‘Now, Szulu,’ Ragga continued quietly, ‘here’s what we do. The debt what you owe me? It’s done. Paid, right?’ Szulu nodded, too relieved to speak, and Ragga continued: ‘So now you’re gonna get out of this car and walk away from here. You ain’t gonna look back, an’ you’re gonna forget you ever saw this car or that woman. They never existed.’
‘What about the rental place? They’ll remember me.’ Szulu couldn’t give two tits for the rental place, he was so relieved at this turn of events. But pride wouldn’t let him show he wasn’t completely cool with it and thinking carefully, like a professional.
‘Tell ‘em it got boosted by some fuckin’ joy-riders. It happens all the time, right? We live in a lawless world, everyone know that. Anyway, it’ll turn up again soon, once we’ve given it the valet treatment.’ He tittered again, enjoying his own private joke. ‘Now go.’
Szulu got out of the car, hardly able to believe his luck. As he did so, he was careful to slide the envelope Lottie Grossman had given him under his jacket. It was plain that Lottie wasn’t going to be needing it, not where she was going. He almost felt sorry for her then, but shook it off. She’d wanted two others dead, so what right did she have to special consideration? He turned and walked past the Land Cruiser at the back, where he could see Lottie Grossman slumped in one corner, eyes closed. Neither of the men inside gave him so much as a glance.
He was fifty yards down the street when he heard all three cars move away.
He kept walking and didn’t look back.
Chapter 29
A new man was on duty the front desk of the office building in Harrow. He was younger than Nobby and dressed in a grey suit, and had a tired, bored look about him, as if he really didn’t want to be there.
Riley walked up to the desk with an air of confidence she didn’t feel, aware that she could be under scrutiny if the police were watching for anyone showing an undue interest in the sixth floor. There was no sign of them outside, and whatever equipment the forensics team had been using had gone, but that didn’t mean they weren’t still around.
She checked her hair in the reflection of the glass. Clipped back as tight as she could manage, so that it made her face thinner, and minimal makeup, she was reasonably certain that neither Michael nor Radnor would recognise her if they saw her. It had only been a brief encounter before, but she didn’t want to take any chances.
The man barely looked up, pushing the visitor’s book and a pen across the desk for her to sign, followed by a badge. Riley signed in and picked up the badge, receiving a grunt in return and a cursory nod towards the lifts.
The same receptionist was behind the counter of Stairwell Management’s offices, wearing the same hi-tech headpiece. But she seemed much less sure of herself. Her eyes showed signs of redness around the rims, and widened when she recognised Riley through the glass security door, in spite of the change Riley had made to her hair. Even so, she reached down and pressed a buzzer to spring the locks.
‘You were here,’ she said flatly, as soon as Riley entered. ‘Seeing Doug. With that bloke.’ Her face was stony, although Riley couldn’t decide if it was out of grief, shock or suspicion. Either way, if she was going to call the police, she was taking her time.
‘That’s right,’ she admitted lightly, allowing her own eyes to widen in sympathy. ‘My colleague had some papers to serve on Mr Gillivray. I’m sorry, by the way, about what happened. I only just heard. Are you family?’
The woman looked startled by the question. ‘You what? Whatever gave you that idea?’
‘Sorry. My mistake. I’m Riley, by the way.’
‘Vicky. Why do you ask?’
‘Just interested. What do the police think about Mr Gillivray’s death?’
Vicky shrugged. ‘No idea. They don’t tell me anything. As for the rest of them… ‘ She shook her head and looked at Riley with a small frown. ‘So what do you want, then? You haven’t come to serve some more papers on him, have you? You can’t sue the dead.’
‘No, it’s not that. But my firm is wondering who might have killed him.’
‘Why?’
‘Call it unfinished business. Your boss was going to be a prominent part of a big court case we were preparing. We’d already been working on it for several weeks.’ She shrugged. ‘Without him, the case probably won’t happen. But before I give up on it altogether, I’d like to know who would benefit.’
The girl’s eyes widened. ‘You mean-?’
‘I can’t say anything more, but I’m sure you know what I’m driving at.’ She gave a conspiratorial smile and leaned closer. ‘My boss said I should drop it and put it down to experience, but I hate being beaten, you know? I know what they’re thinking, of course. They think because I’m a mere girlie, I can’t ask simple questions in case I break my nails. Chauvinist bastards.’
Vicky showed a flicker of sympathy. ‘Tell me about it. You should try working for this lot. Only I don’t see how I can help-’
‘Was there anyone you can think of who didn’t like him?’
‘Take your pick,’ Vicky muttered quietly. ‘The little prick had more enemies than I’ve got shoes — and that’s saying something.’ She pulled a face. ‘And don’t say I shouldn’t speak ill of the dead; that’s the best time to do it, my dad says. That way they can’t get in your face about it.’
‘I think your dad’s right.’ Riley was surprised. She’d come here half expecting a volley of abuse and accusations, and had got quite the opposite reaction. Evidently the late Mr Gillivray wasn’t universally popular, even among his colleagues.
‘He was a slime-ball,’ Vicky continued calmly. ‘He tried it on with me every time he was in, it didn’t matter who was here. Thought he was God’s gift, which he wasn’t. The way he talked, he was getting it on with half the women in north London. I’m not surprised someone had it in for him. It was probably someone’s husband or boyfriend. Most of the time he could shout them down.’ She gave a sour smile. ‘But not this time, eh? Still, that was Doug. He was loud and he was a bully, and he didn’t care who knew it. It was the way he was. He’d had more papers served on him than anyone I know, so it wasn’t as if another set was going to hurt. He just liked to create, that was all, so we’d all notice what a bad little sod he was.’ She shrugged. ‘Sad, more like. Look where it got him.’
‘So he had a lot of enemies?’
‘Hundreds, I should think. One or two of them came in here, threatening to tear the place down. But only those who knew him. He never left much of a trail.’
‘So you knew what he was up to?’
‘Not really. I only work this desk, I don’t get taken into anyone’s confidence. But it was obvious he wasn’t the full shilling, by the phone calls and letters — and, like I say, the visitors.’
‘Any serious ones?’
Vicky tilted her head. ‘Heavies, you mean? Yes, a couple. But he always managed to buy them off. At least, he always put in an appearance the next day, so I suppose that’s what happened. He was quite a charmer when he wanted to be.’
‘Not this time, though,’ Riley suggested. ‘What have his colleagues said about it?’
‘Not a thing.’ Vicky looked pained. ‘They shut me out of it and told me not to say a word to anyone, or I’d lose my job.’ She gave a half smile. ‘Except there’s no-one in today, so I don’t give a toss.’ She looked as if the triumph, small as it was, was one to be relished.
‘How about the rest of the building? Did Doug ever argue with anyone?’
‘No.’ The shake of the head was emphatic. ‘He hardly spoke to anyone outside this office. It’s not like he socialised much, either.’ She leaned back and chewed her lip. ‘Mind you, he went ape-shit when someone hit his car in the car park. It was the same day he died. One of the other tenants came up and told him about it. It was his pride and joy. I suppose I’d have been angry, too. I’ve had two prangs recently, and they cost me a bloody fortune.’