London Calling - James Craig [106]
Christ Almighty, Carlyle thought. Did everyone know all of his business? In real time? He proceeded with caution. ‘It was fine. I saw him earlier today. He was very helpful.’
‘That’s good.’
‘Yes. Thank you for introducing me the other day. It was very kind of you.’
‘My pleasure.’
Meaning: What are you going to do for me in return?
Carlyle ploughed on. ‘One thing I was wondering …’
‘Yes?’
‘How do you know him?’
‘Edgar?’ She seemed surprised by the question.
No, the bloody Queen of Sheba, he thought. ‘Yes.’
‘We go back a long way …’ He listened patiently to a pause, while she wondered whether what she said now might be significant. ‘I went to school with his wife Anastasia and his sister Sophia who is now Mrs Christian Holyrod.’
‘I see,’ said Carlyle. ‘Isn’t that all a bit, well, incestuous?’
‘Do you think?’ she asked. ‘It’s a very close social set, but that’s fairly common, I think.’
Carlyle tried a bit more fishing. ‘Mr Carlton is really quite impressive,’ he lied.
‘Oh, yes,’ she gushed. ‘I’ve known Edgar since I was eight or nine, and he really is a lovely man. Very charming and thoughtful.’
‘And Xavier?’ Carlyle asked.
‘Less of a charmer,’ she mused.
‘More impetuous?’
‘He’s more the kind of man to dominate you by force of will and the power of his emotions,’ she said, with a strange kind of relish. ‘He sweeps you off your feet.’
‘Is that a good thing?’
‘There’s a time and a place for both. Edgar’s the boss, of course, but I think they complement each other quite well.’
‘I can see what you mean.’
‘So how’s your investigation going?’
‘Nothing to report at the moment,’ replied Carlyle stiffly. ‘We are making progress.’
‘That’s a very straight bat you’re playing, Inspector.’
‘You wouldn’t really expect me to say anything different, though, would you?’
‘No,’ she laughed, ‘I wouldn’t. But you know that I want the exclusive when something big happens.’
‘Even if it’s a story that your friend Edgar wouldn’t like?’ Carlyle asked.
‘What?’ Her voice changed as the tone of the conversation went up a couple of gears. ‘Is Edgar a suspect?’
‘No, no,’ Carlyle said, hastily trying to backtrack. ‘But, inevitably, this case may throw up things that are embarrassing.’
‘Like what?’
‘Who knows?’ said Carlyle, trying to sound as casual as possible. ‘The investigation still has to run its course.’
‘Well, when it does, I definitely want a heads-up, whatever the outcome.’
‘I understand.’
‘You have to remember two things,’ she said primly. ‘A story is a story, so it will get out somehow, and, just as important, I am a journalist first and foremost. I don’t burn my contacts. Rule number one from journalism school is that you always protect your sources.’
It sounded a well-rehearsed spiel. ‘You went to journalism school?’ he asked.
There was a pause. ‘No … but I respect the rules of the game. Therefore I respect you.’ She sounded quite annoyed at having to spell it out for him.
‘I’ll bear all this in mind,’ said Carlyle, happy to get off the subject.
‘Jolly good,’ she said, recovering her brighter tone. ‘You’ve got my mobile number. Give me a ring. It’s always switched on.’
‘I bet it is,’ Carlyle said with a smile.
With no other distractions, he finally had to get on with things. First, he called Joe Szyszkowski and told him to find out whatever he could about Susy Ahl. Then, in a newly found spirit of openness and co-operation, he called Superintendent Simpson to let her know what the day had so far revealed. For once, Simpson was not ensconced in a meeting.
His update to her, while leaving out any reference to Dominic Silver, was comprehensive. ‘This woman Ahl,’ he concluded, ‘appears to be the link between Ashton then and the Merrion people now.’
‘Do you think she can explain it?’ Simpson asked.
‘You would have to hope so. She – or somebody else – has been carefully leading us down this path of inquiry. There has to be an explanation.’
‘Is she a suspect, then?’
‘Maybe,’ Carlyle said evasively. The reality was that he had no clue. ‘We have no