The Dirty Game

by Solomon Carter

  “Look, this isn’t about what you did back in the nineties,” she said.

  “Good. Because I paid my dues, and now I’m doing my probation scheme to get back into society. I left all that crap behind me, so please let me get on… I know why you’re here, I think. This is to do with that prostitute murder the other day. The body on the beach? I swear I had nothing to do with that. The evidence will back me up when it comes…” Balfour’s face changed and he looked at them both more analytically.

  “What are you anyway? You’re not cops and you’re not from probation or anything like that…”

  “We’re private detectives,” said Eva.

  “Straight up? Just like in the movies?” said Balfour.

  “Kind of. But nothing like the movies. Grow up. This is Southend, not Los Angeles for a start,” said Dan.

  “I know that. But what are you involved in this for? No one can be paying you to chase up a dead slapper. They’re all dying anyway one way or another. AIDS. Hep C. Heroin and Crack. One way or another, they’re all on their last legs. This one just went quicker, that’s all. Who’s paying you?”

  Dan stepped in close to Balfour’s face. “I don’t like your attitude, Balfour. You don’t sound a very reformed character to me. You sound like the kind of demented bastard who doesn’t value the life of an innocent person. Once a killer, always a killer.”

  “Dan. Back off, please,” said Eva.

  “Listen to the woman,” said Balfour. Dan shifted and Balfour dusted himself down and rearranged his coat. “I can’t have any trouble. Those tossers will stitch me up. They’d stitch up their own mothers, look at them.”

  Eva pressed on. “This is important, John. If you didn’t do it, we need your insight into finding the person who did. Laura Gosling was trying to leave the game behind and Dan was helping her. If you know anything that could help us at all, you would tell us, wouldn’t you?”

  “Of course,” Balfour said, with an earnest nod. Then he followed up with a quick change of tack. “But I don’t know anything. I’m fresh out of nick, and I mean to stay clear of it for good. It wasn’t me, so now kindly take your questions and piss off. Go on, do one.” He was posturing for the other men on the project. They looked over and grinned.

  “You tell ‘em, John,” called one.

  “Mr Balfour. We need your help. Just a clue as to the kind of person who would have done this?” said Eva,

  “I’ll give you a clue, sweetheart. It wasn’t me.”

  Eva’s eyes narrowed with disdain.

  “It was him, Eva, look at him. He’s a sicko,” said Dan.

  Balfour shook his head and lowered his voice. “Rhiannon Calderwood. She was a good screw. I used to go and see her once, sometimes twice a week. Good with her mouth too, if you catch my drift. But she was a moody bitch if she hadn’t had her gear. I even got into trying it with her because I liked her. I wanted to see why she was into the scag so much, and then I tried the crack, because the scag made me ill. Badly ill. But after that she started seeing me as her go to man for crack money. But I wasn’t that man. I was a trick, and when she started losing it because that was all I wanted to be, and she wouldn’t leave it alone. Instead of doing what I paid her for, she got argumentative. She’d stop midway through while we were doing the job and hit me or scratched me. Later we did some more crack together, just for a laugh. And I stayed round. The next day she was a total psycho, her face all twisted and moody, but I thought she was joking. I couldn’t read her at all. The trouble was we were both on a come down from a big session, and both really angry. We were strung out. I got so sick of her bloody evil looking face. She kept on and on and on, and I just wanted her to shut up. In the end, I made her shut up. I needed a break. I just meant to keep her quiet, that was all. But I lost it and picked up a knife. I hacked and hacked at her until she stopped her bloody noise. But she stopped, didn’t she?”

  Dan was shaking. “You did it, didn’t you? You bastard, you did it?”

  “No. I only killed Rhiannon. She deserved it. And I don’t regret it. I regret prison, that’s all. I don’t know who topped this other slapper, but my guess is that she probably deserved it too. Like I said, ultimately they’re all going the same way. Now, are we done here?”

  “You are,” said Dan. He stepped forward and got ready to swipe at Balfour, but Eva stepped in at the last second and almost caught the blow herself. Dan stopped his fist just before it landed on Eva and his wild eyes turned to apology.

  “Come on. Let’s go,” she said. They walked out of the yard with Dan slowly taking the lead.

  “And don’t come back,” said Balfour.

  “It’s him,” said Dan quietly as they left the yard. “And if the police don’t fix him, I’ll deal with him myself.”

  There was nothing Eva could add to change Dan’s mind. Besides, there was a chance he was right. But, to get the police involved before Dan did something they’d regret, she needed to find something on Balfour fast.

  Six

  Dan knew Eva’s game. The moment she asked him to come to Rendon to help her out with the missing money caper it was clear. She wanted him on a short leash so he wouldn’t do anything rash to John Balfour while she wasn’t looking. The idea was very tempting, of course. Eva was doing this for two reasons. The first was easy to guess. She didn’t want him causing any more trouble and hurting Balfour would cause a ton of it. And the second reason was their rekindled affair. Things were good, and even if circumstances were trying to ruin them with Laura’s murder, Dan was committed to playing his part in their new relationship. But he’d blocked out just how boring these damn paper-chases were. He stood in an office nodding as he looked around the big green room with the expanse of empty olive carpet and the desks pressed to the walls. He looked back at the frenetic old man standing before him, Jim Greer, and realised he had forgotten what he was nodding for, so abruptly stopped it. Eva was looking at him too, perturbed by his obvious boredom. In spite of his commitment to their joint cause, Dan couldn’t shake the feeling that the Alabaster case was eating into the serious business of finding Laura’s killer… and proving it was Balfour. This little time drain had to be dealt with quickly. Laura shouldn’t have died. But, as she was gone, Dan was going to ensure she hadn’t died in vain.

  “What do you make of it, Mr Bradley?” Said Jim Greer.

  Dan tried to look thoughtful. “What do I think about it?” the repetition technique bought him a few seconds. “I think one of these desk jockeys here is leeching your firm. The plan is to leech it enough that you don’t panic, but to take enough that it benefits an individual.”

  “Leeching?”

  “Yeah, you know. Sucking your blood, but not enough to kill you,” said Dan. He felt Eva’s eyes on him, and decided not to engage, as there was a 93 per cent chance that her eyes were full of disapproval.

  “An interesting analogy. What’s your specialism in this partnership, Mr Bradley?”

  Dan paused and shrugged. “Intuition and dealing with the unexpected.”

  Jim Greer seemed stumped for once. Dan saw she was blushing. He’d said something which had actually embarrassed her. Dan should have been offended, but seeing Eva struggle like that on account of his words brought a stifled smirk to his face.

  “Yes, well,” said Greer. “Did you learn anything about the files?”

  “Yes, we did.” Eva lowered her voice. “The files were not accessed remotely. Someone is accessing the files here in this office late in the night. They are using a generic password. We tried to locate who originated the password, but that wasn’t possible. All we know is that someone created that password here in this office in the late afternoon, around 4pm, six weeks ago. Then at night someone has been creating the anomalies on your accounting files, and they’ve been ‘losing’ sums on your spreadsheets identical to the sums taken from the account. They’ve been trying to disguise the theft using the spreadsheet changes as a misdirection, but it was bound to fail because the misdir
ection draws attention to itself.”

  “It certainly did for me, Miss Roberts. But are you sure about the times and the access? How can it be happening in here?”

  Dan jumped in, itching to stay involved. Staying involved meant less boredom. “Because one of these people who you know so well decided to start giving themselves a bonus. It could be one of them, it could be all of them, who knows,” said Dan, without lowering his voice. Bruno looked over his telephone handset at Dan. Susan gazed up from her keyboard. Pretty much all of them had heard what Dan said about them. This time Eva didn’t blush, she just looked irritated.

  “But we don’t think it was more than one or two people. Probably just one. A sum like seventeen thousand is enough to buy a good car or more likely, pay off a sizeable debt to someone in a hurry. But between two or more people, it doesn’t buy a lot, does it?”

  Jim Greer looked thoughtful and nodded. “It just can’t be any of these lot. Look at them. They’ve been doing this work for decades, most of them. Why would they start mucking around now? It doesn’t make any sense.”

  “It makes sense for one of them. It doesn’t make sense to us -we don’t know their motivations yet, or what’s changed in their lives, but we can find out,” said Eva. “There are other things too. I’ll need to speak to the building manager. If the thief is coming in at night, we can look at CCTV recordings to help us. It might be as simple as watching a few hours of video then we can identify the culprit.”

  “Now that would be nice and tidy, wouldn’t it?” said the old man with a gleeful rub of his hands. “The not knowing is unpleasant. You find yourself doubting the very people you’ve worked with all your life. I don’t want that anymore, not here.”

  “I’d like to talk to a couple of these people, if you don’t mind,” said Dan.

  “I’ve talked to them, Dan…” said Eva.

  Jim Greer gave Dan a nod of acquiescence and Dan was off. He took a seat opposite Susan’s desk, and the big woman stopped her typing and shifted in her chair to face him. “I already spoke to your colleague,” she said.

  “But you haven’t spoken to me, have you?”

  “No. I haven’t. Shall we speak elsewhere?” said the woman.

  “Why bother? You haven’t got anything to hide.” Dan looked around at Eva. She was opening a file on a desk in front of the old man, slipping papers from it to show him, but Dan felt her watching from the corner of her eye.

  “Then what do you want to know?”

  “I want to know who’s robbing this place blind. Which one of you is doing it, because let’s be honest. It’s one of you.”

  The woman’s mouth hung open and then she looked around the room.

  “That’s right. One of these boys – or you – is milking the company for a bundle of money, and we know staff are involved. So, who is it?”

  The woman turned back to face him. “That’s a horrible accusation. How am I supposed to answer that?”

  “By being honest. Your first answer is usually the best one, by the way.”

  The woman leaned forward. “I… don’t… know…”

  Dan saw the venom in her eyes. Dan whispered: “You see, I’m sorry if I’ve offended your moral sensibilities, Madam, but someone has just killed a good friend of mine, so I don’t want to waste my time or yours. Frankly, I want to find out which maggot is stealing so we can squash them and get on.”

  The woman withdrew her face from Dan’s proximity. She was pale.

  “You just think on it a while, and then tell us what you know, okay? Enjoy the rest of your day,” said Dan, standing and walking toward Bruno’s desk. The olive skinned man had been watching him. His eyes followed Dan the whole way. Bruno put his phone in the cradle as Dan sat down in the chair opposite his desk.

  “What the hell did you say to Susan?” said Bruno. Dan saw Bruno thought he was important. The photographs arrayed around his desk conveyed other statements. He had travelled well. He liked good food. He owned an expensive Audi. His wife had once been very good looking. His children had grown up and gone to university. These photographs were all just messages about Bruno’s status pressed behind glass. Dan wasn’t impressed in the least.

  “I told her what I’m going to tell you, big man. One of you people here in this office is taking money from this company. They are biting the hand that feeds them and they are breaking the trust of all their colleagues. This person is a turd. Now. I want you to tell me who you think did this and I’d like you to have clear reasons for your suggestion. That’s not what I said to Susan word for word, but it’s pretty close.”

  “What are you? Some kind of tough guy bully? Am I supposed to be shaking in my shoes?” said Bruno.

  “Not really. But I’ve got something to tell you, big man. You know all the stuff you put on your hair? If you’re the one stealing, take my advice. Smuggle some of that hair crap into prison with you. Use it as lubricant and it’ll save you plenty of discomfort. Thanks for your time. Let us know when you want to talk, okay?” Dan walked back into the centre of the room towards Eva and Jim Greer. Bruno started shouting.

  “Jim. Jim! Get this bastard out of here! Out now! He’s making threats to the staff!”

  Eva and the old man shared a glance, then looked at Dan. He held up his hands. “I’m just making them aware of the gravity of the situation. If we find some helpful information, that’s the cherry on the cake.”

  Greer made Eva and Dan wait in the boardroom for five minutes. They stood spurning the meeting table. Dan looked out of the window at Rendon railway station below. Eva paced the room and spoke occasionally.

  “We need this case Dan. The business needs it. I brought you here to help, for God’s sake.”

  Dan made affirmative noises. He didn’t want to argue. The door opened. Jim Greer’s blue bespectacled eyes looked serious, his face redder than the alcoholic on his staff.

  “Now look here, Miss Roberts. I can’t have your partner coming in here and wrecking what little team spirit we’ve got left. They’re in a right state in there, and I’ve known them for years. I don’t want them under the cosh. I just want to wheedle out who is doing this and then deal with it. Your Mr Bradley here has just swung a bloody sledgehammer from what I’ve been told, and I won’t stand for it, do you hear?”

  “Of course I hear, Mr Greer,” said Dan.

  “But does he hear, Miss Roberts?”

  “Oh he hears, you, Mr Greer. Dan hears you loud and clear, don’t you Dan?”

  Dan nodded. “Yeah, loud and clear.”

  “Good. Because while you’re listening, you can hear this too. I wanted discretion, but there’s nothing discrete about this man’s approach. Nothing at all. I don’t want Mr Bradley back in my office… is that understood? If Bradley comes back, we’ll tear up the contract and hire another agency. Are we clear?”

  Eva nodded. “We’re clear, Mr Greer.”

  “Very good, Miss Roberts,” said the old man, his tone softening immediately. “And do please call me Jim.”

  The old man left the room looking lighter because he’d transferred his red face and heaviness straight to Eva.

  “Dan! I want this case. We need it.”

  “I know. I’m sorry…” said Dan, his words trailing off.

  “That’s it. I can’t use you here anymore.”

  “It’s probably for the best, Eva. I seem to be damaging your credibility and cramping your style.”

  “No, Dan. You’re blowing at people because you’re on a short fuse yet again. You’ve got to stop it Dan. It won’t help you or anyone else.”

  Eva was right. But until Laura’s killer was dealt with, he knew his stress wouldn’t disappear. Until Laura was avenged, he would have to leave Alabaster in Eva’s hands. If he didn’t, he was worried he’d destroy Eva’s plan for breathing life back into the business. That couldn’t happen. If he wrecked her business, maybe their relationship would fall apart too. He had to deal with Laura and Balfour as soon as possible so he didn’t co
ntinue to damage any other part of their lives.

  Seven

  They sat in the black leather cabin of Eva’s Alfa Romeo, their eyes on the street. They were quiet, co-existing in a strange peace. Dan had almost blown the Alabaster case. Keyword: almost. In spite of all her frustration there was no point arguing or punishing Dan for his enthusiasm with the two suspects. He had only said what they’d both wanted to, but Greer had made it clear it could never happen again. And it wouldn’t because Dan could never go there ever again – not during working hours at least. Seeing as Dan was so passionate about Laura’s murder, Eva couldn’t just stand aside and let him work that case alone. Working on cases that would never pay was a Dan speciality, but this one had hit Dan squarely in the heart. He had always believed Laura could change and deserved a better life. Without the chance to give that story a happy ending, he needed to avenge her. Eva had to back him or back off. Backing off was not an option. They would avenge Laura together with Eva making sure that they did it right.

  They were near Albany Park, the site of their mentor Devon Parker’s slaying by the Somali gang. The park was a street away and out of sight. Eva recalled the night in full awful technicolour, but said nothing to Dan. His face was grim already as he peered along the street.

  “You think he’ll actually come here already? He’s only been out a few weeks,” said Eva.

  “You saw him. He was walking in this direction. When a man like him starts heading this way there’s only one thing he’s after.”

  They’d learned of John Balfour’s address by asking a favour of the probation people. Probation broke their confidentiality only because Eva had worked with them before. Then Eva and Dan had followed Balfour’s walking route from his Prittlewell bedsit, cutting through the backstreets towards the red light area of Southchurch a mile away. By day the red light area’s streets were tame, innocuous and plainly residential. The houses looked respectable enough. But outside, the women were now walking in singles and twos. A woman in grey jogging trousers and a pink hoodie with her hair tied back looked bony and pale. She walked so slowly she’d almost stopped. Eva observed her clothing and wondered how she picked up any trade by dressing like that. It seemed the clientele were not so picky, and Eva knew the prices around here were correspondingly low. From previous work she’d heard the price was as low as twenty quid for the full works. Twenty pounds wasn’t enough to pay for a week’s shopping or a Chinese takeaway. But it was enough for a good drug score – crack, heroin and probably both. Further along two women were dressed in more traditional garb for their profession. One woman had a blouse open so low her black bra was exposed and she wore a leather miniskirt so high that her pale thighs were visible, wobbling in the evening light. The woman beside her was larger and dressed more provocatively with even more flesh on show. And there were more women appearing further down the street. Apparently the street trade business was thriving and competitive.