“Yes,” I said. “And to play in online casinos. I found some MoneyHome receipts that show Herb collected large amounts of cash during the week before he died. I believe that cash was to pay off some of the credit card debts.”
“And are you telling me this has something to do with why he was killed?”
“Not necessarily,” I said. “I have no idea why he was killed. I thought that was your job.”
He didn’t rise to my bait. There was just silence from his end.
“I’ve been trying to cancel the credit cards,” I said finally, “but they all need an original death certificate. Can you get me some? I’ll need at least twenty-two.”
“No death certificate has been issued as yet,” he said. “All unnatural deaths are subject to an inquest, and that would usually follow any criminal trial. The death certificate would be issued only after the inquest was complete.”
“But that will be months, if not years, away,” I said with a degree of exasperation. “There must be some official piece of paper that shows that he’s dead. I need something to show the damn credit card companies.”
“As his executor, you can apply for probate before the death certificate is issued.”
“How?” I said. “I’ve got nothing to show he’s even dead.”
“The inquest was opened and adjourned last Tuesday,” he said. “The Liverpool Coroner will issue you with a letter. I’ll arrange it.”
“Thank you.”
“So where can I find Mr. Kovak’s sister?” the chief inspector asked.
“At his flat, I think. She was there on Friday afternoon.”
“Right,” he said. “Does she know her brother was murdered?”
“Yes,” I said. “I told her.”
“Good. I’ll be in touch so she can make an official identification.” Poor girl, I thought. “Anything else?”
“Yes,” I said. “Have you any idea who killed him?”
“Not as yet,” he said.
“Any leads at all?”
“No. None. The gunman seems to have disappeared completely.”
At least he was honest.
“How about the note I found in Herb’s coat pocket?” I asked.
“Nothing to go on,” he said. “The paper was just common copy paper available from any stationer or office supply store, and the only discernible fingerprints were either yours or Mr. Kovak’s.”
“How could you tell?” I asked.
“We checked yours against the sample set you gave me, and I arranged for Mr. Kovak’s to be taken from his body.”
I wished I hadn’t asked.
“So where do you go from here?”
“I think I had better take another look at those lists,” he said. “And I want to see those MoneyHome receipts. I’ll arrange to have them collected from your office.”
“I may not be in the office this week,” I said. “Can you collect them from my home?” I thought for a moment. “In fact, I have two receipts here but the three from last week are still at Herb’s flat.”
“I may need to go and see Mr. Kovak’s sister. I’ll call you back later when I know my movements.”
“Sherri,” I said.
“What?”
“Sherri,” I repeated. “Sherri Kovak. Herb’s sister. They were twins.”
“Oh,” he said.
Somehow, being twins made it worse.
Claudia and I went out to dinner at Luigi’s, a local Italian restaurant, and managed to spend the whole meal talking without once mentioning the “C” word.
We both skirted around it on purpose, like a game, but it did mean we discussed all sorts of other things, many of which we had bottled up over the past couple of weeks.
“My mother sends her love,” I said.
“Oh thanks,” Claudia replied. “How is she?”
I wanted to say she was in need of grandchildren, but I didn’t. My mother would have to take her chances on Tuesday with the surgeon’s knife, like the rest of us.
“Fine,” I said. “She loves her little cottage, and she’s been busy with the local village historical society.”
“Perhaps we can go down and see her together,” Claudia said. “After.”
After the operation, she meant.
“I’d better call Jan Setter in the morning and tell her we won’t be able to make the opening night on Wednesday.”
“You go on your own,” Claudia said. “You’ll enjoy it.”
Sitting next to Jan in a theater all evening, with her hands wandering all over me in the darkness? No thanks.
“No,” I said. “I’ll tell her that neither of us will be there.”
Claudia smiled at me. I knew it was what she really wanted.
“It saved me buying a new dress anyway.”
We laughed.
That was the closest we came all evening to discussing her surgery, and presently I paid the bill and took my girl home to bed.
She had to go into the hospital the following evening, ready for the procedure on the Tuesday morning. Hence our lovemaking was passionate and full-on, as if we both realized that this might be our last time together with Claudia as a fertile woman.
11
At nine a.m. sharp on Monday morning I called Patrick in the office.
“Am I forgiven yet?” I asked him.
“Gregory’s not here today,” he replied. “He’s been away for the weekend and isn’t back until tomorrow afternoon or Wednesday. I think it best if you stay away a while longer.”
I wasn’t going to argue. Not having to be in the office over the next couple of days suited me very well.
“Can I now use the remote-access facility?” I asked. “Just to check that I’m not missing something that should be done today.”
The system allowed us to attach reminder notices to client files-for example, to alert us to a maturing bond or a rights issue so that we didn’t miss an opportunity to invest the client’s money most favorably.
“Of course,” Patrick replied.
Things had clearly mellowed over the weekend.
“So shall I plan on being in again on Wednesday?” I asked.
“Thursday might be better,” Patrick said, seemingly a little undecided. “I’ll speak to Gregory over lunch on Wednesday.”
“Thursday it is, then,” I said. “Unless I hear from you sooner.”
“Right.” Patrick seemed rather distracted. “There is a bit of a backlog with both you and Herb not being here. Diana and Rory will just have to cover everything until Thursday. I’ll ask them to stay late.”
I smiled. I bet Rory wouldn’t like that. There was no extra money for doing overtime in our job.
Detective Chief Inspector Tomlinson had called on Sunday evening to say he was traveling down from Liverpool and to ask if could I meet him at Herb Kovak’s flat at eleven the following morning. Yes, I’d said, I could.
In the end, both Claudia and I went over to Hendon together in the Mercedes because she didn’t want to be left alone, and I was delighted to have her with me.
The policeman was there ahead of us, and he had been interviewing poor Sherri Kovak, who clearly was distressed by the experience. Her eyes were red from crying, and she looked pale and drawn. Claudia went immediately over and put her arm around Sherri’s shoulders, even before they were introduced, taking her off into the kitchen.
“Thank you for coming,” the chief inspector said to me, shaking my hand. “I’m sorry but I seem to have rather upset Miss Kovak.”
“How?” I asked.
“I told her that I needed her to come back with me to Liverpool to carry out a formal identification of the body.”
I nodded. “I feared you might. You would think it wouldn’t be necessary to put people through such emotional trauma.” Especially, I thought, as one of the bullets that had killed him had entered through his face.
“I’m afraid the law takes little notice of people’s feelings.”
“And you should know,” I said.
“Yes,” he said, looking me in the eye. “I certainly do.”
Claudia came back out into the hallway, and I introduced her properly to Detective Chief Inspector Tomlinson.