwise. I almost didn’t mind when the alarm went off at six, catapulting me into another wonderful day of chasing the Smarts. We’d been to Glasgow and back by mid-afternoon, when I abandoned them to the delights of a late lunch in Chinatown and headed back to the office with a takeaway pizza, calabrese with onion and extra cheese. Shelley gave me a filthy look as the smell filled her office, so I skulked off to my own cubbyhole where I tried to type up my surveillance report without getting mozzarella on the keys.

      The drive back to Bradford to the strains of Tina Turner almost seemed relaxing after the stresses of chasing Billy and Gary up the motorway. But I couldn’t afford to let myself become too confident. The hardest part of the day still lay ahead. I sat in the car till half-past seven, then walked up the path to the Seagull Project. I rang the bell and waited.

      After a few minutes, I heard feet thundering down the stairs and the door was opened by Andy. He looked surprised to see me. ‘I’ve come for the meeting,’ I told him. ‘I know I’m early, but I was in the area, and I thought I could wait inside rather than go to the pub on my own.’ I gave him the full hundred-watt smile.

      He shrugged and said, ‘I don’t see a problem with that. Come on in. You can wait in Jude’s office.’ I followed him through and sat down, pulling a Marge Piercy novel out of my bag and trying to look as if I were settled for the evening.

      ‘Help yourself to a coffee,’ he said, gesturing towards a tray containing all the paraphernalia for brewing up. ‘Someone’ll come down for you when we’re ready. I’m afraid it’ll be about three quarters of an hour at least.’

      ‘Thanks,’ I said absently, already appearing immersed in my book. I waited till I heard his footsteps reach the top of the stairs, then I counted a hundred elephants. I put my book away and moved quietly across the room. I inched the door open and listened. There was a distant hum of conversation, too low to make out individual voices.

      I pulled the door further open and stuck my head into the hall. If I’d seen anyone, I was looking for the loo. But the coast was clear. There was no one in the hall or on the stairs. I crept out of the room, closing the door quietly behind me, and moved quickly across the hall and down the side of the stairs towards the room where the records were kept. I paused outside the door.

      My hands were slippery with nervous sweat, so I wiped them on my trousers before taking an out-of-date credit card from my pocket. I’m not bad at picking locks, thanks to Dennis the burglar, but with a simple Yale, the old credit card trick is quicker and leaves fewer traces if you’re an amateur like me. I turned the door handle with one hand, and with the other, I slid the card between the door and the lintel. At first, it wouldn’t budge and I could feel a trickle of sweat running down between my shoulder blades. I took the card out, took three deep breaths, listening all the time for noise from upstairs, then tried again.

      This time, the lock slipped back and the door opened. I hurried into the room and closed the door behind me, flipping up the catch to double-lock it. I leaned against the door and found myself panting. I forced myself to breathe normally and took stock of my surroundings. First, I examined the filing cabinets. I soon found a drawer marked ‘Clients. O-R’. It was locked.

      Fortunately, the Seagull Project didn’t just hand out charity. It had clearly been on the receiving end as far as the elderly filing cabinets were concerned. With new cabinets, you actually have to pick the locks. But with ones of this vintage, I could forget about the set of lock-picks I’d bought from Dennis. I inched the cabinet away from the wall and pushed the top, tipping it back. Cautiously, keeping it in place, I crouched down and slipped my hand underneath. I groped around till I found the lock bar and pushed it upwards. The sound of the bar releasing the locked drawers was sweet to my ears. I carefully СКАЧАТЬ