‘Would it inspire you?’ he says.
His assistant laughs, standing and gathering the letters to take to the postbox. ‘Not really. I can’t sing.’
Rhys opens his wallet to pull out a tenner, then recklessly pushes twenty into her palm. ‘Everyone can sing.’
She looks up at him through her eyelashes, deliberately provocative. ‘Maybe you could teach me some time?’ Before Rhys can answer she’s halfway down the stairs.
He catches up with her in time to open the front door in an act of chivalry, his free hand resting briefly on her arm. ‘It would be a pleasure to teach you,’ he murmurs. He feels a stirring in his groin and parks it – parks her – for another time. He has never really looked at her before – not like that – but now he lets his eyes run over her curves and wonders what they might look like, out of those jeans.
A white van is coming up the drive, and Rhys is just about to close the door when it stops and Huw Ellis jumps out. ‘Still got the use of your hands, then?’
‘What?’
‘You seem to be having trouble answering your phone, so I thought I’d pop over and check you weren’t incapacitated.’ Huw walks towards Rhys. ‘Where’s my money?’
‘I’ll get it to you. It’s just a bit tied up. Offshore accounts, you know?’
‘I want it today.’
‘I can’t get that sort of money today, don’t be absurd.’
Huw takes a step forward, and then another, till he’s so close Rhys can smell his aftershave. ‘Pay me what I’m owed, Lloyd. I’ve still got the keys to this place, remember.’ His eyes rove across the lodges. ‘Be a shame if anything happened to it, wouldn’t it?’
He gives a slow smile, then turns his gaze back to Rhys.
‘Or to you.’
TWENTY-SEVEN
JANUARY 6TH | LEO
‘What the fuck,’ Crouch says, each word carefully enunciated, ‘were you thinking?’
Leo stares at a spot just to the right of the DI’s head. ‘It’s a time-critical situation, sir. Yasmin Lloyd’s in custody and we can only hold her for a few more hours. If she planted an envelope with ricin amongst her husband’s mail, we—’
‘If?’ Crouch’s face is bright red as he bangs on the desk. ‘If, if, if. For fuck’s sake, Brady, you’re supposed to be a detective. Where was the evidence for spanking my forensics budget?’
‘The pathologist said—’
‘Ah, but it wasn’t the pathologist, was it?’ Flecks of white appear at the corners of Crouch’s mouth. ‘The CSI plays golf with Izzy Weaver, as it happens, and she checked with her after you called. Weaver was somewhat surprised to hear that speculative tests were being run to show any kind of poison in Lloyd’s system. Do you know why?’
‘No, sir.’
‘Because she didn’t order any speculative tests!’
Leo is relieved that Ffion is with Yasmin in custody, and isn’t here to witness his dressing-down from Crouch, who shows no sign of letting Leo off the hook.
‘Elijah Fox has been suspended.’
‘But he was using his initiative!’
‘He’s been stealing equipment from the mortuary. Turns out he’s set up some hokey lab in his bedsit to test out antidotes to poisons. Cross-contamination all over the place.’ Crouch glares at Leo. ‘Your ricin theory hasn’t only wasted hundreds of pounds of my budget, it’s taken up precious hours of Yasmin Lloyd’s custody clock. Now get her bailed, before it runs out entirely.’
‘But—’
‘Now!’
Two hours later, Leo is still smarting from Crouch’s words. The worst of it is that Leo knew he shouldn’t have taken Elijah’s theory as gospel; that he should have consulted first with Izzy and then with Crouch. Leo had let himself be goaded into proving to Ffion that he wasn’t Crouch’s whipping boy. That worked out well, he thinks, as he pulls into The Shore; Ffion beside him and Yasmin Lloyd in the back seat. None of them has spoken a word since leaving custody.
‘What will happen now?’ Yasmin says, as they pull up at The Shore.
‘When you answer bail in three weeks’ time,’ Ffion says, ‘you’ll either be charged, released, or re-bailed. In the meantime, don’t discuss the case with anyone.’
Yasmin nods and gets out of the car, glancing towards the other lodges to see if anyone is looking. There are dark circles under her eyes, and the pervasive smell of custody has followed her home.