Hmm, he mused. Leave it with me. Ill get back to you.
Two down, one to go. I dialed a number from memory and said, Mr. Abercrombie, please. Its Kate Brannigan. The electronic chirrup of the Cuckoo Waltz assaulted my eardrums as I waited for whatever length of time Clive Abercrombie deemed necessary to put me firmly in my place. Olive is a partner in one of the citys prestige jewelers. He would say the prestige jewelers. Thats the kind of pretentious wally he is. We pulled dives nuts out of the fire on a major counterfeiting scam a couple of years back, and I know that deep down hes eternally grateful, though hed die before hed reveal it to a mere tradesperson like me. His gratitude had turned into a mixed blessing, however. It was thanks to Olives recommendation that wed got the case that had put Richard behind bars and me at risk of parting company with my life. By my reckoning, that meant he still owed me.
We were on the third chorus when he deigned to come on the line. Kate, he said cautiously. Obviously I wasnt important enough to merit solicitous inquiries about my health. Not a stupid man, Olive. Hes clearly sussed out that Richard and I are not in the market for a diamond solitaire.
We were on the third chorus when he deigned to come on the line. Kate, he said cautiously. Obviously I wasnt important enough to merit solicitous inquiries about my health. Not a stupid man, Olive. Hes clearly sussed out that Richard and I are not in the market for a diamond solitaire.
Good afternoon, Olive, I said sweetly. I find myself in need of a good jeweler, and I cant think of anyone who fits the bill better than you.
You flatter me, he said, flattered.
Im like you, Olive. When I need a job doing, I come to the experts.
A job? he echoed.
A little bit of tinkering, I said soothingly. Tomorrow, probably. Will one of your master craftspeople have a little time to spare for me then?
That depends on what were talking about, he said warily. I hope youre not suggesting something illegal, Kate.
Would I? I said, trying to sound outraged.
Quite possibly, he said dryly. What exactly did you have in mind?
I dont have all the details yet, but it would involve a slight addition to an existing piece.
He sighed. Come round tomorrow morning after eleven. Ill discuss it with you then.
Thank you, Olive, I said to dead air.
I checked my watch. Half past four. Just time to nip round to the office and collect Trevor Kerrs list of former staff. I swapped the smart clothes for a pair of leggings and a sweatshirt and took my bike. It would be quicker than the car this time of day, and besides, I wanted the exercise. I found Shelley in the throes of preparing the quarterly VAT return. Kate, she said grimly. Just the person I wanted to see. She waved a small bundle of crumpled receipts at me. I know its really unreasonable of me, but do you suppose you could enlighten me as to what precisely these bills are for? Only, by my calculations were due a VAT inspection some time within the next six months, and I dont think theyre going to be thrilled by your idea of keeping records. Miscellaneous petty cash isnt good enough, you know.
I groaned. Cant you just make it up? I wheedled, picking up the top receipt. This is from the electrical wholesalers; just call it batteries or lightbulbs or cassette tapes. Use your imagination. We dont often let you do that, I added with a smile.
Shelley curled her lip. I dont have an imagination. Ive never found it necessary. Youre not leaving here till youve told me whats what. And if you make it up, I can blame you when the VAT inspector doesnt believe me.
It didnt take me as long as I feared. Imagination is not something Ive ever lacked. What I couldnt remember, I invented. There wasnt a VAT person in the land whod dare question what I needed thirty-five meters of speaker wire for. Having mollified the real boss at Mortensen and Brannigan, I grabbed my fax and headed out the door before she could think of something else that would keep me from my work.
In the short interval that Id been out, both Gizmo and Ballantrae had been back to me. The name and address attached to the phone didnt fill me with confidence. Cradaco International, 679A Otley Road, Leeds. On an impulse, I grabbed the phone and rang Joshs office. The man himself was in a meeting, but Julia, his personal assistant, was free. I pitched her into hitting the database right away and finding out whatever details Cradaco International had filed at Companies House. I hung on while she looked. Now that everythings on line, information it used to take days to dig out of dusty files is available at the touch of a fingertip.
She didnt keep me waiting long. Kate? As you thought, its an off-the-shelf company. Share capital of one pound. Managing director James Connery. Company secretary Sean Bond. Uh-oh. Does something smell a bit fishy to you, Kate?
I groaned. Any other directors?
Have a guess?
Miss Moneypenny? M? I said resignedly.
Nearly. Miss Penny Cash.
I sighed. Youd better give me the addresses, just in case. I copied down three addresses in Leeds. At least they were all in the same city. One trip would check out the directors and the company. Youre a pal, Julia, I said.
Dont mention it. You could do me a small favor in return, she said.
Try me.
Could you ask Richard if theres any chance he could get me a bootleg tape of the Streisand Wembley concerts? she asked.
Id never have put cut-glass upper-middle-class Julia down as a Streisand fan, but theres no accounting for taste. Its a bit off his beat, but Ill see what I can do, I promised.
Time to get back to Ballantrae. He answered on the first ring. I think Ive got the very thing for you, he said. How does an Anglo-Saxon belt buckle sound?
Useful if youve got an Anglo-Saxon belt, I said.
He chuckled. Its a ceremonial buckle, worn by chieftains and buried with them. Its about five inches by two inches. The original is made of solid gold, chased with Celtic designs and studded with semiprecious stones. There are only two known to be in existence. Ones in the British Museum, the others in a private collection in High Hammerton Hall, near Whitby.
Sounds perfect, I said. Have you spoken to the owner?
I have. Hes been displaying a replica for the last five months, but Ive managed to persuade him to lend it to you. We were at school together, he added in explanation.
Whats it made of? I asked.
The replicas made of lead and plastic, with a thin coating of gold leaf. He says it would fool someone who wasnt an expert, even close up. He says if you sit the two of them side by side, its almost impossible to tell them apart.
Sounds perfect, I said. When can I get it?
Hes sending it to you by overnight courier. It will be at your office by ten tomorrow morning.
Lord Ballantrae, you are a star, I said, meaning it. So much for the inbred stupidity of the aristocracy. This guy was more on the ball than ninety-five percent of the people I have to deal with.
No problem. I want to get these people as badly as you do. Probably more so. Then we can all get back to the business of doing what we do best.
Speaking of which, I finally got down to doing something about Trevor Kerrs case. I felt guilty for ignoring the material hed sent me, but the art theft case was far more absorbing. I felt it was something I could get to the bottom of single-handed, unlike the Kerrchem case. I found myself inclined to agree with Jackson. This was a case for the cops, if only because they had the staffing resources to cover all the bases that it would take me weeks to get round. Then the little voice in my head kicked in with the real reason. You cant stand Trevor Kerr, so you dont want to put yourself out for him. And youre desperate to impress that Michael Haroun.
Bollocks, I muttered out loud, seizing the sheets of fax paper with fresh energy. Someone-the indomitable Sheila, I suspected-had conveniently included the job titles as well as the names and addresses of those made redundant. I reckoned I could exclude anyone who worked on the factory floor or in the warehouse. They would have neither the chemical know-how nor the access to sales and distribution information that would allow them to pull a sabotage scheme as complex as this. That left thirty-seven people in clerical, managerial and scientific posts who had all been given what looked like a tin handshake to quit their jobs at Kerrchem.
By nine, I felt like the phone was welded to my ear. I was using a labor-market research pitch, which seemed to be working reasonably well. I claimed to be working for the EC Regional Rind, doing research to see what sort of skills were not being catered to by current job vacancies. I told my victims that I was calling people who had been made redundant over the previous year to discover whether they had found alternative employment. A depressingly low number of Kerrchems junked staff fell into that category, and they were mostly low-grade clerical staff. Not one of the ten middle managers had found new jobs, and to a man they were bitter as hell about it. Of the chemists, two out of the three lab technicians were working in less skilled but better-paid jobs. The four research lab staff who had been laid off were bound by their contracts and the terms of their redundancies not to work for direct competitors. One had taken a job as an analyst on a North Sea oil rig, two of the other three were kicking their heels and hating it and one was no longer at the address the company had for him. It looked like I had no shortage of suspects.
I stood up and stretched. Richard still hadnt come home, so there was nothing to divert me from work. There was nothing more I could do with the Kerrchem stuff tonight, but I wasnt quite stalled on the other investigation. The sensible part of me knew I should go to bed and catch up on last nights missed sleep, but Id had enough of being sensible for one week. I went through to the kitchen, cut open the other half of the ciabatta and loaded it with mozzarella, taramasalata and some sundried tomatoes. I wrapped it in clingfilm, and took a small bottle of mineral water out of the fridge. Fifteen minutes later, I was cruising down the M62, singing along cheerfully to a new compilation of Dusty Springfields greatest hits that Id found lying around in Richards half of the conservatory. Never mind the mascara, check out that voice.