Page 152 of The Hallmarked Man
‘OK,’ said Zacharias forcefully, ‘look, I don’t know where Rupert is, OK? I’vetoldDecima I don’t know where he is, so that’s all I’ve got to say, OK?’
‘Yeah, that’s very clear,’ said Strike, who recognised a blow-hard when he met one, and changed his tactics accordingly. ‘Have you told the police that?’
‘What d’you mean?’
‘You left for Kenya before they got in touch, did you?’ said Strike.
‘What?’ said Zacharias, staring out of the screen with his slightly bloodshot eyes.
‘I assumed – but OK, if they haven’t tracked you down yet—’
‘What are you talking about? Why would the bloody police want to talk to me?’
‘Aside from the drug debt, you mean?’
Strike could tell Lorimer had been hoping Strike didn’t know anything about his dealings with Dredge, because his sunburned skin now turned blotchily red. He also deduced that Lorimer wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed, because after a long pause he said in a tone of poorly feigned confusion and defiance,
‘What are you talking about?’
‘Dredge. The dealer you stiffed for a kilo of Colombia’s finest.’
‘I don’t—’
‘I’m not arsed one way or another about the coke,’ said Strike, ‘but if you’d rather talk to the police than me, I’ll let you go.’
He reached out a hand, as though to close FaceTime, and Zacharias said,
‘Hang on!’
Strike withdrew his hand.
‘Nobody’s been in touch with me, except you, OK?’ said Zacharias, now looking panicky.
‘Look,’ said the detective, with a carefully calculated air of circumspection, ‘I only want information on Rupert. If the police think I’m messing with their investigation, or warning suspects—’
‘What d’you mean, “suspects”? Why – suspected of what?’
‘When did you leave for Kenya?’
‘Why?’
‘Because if you left after the murder was all over the British news, I can’t be accused of giving you details you already knew.’
‘I – what?’ said Zacharias, clearly thrown. ‘Wait – is this that silver shop thing?’
‘How did you know that?’ said Strike sharply, as though Zacharias had suspicious inside knowledge.
‘Because Decima said something about it, but that’s bloody ridiculous, I looked it all up online and the police found out it was some thief—’
‘There’ve been developments since then, but I probably shouldn’t – thanks for your time, anyway.’
Once again, Strike stretched out his hand to close the window.
‘Hang on! They – what? They actually think that body was Rupert? That’s just – that’s bullshit!’ said Zacharias, now looking thoroughly panicked.
‘D’you have a concrete reason for thinking that?’ asked Strike. ‘Have you been in touch with him since the body was found?’
‘No, but that doesn’t – itcan’thave been him!’
