‘Do you think they were involved, the two of them?’
‘Romantically? I doubt it very much. We know that Mia’s inclinations are towards women. Though I suppose she might be bi. Either way, I don’t really see Randall as her type, money or no.’
‘I meant criminally.’
‘It’s possible. The one covering for the other? There could be blackmail involved, too. Certainly the kind of business Mia is in invites it. We think Randall is lying, but we can’t prove it, or place him with Sarah Chen. Mia may know something about that. Maybe we should go over his house with a fine-tooth comb, see if we can find any evidence of Sarah’s having been there? He’s smart enough to clean up, but even the smartest people often miss something. I know Ken’s forensics people are still working on trying to coax evidence out of stuff they collected at the bothy. We should be able to get a search warrant for Randall’s property.’
‘What about the others?’ Annie asked. ‘Mia said Adrienne and Sarah weren’t the only girls she fixed up with sugar daddies.’
‘I imagine we can get some more names out of her if we try hard enough, but I’m not sure it’ll give us much help in solving this mystery. The solicitor, Liversedge, was on Hadfield’s contacts list, and there are plenty of others, but that doesn’t mean Mia serviced them all. Besides, even if she did, they’ve probably got nothing to do with our case, or cases. We’re not on some moral crusade.’
Annie pushed her plate to one side and looked at her watch. ‘Should we be heading home soon?’
‘I think so,’ he said. ‘Let’s have a coffee first.’
They chatted over their coffees for a while, mostly about Zelda, Ray and Keane, and Banks showed Annie the photo Zelda had sent him. Then they walked out on to the road, which was busy with traffic heading out of town, double-decker buses carrying city workers home to Weetwood and Lawnswood, or even as far as Bramhope, Pool and Otley. It was still early evening, dry, and the pavements were crowded with groups of students heading from pub to pub.
As they were heading towards Banks’s car, parked in a side street nearby, his mobile rang. It was Blackstone calling from Elland Road.
‘Just heard from our man,’ he said. ‘Randall’s on the move.’
‘Is he following?’
‘Yes. Are you still around?’
‘We’re still in Headingley,’ Banks said. ‘We’ll stay put until you have some idea of his destination.’
‘He’s heading your way,’ Blackstone said. ‘Driving down Otley Road towards Headingley.’
It was about an hour later and still raining when Zelda spotted Hawkins come out of the café opposite. He was with someone, and they were saying goodnight, shaking hands. She couldn’t get a good look at the other man as he had his back turned to her. She snapped a couple of discreet shots through the window with her phone before she dashed off the rest of her second vodka and tonic, fastened up her coat and walked towards the door.
That was when she noticed someone else join the two men. A woman this time. Zelda stayed in the shadow of the pub doorway. From what she could tell through the rain and the layers of clothing, the woman was young and attractive. After shaking Hawkins’s hand, she turned to the other man and the moment he half-turned towards her, Zelda could see from his profile that it was Keane. She snapped a couple more photos, keeping her phone in her hand at hip level and just hoping she had it pointed the right way.
The woman linked her arm in Keane’s and they set off towards Oxford Street. Hawkins headed in the other direction, towards Shaftesbury Avenue.
Coloured neons reflected on the pavements. Zelda kept her head down and her hands in her pockets and went after Keane and the woman as they continued along Dean Street past the Pizza Express and Pierre Victoire opposite the building site. There were still plenty of people around, despite the rain, mostly coming and going from the Tesco Metro. It didn’t matter if Keane saw her — as far as she knew, he didn’t know who she was — but she hung back because it wouldn’t do to let them know that someone — anyone — was following them.
Then she was dazzled by the bright lights of Oxford Street, their usual brilliance augmented by the seasonal display. The pavements were crowded with tourists and shoppers. Keane and the woman turned left and walked along slowly, huddled together, stopping now and then to glance in shop windows and exchange a few words. Zelda cursed to herself. They were going bloody shopping.
She had hoped she might be able to follow them on the tube to Keane’s current home, or at least the woman’s, but God only knew how long they would be, or where they would go next. She trailed along for a while, then they turned left at Oxford Circus down Regent Street, still checking out the shop windows, and before she knew it, they jumped into a taxi. She probably had more than enough time to flag one down herself, but the thought of having to tell the driver to ‘follow that cab’ just didn’t sit right. He probably wouldn’t do it, anyway; surely that only happened in movies?
She realised as the taxi edged its way into the Regent Street traffic and merged into a whole fleet of London taxis that she had more than enough to think about, and now that she knew there was a link between Hawkins and Keane, and that Keane apparently had a girlfriend here in London, it ought to be enough for Banks to go on.
Besides, she was tired out, soaked through and fed up. It was time to head back to her hotel for that long hot shower.
15
Banks and Annie soon found themselves back in the tree-lined lane of stone mansions at an intersection about a hundred yards from Mia’s flat. A light breeze had sprung up, and the high bare branches trembled against the moonlit sky, casting shadows everywhere. Dry leaves skittered across the pavement and rough road surface. The air smelled of woodsmoke and wet dogs.
Blackstone and DC Musgrave were standing with DC Collier, who had been tasked with watching Randall’s house.
‘What happened?’ Banks asked.
‘Randall went into Mia Carney’s building, sir,’ said DC Collier.
‘How did he know where she lived?’ Annie asked.
‘She brought Randall and Sarah Chen together. Who knows? Maybe she invited them all over to a soirée.’
‘Makes as much sense as anything in this case,’ said Blackstone. ‘Besides, it doesn’t really matter at the moment, does it? The question is, what do we do about it?’
‘Did Mia let him in?’ Banks asked DC Collier.
‘Hard to tell, sir. The front door was open, so he didn’t need to ring the bell. After that... I don’t know. Should I have gone after him?’
‘No, lad,’ said Blackstone patting DC Collier’s arm. ‘You did the right thing. We’ll take it from here.’ He looked at Banks. ‘So what’s the plan?’
‘Why don’t Annie and I go see what’s happening? Confront them. Unless you’d—’
‘No,’ said Blackstone. ‘Too many cooks. Besides, it was your case from the start, and you’ve talked to her before. You’re familiar with the terrain. DCs Collier and Musgrave and I will take positions at the front and back exits, in case we’re needed.’
‘Thanks, Ken,’ said Banks. ‘Let’s hope you won’t be.’
‘Me, too. Good luck.’
Banks and Annie walked along the lane towards the large house. It looked sinister against the night sky, with its gothic gables and turrets, roof slates reflecting a hint of moonlight. Banks could see the lights on in Mia’s flat and one on the ground floor. Her living room was large enough to have two windows facing the street, and both were dimly lit, with the curtains open, just as they had been when Banks and Annie had visited earlier. Banks could see the edges of some of the paintings on the walls.
‘What do you think?’ Annie asked.