Over My Dead Body (Detective William Warwick #4)(61)

‘Then we’ll have to return when he least expects us,’ said William.

‘When you do, please keep me in the loop,’ said Sanchez. ‘Because Faulkner is someone I’d like to meet.’

Ross smiled, but didn’t comment. The Spanish equivalent of turning a blind eye.

‘But until then,’ said Sanchez, ‘there’s not much more we can do today, so I may as well drive you back to the airport?’

William turned to see that Ross had dropped to his knees, and was carefully examining the bottom left-hand corner of the iron door. ‘Anything of interest?’ he asked.

‘Nothing, sir,’ replied Ross, getting slowly to his feet.

The ‘sir’ told William that Ross had spotted something he didn’t want to share with Sanchez.

Ross and William followed the lieutenant out of the room. Half-way down along the corridor, William paused to take a closer look at The Flute Player hanging on the wall and frowned.

‘Something special about that one, chief?’ asked Ross.

‘I’m afraid so. My wife’s not going to be pleased when I tell her she can cross it off her list.’

? ? ?

Faulkner put down the phone in his basement study, satisfied that his Spanish lawyer would have dealt with the immediate problem, and it wouldn’t be too long before the police were sent packing. But how long would it be before they came back in even greater numbers?

He flicked open the cover of his private phone book and leafed through the pages until he reached the Rs, only hoping the number wasn’t out of date. Miles sat back in his chair and rehearsed exactly what he was going to say, before he picked up the phone and dialled the number.

The ringing tone continued for some time before the phone was eventually picked up and a voice said, ‘Who’s this?’

‘Miles Faulkner. You may not remember me, but …’

‘Mr Faulkner. How could I forget? To what do I owe this unexpected pleasure?’

‘Who am I speaking to?’

‘This is the head of the family.’

‘I want to pass on a message to your son, Terry.’

‘I’m all ears, Mr Faulkner.’

‘I need him to do a job for me.’

‘Understood. But first we have to agree on a price.’

‘What’s the going rate?’

‘Depends on how high-profile they are.’

‘The wife of a police officer.’

‘That won’t come cheap, Mr Faulkner.’

‘How much?’

‘Shall we say ten grand?’

‘Fine,’ said Faulkner, accepting that this wasn’t a time to bargain.

‘How will I be paid?’

‘Ex-Superintendent Bruce Lamont will deliver the cash to you tomorrow morning.’

‘He certainly knows where to find us,’ said the voice. ‘Now all I need is a name.’

? ? ?

‘On balance, I preferred Faulkner’s private jet,’ said Ross, as they took their seats in the back row of economy.

‘This was the only flight available,’ said William, ‘and frankly, we were lucky to get two seats at the last moment.’

‘So where are Mr Benmore and Mr Posgate, dare I ask?’

‘Sitting up front in first class, along with Christ and four fishermen.’

‘Well, if we end up landing in the Channel,’ said Ross, ‘at least one of us will be able to walk on water.’

William waited for the plane to take off and reach its cruising height before he opened his notebook. ‘What did you pick up that I missed?’ he asked.

‘We’d need a transatlantic flight to cover that,’ said Ross, ‘so you’d better go first.’

‘Let’s start with the butler’s telephone conversation in the study,’ said William, ignoring the demob-happy jibe. ‘I’m pretty sure he was speaking to Faulkner.’

‘What makes you think that?’

‘When he picked up the phone, he knew exactly who was on the other end of the line.’

‘How can you be so sure?’

‘He said “Yes sir” twice, and finished with “of course, sir”,’ said William, checking his notes. ‘The whole thing sounded to me like a well-rehearsed script prepared for that particular situation.’

‘Speculation,’ said Ross. ‘You’d need something more solid than that to convince a jury.’

‘All right. When Faulkner’s lawyer phoned a few minutes later, it was the usual double ringtone you’d expect from an outside line, but the first time, it was just a single ring, so it had to be an internal call.’

‘Not bad, but what did the butler purposely give away that I saw you make a note of?’

‘Sartona. He obviously wanted me to think it’s Faulkner’s new alias, but I doubt it will be the name on his passport when he decides the time has come to make a break for it.’

‘Well done, choirboy, but I’m about to trump your ace.’

William couldn’t help smiling at the thought that Ross was one of the few people on the force who still dared to call him choirboy – to his face. He closed his notebook, sat back and listened.

‘While you were having a kip in the van and I was chasing Faulkner down the corridor, he slowed down to look at his watch. What criminal, I asked myself, checks the time when he’s being chased by a copper? When he touched the watch, the face lit up.’