Something in the Water(79)

He’s grinning at me now.

“You naughty girl. It’s always the quiet ones, ain’t it! I tell you what, it’s fucking hard to surprise me, love, but I didn’t see that one coming. Sounds like a quality problem you’ve got there, Erin, sweetheart. How many stones we talking and what kind?” Eddie’s enjoying himself. He’s back in the game.

“Around two hundred, diamonds, all cut, all flawless, all two carat.” I keep my voice low but I know from his demeanor that there’s no one listening.

“Fucking hell! Where the fuck did you get those?” His voice echoes out of the archway and down the corridor. I really hope no one’s there or I’m so fucked.

He’s looking at me differently now. He’s impressed. A million is a million. But then again a million’s not what it used to be.

“Ha!” He laughs. “I’m not usually wrong about people. But every day’s a school day, aye? Very nice. Yes, Erin, sweetheart, I can help you out with your little problem. Got a numbered account?”

I nod.

He laughs again, delighted.

“Of course you fucking ’ave. Brilliant. You’re a find, Erin, sweetheart, you’re a bloody find. Right, you’ll get a call next week. Do what he tells you. He’ll sort you out; I’ll have a word. All right?” He’s beaming at me. I’m glad it’s gone this way, but it is all slightly disconcerting. And all so easy. I’m not really sure how it happened.

And now there’s my end of the deal to keep.

“I can pop around to visit your daughter next week. I’ll call Charlotte this afternoon, arrange a meeting.” I know she’ll accept. I haven’t told Eddie but we’ve already spoken briefly. She seems nice.

“You got her number? Address?” His bravado is gone. He sounds like an old man again, scared and hopeful.

“Yes, I got it from your info. I’ll have a proper chat with her.”

Suddenly another thought occurs. It’s so simple but I think it’ll do the job nicely.

“Eddie, here’s a thought. Why don’t I turn the camera back on and you can record a message for Lottie? I’ll edit it off the rest of the interview and she can watch it when I meet with her. I think that would make a big difference. Hearing it directly from you. I know it would to me. If it was my father, you know?” It’s worth a shot. He’ll say it better than I would, that’s for sure.

He thinks, drumming his fingers lightly on the table. Then he nods.

“Yeah, you’re right, let’s do that.” He’s nervous. Bless him, he’s actually nervous.

“Okay. I’m going to turn the camera back on now, Eddie. Is that all right?”

He nods, sorts his sweatshirt out, sits up, leans in.

I stop, my finger poised over the record button. “Eddie, can I just check one last thing? You haven’t been leaving messages on my home phone, have you?”

“No, love. Not me.”

Well, that solves that.

“Oh, okay. Never mind. Right, ready when you are, Eddie.”

I turn the camera on.



* * *



—

When I get home I tell Mark what I’ve done. The deal I’ve made for us. I know what should be coming; I brace myself for it. I know what I’ve done is insane, I know it’s dangerous, but I trust Eddie, I just do. And now that I know he’s not the one calling us and leaving messages, he doesn’t seem half so threatening.

But it doesn’t come. Mark doesn’t shout even though I can see he wants to. He stays calm. He lays it out.

“I know you were just thinking on the spot, and you took your chance while you could, but that’s when people make mistakes, Erin. If anyone sees this transaction happening…If this Holli thing comes to anything, aren’t the intelligence services going to try to find as much CCTV of you as they can? We just need to be more careful. Sure, if this contact Eddie gives us works out, it’s fantastic. But if not, there’s no recourse if they rob us. There’s no getting out of it if DCI Foster is watching and sees any of this.”

He’s not saying anything I haven’t already thought through myself. “But, if Eddie’s contact robs us, then we’re no worse off, are we? If you want us to get rid of the diamonds, to just throw them out, then at least this way we stand a chance of making something from them? Right?”

He’s silent. When he speaks again, his tone is grim. “Erin, Eddie’s contact could kill you.”

“I know that, Mark, but do you really think that I would have made this deal with someone I genuinely believed would kill me? Give me some credit, please!”

He sighs. “You’re not necessarily the best judge of character, honey. You do tend to see the best in people, which isn’t always a good thing. I’m just saying we need to be far more careful than you are being. If the police managed to find footage of Holli in some tiny village in Turkey, then they can definitely manage zone one of London. You need to be more careful, honey. They’ll see the bank payments into your account from the Swiss account after Holli’s missing, they’ll see you in Hatton Garden trying to sell diamonds. And then the next week you’re back talking to more criminals? For all they know, meeting contacts, paying people off to recruit, maybe, who knows? It won’t look great.”