Page 89 of The Hallmarked Man
‘Dave called me immediately,’ said Carter.
‘What time did McGee take off in the van?’
‘Round half twelve,’ said Carter.
‘So the Murdoch silver was still in the back?’
‘Yeah.’
‘When I heard that McGee had got rid of his co-driver, I personally called the buyer, Kenneth Ramsay,’ said Diana. ‘He said the silver hadn’t turned up at the shop at the appointed time. I was extremely worried. I asked him to call me back if and when McGee turned up – I didn’t tell Ramsay what had happened, just that we were concerned about the delay. Anyway, he did call me back, to say McGee had turned up just after three. I was worried; I suspected that something would have gone missing again – it was another instance of a lot of items going to a single buyer, so the exact same conditions in which the mask and the dogs had disappeared – but Ramsay put me through to the woman who was in the shop, and she told me everything was there, except that two lots had got mixed up. A centrepiece had gone to Bullen & Co, and some of Bullen & Co’s items had gone to Ramsay Silver. I asked her to send photographs of everything she had there, and to contact me when the centrepiece was returned. I had to be sure we weren’t looking at another theft – although, of all the lots, I couldn’t see why McGee would have chosen that centrepiece to steal. It was incredibly recognisable and pretty much impossible for anyone but a weightlifter to carry single-handedly.’
‘And did she send you pictures?’
‘Yes, she took photos of the items and sent them, and they were all present and correct, and called me later to say the centrepiece had arrived, too. Everything was there – it was a huge relief.’
‘She sent a picture of the centrepiece as well, did she?’
Diana frowned, pulled out her iPhone and began scrolling. While she was doing this, Strike said to Carter,
‘Did you ever find out what McGee had done between ditching the other bloke and delivering the Murdoch silver?’
‘He claimed he’d got lost,’ said Carter, ‘but he didn’t expect to be believed. That was just something to say.’
‘What d’you mean?’
‘He came back to the warehouse after he’d finally delivered the stuff to Ramsays, I called him straight into my office and asked what had happened. He claimed Dave was taking too much time in the chemists, and he knew they were already late, so he thought he’d better get going, and then he got lost. He knew full well he was about to be sacked. Didn’t care. Pleased about it, if anything. Smirked as he walked out.’
‘Did you ever tell the police this?’
‘Yeah,’ said Carter, ‘but they took their time coming to see us. Some young copper turned up, just to tick a box, probably. I don’t think they cared about what happened to the silver before it got to Ramsays. Never heard anything back from ’em, anyway.’
‘You wouldn’t happen to have a picture of Larry McGee, would you?’ Strike asked Carter, who pulled his phone out of his overall pocket.
‘Probably got one on here,’ he muttered, and began searching.
‘No,’ said Diana, who was still examining pictures on her own mobile. ‘The woman at Ramsay Silver never sent me a picture of the Oriental Centrepiece – but she did text me to say it had arrived.’
‘That’s McGee,’ said Carter, holding his phone out to Strike. ‘Big guy in the middle. It was Hassan’s stag.’
Strike looked down at a picture of a group of men in a pub. McGee, like Carter, had been in his fifties: tall, overweight, florid of face, with a droopy lower lip that gave him the look of a camel. The little hair remaining to him was grey.
‘Could I take a picture of this on my own phone?’
‘Feel free,’ said Carter.
Strike did so, then flicked over a page in his notebook and asked,
‘Did anyone keep in touch with McGee after he was fired?’
‘Bradley saw a bit of him,’ said Carter. ‘Our security guy. He and McGee both lived in Hounslow. Same local.’
‘Would it be all right to have a quick word with Bradley?’ Strike asked Diana.
A few minutes later, Carter led the security guard into the office, the latter looking intrigued.
‘Yeah, I ran into ’im in the pub a couple of times,’ said Bradley, when asked about his post-sacking contact with McGee.
‘How soon after he was fired?’
