complete confidence.”
“Even so, I’d like to speak to Mr. Strazdas in person. I’m afraid I have some bad news for him.”
“Very well.” Rainey stood back. “Please come in.”
Lennon stepped into the suite’s living area, all high ceilings and opulent upholstery. Arturas Strazdas sat at the center of a couch, his legs crossed, his arms draped across the back. He watched Lennon with cold blue eyes set in a pale face beneath his thick eyebrows. Perspiration formed a sheen on his forehead. Dark circles weighted his eyes. Raw red skin edged his nostrils.
“Nice suite,” Lennon said. “I don’t think I’ve ever set foot in a place like this. In my line of work, it tends to be the dumps you get called to.”
“No one called you here,”
Strazdas said, his accent thick. “No,” Lennon said. “Can I sit down?”
Strazdas did not reply. Lennon looked to Rainey, who extended a hand toward an armchair on the other side of the coffee table from his client.
As Lennon sat down, he said, “I have some very bad news for you, Mr. Strazdas.”
“Go on,” Strazdas said.
“Your brother is Tomas Strazdas, correct?” Lennon watched his eyes.
“Correct,” Strazdas said.
“I regret to inform you that Tomas was found dead last night at Dufferin Road, in the Harbour Estate. He was identifiable by a Lithuanian driver’s licence in his wallet.”
Strazdas didn’t flinch, didn’t draw breath, didn’t react in any way.
“Pending confirmation by a postmortem to be carried out by the State Pathologist’s Department, we believe Tomas was murdered. Most likely he was killed elsewhere, we suspect at an apartment on the outskirts of Bangor, then his body was moved to where it was found. We believe his killer, or killers, intended to dump his body in the water, but they were disturbed by an officer of the Harbour Police, whom they assaulted before making their escape.”
Strazdas stared ahead. His tongue slipped from between his lips, moistened them, then retreated.
Rainey cleared his throat. “That is indeed very sad news, Inspector. Mr. Strazdas thanks you for bringing it to him. Now, if you don’t mind, he would like some time to take it in.”
He took a business card from his pocket and brought it to Lennon. “If you would like to speak to Mr. Strazdas further, please call this number and I’ll ensure that he cooperates fully with your investigation.”
Lennon took the card and dropped it on the coffee table. “Thank you. I have a few questions now, if it’s all the same to you.”
Rainey leaned in close and spoke in a hushed tone. “Mr. Strazdas needs some peace to absorb this terrible news. Now, I really must ask you to—”
“Mr. Rainey, I’m sure you understand that in a murder investigation like this, time is of the essence. The sooner Mr. Strazdas answers my questions, the sooner we can find who killed his brother. You wouldn’t want you or your client to appear to have been obstructive to the investigation, would you?”
Rainey straightened and looked to Strazdas.
Strazdas gave a nod so small, Lennon wasn’t sure he’d seen it at all.
“All right,” Rainey said. “Make it quick. And when I say it’s over, it’s over. Agreed?”
“Okay,” Lennon said.
Rainey retreated to the corner.
Lennon took his notepad and pen from his pocket. “Mr. Strazdas, what was your brother doing in Northern Ireland at the time of his death?”
“Tomas was a citizen of the European Union,” Strazdas said. “He was entitled to travel and reside anywhere within the EU without hindrance. As am I.”
“Of course,” Lennon said. “But that wasn’t my question. What was Tomas doing here? Work? Pleasure?”
“I have an interest in investing in this city.” Strazdas waved a hand at the window as if the buildings beyond were his for the taking. “That’s why I flew in last night. Tomas had been here for some time, looking at various properties on my behalf, some for potential development, and one as a possible site for an office for my main business.”
“Your main business,” Lennon said. “I understand that’s running a labor agency. Supplying migrant workers to local businesses.”
“That’s correct.”
“So, Tomas will have been in touch with commercial estate agents and so on? Who might have he been talking to?”
“I can confirm that,” Rainey said from the corner. “I visited several properties around the city with him. I can give you a list of agents, if needed.”
Lennon ignored him. “Did Tomas know two brothers called Sam and Mark Mawhinney?”
Strazdas shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“What was Tomas’s involvement with Loyalist paramilitary groups in Belfast?”
Rainey said, “None that we are aware of. Inspector, if this line of questioning continues, I’ll have to ask you to leave.”
“Tomas has been arrested several times for public order offenses,” Lennon said. “He was a fighter.”
“Tomas was quick-tempered.” Strazdas showed no anger at the smearing of his brother’s character. “He took after our father that way. Sometimes it got him into trouble.”
“Perhaps he picked a fight with the wrong person last night.”
“Perhaps.”
“Did Tomas work for you supplying trafficked women to the local sex trade?”
Silence for long seconds.
Rainey walked across the room, extended a hand toward the door, and smiled. “Thank you, Inspector, that will be all.”
Lennon took the lawyer’s card from the coffee table and stood. “I’ll be in touch.”
“I have no doubt of that.” Rainey stood back to allow Lennon to pass, then showed him out to the corridor.
“Inspector,” he called as Lennon was about to walk to the lift.
Lennon turned.
“I won’t tolerate any harassment of my client.” Rainey gave his best, sternest glare.
Lennon walked back to him, came right up close. “And I won’t tolerate a fucking gang war on Christmas Eve. I count four dead in less than twenty-four hours. As far as I can tell, it’s been nothing but scumbags going after each other, but a young police officer is in hospital over this. Whatever’s going on, it better stop. One more body turns up, and your client is the first on my list for questioning. Understood?”
“If you wish to interview my client again, you’ll need to do so under caution,” Rainey said, folding his arms across his shallow chest.
Lennon said, “That can be arranged.”
29
STRAZDAS SAT QUITE still while he waited for Rainey to return. He closed his eyes and listened to the blood in his ears. It did not drown out the voice of his mother’s hate. A movement of air and the hissing of expensive soles on thick carpet stirred him.
“You’ll have to be careful,” the lawyer said as he closed the door. “Anything else happens, you’ll be in the firing line.”
“It’s under control,” Strazdas said.
He did not like lawyers, but they were an essential part of doing business. Particularly at times like these.
“Under control?” Rainey snorted. “Four dead, he told me. You said to me there was only your brother and the two that did for him. Arturas, my friend, you pay well, but not well enough to stand that kind of heat.”
Strazdas said, “Then I’ll pay you more.”
