‘Except that Rupert died before he could finish what he was doing.’

‘Well, yes, and that obviously pissed him off big time which is, no doubt, why he came here and started threatening, though quite what he expected Naomi to give him is still something of a moot point.’

‘The journals and the ledger,’ Patrick said. ‘He must have known about them and what Rupert planned to do.’

Alec nodded. ‘You’re probably right. And his partner, this Reid fellow, he would probably be able to take care of the rest. Financial double-dealing seems to have been his speciality by all accounts.’

‘So,’ Naomi observed, ‘Rupert’s usefulness to Kinnear lasted only so long as he was transferring the money. After that … who knows? I can’t think that Kinnear would have had scruples about getting rid of him.’

‘How do you think he tracked Rupert down?’ Harry asked.

Alec shrugged. ‘Probably pure chance. He may have seen the newspaper clipping. Rupert had got greyer, but he hadn’t changed that much. Kinnear would have known him.’

‘Who do you think Elaine might be?’ Patrick asked.

‘That, I don’t know, but I think you and Harry are right and the E in the ledger is probably her.’ He frowned. ‘So, we need to think about our next move, I guess.’

‘And that is?’ Naomi wanted to know.

‘Tomorrow, we talk to Reg Fine, see if there’s anything we should know about Sharon Fielding. I agree with him that we need to use the media. I was against it before; I thought Kinnear would run and we’d never get to the bottom of things, but now we know what he was after I think there’s too much at stake for him to do that. And we need to flush him out, shock him into making a move.’

‘Not sure I like the sound of that,’ Harry said.

‘No more than I, but I don’t see as we have a choice. Then, we try and track down the flat in London. My dad gave me what he remembered as the address, but I’ll make some calls. Don’t worry, Naomi, I think I’m more use here than trekking off south again. I might rope in Billy Pierce seeing as how his retirement is chafing on him.’

‘Is that wise? He’s not a young man, is he?’

Alec recalled the way Pierce had towered over him, the firm handshake and square shoulders. ‘I don’t think he’s ready for the scrap heap, either. He’ll be careful.’

‘And what about this Elaine?’

Alec shrugged. ‘We keep trawling through Rupe’s notes; see if she comes up anywhere else. And we see what else we can find on the laptop. He’s got to have buried it for a reason.’

‘OK, so that’s the morning taken care of?’ Naomi joked. ‘And after that?’

‘Oh, we’ll think of something for the afternoon,’ Alec told her. ‘I might even take another nap.’

Patrick had said little during this later exchange and it was Naomi that noticed. ‘Patrick?’ she asked. ‘Something up?’

‘I’m not exactly sure,’ he said. ‘Dad and I agreed earlier that it was funny Kinnear hadn’t done anything since he attacked Alec. It’s almost like he thinks he’s got another way of getting to what he wants. I mean, I know we’ve had new locks put on and everything, but he could easily have broken in again if he thought we’d found the books. He must think we’re still searching.’

‘You’re implying someone could tell him otherwise,’ Alec said.

Patrick nodded. ‘I think if he thought for one minute we’d found the ledger and the books he’d do whatever he had to get them. I think he’s got a way of knowing. Or he thinks he does.’

‘Well, none of us would tell him,’ Harry objected. ‘He could threaten us, of course,’ he said anxiously. ‘Which is why, Patrick, I think you were so unwise last night.’

‘First he would have to be convinced we had what he wanted,’ Alec soothed. ‘No point in trying to extract information from anyone if they don’t have it to give. No, I think Patrick has a point. He’s holding back, giving us time to unearth what he’s looking for, relying on us being thorough and …’

‘Us telling Marcus Prescott when we’ve found it,’ Patrick finished.

Twenty-Six

Reg Fine welcomed them into the poky little office he shared with two other officers. ‘Good to see you both. Alec, how are you?’

‘Better, thanks. The bruises are now an interesting shade of green.’

Fine laughed. ‘So, what can I do you for? Sit yourselves down. Alec, grab a chair from behind that desk. Bristow’s in court so he won’t be needing it.’

Alec wheeled out a battered office chair from behind another desk, seated Naomi and found a wooden one that looked as if it had come out of an ancient school room for himself.

‘So, what do you have to tell me?’

‘First,’ Alec said, ‘I think we should up the publicity here. See if we can flush Kinnear.’

‘Oh? And what changed your mind?’

‘We now know what he was looking for at Fallowfields. He won’t run until he has it and, frankly, we’d rather have control of the situation than let Kinnear get impatient and do something we might not like.’

Fine nodded. ‘Seems to be making a habit out of that,’ he said. ‘So what did you find? What was Kinnear so desperate to get?’

‘Money,’ Alec told him. ‘Or rather, the means of recovering it.’

‘And what money would that be?’

‘The proceeds of two robberies,’ Alec told him. ‘From back in the early eighties.’

Fine raised an eyebrow. ‘And the connection with your uncle would be?’

‘We suspect Rupert might have been driving the getaway vehicle,’ Alec said.

Fine raised an eyebrow. ‘Well,’ he said. ‘You’ve got my attention. Tell me more.’

Quickly, but as concisely as possible, Alec filled in the details of the crimes and the part he suspected his uncle might have played.

‘You’re serious?’ Fine said at last. ‘You really think this Billy Pierce may have it right and your uncle was involved?’

Alec nodded reluctantly. ‘It fits the known facts,’ he said. ‘Believe me, I’d love to be proved wrong but in the absence of something disproving his involvement … Rupert was a clever man but he wasn’t always a wise one and I suspect ex-DI Pierce was right.’

‘Sam Spade,’ Fine laughed harshly. ‘I like that. But Alec, have you thought this through? Two men died. One an innocent bystander. Do you really think your uncle could have lived with that? Could he have just carried on as normal all these years? I didn’t know him, but the impression I’ve gained from those that did was that he was a good man. An honest one.’

‘That’s the one thing that causes us to doubt,’ Naomi agreed, ‘but, as Alec says, we have to work with what we’ve found out.’

‘But you’re only hypothesizing about the so-called code you’ve found in the journals. It might be completely unrelated.’

‘Of course it might,’ Alec agreed. ‘It might even be something Rupert used to throw Kinnear off the trail, but it seems to me that Kinnear believed that Rupe still had the money and from the look of the ledger Harry’s been working on, Rupert was drawing money back through the antiques business, effectively laundering it for Kinnear. There are purchases mentioned that he’s paid one price for and declared another. Items sold for a different rate according to which records you examine. Money diverted. Though we don’t yet know where. And when we compared this to the stuff his solicitor gave me, details to do with the house and his business and his ordinary accounts, you can’t but help see the difference.’

‘You’re pretty sure that the house and business are clean then. I mean, apart from his recent activities.’

‘Pretty sure, yes. It would need a forensic accountant to go back through the books.’

‘Well, I hope you’ve got deep pockets,’ Fine said. ‘They don’t come cheap.’

‘I was wondering, ‘Alec said. ‘If this became an official investigation …’

Fine threw up his hands in a gesture somewhere between horror and denial. ‘Alec, you’ve got to be joshing with me. There’s not enough evidence to warrant those kinds of resources. Bring me Kinnear, bring me a direct link to your uncle and something might be done, but as it is, no hope.’