Page 79 of The Killer’s Mark

‘He is a spy, Poe,’ Bradshaw said. ‘The clue’s in the name. But although this kind of unit can only be purchased by the security services, they can be signed out by any agency that can demonstrate a need.’

‘Like the police?’

Bradshaw nodded. ‘The Metropolitan Police have used them.’

‘Anyone else?’

‘Most law enforcement agencies in the UK have signed them out at some point. The security service owns sixteen, so there are always some not being used.’

‘My money’s still on Locke. It’s the kind of thing that sneaky arsehole would do.’ He took a sip of his Spun Gold. ‘Excuse my language, Tilly.’

‘Hey, why didn’t you apologise to me as well, asshole?’ Esmerée said.

‘Because you swear more than Matt Towler.’

They thought about that.

‘Well, OK, maybe not quite as much as Matt,’ Poe admitted.

‘Alastor Locke wouldn’t spy on me, Poe,’ Bradshaw said. ‘And he certainly wouldn’t spy on you. Not unless he wanted to listen to you rating every variety of Cumberland sausage in the county. I also heard you burping the national anthem the other day when you were bored. Don’t think I didn’t, mister.’

Esmerée spat out her Diet Coke. Bradshaw whipped away her laptop and put it back in her bag.

‘You didn’t tell Estelle that, did you?’ Poe said.

Bradshaw didn’t answer.

‘Great. No wonder she asked how I wanted to celebrate the king’s birthday.’ He shook his head. Tried to clear it. ‘I think Alastor Locke would spy on you, Tilly. You’re his prize asset.’

‘He also knows I wouldn’t stand for it. If I found out he’d been invading my privacy like that, I would never work for him again.’

Poe believed her. Which left law enforcement. One branch in particular immediately sprang to mind.

‘It’s the NCA, isn’t it? They’re the ones watching us.’

‘Yes, Poe,’ Bradshaw said. ‘That would be my guess.’

‘It would explain why they were at Mark Buckby’s murder so quickly. And why they let me go. They knew I wasn’t involved.’

‘This is really bad, Poe. We’ve been withholding information. We know things about a murder that we should have shared with the police. We could all go to prison.’

‘I ain’t going to no skanky-ass prison,’ Esmerée said. ‘I’m only fifteen.’

‘And Alastor Locke wouldn’t dare send me to prison,’ Bradshaw said.

‘Ha-ha, looks like the music’s stopped and Poe’s the only one without a chair,’ Esmerée said. ‘Enjoy the communal showers. I’ll write you.’

‘It’s “I’ll write to you”, Esmerée,’ Poe said. He grinned at Bradshaw. ‘Anyway, you’ve got this back to front, Tilly. This isn’t a bad thing; it’s a good thing.’

‘It is?’

He nodded. ‘But first we need a rehearsal.’

Chapter 66

Kai Jin was in trouble.

This was nothing new. He’d been in trouble ever since his gambling debts had got out of hand. His mother had warned him that the odds were always in the Forty-Fours’ favour. That they didn’t run illegal mah-jong games as a community service. They ran them to make money and to trap people. They liked it when people couldn’t pay their debts. It was why they were so happy extending credit.