Page 86 of The Killer’s Mark

‘I don’t think he is, sir,’ Susan said. ‘DCI Flynn told me to take him seriously.’

‘Really?’ Gotobed said. ‘This man? The idiot who burped the national anthem?’

The room went silent. Gotobed flushed.

‘I meant—’

‘We know what you meant, moron,’ Esmerée said. ‘Go to Bed Early ain’t that bright, is he?’

‘All I meant was—’

‘I think I’ll stop you right there, mate,’ Poe said. He reached under his desk. Lifted up a box and plonked it on the table. ‘Ta-da.’

‘What’s that?’ Gilliard asked.

‘You know exactly what it is, Chief Inspector. It’s a G-LEM 5674 high-performance camera unit and battery. We found it in the loft a couple of hours ago. I left the cameras and cables up there.’ He picked up his mug and rattled it. ‘And these bits of electrical bullshit are the listening devices we found in the office.’

Gilliard paled. ‘They’re not ours.’

‘OK, then you won’t mind if I do this,’ Poe said. He picked up the G-LEM 5674 and held it above his head. ‘I wonder if it bounces. Tilly tells me there are only sixteen of these and they’re very expensive.’

‘You wouldn’t dare!’

Bradshaw closed her eyes. Winced. ‘I wish you hadn’t said that.’

Poe didn’t hesitate. He slammed the unit on the floor. It shattered. Bits of plastic shot off like shrapnel.

Esmerée pumped the air with her fist. ‘USA! USA!’

Poe looked at the mess by his feet. ‘Nope, turns out it doesn’t bounce.’

‘What have you done?!’ Gilliard shrieked.

‘I thought it was obvious, mate. I’ve smashed the fancy machine that was spying on us. Anyway, what do you care? You said it wasn’t yours.’

Gilliard clutched his chest like he was Basil Fawlty faking a heart attack. He sat down heavily, pointed at Susan and said, ‘Rearrest that bastard for criminal damage.’

‘I don’t think so,’ Poe said. ‘It’s about time I explained just how much trouble you’re in. And if you think the loss of this expensive piece of nonsense is the worst thing that’s going to happen to you today, you haven’t been paying attention.’

Chapter 71

Gilliard hadn’t risen to the rank of chief inspector without being able to think on his feet.

‘OK, you’ve caught us,’ he said. ‘That was our equipment. So what? We’re not cowboys in Organised Crime Command. The electronic surveillance was authorised.’ He paused. Added, a bit less convincingly, ‘And equipment does get broken. It’s not the end of the world. All you’ve achieved is getting me a slap on the wrist.’

‘Who told you about the Red Chamber, Poe?’ Susan asked.

Gilliard glared at her.

‘Sorry, boss, but they know we’ve been listening to them. They know that we know they know about the Red Chamber.’

‘I met a couple of them in Newcastle,’ Poe replied. ‘It’s how they introduced themselves.’

She smiled politely. ‘Really? How very careless of them.’

‘I thought so.’

She waited him out. Knew he was lying. Poe didn’t care. He had no intention of giving up Xiang and Chao. The guys from the Szechuan Palace had taken a big enough risk as it was. Instead of filling the silence with noise, he said, ‘Who applied for the warrant?’