Page 99 of The Killer’s Mark

‘Océane Blue was Vincent du Buk’s Red Chamber concubine,’ Gilliard said. ‘We believe that two years before her contract was due to finish, she found out it didn’t end with champagne and caviar after all. She killed du Buk and fled. We further believe she took whatever it was she saw that convinced her she was in mortal danger.’

‘Which is why the Red Chamber are also desperate to find her,’ Poe said. ‘Proof like that will put them away for life. Some of their clients too.’

‘Exactly.’

‘Did you know she was alive?’

‘No,’ Gilliard replied. ‘Until you started asking about her, we’d assumed the Red Chamber had caught up with her. But your photograph showed that not only was she alive, she was until recently living in England.’

‘OK,’ Poe said. ‘It seems we’ve stumbled into something much bigger than we’d thought. We’ll tell you everything we know.’

‘Including who hired you?’

The office door opened. Esmerée stomped in, flaky pastry all down her T-shirt. She was chewing a Greggs sausage roll the same way Edgar chewed a Greggs sausage roll. ‘These are sooooo freakin’ tasty,’ she said. ‘I must have eaten six of the suckers on my way back from the deli.’

‘No,’ Poe said. ‘I won’t be telling you who my client is.’

Chapter 82

‘These addictive-as-crack things should be illegal,’ Esmerée said, chewing noisily, her open mouth spraying bits of pastry everywhere. ‘Also, they should be called sausage flats because they certainly ain’t roll-shaped.’ She pulled one of the sausage rolls apart. Held it up so they could see it. ‘And what the hell is this pink gunk in the middle supposed to be? Because if it’s part of a pig, it ain’t a part you’re supposed to eat. Probably ears and assholes.’

‘Well now I want another one,’ Poe said.

They were in Highwood’s back kitchen, drinking tea and eating their Greggs straight from the bag. Estelle was with them. Bradshaw had stayed in Carlisle. She needed to talk to Alastor Locke. Review what the NCA’s ill-advised eavesdropping operation might have overheard. Edgar was scrabbling around on the slate floor, hoovering up shards of flaky pastry.

When Poe was satisfied that Gilliard and Susan had told them everything they knew about the Red Chamber, he’d told Gilliard he could go. Gilliard had asked if Poe could call off the MI5 dogs. He said that it had been a genuine mistake, had come from a good place, and he’d cooperated as much as he was able. Poe had said that Locke’s men weren’t on their way up from Manchester. It had been a ruse. Gilliard had stood up, angry, at which point Poe had explained that that had been the only ruse. Gilliard hadn’t been grifted. He had conducted electronic surveillance on an MI5 asset, Alastor Locke was who he’d claimed to be, and without Poe’s intervention, Gilliard would have been in deep doo-doo. Gilliard had left his card before leaving the building. Poe doubted he was leaving their lives.

Esmerée took another bite of her sausage roll. Grimaced. ‘And what gives with the way they serve it? The first one I ate was hotter than the goddam sun, the second one was colder than a whale’s butt.’

‘It’s a tax loophole,’ Poe said. ‘Because Greggs don’t keep their food hot, they don’t have to pay VAT. Means they can sell them cheaper. It was a whole thing a few a years ago. They called it the pasty tax.’

Esmerée yawned. ‘Sounds exciting.’

‘Wait until he tells you this a seventh time,’ Estelle said.

‘Ha-ha,’ Poe said. ‘But I will be calling them sausage flats from now on.’

‘Come on, off to bed,’ Estelle said. ‘You and Poe have had a bit of a day.’

‘You can say that again. We ambushed those feds, then I found out my mom isn’t my mom.’

‘Which Poe will get into first thing.’

‘Can I come with you to Cowie House tomorrow, Poe?’

‘You’ll have to,’ Estelle said. ‘I’m still doing restricted-access post-mortems.’

‘Cool.’

‘Do you want anything to drink?’ Poe said. ‘I can put the kettle on.’

‘Got milk?’

‘Yes,’ Estelle said. ‘We get it fresh from the dairy farm next door.’

‘Er … no. Got milk. It’s a saying.’

‘Not in this house it isn’t,’ Poe muttered after Esmerée had disappeared up the back stairs.