Page 75 of The Hallmarked Man
‘Meaning?’
‘Meanin’,’ Shanker lowered his voice, ‘body in silver shop.’
Strike was momentarily struck dumb with surprise. He hadn’t told Shanker anything about the body in the silver vault, only thathe wanted to find out whether Fleetwood had come to harm at the hands of Dredge.
‘How thehelld’you know I’m investigating that?’
‘For me to know, innit.’
Strike stared at him, before saying,
‘Knowles?’
Shanker raised his eyebrows.
‘It was Knowles,’ said Strike.
Shanker said nothing.
‘Don’t give me that inscrutable shit,’ said Strike impatiently.
‘What’s that?’ said Shanker, mildly interested.
‘That,’ said Strike. ‘Raising your fucking eyebrows. “For me to know.”’
Bad temper though he appeared to be in, Shanker grinned.
‘You wanna leave it, Bunsen.’
‘Was – it – fucking – Knowles?’
Shanker absent-mindedly clicked his fingers. At last, he spoke.
‘No.’
‘It wasn’t?’
‘No.’
‘Knowles is still alive?’
‘’Course ’e’s fuckin’ not,’ said Shanker impatiently. ‘’E was a narc. Got what was comin’ to ’im. But he wasn’ in no fucking silver shop.’
Strike stared at him. There were many subjects on which he knew Shanker to be almost impressively ignorant – the geography of anywhere beyond Greater London, how taxation worked, who made laws – but his knowledge of organised crime in London was peerless. The non-specific warning left on the office phone now took on a slightly different aspect.
‘Why’re you warning me off, if it wasn’t Knowles? Lynden doesn’t want me digging into it?’
‘Bunsen,’ said Shanker, lowering his voice and leaning forwards, ‘Lynden finks it’s funny the pigs fink that was Jason. Why would Lynden put ’im in a fuckin’ safe in a fuckin’ silver shop? Thass way more fuckin’ trouble than ’e fuckin’ deserved.’
‘That thought occurred to me,’ said Strike.
‘Ain’t got shit for brains then, ’ave ya?’ said Shanker.
‘So where’s Knowles now?’
‘Gawn to Barnaby’s,’ said Shanker, with a dark smile.
‘The hell’s “Barnaby’s”?’
