Page 117 of The Dead Come to Stay
It’s probably where Foley first heard about Gerald’s interest in antiquities, where he got the idea about cherry-picking the best artifacts and selling them off on his own for cash and where he discovered there was a very fine hotel with rich clientele who might be buyers.
“Can we nail Standish?” Green asked.
“I wish,” MacAdams said, shaking his head. Bowes didn’t give them any names, but even so, he’d been the start of Foley’s endeavor, not the end of it. “Foley, we now know, had a tendency to get in over his head. Gerald was just one man. To really expand, he needed a way station. A place where he could go through inventory at leisure. He might have been older and wiser than he was back in Belfast, but he hadn’t shaken his gambler need formore wins. So he takes over a build in York and starts off-loading some of the shipments there.”
Green had a mouthful of food but waved her hand. “Time to expand,” she said, swallowing. “Get’s the Geordie a van. Then two vans.”
“Is that when he starts using Dmytro?” Gridley asked.
“No,” MacAdams said, leaning on his elbows. “That’s when he meets Lina.”
It had taken some delicate digging, but Ava had been very happy to help this time. Maryam, the Burnhopes’ nanny, had not come as a sponsored refugee but as an asylum seeker. And she hadn’t come alone. Maryam had a sister named Lina.
They’d come on their own to Fresh Start because refugees were welcome there. Sophie helped with the paperwork and both applied for asylum. Thus far, all was aboveboard. Except asylum seekers are prohibited from entering the workforce... and Burnhope needed a nanny. He told Ava she’d been accepted as a sponsored refugee. Lina, meanwhile, remained at Fresh Start on government support. She was young, attractive and had time on her hands. Foley was single, knew enough Syrian from his travels to be semiconversant, and—unlike Burnhope—had an easy way with women.
“They fell in love,” MacAdams said.
“Or something,” Green said.
MacAdams ignored the addition. “Then, six months ago, both women had their claims rejected. Burnhope can’t face telling Ava he lied, so he deepens the hole he’s in. Makes an appeal and greases some palms to make sure things move quickly for Maryam. Foley naturally expects him to do the same for Lina.”
“But he doesn’t, you’re gonna tell us,” Gridley said rolling her eyes.
“Right. He’s not willing to risk it. And that’s when Foley decides he’s going to bleed him.”
Billie Bowes confirmed that part; suddenly he was driving the vans all over, selling something daily, sometimes for far less than the things were worth. Foley didn’t care. He sold up and started banking what he could, ready to fly.
“That’s when he tapped Dmytro, and Dmytro tapped the other kids. Right under Fresh Start’s nose.”
“Rash,” said Gridley.
“Desperate, even. Which is howwe get to the murder bit,”Andrews said triumphantly. “Dmytro gets caught stealing, Burnhope finds out about the double cross and wham.”
“You’re forgetting our man’s psychology,” MacAdams said. “Stanley doesn’t get his hands dirty. He originally hired Foley to be the asshole on job sites. No, he isn’t planning to kill him. He needs him.”
“So what happens?”
“You have to remember,” Green said. “It’s Foley who asks for the meeting. Apartners’meeting, his way of sayingthis is about the artifact business.”
Andrews threw his head back. “The shoes and suit—Foley was ready to split on him, wasn’t he?”
“He’s already married Lina. Now they are going to run away and leave Burnhope behind,” MacAdams explained.
“What a guy,” Gridley sighed. “Deciding not to abandon his pregnant lover this time.”
MacAdams had made note of that, too. And also his kindness toward Trisha, the single mother. In some way, leaving Tula must have haunted him. So much so that Burnhope knew of her, even knew her name (despite his denial). That’s why it pleased him when Jo mentioned her living in Abington. Someone would be able to positively ID the body.
“Burnhope thinks he’s getting the drop on Foley, confronting him with his betrayal,” Green went on. “Instead, a smug Foley saysyou first.”
MacAdams could well imagine it. Foley was a bully when it came to men; it’s what made him useful to Burnhope. Now he bullied Burnhope in turn. “He wouldn’t help Lina the way he helped Maryam,” MacAdams agreed. “Now he thinks Burnhope owes them a wedding present, which he plans to get by blackmail.”
“Okay, I get it,” Andrews said. “He demanded hush money not to reveal Burnhope’s part in it.”
“To the tune of several million, according the Geordie,” Green added. “He’d been carting Lina around, a mobile hideout, and was supposed to get a percent for his time.”
This was all true. But still only part of the story. And here was where Foley really showed his colors.
“Let’s go back to that York shopping center,” he said. “A bad job. Stagnant. Behind schedule.”
