No Sleep for the Dead

Chapter 29

A new man was on duty the front desk of the office building in Harrow. He was younger than Nobby and dressed in a grey suit, and had a tired, bored look about him, as if he really didn’t want to be there.

Riley walked up to the desk with an air of confidence she didn’t feel, aware that she could be under scrutiny if the police were watching for anyone showing an undue interest in the sixth floor. There was no sign of them outside, and whatever equipment the forensics team had been using had gone, but that didn’t mean they weren’t still around.

She checked her hair in the reflection of the glass. Clipped back as tight as she could manage, so that it made her face thinner, and minimal makeup, she was reasonably certain that neither Michael nor Radnor would recognise her if they saw her. It had only been a brief encounter before, but she didn’t want to take any chances.

The man barely looked up, pushing the visitor’s book and a pen across the desk for her to sign, followed by a badge. Riley signed in and picked up the badge, receiving a grunt in return and a cursory nod towards the lifts.

The same receptionist was behind the counter of Stairwell Management’s offices, wearing the same hi-tech headpiece. But she seemed much less sure of herself. Her eyes showed signs of redness around the rims, and widened when she recognised Riley through the glass security door, in spite of the change Riley had made to her hair. Even so, she reached down and pressed a buzzer to spring the locks.

‘You were here,’ she said flatly, as soon as Riley entered. ‘Seeing Doug. With that bloke.’ Her face was stony, although Riley couldn’t decide if it was out of grief, shock or suspicion. Either way, if she was going to call the police, she was taking her time.

‘That’s right,’ she admitted lightly, allowing her own eyes to widen in sympathy. ‘My colleague had some papers to serve on Mr Gillivray. I’m sorry, by the way, about what happened. I only just heard. Are you family?’

The woman looked startled by the question. ‘You what? Whatever gave you that idea?’

‘Sorry. My mistake. I’m Riley, by the way.’

‘Vicky. Why do you ask?’

‘Just interested. What do the police think about Mr Gillivray’s death?’

Vicky shrugged. ‘No idea. They don’t tell me anything. As for the rest of them… ‘ She shook her head and looked at Riley with a small frown. ‘So what do you want, then? You haven’t come to serve some more papers on him, have you? You can’t sue the dead.’

‘No, it’s not that. But my firm is wondering who might have killed him.’

‘Why?’

‘Call it unfinished business. Your boss was going to be a prominent part of a big court case we were preparing. We’d already been working on it for several weeks.’ She shrugged. ‘Without him, the case probably won’t happen. But before I give up on it altogether, I’d like to know who would benefit.’

The girl’s eyes widened. ‘You mean-?’

‘I can’t say anything more, but I’m sure you know what I’m driving at.’ She gave a conspiratorial smile and leaned closer. ‘My boss said I should drop it and put it down to experience, but I hate being beaten, you know? I know what they’re thinking, of course. They think because I’m a mere girlie, I can’t ask simple questions in case I break my nails. Chauvinist bastards.’

Vicky showed a flicker of sympathy. ‘Tell me about it. You should try working for this lot. Only I don’t see how I can help-’

‘Was there anyone you can think of who didn’t like him?’

‘Take your pick,’ Vicky muttered quietly. ‘The little prick had more enemies than I’ve got shoes — and that’s saying something.’ She pulled a face. ‘And don’t say I shouldn’t speak ill of the dead; that’s the best time to do it, my dad says. That way they can’t get in your face about it.’

‘I think your dad’s right.’ Riley was surprised. She’d come here half expecting a volley of abuse and accusations, and had got quite the opposite reaction. Evidently the late Mr Gillivray wasn’t universally popular, even among his colleagues.

‘He was a slime-ball,’ Vicky continued calmly. ‘He tried it on with me every time he was in, it didn’t matter who was here. Thought he was God’s gift, which he wasn’t. The way he talked, he was getting it on with half the women in north London. I’m not surprised someone had it in for him. It was probably someone’s husband or boyfriend. Most of the time he could shout them down.’ She gave a sour smile. ‘But not this time, eh? Still, that was Doug. He was loud and he was a bully, and he didn’t care who knew it. It was the way he was. He’d had more papers served on him than anyone I know, so it wasn’t as if another set was going to hurt. He just liked to create, that was all, so we’d all notice what a bad little sod he was.’ She shrugged. ‘Sad, more like. Look where it got him.’

‘So he had a lot of enemies?’

‘Hundreds, I should think. One or two of them came in here, threatening to tear the place down. But only those who knew him. He never left much of a trail.’

‘So you knew what he was up to?’

‘Not really. I only work this desk, I don’t get taken into anyone’s confidence. But it was obvious he wasn’t the full shilling, by the phone calls and letters — and, like I say, the visitors.’

‘Any serious ones?’

Vicky tilted her head. ‘Heavies, you mean? Yes, a couple. But he always managed to buy them off. At least, he always put in an appearance the next day, so I suppose that’s what happened. He was quite a charmer when he wanted to be.’

‘Not this time, though,’ Riley suggested. ‘What have his colleagues said about it?’

‘Not a thing.’ Vicky looked pained. ‘They shut me out of it and told me not to say a word to anyone, or I’d lose my job.’ She gave a half smile. ‘Except there’s no-one in today, so I don’t give a toss.’ She looked as if the triumph, small as it was, was one to be relished.

‘How about the rest of the building? Did Doug ever argue with anyone?’

‘No.’ The shake of the head was emphatic. ‘He hardly spoke to anyone outside this office. It’s not like he socialised much, either.’ She leaned back and chewed her lip. ‘Mind you, he went ape-shit when someone hit his car in the car park. It was the same day he died. One of the other tenants came up and told him about it. It was his pride and joy. I suppose I’d have been angry, too. I’ve had two prangs recently, and they cost me a bloody fortune.’

Riley felt a stirring of interest. ‘What other tenant?’

‘His name’s Mike — I don’t know his surname. Smart bloke…bit of an accent. Nice looking, but in a weird, dangerous sort of way.’ She gave a shiver and smiled coyly, woman to woman. ‘I would, if you know what I mean?’ She chuckled and tossed her head with a faint show of embarrassment at the coarseness. ‘At least, I would if I wasn’t already engaged, anyway.’

‘Got you,’ said Riley with a smile and a roll of her eyes. ‘So, Mike, huh? Is he anyone I should get to know?’

Vicky looked dubious, then shrugged. ‘I wouldn’t if I were you — he’s got a dangerous look, like I said. But suit yourself. He came up and said someone had dinged an Audi, and was it one of ours. I called Doug and he came charging out to see what it was about. That was a surprise, because he didn’t normally come out to casual callers. Maybe it was because his baby was hurt.’

‘Sounds like he was gutted.’

‘Yeah, well… boys and their toys, right? They had a chat right here. I didn’t hang around to see what happened, though, because it was going home time.’

Riley suddenly felt all her alarm bells ringing. ‘So you left before they did?’

‘Yeah. In fact, the others had gone by then, too, and it was time for me to go, so I asked Doug to lock up. He said he would, but he was just going downstairs with Mike to look at his car, so I left. It’s not like I’m paid to hang around here after hours just so they can entertain each other, is it?’

‘Right. Do the police know that they were here together?’

‘I suppose. I’ve no idea. I never said anything, if that’s what you mean. You don’t think…?’ Her eyes widened again. ‘But it was only a car ding, that was all. I mean, even if he found out who did it and faced them, nobody gets that mad over a scrape, do they?’ By her expression, she clearly thought it was out of the question, but now the idea was firmly in her mind, she began to look concerned.

‘This guy Mike,’ said Riley, before the young woman panicked and threw a wobbly. ‘Which office does he work in?’

‘On the first floor. Azim-something or other. I never really noticed. I mean, I never use the stairs, so why would I? You don’t really think he could have done it, do you?’

Riley shook her head. ‘No, of course not. Why would he? It wasn’t him who damaged the car. Must have been someone else.’ Seconds later, she was walking towards the lift, her chest thumping with excitement.

When she got back to the car, Palmer was slumped in his seat, eyes closed.

‘Wakey, wakey, Boy Wonder,’ she said, slamming the door behind her, and stared at him until he showed some interest. He sat up and opened his eyes, then looked at her triumphant smile with a knowing expression.

‘You’ve been bonding with that receptionist, haven’t you?’ he said. ‘Go on, tell me what you found.’

‘Simple,’ said Riley. ‘Have you ever seen Michael drive a car?’

‘Nope.’

‘Minicabs, right? They arrive at the rear door. Every time.’

‘For both of them — Radnor and Michael.’ He stuck his thumbs under his collar and made like a barrister delivering a crushing argument. ‘Which leads me to suppose, yer ‘onour, that they either don’t drive, don’t choose to or don’t actually possess cars. Why?’

She related what the receptionist had told her about the prang in the car park, and Palmer sat up straighter, eyes alight with interest.

‘Odd,’ he muttered at last. ‘If he doesn’t drive, why should he be wandering around the car park? Unless he made up the prang. Clever, though: something so innocuous, nobody would give it a second thought. He must have gone up there the day after we saw them in the lift.’

‘Right,’ agreed Riley. ‘After speaking to Nobby, he’d have wanted to check out Gillivray’s company to see what we were doing in the building. All he needed was a reason to go up and see him.’

‘And it had to be something that would get Gillivray out of his office without being suspicious. He’d have been on permanent alert for raids by the Inland Revenue or the police, but prangs happen every day in car parks. Michael left it until nobody else was about so he could take his time. I guess he knew what he was going to do before he went up there. Shows he’s prepared to take risks, though. Either that or he’s a loose cannon.’ He drummed his fingers on his knee. ‘We need to have a chat with Charlie.’

‘We can’t forget Lottie,’ Riley said as she drove them south. It was a subject they had both avoided, but they couldn’t entirely ignore the possibility that the old woman might still have designs on them, ill-health or not. As they knew from experience, Lottie Grossman was resourceful under pressure, and possessed a long and vengeful memory.

‘Yeah, I know.’ Palmer stared through the window at a large truck trying to negotiate a narrow gap between two cars, with much wheezing of air brakes and millimetres to spare. ‘Having her around is like having a scorpion in the bottom of your bed.’

‘What do you think she can do? From what Szulu said, she sounds as if she’s in a bad way.’

‘Do you want to risk it? The biggest danger with her is, she could change tack. Szulu we’d recognise — but if she sent someone else… like this Ragga or his men, we’d never see it coming. We could ask Szulu. He’d know.’

‘True. But he might not want to tell us.’

‘He will if I threaten to poke him in the arm.’

Riley dug in her pocket and handed him the slip of paper with Lottie Grossman’s hotel number. ‘Or we could ring Lottie direct.’

Palmer dialled the number and waited while the receptionist checked her computer for Mrs Fraser. When she came back, the message was brief. ‘Sorry, sir. Mrs Fraser checked out without paying. Do you know of her whereabouts?’

Palmer hung up without answering. They had nothing else to do until they went to see Cecile Wachter tomorrow. He told Riley to head for Isleworth.