‘It can be,’ said Gerry. ‘Usually is. Anyway, the second person he spoke to that day was a fellow vinyl collector. There was some rare Japanese pressing of an early John Lennon LP on eBay, and they were discussing whether it was worth making an offer for it. The other chap — George Spalding, he’s called — said it was a pity neither of them would be able to afford it, but apparently Miller seemed to think he might be in with a chance if the price didn’t go too high. Spalding checks out. He lives in Splot and he’s got an alibi. It sounded legit to me, sir.’
‘Splot?’ said Winsome. ‘Where on earth is that?’
Gerry Masterson smiled. ‘Cardiff,’ she said. ‘Lovely-sounding place, isn’t it?’
‘And the third phone call?’ Banks asked.
‘Interesting. An estate agent called Keith Orville. I’ve talked to him, too, and it seems that Gavin Miller was interested in renting a small storefront in Coverton High Street. Apparently, he was thinking of opening a specialist vinyl record shop.’
‘Interesting, indeed,’ said Banks. ‘So here we have a man who’s so poor he can’t pay his mortgage or his utility bills, is suffering from malnutrition, and can only afford a night at the pub every two weeks or so, and two days before he dies he’s making appointments for expensive dental work, planning to bid for a pricey piece of vinyl on eBay, and inquiring about renting retail premises. Doesn’t that tell us something?’
‘Other than that he didn’t have any business sense?’ said Annie. ‘Well, let’s see. No money had been reported missing, so he couldn’t have just found it in the street, and he hadn’t withdrawn it from his bank account, so obviously he had come into, or was soon expecting to come into, some money.’
‘Right.’ Banks told them about Miller’s good mood in the Star & Garter the Friday before his death. ‘He hadn’t got it by then,’ he went on, ‘but he seemed certain enough of getting it, and he already had plans for using it. Which pretty much convinces me that the five thousand pounds he was carrying was definitely his, wherever it came from, whoever gave it to him, and that he was hardly likely to be giving it away. In fact, it seems to indicate that he had been given it at a meeting shortly before he was killed, either by the person who had given him it — who for some reason or other wasn’t able to take it back — or by someone who watched the meeting, or who knew about the transaction in advance, and planned to rob Miller afterwards. Again, he didn’t manage to get his hands on the five thousand pounds, either. I’ve thought and thought about that, and apart from the obvious — that the killer thought he heard someone approaching and ran off — I can think of only two other reasons offhand why the money was still in Gavin Miller’s pocket when his body was found some ten or eleven hours after his death. First, and most obvious, is that the killer didn’t know about it. And second, perhaps less obvious, is that the killer didn’t want it.’
‘What do you mean, sir?’ Winsome asked.
‘I mean, maybe money didn’t mean anything to the killer. Maybe that wasn’t what it was all about. Maybe the killer already had enough money. Maybe he could afford to leave five thousand pounds behind?’
‘Nobody ever has enough money, sir,’ said Winsome. ‘With all due respect, I don’t believe anyone would leave five thousand pounds behind just because he didn’t need it. Certainly not anyone capable of murder.’
‘Maybe you’re right,’ said Banks. ‘I’m only putting it forward as a vague possibility. Maybe he was worried it was marked with SmartWater or something? Anyway, I can’t think of any other reasons than those three. If one of you can, please let me know.’
‘I’ll tell you something else,’ said Annie. ‘If he was planning on getting his teeth fixed and renting a shop, he wouldn’t get much change out of five thousand pounds to bid for anything on eBay.’
‘That’s true,’ said Banks. ‘So perhaps it was only the first instalment?’
‘Blackmail?’
‘Possibly. All we know is that it meant a lot to Gavin Miller, even if we don’t know how he came by it. Meant enough for him to start making plans about turning his life around. Perhaps he had some valuable records to sell, to get the business started? Or could he simply have been selling drugs? Winsome? Is this all about a drug deal gone sour?’
‘It could have been,’ Winsome answered, ‘but we’ve no evidence of that. Apart from the cannabis and two LSD tablets he had at his cottage, clearly for personal consumption, I’ve not been able to get a lead on any other activities in that area. I spoke with the drugs squad earlier this afternoon. They’ve never heard of Gavin Miller.’
‘Still,’ said Banks, ‘they don’t know everything. Especially if he was just starting out.’
‘No, sir. But I think they’d know if he was dealing in any sort of quantity. Certainly five thousand pounds’ worth.’
‘Fair enough.’
‘Anyway, I’m still liaising with them, like you suggested, and right now they’re trying to track down anyone who might have sold him the stuff we found. Stefan’s given them an accurate chemical analysis, so they’ve got plenty to go on. I understand that many of these illegal substances have various tags or markers that can link them to certain batches and shipments. Anyway, because it’s not a great amount, just street level, and because Miller doesn’t appear to have travelled any further than Eastvale or Coverton in the past while, they think they should be able to get a lead on his local supplier soon enough. There aren’t that many in the area. If we lean on the supplier a bit, he should be able to tell us whether Miller was a player. Personally, though, I doubt it. I mean, look at the way he lived. If he was selling drugs, he certainly wasn’t making much money at it, was he? And how would he get around to meet his contacts? He didn’t even have a car.’
‘Good point,’ said Banks. ‘But maybe this was the first shipment? And maybe he wasn’t working alone? Keep at it.’
‘I don’t really know if this is worth mentioning,’ Annie said, ‘But Trevor Lomax at Eastvale College suggested that Miller’s murder could be part of a series. Watching too much telly, I said, but I thought it was worth an hour or two on the computer.’
‘And?’
‘Nothing so far. I’ve been checking national records for the past three years. No mysterious deaths under similar circumstances — victims thrown from high places — and no vinyl-collecting connections or anything as far as I can tell.’
‘So Lomax thought there was some homicidal Dead Head running around killing vinyl collectors?’
Annie smiled. ‘Something like that. I suppose it must be hard for him to accept that Miller killed himself, or that he was killed by someone close to him. He was a bit full of himself, but he’s the closest we’ve found to a friend of Miller’s so far, and he did give me a couple more names to check out.’
‘We know about Cooper,’ said Banks. ‘Who else did he mention?’
‘A woman called Dayle Snider, an old girlfriend of Miller’s.’
‘Excellent,’ said Banks. ‘Keep working the college angle. Talk to Cooper. Talk to the Snider woman. There could be something there. I’m far from convinced that we know all there is to know about this sexual misconduct business, too.’
‘It’s ludicrous,’ said Annie. ‘The word of two “gum-chewing airheads”, as Lomax put it. There has to be more to it.’