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

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СКАЧАТЬ eye on them, because I daren’t run out.’

      I took a deep breath. ‘So why did you assume that Moira was responsible?’

      She shrugged. The shopping was forgotten now. We’d gravitated to the end of the aisle, and neither of us was showing any inclination to hit the soft drinks.

      Gloria dropped her voice and said, ‘Well, who else would want needles except a drug addict? And in spite of what you might think about the rock business, nobody in the house is a junkie. Jett just wouldn’t stand for it. He’s got very strict views on the subject. I know some of the others sneak away and do some coke, but none of them are stupid enough to get into heroin. Especially after what happened when Moira got hooked.’

      ‘Any other reason why you were sure it was Moira?’ I asked.

      ‘Well, for one thing, they’d never gone missing before she moved in. Then one day I came upstairs and caught her with her hand on my doorknob. She said she’d just knocked to see if she could borrow a book, but I wasn’t falling for that. I knew by then what she was after.’

      ‘And did she borrow a book?’

      ‘Yes,’ Gloria acknowledged reluctantly. ‘The new Judith Krantz.’

      ‘Was she in the habit of borrowing books from you?’

      Gloria shrugged. ‘She’d done it a couple of times.’

      ‘And did she know you were a diabetic?’ I asked.

      ‘There’s no secret about it. She never actually discussed it with me, if that’s what you’re getting at.’

      The next question was obvious, though I knew she wouldn’t like it. That was just tough luck. ‘Who else comes into your room either regularly or occasionally?’ I demanded.

      I was right. ‘Just what are you trying to suggest?’ Gloria flashed back, outraged.

      ‘I’m not trying to suggest anything. I asked a straightforward question, and I’d appreciate a straightforward answer.’

      Gloria pointedly turned away from my stare. ‘No one uses my room except me,’ she mumbled. ‘Moira was the only person apart from the cleaner who’s been in there.’

      I took pity on her. I couldn’t see being madly in love with Jett as an emotionally rewarding pastime, and I didn’t want to rub in the fruitlessness of her passion. ‘Given that it wasn’t a drug overdose that killed her, have you any ideas about who might have wanted rid of Moira?’

      ‘How should I know?’ Gloria snapped.

      ‘I would have thought there was no one better placed to have a few theories,’ I replied. ‘You’re right at the nerve centre of the household. You’re in Jett’s confidence. I can’t imagine there’s much goes on around here that you don’t know about.’ When in doubt, flatter.

      Gloria rose to the bait. ‘If I had to choose one person, I’d pick Tamar,’ she bitched right back at me. ‘If Jett wasn’t such a nice guy, she’d have been out of here weeks ago. They’ve been rowing for ages, and when Moira arrived, Tamar’s nose was put right out of joint. Jett needs a woman who understands him, who really appreciates how demanding his work is. But Tamar just wants to have a good time, and Jett’s just the means to that end for her. When Moira turned up, he saw how many of his needs weren’t being met by Tamar, and it was obvious he didn’t have much time for her any more. And now Moira’s dead, Tamar’s been all over him, trying to get back in his good books.’

      It was a long speech for Gloria, and her efforts to make it sound objective rather than vitriolic would have been funny under any other circumstances. I nodded sagely, and said, ‘I see what you mean. But do you really think she’s capable of a crime of violence like that?’

      ‘She’s capable of anything,’ Gloria retorted. ‘She saw her position under threat, and I think she acted on the spur of the moment to protect herself.’

      ‘What about the others? Micky? Kevin?’ I inquired.

      ‘Kevin wasn’t thrilled that she was back. He was worried about the press getting hold of the details of her past and using that to smear Jett. And she was always chasing him about money, as if he was trying to do her out of her share, which is just ridiculous. I mean, if Kevin was dishonest, Jett would have found out and got rid of him years ago. He had nothing to fear from Moira’s silly allegations, so why would he kill her? All her murder’s achieved is to stir up the very stuff he wanted kept quiet,’ Gloria informed me.

      ‘And Micky?’

      ‘You wouldn’t be very thrilled if someone who had been out of the business for years came along and started telling you how to do your job, would you? She was very pushy, you know. She had her own ideas and God help anyone who didn’t go along with them. I felt really sorry for Micky. She was always pushing Jett into taking her side over the album, and he was so scared that she’d take off again that he went along with her. But Micky wouldn’t have killed her. I mean, she might have been driving him demented, but she couldn’t do his career any damage,’ Gloria stated. She pointedly made for the check-out queue. In her eyes, she’d clearly decided she’d told me all I was going to get.

      I cut round in front of her, making her brake sharply. ‘One last question,’ I promised. ‘You said cocaine was the drug of choice around Colcutt. Who uses it?’

      ‘It’s not my place to say,’ she replied huffily, her eyes on the display of cookery books beside us.

      ‘If you don’t tell me, someone else will. And if no one else will, I’ll just have to go to Jett,’ I retaliated, fed up with fencing.

      Gloria gave me a look that should have reduced me to a smouldering heap of ashes. Clearly she thought threats were as pleasant a form of communication as I did. ‘Ask Micky about it,’ she finally offered.

      ‘I’ll do just that,’ I replied. ‘Thanks for your help, Gloria. I’ll mention to Jett how co-operative you’ve been.’ I smiled sweetly and walked away. If I were a store detective, I’d never have let me out of there without a body search. There can’t be that many complete weirdos walking around looking like they’re rehearsing scenes from Inspector Morse in Sainsbury’s in a nice Country Life town like Wilmslow.

      Back in the car park, I found that an officious traffic warden had decided to make my day. Peeling off the ticket, I crumpled it into a ball and tossed it on the floor of the car. Clearly Richard’s disgusting motoring habits were beginning to rub off on me. Grumbling quietly in a highly satisfactory sort of way, I eased the car into the traffic and headed back towards Colcutt.

      I was stopped at the lights when I spotted Kevin. He was coming out of the bank, and I nearly peeped the horn to let him know I was there. Luckily, my reflexes were a little slow that morning. He was joined immediately by a burly guy in a padded leather body warmer over a navy blue rugby shirt. His Levis were tight enough to show he wasn’t wearing boxer shorts. I grabbed my tape recorder, depressed the record button and said, ‘White male, mid-forties, straight grey hair, thinning on top, neatly cut. Wide mouth, plump cheeks and chin, beer gut.’ The lights changed and I had to go with the flow. What I did see as I drove off, apart from the bulky gold flash of a Rolex on Kevin’s pal’s wrist, was the thick manila envelope that changed hands on the steps of the bank. I could think of a dozen reasons why Kevin should be paying someone off in cash. At least half of them made me СКАЧАТЬ