She picked up a pencil and started doodling. “You know,” she said, looking down as she spoke, “that there are issues of confidentiality involved here. When people come to me, they come to a
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tigator, not someone who’ll shout out their business to the world, or the police.”
“I understand that, and I have no intention of shouting out your business to the world.”
“Even so,” she said, “I can’t tell you who my clients are or what they want me to do. None of it is illegal. I can assure you of that.”
“I’m sure it’s not.” Banks paused. “Look, you can really help me here. I’m going out on a limb on this and I need to know if I’m right.
If I’m not, then . . . well . . . I don’t know. But if I am . . .”
“It could lead to a court case in which you’d expect me to testify for the Crown?”
“It won’t come to that.”
“Yeah, and you’ll still respect me in the morning.”
“You’re very cynical for one so young.”
“I’m only trying to protect my interests.” She gave him a direct look. “As you can see, the place isn’t exactly crawling with clients—
despite the tough, sexy name. In fact, I’m hard pushed to make ends meet from one week to the next, if truth be told. Now you expect me to throw away my reputation because of some limb you’re out on.”
“Why not try another career? A more lucrative one?”
“Because I like what I do. And I’m good at it. I started out with a big agency, and I did my ABI training and got my advanced diploma.
Then I decided I wanted to go out on my own. I’ve done all the courses. And passed them with f lying colors. I’m twenty-seven years old, I’ve got degrees in law and criminology, and I’ve had five years’
on-the-job experience with the big boys before I set up my own firm.
Why should I search for another career?”
“Because you don’t have any clients and you can barely pay the rent?”
She glanced away, her cheeks f lushed. “They’ll come. It just takes time, that’s all. I’m just starting out.”
“I’m sorry,” said Banks. “I’m not trying to browbeat you or anything. I’m really just asking for your help. To be honest, I’m rather in the same boat as you on this one.”
“You mean this isn’t an official investigation?”
“Not exactly.”
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P E T E R R O B I N S O N
“You’re acting on your own? Oh, that’s prize, that is.” She dropped her pencil. “Not only do you come in here pushing me to give you confidential information, but it’s not even part of a sanctioned police investigation. Why don’t you stop wasting my time?”
“Because it seems to me you’ve got plenty to waste. Or would you rather get back to your filing?” Banks could swear he saw her eyes begin to shine with tears, and he felt awful. She was the kind of person you wanted to make happy, wanted good things for. If you could hurt someone like Tomasina, he thought, you really were a shit. Then he told himself not to be such a soft bastard; she had to be tough to be in the business she was in, and if she wasn’t tough enough, it was better she found out sooner rather than later. But she didn’t cry. She was tougher than she looked, and he was glad of that.
“Why?” she said. “So you can have a good ogle at my arse again?
Don’t think I didn’t notice.”
“It’s a very nice arse.”
She glared at him, and for a moment he thought she was going to throw something, the heavy glass paperweight that held down what looked like a heap of bills on her desk, for example, but instead she leaned back in her chair, linked her hands behind her head and started to laugh. “Oh, you’re a prize specimen, you are,” she said.
“Does that mean you’ll help me?”
“I know the rules,” she said. “I know I’m supposed to cooperate with the police if the situation merits it. But I don’t know anything about this situation.”
“It’s hard to explain,” Banks said.
“Try. I’m bright and I’m a good listener.”
“Have you read or seen anything about the two deaths in Eastvale recently?”
“The two gay guys? Sure. Murder-suicide, wasn’t it?”
“So it would appear.”
“But you don’t believe it?”
“Oh, I believe that Mark Hardcastle beat Laurence Silbert to death with a cricket bat and then hanged himself. I just don’t believe he did it without help. A rather unusual form of help.”
