Page 266 of The Hallmarked Man
‘That’s right,’ said Strike.
De Leon looked up at the detective with dark, bloodshot eyes. The resemblance between him and the fake-tanned, blond man who adorned the office corkboard was slight.
‘What’re you really after?’
‘I’ve just told you,’ said Strike. ‘If you say Danny’s not here—’
‘Not a matter of me saying it, he’s not,’ said Richard loudly. ‘You calling me a liar?’
‘No,’ said Strike, ‘I’m saying—’
‘He’s in London,’ said Richard. ‘All right? He went to London.’
‘And how long has it been since you heard from him?’
‘How’s that any of your business?’
‘Because if you’ve heard from him since last June, he can’t be the dead man we’re trying to identify,’ said Strike.
Richard de Leon glared up at Strike for several seconds before saying,
‘No. We ain’t heard from him since June.’
‘Right,’ said Strike. ‘Well, thank—’
‘You stay away from my mother,’ said de Leon, and now Robin remembered Valentine Longcaster issuing a similar implied threat, about his younger sister. ‘You don’t go fuckingnearour mother, you hear me?’
‘I’d be hard put to go anywhere near her, seeing as she’s in Guernsey and I don’t know what she looks like,’ said Strike. ‘Thanks for your help, though.’
He wasn’t certain the log in de Leon’s hand wouldn’t be deployed once they turned their backs, so Strike gestured at Robin to go first. Both regained the road without sustaining any injury from flung wood, but Richard de Leon continued to glare at them until they passed out of sight.
‘D’you believe him?’ said Robin quietly, as they headed back up the Rue de Laches.
‘Not sure,’ said Strike. ‘There were odd features about that conversation.’
‘I’d have expected a bit more concern, wouldn’t you? After hearing there’s a body out there that might be Danny?’
‘I would, yeah,’ said Strike. ‘Didn’t blink, did he? Just wanted us to piss off.’
‘Maybe he and Danny don’t get on? Maybe he doesn’t care whether Danny’s alive or dead?’
‘Or he knows exactly where Danny is, and thinks we’re after him.’
‘Assassins sent by Oliver Branfoot?’
‘If that’s what he’s worried about, it means Danny and his brother are in each other’s complete confidence – which they might be, I s’pose,’ said Strike. ‘I tend to forget there are siblings who actually tell each other everything.’
‘Don’t you?’ said Robin.
‘Christ, no,’ said Strike. ‘Do you?’
‘No,’ admitted Robin, thinking of her disastrous Christmas.
‘Fancy something to eat while we plan next steps?’
They walked back to the Bel Air pub, which seemed the most likelyplace to find food, Strike’s limp becoming ever more pronounced. As Robin paused to pat the Golden Retriever that exited a small ice cream shop to greet them, she said,
‘Actually, I’ll see you in there. Something I forgot to bring – want to see if I can buy one.’
