‘Yes, he does seem to cop it. I was shocked sometimes.’
‘What sort of things?’
Ellen dropped her voice. ‘Once I overheard him objecting to something she’d asked him to do for them, I don’t know what, and she said that if she told him to lick her…’
Kathy watched Ellen’s face go bright pink. ‘Yes?’
‘… her fat Russian arse, then he’d bloody well do it. Those were her words, Inspector, not mine.’
Kathy laughed, and Ellen joined in, with a look of relief.
‘Marta’s got a pretty good command of English when she needs it,’ Kathy said.
‘Oh yes. You don’t want to get on the wrong side of her tongue.’
‘And she could be hard on Mikhail too, couldn’t she? That Monday before he was killed, I believe they had a big row.’
‘Really? Monday… No, I don’t remember that. But later that week, it must have been the Friday, the day after the American lady was killed, I know he was very upset about that, and she made some remark to him that made him angry.’
‘What sort of remark?’
‘Oh, she came in here to get the newspaper, and it was open to the report of the woman’s death-Mikhail had been reading it-and she made a rude comment about Americans, and he got angry with her.’
Kathy waited while the secretary printed off half a dozen more letters that Mikhail had composed, then thanked her and left.
It was raining when she stepped out into Cunningham Place, and she hesitated for a moment, pulling the collar of her coat up, before running to the end of the block and up the steps of the hotel. Deb, leaning on the counter reading the morning paper, gave her a broad smile.
‘Hello, Inspector. How are we today? A bit damp?’
‘A bit. I just want to drop off some papers for John.’
‘Ah, you’ve missed him. He went out for lunch twenty minutes ago to his new favourite pub, the Anglesea in Onslow Gardens. Know it?’
‘No.’
‘They do a very nice pie and chips, John tells me. Very partial to his pie and chips is our John. Why don’t you go and join him?’
Kathy checked her watch. ‘I might look in there on my way back. Thanks, Deb. See you.’
She managed to find a park around the corner from the pub and found John seated at a corner table in the crowded bar, reading a copy of the Spectator.
‘Hi,’ she said, and saw his look of surprise change to a bright smile. ‘I’ve got some more letters for you.’
‘Oh, great. Sit down.’
‘Better not stop.’
‘Have you had lunch? Come on, have a sandwich or something now you’re here. The pies are sensational.’
She shrugged off her coat. ‘Ten minutes then.’
He hurried over to the counter and returned with a glass of mineral water for her. ‘Pies are on the way. How did you find me?’
‘Deb told me this was your favourite pub now.’
‘Yes, Garry the concierge told me to try it.’
‘So he can speak.’
‘Occasionally. I think both he and Jacko are invalided ex-soldiers that Toby took under his wing. Anyway, he said this was the place, and I’ve seen the security guards from the Russians’ house in here too.’
Kathy showed him the letters. ‘I got these from Ellen Fitzwilliam.’
‘Ah yes,’ he said, putting on his glasses. ‘Yes, these should be okay.’
‘I was wondering, John. If you were right that Moszynski didn’t write that letter, would it be possible to find out who did by analysing other people’s letters?’
‘In theory, yes, it might be possible. Why, do you have a suspect?’
Kathy shook her head. ‘I was meaning more for the purposes of elimination.’
He laughed. ‘That’s cop speak. You forget, I’ve worked with cops before. When they don’t want to tell you what they’re thinking they start to talk cop speak, right?’
She smiled but didn’t say anything. John got up in response to a call from the bar and returned with their pies.
‘So you have got a suspect,’ he said.
‘What I’ve got is at least three people who were close to Moszynski and who were in his house at the time the letter was written. So I would like to rule them out as suspects.’
‘That’s fascinating. This would make an interesting academic paper.’
‘Except that you can’t write it. You signed a confidentiality agreement, remember?’
‘Okay, what can you tell me about them?’
‘They were involved with Moszynski on a day-to-day basis.’
‘First language English?’
‘For two of them. The other is Russian.’
‘Male, female?’
‘All male.’
‘Not Shaka then. So we’ve got Vadim Kuzmin, Sir Nigel Hadden-Vane and one other, right?’
Kathy looked at him with surprise. ‘How do you work that out?’
‘It’s our favourite topic of conversation at Chelsea Mansions, and I noticed them both at Moszynski’s funeral. And then there’s this…’ He opened the magazine he was reading and showed her a reference to Hadden-Vane’s appearance before the Parliamentary Committee on Standards and Privileges to answer accusations that he had used influence to secure Alisa Kuzmin’s British citizenship in return for hidden payments. ‘So who’s the third?’
‘Moszynski’s accountant and financial adviser, a man called Freddie Clarke. Though it may be difficult to get samples of their writing.’
‘Formal letters would be best, but even emails, memos, notes might give me a clue.’
‘I’ll see what I can do.’
‘Fine, and I’ll look at these. You’re right to be sceptical, of course, but I am fairly sure Moszynski didn’t write that letter to The Times.’
Kathy nodded, put some money on the table and got to her feet. ‘You were right about the pie. I’ll be in touch.’
Bren was waiting for her when she got back to Queen Anne’s Gate, his big ruddy face alight with energy.
‘Take a look at this, Kathy,’ he said, and placed a sheet of paper on her desk reverently, as if it were a sacred text. ‘It’s Hadden-Vane’s declaration of interests for last year, something every Member of Parliament has to put on the record.’
Kathy read: HADDEN-VANE, Sir Nigel Featherstone
1. Remunerated directorships Director, Caribbean Timeshare Investments Limited Director, Shere Security Limited 2. Remunerated employment, office, profession, etc. Lectures for Anglo-Russian Investment Conference (Up to?5000). In September 2009 I undertook a working visit to the Russian Federation, all expenses paid by the Anglo-Russian Business Promotion Council, who also paid me a fee (Up to?5000). 3. Gifts, benefits and hospitality (UK) July 2009, guest of RKF SA at the Men’s Finals at Wimbledon 16-18 October 2009, shooting in Inverness-shire as the guest of RKF SA. 4. Office-holder in voluntary organisations Honorary Patron, Hammersmith Youth Employment Project Honorary Patron, Wildlife Preservation Society Honorary President, Haringey Sport and Social Trust
‘So Moszynski took him shooting in Scotland,’ Kathy said. ‘Brock would appreciate that.’
‘The last item, Kathy.’ Bren stabbed his finger at it. ‘Haringey Sport and Social Trust. Care to guess who’s a member of the youth club they run?’
Kathy stared at him. ‘Haringey… Not Danny Yilmaz?’
Bren grinned. ‘Got it in one.’
