Once Alex had stopped giggling, she leaned back on the seat and looked up at the sky.
“It’s lovely here. We should stay for the rest of the day.”
“We can stay as long as you like. You’re the boss.”
“So I am.”
She closed her eyes and soaked up the sun, looking like she didn’t have a care in the world, which was ironic, of course. Still, at least I seemed to have managed to take her mind off things. All the same, I remained keen to find out more about her and the trouble she was in and, with her being in such a good mood, it seemed the perfect time to make my move. I pounced as soon as she opened her eyes.
“So, what’s all this about, then, you coming down here? Only, Scoular wouldn’t tell me much and, apart from anything else, that makes it bloody tricky trying to keep an eye out for potential dangers.”
She stayed silent a moment longer, then looked at me, her lips pursed. I suppose she was deciding how much she wanted to tell me and, more to the point, which bits to leave out. Clients are always like that. They want to tell me as little as they can get away with, worried, I reckon, that if they tell me more, I’ll somehow use it against them. Daft, really, but what can you do?
“I was in a night club one evening three years ago with two of my girlfriends. A few men had tried chatting us up, but we weren’t looking for men. It was just a girls night out. Then, I turned to my right to find a man standing there, looking at me. I can still see him now. He was so handsome, I couldn’t stop myself from starring. It was embarrassing when I realised what I was doing, but it was too late by then. Must have been obvious I fancied him.”
“Every bloke’s dream, I’d say.”
For a moment she looked a little bashful. The snooty, cold bitch I’d met at the railway station seemed to have been replaced with someone else altogether. I wondered how long this new, nicer version of Alex would stay around.
“But not the best thing to do when you want to appear disinterested,” she said.
“That’s true enough. I bet he must have grinned from ear-to-ear.”
“Not quite. He did smile, but that only made things worse. The only good thing about the situation was the place was so dimly lit that he couldn’t see me blushing.”
“So, he bought you a drink and, as they say, one thing led to another.”
“More or less, but I’m not a complete push-over, you know. I made him take me out to dinner a couple of times, although I don’t think I really imagined he would stay around long. Men you meet in places like that are normally only looking for one thing and once they get it they’re off like a flash looking for someone else.”
“But he did. Stay around, I mean?”
“Yes. He was charming, attentive, caring and showered me with gifts. I don’t think I’ve ever been bought so many bunches of flowers. It felt wonderful, as though I’d found the perfect man.”
“You didn’t know what he was up to, then?”
“Taking me for a ride, you mean?”
She let out a little sigh and looked out over the railings at the sea.
“How did he know there was money to be had?”
“My Uncle Robert thinks he must have done his homework and it wasn’t a coincidence that he met me that evening at the nightclub. Given what’s happened since, we suspect he probably does this sort of thing as a way of earning a living.”
You could tell she probably hadn’t regretted something so much in a very long time, which was understandable, given the circumstances. But there was one thing I wasn’t clear about. As far as I knew, she didn’t have a mountain of cash, so, why had this bloke bothered with her?
“You got a big fortune tucked away somewhere, then?”
She shook her head.
“It’s worse than that. It’s not my tiny savings he’s after. He must have known from the start that my Uncle Robert is well off because it’s him he expects to pay up. He’s made that very clear.”
“That’s the uncle who’s shipped you down here and is paying for my fine services?”
“Yes. Uncle Robert has a furniture business in Wycombe, making chairs, table, sideboards and the like. I suppose he’s worth over a million, though he’s never actually told me.”
“And I’m guessing this nasty piece of work hasn’t simply asked for a break-up fee because he thinks that’s the way things are done?”
Alex winced.
“That’s one way of putting it. No, he’s got some compromising photos of me and him. Lots of them, apparently, and very compromising, if you get what I mean.”
“Ah, those sort of photos. I take it you didn’t know he’d been snapping away with a camera at the time?”
“No, not that it makes any difference. Oh, it’s so horrible to think I slept with that creep and now he can letch over those photos whenever he likes. Makes me want to puke whenever I think about it.”
She closed her eyes again and threw her head back. It looked to me like the blood-sucking leech had her over a barrel and poor old Uncle Robert was going to have to pay up.
“How much is he demanding?”
“Ten thousand. Cash. Used notes. It’s the sort of deal you see on the television. Oh, and he says if we’re stupid enough to try and steal the photos, we should know there are two sets and, as a punishment, he’ll double his demands to twenty thousand.”
“So, Uncle Robert is busy negotiating and wants you out of the way while that’s going on?”
“That and I kept getting silent phone calls at home. Things got too much when I opened a letter one day to find a photo of myself in all my glory. I sobbed all morning.”
“Well, for what it’s worth, I reckon your uncle has done the right thing. Let him sort things out while you lie low. Anyway, look at all this sunny weather. How often do we get it like this in dear old Blighty?”
“You’re trying to cheer me up.”
“Don’t worry, there’s no extra charge. It’s all part of the package I’m being paid for.”
Down on the beach I could see some brave soul wading into the sea until the water reached his trunks, then he launched himself in head first and swam off towards France. In my experience, the Channel is nippy at the best of times but early in the summer it’s probably only just above freezing. Rather him than me, that was for sure.
“Could we take a walk into town now?”
“Sure. Anywhere particular or just mooching around?”
“Oh, I don’t really mind. I suppose we could poke our heads in a few clothes shops, if you’re not one of those men who feel awkward browsing fashion shops.”
Sounded like a challenge, did that. Trouble was, I certainly was one of those men. Setting foot inside a woman’s clothes shop was almost as bad as a trip to the dentist, as far as I was concerned. But a challenge is a challenge, so I’d just have to grin and bear it.
“Sure, no problem. You just point out the ones you like the look of.”
As we stood up, Alex placed a hand on my shoulder, before saying, “I’m sorry, by the way.”
I was confused. Hardly a new experience, but this time it had come at me out of the blue.
“Don’t get you. What you sorry for?”
“About the railway station. I was rude.”
“That’s true. But you seem to have perked up now.”
“I have. But I shouldn’t have behaved like I did. This whole situation, with the blackmail and the photos, it gets to me sometimes and I’m afraid I let it spill over into the way I behave. I hope you can forgive me.”
“Already done,” I answered, breezily. “Just keep your happy face on and we’ll get along fine. Come on, let’s find you those shops.”
Chapter Four
Of course, when a woman says she just wants to ‘mooch’ around a few shops, looking for nothing in particular, what that really means is she’s set on undertaking a major shopping expedition, one that needs a support crew of dozens and lasts for hours. After the sixth shop, I decided we needed a break. A cup of tea and a few bisc
uits were the least she could agree to. And she did.
But it wasn’t just shopping that had been on my mind all this time, because not long after we left the pier I got this strange feeling we were being followed. You know what it’s like, you get a funny tingle on the back of your neck that just won’t go away and, no matter how much you try to ignore it, you can’t. I tried everything I could think of in an effort to spot this mystery person, using shop windows as giant mirrors, changing my mind about crossing roads or going in shops at the last minute, to see if anyone else suddenly stopped or changed direction. I even insisted at one point on taking us down a quiet little side road I noticed was empty of other people. But it all came to nothing. Not a sign of anyone, anywhere.
The thing is, when I get a feeling like that I don’t ignore it. In fact, I assume it’s right, because more often than not it is. I suppose it’s an extra sense you develop once you’ve been working as a private investigator for a while. The question was, though, why would a blackmailing little toad bother following Alex around or paying someone else to do it? What did he stand to get out of it?
Whatever it was, at least I now had a better idea of the sort of thing I should to be keeping an eye out for. Would have been a lot easier if Scoular had been more helpful in the first place, of course. I decided I’d try squeezing some more information out of him when I first checked in with him, as per instructions.
Happily, I managed to stretch out our visit to the Brighton Rock Teapot cafe to a handy forty-five minutes, meaning once we left there wasn’t a whole lot more time before the shops closed for the day. It was only then I realised, despite hours of hard graft, Alex was still only carrying two small bags; one containing a head scarf and the other a pair of jeans. Two items in all that time, I ask you!
I didn’t tell her about my sixth sense screaming at me off we were being followed. I didn’t want to frighten her, especially as there was a chance I was wrong, even if I didn’t really believe that. But I very nearly said something when we got back to her room at the Churchill.
We’d barely set foot in her room when I got goosebumps all over. I was almost overwhelmed by the feeling that someone else had been in the room. Nothing odd about that, you’d say, seeing how it was a hotel and they have cleaners and wot not popping in and out of rooms all the time, doing their jobs. But I knew already the cleaners did most of their work during the mornings and, according to Angela, they’re supposed to be all done by two, which was before Alex and I had left for our little airing.
As Alex dropped her shopping bags in the bedroom, I looked around carefully, taking in every little thing. item by item, trying to remember if they were all in the same place as before we went out. I honestly couldn’t put my finger on a single thing that looked out of place. I even looked in the bin, to see if someone had been careless enough to drop something in there, but it was empty. Maybe I was getting paranoid. Perhaps it was all the sugar I’d eaten, the ice cream and the digestives. But I didn’t really believe that. Something was up, I was sure about that. It was starting to look as though I would be earning my money after all and the cushy little number I’d been expecting was in danger of rapidly disappearing down the proverbial plug-hole.
*
Dinner in the hotel restaurant was a quiet and simple little affair. Chicken supreme for the lady and steak for me. We had a drink at the bar afterwards and then Alex said she’d like to get an early night. Doesn’t the sea air always leave you feeling knackered like that, I suggested. I took her back up to her room, gave it the once over, then reminded her to secure the door behind me. Having agreed we’d have breakfast at nine, I went back down to the bar, not yet ready to pack it all in for the day.
All in all, things had turned out very nicely, as far as Alex went, especially after her dodgy start at the railway station. She seemed friendly enough and even the hours spent shopping I could put up with in the name of earning a living, just so long as it wasn’t something she had a need to do every day.
It would have been great if that had been all there was to it, but life’s not often that simple, nor that helpful, and I was sure, despite having no proof, that we weren’t alone. Someone was keeping an eye on us. But what bothered me most about that was wondering if following us around was all they were in town to do or if they had plans to start applying some proper pressure. Might Alex start getting the same silent phone calls and threatening notes she’d been deluged with back home?
I ordered a lager from Ray the barman and tried pushing those thoughts of pending doom to the back of my mind as I felt the cold, sparkling alcohol wash across my tongue.
“Ray, a gin and tonic, please.”
The voice was Angela’s. She slipped on to the next bar stool and opened up a packet of cigarettes. It looked from the way she savoured the first puff that it was her first since lunchtime.
“Busy day?” I asked.
“Isn’t it always? She smiled. “A big party of Japanese tourists arrived this afternoon. It always puts a strain on our resources, dealing with so many new arrivals at once; especially when most of them don’t speak English. I don’t think their guide is very experienced. The poor thing looked about ready to collapse.”
Ray placed Angela’s drink down, then returned to his station halfway down the bar, probably just about within hearing range.
“Who’s the new lady friend? She your client? Or am I not supposed to know these things?
“Can’t say. Top secret.”
“Mm, in that case I’ll just have to tie you up later and torment you until you crack.”
There was an extra little spark in Angela’s eyes, enough to tip any man over the edge and have him blabbing. I caved straight away.
“Alexandra Rudd. Client of one Scoular and Hart Solicitors and niece of Uncle Robert, as well as my babysitting assignment.”
“She’s pretty.”
“She is.”
“Can you cope with having two women in your life at the same time?”
“Cheeky cow. Sometimes one is more than enough.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
“So, what’s the story? Why have you been employed to look after her?”
I lubricated my vocal chords with another mouthful of lager then ran through a short summary of what I knew about my latest client, plus what we’d been up to since she’d arrived. All of that, without mentioning my suspicions Alex and I had been followed all afternoon and that her room had been searched. That part I left out, worried that talk of invisible people might make me sound like some sort of head case.
“That’s all very unexciting,” said Angela, when I’d finished. She eyed me for a moment. “But I think you’re keeping something back.”
“Me?”
“Yes, you.”
She stubbed out the smouldering butt of her cigarette.
“Why do you think that?”
“Women’s intuition?” she offered, without any conviction. I shook my head. “Well, it could have something to do with the large number of staff I have to manage every day and the thousands of customers I deal with every year. There comes a time when you can tell if someone is telling a lie or simply being economical with the truth.”
“You should take up poker. You’d make a fortune if you can always read people that easily.”
“That wouldn’t work.”
“Why not?”
“Because the other players would be able to read me even more easily. So, what did you leave out? Or aren’t you allowed to say?”
“You’ll think I’m imagining things,” I offered, still reluctant to say more.
“Try me.”
“Ever seen the film, The Invisible Man?”
“I have. Don’t tell me he’s staying here?”
“We wouldn’t know, would we? No, but it did feel like he was following me and Alex around all afternoon.”
Angela thought about that for a moment. Her response was unexpected.
“When you say someone was following you, do you mean they were following you or Alex?”
I looked at her and grinned.
“Most people don’t think to ask that, you know. Seems you’re more than just a pretty face.”
“I thought you’d found that out already,” she said, slipping a hand on to my left thigh.
“True enough.” I fancied slipping a hand of my own on to her thigh, but her arm was in the way. That would have to wait. “I’m guessing they were following Alex and I just happened to be there.”
“Do I take it you didn’t catch a glimpse of this mysterious character?”
“Nope. Not a sausage and that’s been bothering me no end since we got back. You see, if they were good enough to stay out of sight the whole time, they must have been a professional.”
“Or you were very bad at spotting them.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence. I’ll have you know I’m bloody good at what I do. Well, competent. Some of the time.”
Angela laughed and released her grip on my thigh.
“I’m pretty certain her room was searched, too. My radar was pinging big time when I dropped her back there.”
“Mm, that’s something I’m not going to make any jokes about. I’ll ask the staff if they saw anyone going in or out of Miss Rudd’s room, though I wouldn’t hold your breath. It’s usually too busy round here to notice anything like that, unless someone is especially careless or wanting to draw attention to themselves.”
“Thanks. I can only assume if there is someone on her tail, it’s got something to do with this blackmailer. I don’t think there should really be anything much to worry about, not given what Alex has told me, but you can never be sure with these things.”
“Well, there’s no need to worry about that tonight. I’ll make sure I take your mind off things for a while. If you’re lucky, I’ll leave you so exhausted you’ll sleep like the dead.”
Bloody Nora, her eyes were glowing. I wasn’t sure another night tied to Angela’s bed was going to do a lot to help me start another day all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, but, on the other hand, she made a fair point in saying it would take my mind off things for a bit. I glanced at my watch.
As Good as Dead Page 5