Spend Game by Jonathan Gash Read Free Book Online

began to get my drift and became wary. ‘But they call it .your loop. That by-road you park in.’ This seemed suddenly hilarious to him and he couldn’t resist falling about some more. ‘Lovejoy’s loop. Leap’s more like it, eh?’
    ‘Very witty, Tinker,’ I gave back gravely. ‘So, Leckie knew where Sue and I go?’
    He sank back into his whining position. ‘I told nobody, Lovejoy. Honest. It weren’t me.’
    ‘Calm down,’ I said testily. ‘I’ve a job for you – find Leckie’s stuff.’
    He stared puzzled. ‘It’s all at Val’s. I shifted your stuff. His is –’
    ‘No, lad.’ I let the fact sink in. His face unscrewed suddenly.
    ‘Hey! You’re right! From the auction –’
    ‘Shut up, you burke,’ I hissed, throttling him with a hand. He wheezed as I let go. The barkers were listening hard, pretending to chat still; they go all casual, the only time in their lives they seem off-hand.
    ‘His Medham pickings,’ Tinker whispered, as if he’d thought of them and not me. ‘They weren’t in Val’s cellar. Where are they, Lovejoy?’
    I gave him a sour grin. ‘Off you go.’ I could see the penny drop.
    ‘Oh. How soon, Lovejoy? Next week?’ he asked hopefully. My smile dimmed his expression.
    ‘By tonight, Tinker. Come to the cottage. No phoning.’
    ‘Lovejoy.’ He flicked the quid I gave him out of sight like a frog does a gnat. ‘Why’s Maslow sniffing about?’
    ‘We tell him nowt,’ I said curtly.
    ‘And Val’s all burned up about you,’ he warned.
    I shrugged and left Tinker to saunter back to his cronies while I set out to walk over to the King George by the cattle market. That didn’t mean Tinker was being idle. If anything could be sniffed out between now and midnight about Leckie’s secret cran Tinker would find it. More important still, he’d make it seem he wasn’t actually looking for anything in particular. That was vital. I didn’t want those two heavies coming after me, but I badly needed to find Leckie’s stuff before they got their hands on it. After all, you don’tgo killing somebody for
cheap
antiques, do you? Only for valuable, pricey items. And things hadn’t been going too well for me lately. I was uncomfortably near the breadline. I was mad at myself for having missed spotting the stuff he’d bought. In fact, I couldn’t quite understand it because I’m what’s known in antiques as a ‘divvie’. Put me near a genuine antique and I gong like a fire bell. And the more brilliant the antique, the more I gong. Sometimes I can’t hear people speaking for the beautiful clanging of my hidden bell. So I was shaken by all this in more ways than one. If there had been anything at all at Medham yesterday I ought to have sussed it out just by standing there looking daft. As it was I’d only felt a few minor chimes. Leckie couldn’t have got blotted for mere junk, could he? Vaguely possible, but a hell of a mistake for somebody to make. I could hear street music up ahead, and went between the narrow gabled houses towards the sound.
    The other thing which intrigued me was that the two heavies had not even glanced about in the lane, nor shone a light. Therefore, they didn’t know it was Lovejoy’s famous loop. But Tinker said all our local dealers
did
know, which suggested that the pair weren’t locals. Anyhow, I hadn’t recognized them. Nor would I, in the dark. They had lacked the feel of familiar figures, which was good enough for me, but I was sure they were men. Could Fergus have been one?
    Our brass band was playing tipsily in the old coachyard of the King George as I walked in. People milled about. I like Sunday antique fairs because only the nicest kinds of people are about. The cold thought clanged somewhat as I went in through the arid saloon bar – only the nicest kinds of people plus two. And ifTinker managed to find Leckie’s escritoire, old leather bag and book, those two horrible purposeful killers would come knocking on my door, sure as