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"And the fire?" Singh said. "That is your restaurant, isn't it?"
"It is," I agreed. "Or it was anyway."
"So your restaurant catches fire on the same night that you may or may not have a gas leak in another one of your properties," Singh said slowly. "That sounds like an interesting coincidence to me."
I shrugged. "I guess that's your job to figure out if it was a coincidence or not. I'm not going to go around setting fire to my own restaurant, am I? It's not like I need the insurance money."
"You might have some other motive," she said. "You know anything about the disappearance of Jefferson Haigwood?" She was obviously trying to catch me off guard by the sudden change of topic. I was tired, but I wasn’t going to be caught out that easily.
It was good to know some of the killings I ordered actually took place.
I cocked my head at them. "The owner of the Lair? I wasn't aware he had disappeared." That was true, it wasn't a disappearance. On the other hand, I actuallyhaddisappeared and apparently that went unnoticed by these assholes. They had their priorities inside out.
"He has," Singh said. "Hasn't been seen for about two weeks. You don't know anything about that, though, I suppose?"
"Not a thing," I said. I hadn't asked Jake or Cooper for any details, so it wasn't a lie. Not exactly. "Are you trying to accuse me of something?"
"Not at all," Singh said lightly.
Bullshit.
"It just seems coincidental that Silas Wheeler went missing, then Jefferson Haigwood. You get caught up in an explosion, then an apparent gas leak and now a restaurant fire." She gave me a hard look.
"If you're going to continue this line of conversation, we should continue in the presence of my lawyers," I said coldly. She was obviously trying to get a reaction out of me. Mentioning lawyerswasa reaction, but the words were out now and I couldn't take them back. "Shouldn't you be down at my restaurant investigating the fire?"
"That's not our department," Gilbert said.
I had forgotten he was there until he spoke. Now I turned my gaze on him, I saw him mentally peeling off my dressing gown. He probably assumed I was naked underneath. I wanted to mentally peel off his skin and feed the rest of him to the wolves. Yeah, we don’t always throw bodies in the harbour.
"What is your department?" I asked. "Harassing citizens in the middle of the night? Maybe you two triggered off the sensors?" Stranger things had been known to happen.
Gilbert chuckled. "It's not the kind of harassing I'd like to do in the middle of the night."
Singh and I both gave him twin looks of disgust.
"I think it's time you both left," I said. "If you have something to say, come back in the morning." Or better yet, don't come back at all.
Singh actually had the grace to look apologetic. Only for Gilbert. I saw on her face she was still certain I was up to something.
"I'd like to speak to your employee first," she said. She nodded towards Cooper. "He looked nervous when I mentioned Haigwood."
Cooper gaped at her, but had the sense to keep his mouth shut. His eyes flicked to me, obviously seeking guidance.
"His uncle disappeared, then Haigwood. You think the two are connected," I pointed out. "What are the chances whoever is behind this will come after him? That would scare anyone."
Cooper’s eyes widened as if that was an actual possibility.
"Perhaps he can tell us," Singh said. "We'd like to talk to you. Away from her." She jerked her head towards me.
Cooper gaped again. "I—I guess so." He glanced at me.
I nodded.
Singh clearly thought I was giving him permission to talk to them. She thought I was arrogant, because the police didn't need my permission to speak to someone, but here I was, giving it.
Only I wasn’t.
I was giving him permission to kill them. I preferred he not do it alone, but that couldn't be helped. I should have made up some shit about Hutton being our lawyer, or something, but it was too late for that.
