by W. Soliman
“Paul,” he said, not shaking hands with my stepbrother. Presumably big men like him didn’t shake with the hired help. “Won’t you introduce me?”
“Sure,” he drawled. “Meet my little brother, Charlie Hunter. And this is Kara.”
“It’s a pleasure,” he said, shaking my hand and then kissing the back of Kara’s. I got the impression that she wanted to wipe her hand clean on the side of her dress. I admired her restraint when she didn’t actually do so. “Kara? I don’t think I caught your other name.”
“She didn’t offer it.”
“Ah, a lady of mystery.” Garnet accepted my putdown without missing a beat.
I wasn’t sure why I did it. He’d be able to find out who Kara was easily enough if he really wanted to know. I guess I wanted him to understand that, unlike most of the men here whom I’d seen kowtowing to him, I was no pushover.
“I like that,” he said, smiling directly at Kara. “But you haven’t got a drink, Charlie.”
“I’m driving.”
“Then I admire your restraint. So many people don’t stop to think.”
When none of us said anything in response to his rather inane comment, he spoke again.
“Have you eaten? The salmon is locally smoked, and the devilled kidneys are a particular favourite of mine.”
“Perhaps later,” I said, eyeing the queue at the buffet. “When the rush dies down.”
“In that case…Paul, if you wouldn’t mind entertaining Kara, Charlie and I have business to discuss. I can call you Charlie, can’t I?”
“That’s my name, Peter.” I suspected that few of his underlings addressed him informally so I made a point of doing so. I turned toward Kara. “Won’t be long.” I could see from her expression that she wasn’t too happy about me being whisked away by Garnet. I wasn’t keen on the idea myself but needs must. “You’ll be perfectly safe with Paul.”
“No arguments there,” Paul said, taking her elbow and steering her away from us. “I’m sure we can find some common ground. For a start you can tell me where you got that gorgeous dress. Is it Versace?”
Andrea opened her mouth to speak, but before any words came out her husband stepped in.
“Go and keep Paul and Kara company for a while, dear. I have things to discuss with Charlie.”
“Why must you always mix business with pleasure?” she asked, pouting.
“To keep you in baubles,” he said tersely, indicating the diamonds sparkling on her fingers. “Now run along.”
I couldn’t help wondering about that. Paul had indicated that they were devoted to one another. That exchange indicated the precise opposite but I tried not to read too much into it. I already knew she was a consummate little actress who enjoyed playing games.
“This way, Charlie,” Garnet said.
Our progress toward the back of the atrium was slow. People stopped Garnet for a quick word every step of the way, almost all of them women. He introduced me to quite a few of their men, all respectable bastions of the local business community. He seemed to take particular pleasure in making me known to the Assistant Chief Constable. He probably thought a lowly detective inspector wouldn’t be personally acquainted with the boss. He was wrong. I knew Bennett quite well and thought he respected me, so I couldn’t understand why he pretended we were strangers.
“We get quite a diverse crowd in here,” Garnet said, finally opening the door to an office somewhere in the back of the building. I’d tried to keep track of my bearings but behind the glittering façade the place was a rabbit warren and I was now hopelessly lost. “Women want to keep themselves looking lovely, and they persuade their men to sign up with us as well. Where would we be without the ladies, eh, Charlie?” He moved to a sideboard, picked up a crystal decanter obviously containing whisky and waved it toward me. “A proper drink? One can’t hurt you.”
“Okay then. Since you insist.”
“Good man. I get the feeling that you’re not really into all this champagne nonsense.”
I didn’t feel the comment required a response so didn’t bother to make one. Instead I glanced round his office whilst he poured the drinks and fussed about with ice. Like the rest of the place it was showy. High-end furniture, leather settees in front of a fireplace filled with an extravagant flower arrangement. A huge polished desk with absolutely nothing on its surface other than a computer monitor and a telephone. And pictures absolutely everywhere featuring Garnet with some dignitary or other or at sporting events.
“Let’s make ourselves comfortable.” Garnet handed me my glass and indicated the sofas in front of the fireplace.
“Thanks,” I said, taking a decent sip of my drink.
“Cheers.” He raised his glass to mine and also drank. “I do so hate these affairs but it has to be done occasionally.”
“You draw a good crowd.”
“Course I do.” He chuckled. “It’s free.”
“There is that.”
“And talking of money, let’s get this out of the way.” He handed me a fistful of cash, which I suspected was more than his wife owed me.
“Thanks.” I put it straight in my pocket.
“Aren’t you going to count it?”
“Do I need to?”
“Ah, a man who trusts.”
If that was what he thought, then he really had lost the plot. I trusted him about as much as he trusted me, which was not at all.
“So rare nowadays.” He paused to sip more of his drink, still sizing me up. “Thanks for helping my wife out but I’d prefer it if you didn’t do it again.” The warning was couched as a mild request.
“Not if you’d rather I didn’t. It’s none of my business but it looked as though there’d been some misunderstanding with her credit. I don’t like to see any lady embarrassed when it’s within my ability to help her.”
“Chivalrous as well.” His smile would have caused a shark to back off. “There was no misunderstanding, Charlie. My wife has, shall we say, a desire for cheap thrills. When it comes to gambling there’s no such thing, of course. The house always wins and it gets very expensive. She won’t heed my warning to stop playing when she’s losing, and so I told the casino not to extend her more credit.”
“You don’t sound as though you share her love of cards.”
“I’ve been involved with games of chance all my adult life,” he said, leaving me to interpret that any way I wished. “That’s why I know it’s a mug’s game unless you’re the one in charge.”
He was right, of course. Too many people got caught up in it, my old partner included, with dire consequences. “It’s okay if you have self-discipline.”
“Which is what I count on most punters not having.” He chuckled as he nodded toward all the pictures of horseracing lining the walls.
“I see your point.” I drained my glass, placed it on a side table and stood. “Well, thanks for the drink. I’d better go and rescue Kara from Paul before he completely poisons her mind against me.”
“Just a minute more of your time, Charlie.”
“Sure.” I sat down again, aware that we were getting to the real reason for his inviting me here.
“I know a bit about you,” he said.
I feigned surprise. “I can’t imagine why you’d want to?”
“Oh, I think you can. Good men are hard to find nowadays and I’m always on the lookout for trustworthy employees.”
This time my surprise was entirely genuine. “You’re offering me a job?”
“On a freelance basis.”
“What could I possibly do for you?”
“You have useful connections.”
“The police?”
“Amongst others. The word on the street is that you’re respected and people know not to mess with you.” He paused.
“Or it was, until you came under suspicion of murdering my old friend Jason Miller.” I disciplined myself not to react. “You wouldn’t tell the worthy Inspector Slater what you were doing in the building that day and she’s now dead set on pinning the crime on you.” He shook his head. “Mud sticks, you know, Charlie.”
“Only at low tide.”
“Ah yes, you’re a boating man.”
“What is it exactly that you want of me, Peter?”
But we both knew the answer to that. Stop digging into his affairs and he’d see me okay in return for not very much. The alternative was to finish up like Spelling. He was also telling me that he had reliable sources within the police force. How else could he know the details of my interview with Slater? But I also bothered him. He obviously thought I had more on him than I did.
“What were you doing in that building on the day of the murder, as a matter of interest?”
“I wouldn’t tell Slater but I’d tell you because…?”
He laughed. “An honest man who’s not afraid to stick to his guns. I like you more and more, Charlie.”
“Glad to hear it.”
“Since Slater’s harassment I don’t suppose you feel so loyal toward the police?”
“Don’t presume to tell me how I feel.”
“I wouldn’t think of it.” But annoyance flashed through his eyes and I doubted if many people had the balls to contradict him. “Now, about that job offer.”
“I’m not sure I’d be of much help to you.”
“Like I said before, I’m diversifying.” He hadn’t actually but I let it pass. “All sorts of information interests me if it pertains to betting of any sort. Information is power, never forget that.”
Yes, and you enjoy your power. You enjoy controlling people and making them dance to your tune, you arrogant little prick.
“And what particular information are you after?” I asked.
“You’re a friend of Hal Faraday’s, I believe.”
“Yes,” I said evenly. “What of it?”
“So you might be able to drop me the odd hint about what’s happening with his team. The likelihood of them winning particular races, stuff like that.”
I regarded him with distaste. “Paul can do that for you. It’s right up his street.”
“Don’t try hogging the moral high ground, Charlie. You’re hardly whiter than white yourself.”
“Why does Hal interest you so much? There are other, more successful teams.”
“Yes, but Hal’s is the most vulnerable.”
I resisted asking how he knew that. “Why would I rat out my friend?” I asked instead, a nasty taste in my mouth.
“I’m not asking you to do anything illegal.”
Like hell he wasn’t. I couldn’t believe his front but knew he was offering me a face-saving way to back off my enquiries into his affairs. Again I stood up. “Tell you what, why don’t I think about it and get back to you. Where can I reach you?”
He delved into his pocket and handed me a card. “That has all my contact numbers on it.”
“Thanks.”
I turned toward the door but a picture I’d only just noticed stopped me in my tracks. Garnet and a familiar face leading a horse into the winner’s enclosure.
“Pretty girl,” I remarked. “Who is she?”
“Oh,” he said, a genuine smile breaking out across his face for the first time. “That’s my goddaughter.”
Well, I thought as I followed the noise until I found the party again. At least now I knew the link between Garnet and Katrina Simpson.
Chapter Fourteen
I told Kara about Garnet’s proposal as I drove us home. Her jaw literally dropped.
“You’re joking,” she said when she finally found her voice. “Why would he offer you a job?”
“Whatever he’s up to, it’s big. He knows I’m interested in him and he doesn’t want me on the opposing team. I suspect that even he would draw the line at doing away with an ex-copper, which might be his only alternative.”
“You’ve got him rattled.”
I indicated and moved out to overtake a bus. “Evidently. Wish I knew why.”
“So, what will you do?”
“That’s something else I’m not sure about.”
“Well, you were right about Miller having a vengeful lover. I’m surprised Paul didn’t mention it before.”
“Paul would have dismissed him as an irrelevance as soon as he was off the scene. His ego doesn’t allow for competition.”
“So will you tell Slater? About this Miles character, I mean.”
“Not yet. Maybe not at all.”
“Charlie! I know you don’t like her but she is supposed to be one of the good guys.”
“That’s debatable.”
“You don’t seriously think she’s bent.”
“No, just incompetent. Anyway, I’ll wait until Paul sends me that picture and think about it a bit more first. Besides, if Garnet has a mole inside the force, then he’ll know what I pass on before Slater even has time to act on it.”
“That’s true.”
“If Garnet really is looking for Miller’s killer himself,” I said pensively, “then he’ll probably get to Miles first and beat the shit out of him, even if he’s got nothing to tell him.”
“Why would he care so much about getting the killer?”
“Dunno. Perhaps he’s worried that Miller was killed because of him.”
“Someone after papers pertaining to his business, do you mean?”
“I’m not sure what I mean yet.” I paused to mull it over. “Perhaps Garnet knew of his notebooks. If he did, he’ll know the police don’t have them and that will worry him. It would explain why he was so keen to know why I was in the building that day.”
“Be careful, Charlie,” she said, touching my arm. “He’s dangerous.”
“That’s why I said I’d think about his job offer. I got the impression that he wouldn’t take too kindly to being turned down.”
“No, I don’t suppose it happens to him very often. There’s something about him. Something creepy. Well, he made me shudder but the women there were all over him.”
“But not the men. Did you notice that?”
“Now that you come to mention it, they did seem a bit reserved.”
I told her about Katrina Simpson being Garnet’s goddaughter. “And he’s obviously very fond of her.”
“So he wants to punish Hal for not testifying on her behalf and get his claws into his business at the same time.”
“Yeah, it looks that way. And I do think he has designs on taking the team over.”
“He’s not hard up then? Well, he can’t be, seeing how much he’s spent doing that club up.”
“Oh, I don’t think that was him. In fact I’m sure it wasn’t. He got a syndicate of local businessmen to finance it. Half of them were there tonight, with their wives swanning about like they own the place, which they do in a way. I heard one or two snippets of conversation about it.”
“How did he manage that?”
I snorted. “Probably better not to ask.”
“If he wasn’t hard up, why did he stop paying Mrs. Kendall’s medical expenses?”
I’d been wondering that myself. “I’m not sure. My guess is that he wound up the company they were being paid from and simply forgot about transferring the payments to another account.” I shrugged. “Who was there to remind him? Cleo didn’t tell her dad that they’d stopped. She didn’t want to upset him so she just coughed up the money out of her savings.”
“Why would he close that account?”
“I don’t know that either but I suspect he moves things around whenever anyone shows too much interest in a particular
undertaking. My guess is that he has a whole raft of offshore accounts hidden behind shell corporations. Either that or he transfers his ill-gotten gains to his wife’s name.”
“I didn’t like Andrea Garnet at all.”
I chuckled. “No kidding.”
“Talk about mutton.” She shot me a reproving look. “Your standards are definitely slipping.”
“Hey, she’s a suspect.” I looked at her askance. “Whatever it takes.”
She pulled a face. “Not that, surely?”
“No, definitely not that.” I covered her hand with mine and gave it a gentle squeeze. “I’m a one-woman man nowadays.”
“Of course, how could I have forgotten?”
“Very easily, apparently.” I placed her hand on my thigh. “A reminder will shortly be forthcoming. You have been warned.”
She let out a soft, throaty laugh. “Warning duly noted.”
“What did you make of Paul? What did you two talk about?”
“Well, he has a lot of issues with you, but obviously you already know that. He was quite subdued but camped it up every so often because he enjoys the attention. But I got the impression his heart wasn’t really in it.” She turned toward me in the snug interior of her car. “I think he really is upset about Miller.”
“Yes, I think so too.”
Back at the marina, Kara changed out of her silly shoes and came with me when I took Gil for his constitutional.
“Charlie,” she said, slipping her hand into mine. “You didn’t tell me that you played the piano again when you were at Hal’s.”
“I was railroaded into it by Gloria and half a bloody symphony orchestra.”
“Paul told me about it. He was very scathing but I could tell that even he was impressed.”
“Is that supposed to make me feel all warm and fuzzy?”
“Don’t get all defensive.” She slipped our joined hands into my pocket. “Are you still helping Gavin develop his skill?”