‘He’s brought Elizabeth with him,’ says Ron, sitting down again.
‘Will you tell her?’ Jason asks.
‘Course,’ says Ron. ‘Course. She’ll work it out anyway.’
‘How was it seeing Connie Johnson again?’ Jason asks.
Ron shrugs. ‘The mood I’m in she can try and kill me and see where it gets her.’
‘Looked like she’d been crying to me,’ says Jason.
‘I doubt it,’ says Ron.
Bogdan pushes the door open and walks in with Elizabeth behind him. He motions to her.
‘Sorry,’ he says. ‘She wouldn’t let me leave without her. I really tried everything.’
‘He really did,’ agrees Elizabeth. ‘It was very moving.’
Ron waves this away. ‘It’s Elizabeth. Nothing you can do about it.’
‘So the boys are having a little summit,’ says Elizabeth, taking a seat. ‘No doubt something that Joyce and I would be too delicate for?’
‘It’s Suzi,’ says Ron.
‘Ah,’ says Elizabeth.
‘So you can keep being flippant if you want. Or you can sit down and listen and not judge.’
Elizabeth nods. ‘I can sit down and listen, certainly.’
‘Suzi’s husband has been beating her,’ says Ron.
‘I’m sorry, Ron,’ says Elizabeth. And she is. She doesn’t need to say anything more.
Ron waves it away, however. Sympathy is too much for him to bear just now. ‘She pulled a gun on him. He’s off on his heels somewhere, and just tried to have Jason killed.’
Elizabeth nods. ‘And you, Jason and Bogdan are the cavalry? You’re going to teach him a lesson?’
‘That’s the idea,’ says Ron.
‘Get him before he gets me,’ says Jason.
‘What do you need Bogdan for?’
‘Driving,’ says Ron. ‘Nothing more.’
‘Should I?’ Bogdan asks Elizabeth.
Ron knows full well that Elizabeth will say no.
‘Of course,’ says Elizabeth. ‘You must help.’
Elizabeth is not only sorry; she is angry. Ron can handle that more easily.
‘Don’t tell Donna about Bogdan,’ says Ron.
‘Don’t tell a police officer you’re planning to kill someone?’ says Elizabeth. ‘You boys have really thought everything through.’
‘We’re not going to be dissuaded,’ says Ron. ‘Don’t try.’
‘Wouldn’t dream of it,’ says Elizabeth. ‘You go right ahead. Perhaps they’ll put you all in the same prison? That would make it easier to visit.’
‘No one’s going to prison,’ says Jason.
Elizabeth nods, reassured. ‘I wonder if anyone who ever said that before actually did end up in prison? Surely not.’
‘Elizabeth, you understand revenge as well as anyone.’
‘Can it wait until we’ve solved Holly’s murder?’
‘Somebody shot at me and Kendrick less than two hours ago,’ says Jason.
‘So, no,’ says Ron. ‘The case can wait.’
Elizabeth looks at the three men and takes to her feet again. ‘I shall leave you to it.’
‘Really?’ says Ron. ‘You’re going to leave it to us?’
‘Really,’ says Elizabeth. ‘I trust the three of you to do the right thing, and I want to hear no more about it. Let me know when it’s done. I would ask you to send my love to Suzi, but I suspect she would prefer that I never heard about the whole affair. I will ask one favour though.’
Here we go, thinks Ron. This is where Elizabeth tells him what to do. Tells him he’s being a fool, that he’s letting his male pride and anger get the better of him. Report Danny to the police, let them deal with him.
‘Ron, whatever you do, don’t let Bogdan get shot or arrested,’ says Elizabeth. ‘And, Bogdan, whatever you do, don’t let Ron get shot or arrested. That’s all I ask.’
‘And me?’ says Jason.
‘You’re your own man, Jason,’ says Elizabeth.
‘So am I,’ says Bogdan.
Elizabeth pats him gently on the shoulder and walks to the door. As she opens it, she finds herself face-to-face with Connie Johnson.
‘Goodness, they’re out in force today,’ says Elizabeth.
Connie curtsies to Elizabeth, then looks around her to the three men in the flat.
‘Ibrahim told me about your daughter, Ron,’ she says. ‘I wonder if you had room for one more in your little gang?’
‘God help us all,’ says Elizabeth, and shuts the door on her way out.
‘Okay,’ says Ron. ‘Jason, Bogdan, Connie. Let’s talk.’
52
‘Up and coming area,’ says the estate agent. ‘Couldn’t give these away a few years ago.’
There must be a shop, Joanna thinks, where estate agents buy their suits.
‘But there’s the overspill now,’ says the estate agent. ‘People priced out of the Peckham Triangle, so they come here. Good buses, was near the primary school till that burned down, there’re trees a couple of streets down.’
Joanna and Paul had had a long discussion about whether to sell Paul’s old flat or rent it out. Paul doesn’t believe in the landlord economy and no amount of Joanna’s spreadsheets about the financial benefits of letting it out could persuade him otherwise. The yield that man was willingly turning down took Joanna’s breath away. So they’re selling.
‘I see it has a bathroom,’ says the estate agent. ‘That’s a bonus.’
Joanna hears a phone ring. Must be Paul’s landline. She’d rung it a few times when they’d started dating. Paul and her mum were the only two people Joanna knew who still had a landline.
‘Okay,’ says the estate agent, walking into the bedroom. ‘So this is where the magic happens.’
Joanna decides to excuse herself and answer the call.
‘Yes,’ she says. It’ll be a cold caller, but anything to give her a couple of minutes’ respite.
‘Is that Mr Paul Brett to whom I’m speaking?’ a voice asks.
‘This is his wife,’ says Joanna. Is that the first time she’s ever uttered that sentence?
‘Thank you for the clarification,’ says the voice. ‘My name is Jeremy Jenkins. Would you like me to spell that for you?’
‘Spell Jeremy Jenkins?’ Joanna asks. ‘No, I think I’m okay.’
‘Very good,’ says Jeremy Jenkins. ‘I wonder, upon receipt of this call, if you might ask Mr Brett to contact me at his soonest convenience. It’s quite an unusual matter.’
‘May I ask what the matter is regarding?’ It’s certainly the first time she’s ever uttered that sentence. There’s something about talking to solicitors.
‘I have a package for a Mr Nicholas Silver,’ says Jeremy. ‘To be opened upon the death of a Holly Lewis, which, I regret to inform you, should you not already have prior knowledge of the matter, has recently occurred. Would that ring any bells?’
‘Yes, both friends of Paul,’ says Joanna. ‘Friends of my husband.’
‘I have been trying to reach Mr Silver by telephone,’ says Jeremy. ‘But with no success, despite best efforts. I thought Mr Brett might be able to point me in the right direction.’
‘May I ask how you got this number?’
‘Of course,’ says Jeremy. ‘I have Holly Lewis’s number, which I was to ring in the event of Mr Silver’s death, and I have Mr Silver’s number, which I was to ring, as discussed, in the event of Ms Lewis’s death, which, as aforementioned, appears to have occurred. And I have a third number, this number, which I am to ring should both Ms Lewis and Mr Silver be indisposed. I am sorry to ring it, but, in the present absence of Nicholas Silver, I felt it was my only option.’
‘I see,’ says Joanna. ‘And, hypothetically, if Nick Silver were to be deceased, what action would you need to take?’
‘Well, I very much hope that isn’t the case,’ says Jeremy. ‘But, were it to be so, both envelopes would become the property of Paul Brett.’