Sharp cleared his throat. ‘I don’t think DS Hunter would wish to socialise with you, in all honesty. We’d like to make arrangements to interview the rest of your staff here—’
‘Impossible.’
‘I don’t think you fully appreciate your tenuous position, Mr Demiri. As I said, we’ll be making arrangements to interview your staff here, as well as anyone else associated with you during the course of our enquiries.’
Demiri held up his hand to stop Sharp, and glanced beyond Kay’s position at a knock on the door, a moment before it opened.
‘Mr Demiri, you requested a five minute warning.’
‘Thank you, Beatrice.’
Demiri rose from his chair, buttoned his jacket and gestured towards the door.
‘Now, Detectives, if you please – I have an important meeting to attend to, and you’ve already taken up enough of my time this morning.’
Sharp handed the man one of his business cards. ‘We’ll be in touch.’
‘I’m sure you will,’ said Demiri and walked them to the door.
Kay stopped on the threshold and turned to him.
‘Who drives for you now?’
Demiri held up his hands. ‘I like to drive myself these days.’
‘Good drivers hard to find?’
‘Trustworthy drivers are hard to find, Detective Hunter.’
Chapter Twelve
Jozef Demiri pressed a button on the remote control, then flung the device onto the polished surface of the conference table where it skidded to a halt next to an empty crystal water jug.
The screen on the wall sprang to life; a set of nine images from inside the building and out.
He moved closer and folded his arms as he watched the detective and her superior pause in the car park a few metres from where they’d left his offices. Detective Hunter stared up at the CCTV camera fixed to the gables before turning back to Sharp.
Demiri exhaled.
After all this time, after all the effort that had gone into ensuring she dropped the case against him, it seemed they would have their time after all.
A smile played on his lips, before he loosened his tie and undid the top button of his shirt.
His receptionist had lied, of course.
He had no appointments for the rest of the day. All of his business was conducted at night, after hours, under cover of darkness.
However, the office at the business park served to keep up appearances and lent some weight to the persona he had been careful to build.
That of a respectable, hardworking businessman.
At least the hardworking part was right, he mused.
Ever since he’d arrived in the county twenty years ago, he’d been focused solely on creating and maintaining a business empire that now stretched beyond the south-east coast of England.
His network of contacts and connections spread like tendrils throughout the southern counties and into northern France, and his reputation for brutality ensured few dared to cross his path.
He adjusted the gold cuff links at his wrists, before turning his back on the screens and pressing a button on the console at the head of the table.
‘Beatrice, send in Oliver Tavender.’
‘Right away, Mr Demiri.’
Demiri smiled. The young woman that sat outside in the reception area had been hand-picked by him, saving her from a future that had befallen many of her Romanian compatriots.
He knew he could trust her – and she knew he was well aware of her family’s whereabouts in Brasov should she dare cross him.
Her loyalty was assured.
There was a knock on the door two minutes later, and a burly man in his late thirties entered the meeting room, his thin hair slicked back giving him an aged appearance. A little taller than Demiri, he was as wide with pockmarked skin across his nose, which looked as if it had been broken more than once.
He shut the door and remained standing at the foot of the long table, his hands crossed in front of him, his pale blue eyes unblinking.
‘I’ve had a visit from Detective Hunter and her boss,’ said Demiri, his voice level.
‘I saw, on the cameras. Do they suspect anything?’
A thin smile crossed Demiri’s lips. ‘Oh, they always suspect something,’ he said. ‘It’s simply a matter of what they suspect.’
‘Stokes?’
‘Crashed his car on the motorway after leaving here.’
‘Did he survive?’
‘My contacts tell me he has.’
‘A pity.’
‘Indeed. Although it’s early days – apparently, the surgery was touch and go, and he’s still in intensive care.’
‘I can’t get to him there.’
‘I wasn’t going to suggest you do. There are other ways.’
‘What about the dead girl?’
Demiri shrugged. ‘Not our problem.’ He pointed at the screen. ‘She, however, is.’
Tavender moved closer and peered at the image.
Hunter and the senior detective appeared deep in conversation, their heads bowed as they walked towards their vehicle.
Demiri drummed his fingers on the table. ‘It is unfortunate we haven’t been able to watch her more closely.’
‘The listening devices were of the highest quality,’ said Tavender. ‘As were the cameras we installed in her house.’
‘They should not have failed.’
‘I’m sorry, Mr Demiri – it happens—’
Demiri waved away the excuse and glared at the retreating figures on the screen, before leaning forward and pressing a different button. The screen flickered, and then switched to a different channel. ‘Forget it. It is too late now.’
‘What do you want us to do, Mr Demiri?’
‘Keep an eye on her. Keep it low-key for the moment. When the time comes, I’ll tell you. Detective Sergeant Kay Hunter is going to wish she’d never met me.’ He swivelled his chair round until he could watch the show being broadcast on the screen to his side.
‘Your obsession with her will be the death of you, Jozef,’ said Tavender softly.
Demiri chuckled. ‘Or her.’
Chapter Thirteen
Sharp stood aside and held the door to the incident room open for Kay.
‘Get the team rounded up. We’ll debrief early today. I’m sure they’re keen to know how it went before I head over to headquarters.’
‘Guv.’
‘How’d you get on?’ said Barnes as she dumped her bag on her chair and signalled to him to
