The Murder Exchange by Simon Kernick Read Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Simon Kernick
Shaun
Matthews pretty well. You know, I've said all this
before.'
'Humour me. I presume you knew he dealt
drugs?'
'Are you asking me or telling me?'
I'm asking you.'
She shrugged. 'I heard that he did some dealing
here and there and that he might even have done
some in this place, but I never saw him do any and
I never saw anyone else take any stuff either.
Occasionally you get someone off their face, but if
they get like that we don't serve them and we chuck them out. They're certainly not sold the stuff
in here. I only heard Shaun was meant to be this
big-time dealer after he died.'
'You're sticking to the party line, then? That
Arcadia's pretty much drug free and that you don't
go in for that sort of thing here.'
She glared at me. We don't. Now, if you've
finished...'
'Does Stefan Holtz own this place?'
52
Who?'
'Stefan Holtz. You must have heard of him.' She
shook her head. 'He's a well-known local businessman,
to use the term very loosely.'
'Look, as far as I'm concerned, Roy Fowler owns
this place. That's who hired me and that's who pays
me.'
'Are you sure the name Stefan Holtz means
nothing to you?' asked Benin.
'Oh, it speaks,' she said with a smirk.
Benin looked slightly embarrassed. 'Just answer
the question/ he persisted, trying not to be intimidated
by her, but not making a particularly good
job of it.
She slowly turned her head, faced him down,
u,uk a breath, then spoke. Tes, I'm sure.' She
turned back to me. 'I don't know a Stefan Holtz.'
'Mr Fowler was going to get us a list of casual
door staff who've worked here over the past six
months/ I continued, 'but so far we haven't
received it.'
'Oh dear/ she said with a cheeky half-smile.
Tou're the manager/ said Benin. 'Can you provide
us with that information?'
The smile disappeared rapidly. 'I haven't got
time. You'll need to speak to Mr Fowler about it.'
'We would do if he was here/1 said, thinking that
this was one of the great problems with policework.
That most of the time you were constantly trying to
get blood out of a stone. Just tell us the name of the
company who supplies the doormen, then/ I
added, not wanting to waste any more time with
Elaine Toms, 'and we'll contact them.'
53
She paused, and the reason she paused was
simple. If there were any dodgy ownership issues,
then they would spread to the company who
supplied the doormen because with nightclubs
that's how things work. She wouldn't want to give
out the information but I knew she couldn't lie
about it either, in case Fowler had already given us
the name and I was just testing her.
'It's an outfit called Elite A,' she said eventually.
Benin wrote the name down. 'But I don't know
how much they'll be able to tell you. I don't think
they're too hot on the paperwork front.'
'What makes you say that?'
'You know what these security firms are like.
They use freelancers/
'Did Shaun Matthews come via Elite A?'
'I think so, originally, but it was before my time
so I couldn't say for sure. The papers said something
about him being poisoned/
"That's what we believe/
She shook her head as if she couldn't comprehend
such an end for him. 'What's the world
coming to, eh?'
To the same place it's always been, Miss Toms.
Full of not very nice people doing not very nice
things to each other.' I resisted adding that with
Shaun Matthews's demise there was at least one
fewer of them. 'If you hear from Mr Fowler, please
ask him to get in touch with us immediately/
She took the card I gave her with my number on
it. 'So, have you got any suspects?'
'We're working on a number of leads,' I
answered, using the stock detective's line which
54
Was basically a euphemism for 'No', and she
obviously recognized it for what it was because
she turned away with another of those half-smiles.
The discussion was over.
When we were back in the car, Benin turned to
me with an expression of concern. 'I don't think I
did too well in there,' he said. Tou handled it a lot
better than me.'
o
Matthews pretty well. You know, I've said all this
before.'
'Humour me. I presume you knew he dealt
drugs?'
'Are you asking me or telling me?'
I'm asking you.'
She shrugged. 'I heard that he did some dealing
here and there and that he might even have done
some in this place, but I never saw him do any and
I never saw anyone else take any stuff either.
Occasionally you get someone off their face, but if
they get like that we don't serve them and we chuck them out. They're certainly not sold the stuff
in here. I only heard Shaun was meant to be this
big-time dealer after he died.'
'You're sticking to the party line, then? That
Arcadia's pretty much drug free and that you don't
go in for that sort of thing here.'
She glared at me. We don't. Now, if you've
finished...'
'Does Stefan Holtz own this place?'
52
Who?'
'Stefan Holtz. You must have heard of him.' She
shook her head. 'He's a well-known local businessman,
to use the term very loosely.'
'Look, as far as I'm concerned, Roy Fowler owns
this place. That's who hired me and that's who pays
me.'
'Are you sure the name Stefan Holtz means
nothing to you?' asked Benin.
'Oh, it speaks,' she said with a smirk.
Benin looked slightly embarrassed. 'Just answer
the question/ he persisted, trying not to be intimidated
by her, but not making a particularly good
job of it.
She slowly turned her head, faced him down,
u,uk a breath, then spoke. Tes, I'm sure.' She
turned back to me. 'I don't know a Stefan Holtz.'
'Mr Fowler was going to get us a list of casual
door staff who've worked here over the past six
months/ I continued, 'but so far we haven't
received it.'
'Oh dear/ she said with a cheeky half-smile.
Tou're the manager/ said Benin. 'Can you provide
us with that information?'
The smile disappeared rapidly. 'I haven't got
time. You'll need to speak to Mr Fowler about it.'
'We would do if he was here/1 said, thinking that
this was one of the great problems with policework.
That most of the time you were constantly trying to
get blood out of a stone. Just tell us the name of the
company who supplies the doormen, then/ I
added, not wanting to waste any more time with
Elaine Toms, 'and we'll contact them.'
53
She paused, and the reason she paused was
simple. If there were any dodgy ownership issues,
then they would spread to the company who
supplied the doormen because with nightclubs
that's how things work. She wouldn't want to give
out the information but I knew she couldn't lie
about it either, in case Fowler had already given us
the name and I was just testing her.
'It's an outfit called Elite A,' she said eventually.
Benin wrote the name down. 'But I don't know
how much they'll be able to tell you. I don't think
they're too hot on the paperwork front.'
'What makes you say that?'
'You know what these security firms are like.
They use freelancers/
'Did Shaun Matthews come via Elite A?'
'I think so, originally, but it was before my time
so I couldn't say for sure. The papers said something
about him being poisoned/
"That's what we believe/
She shook her head as if she couldn't comprehend
such an end for him. 'What's the world
coming to, eh?'
To the same place it's always been, Miss Toms.
Full of not very nice people doing not very nice
things to each other.' I resisted adding that with
Shaun Matthews's demise there was at least one
fewer of them. 'If you hear from Mr Fowler, please
ask him to get in touch with us immediately/
She took the card I gave her with my number on
it. 'So, have you got any suspects?'
'We're working on a number of leads,' I
answered, using the stock detective's line which
54
Was basically a euphemism for 'No', and she
obviously recognized it for what it was because
she turned away with another of those half-smiles.
The discussion was over.
When we were back in the car, Benin turned to
me with an expression of concern. 'I don't think I
did too well in there,' he said. Tou handled it a lot
better than me.'
o
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