we'd added cognac.
'Who the hell cares?' Standish said.
May Ling looked at me. 'Why did you ask that?'
'I was thinking about the Bounty and the mutiny. It looks as if Malouf mutinied, broke away from Houli and Wong, and set off on his own like Fletcher Christian. It's a new thought-maybe Malouf faked his death to fool Houli and Wong but they had their suspicions.'
'So they're responsible for only one death and not two,' Standish said. 'How does that help us?'
Not much, I thought, but it clarified something at least. May Ling was staring at me as if she could read my mind. It was an uncomfortable feeling but I made use of it.
'May Ling, you know him and what he's capable of. What would it take for you to go hard up against him?'
She shook her head. 'Something big. Something very big.'
'Satellite dishes, Skype, multiple mobiles,' I said. 'Something international.'
Standish groaned. 'Like I said, he could be anywhere.'
I shook my head. 'I don't think so. I think he's in the wind.'
May Ling looked tired all of a sudden. She leaned back in her chair.
'What does that mean?'
'It's an American expression I picked up from novels. It means hiding, but around.'
'Novels,' Standish said.
19
Life is full of surprises and I got one the next morning in the form of a phone call from Felicity Standish.
'Mr Hardy,' she said, 'I think we have unfinished business.'
I'd heard that before-mostly from people who wanted to do me harm. Did Felicity want to do me harm? I was dealing with a mouthful of water trying to wash down one of my pills stuck in my throat and wasn't my most gracious.
'How's that?' I grunted.
'Well, Miles has been in touch. In fact he's been rather nice to me and the children. I'm wondering whether dealing with you has had a good effect on him.'
My throat wouldn't clear and I barked something, away from the phone.
'What was that?' she said, alarmed.
'It's all right, Mrs Standish, I…'
'I use my maiden name, Pargetter, now.'
'Ms Pargetter, I've been in touch with your husband. But thank you for the information. Is there anything else?'
'Yes. I think you're right about Richard Malouf and I believe I can help you find him.'
That was a lot to accept in one bite and my response must have sounded sceptical.
'You don't believe me,' she said.
'I want to, but a lot's happened since we last spoke.'
'I should hope so. You were at square one back then.'
'Can you give me some idea…'
'No. I want to meet with you and lay down some ground rules. I've arranged for the children to be collected by Miles's mother. I've got a free day. Will I come to you or do you want to come here?'
She was holding the cards but I didn't want to let her run the whole game. I told her that I'd prefer her to come to me and she agreed. I gave her the address.
'Good old Glebe,' she said. 'I had some good times there in my uni days. I'll be an hour or a bit less.'
It took her forty minutes. She bustled in, all designer jeans, high-heeled boots, red shirt and bomber jacket.
'This is amazing,' she said.
'What is?'
'We used to rent a house in this street when we were students. A bit further down, towards the water. I didn't know we had a famous private detective for a neighbour.'
'I keep a low profile, Mrs… Ms Pargetter. Coffee?'
'Felicity, and yes, please.'
'It won't be up to your standard.'
'I don't care about standards, not anymore.'
I pondered that as I made the coffee. There was something almost hectic about her, as if she was racing ahead and trying to catch up with herself. I brought the coffee into the sitting room, cleared the usual mess of papers and books and we sat opposite each other. She added milk to her coffee, sipped and didn't make a face. Control. I make bitter coffee, can't help it.
'I no longer think Miles killed Richard Malouf,' she said.
'Why not?'
'I've talked to him. He's told me something of what you've been doing on his behalf and… other things. I'm convinced. I was jealous and irrational when I said that.'
'And you're not jealous now?'
She smiled. 'That's a sly question. Oh, it's warm in here.'
The room warms up, even in winter, when the sun shines in through two corner windows. She slipped out of her silk-lined jacket. The action, lifting her breasts and opening her shirt, was unconscious or provocative-hard to tell.
'You mean May Ling,' she said. 'Who can blame him? She's very attractive and I was a bitch. I can see that now. It won't last.'
'You think you'll get him back?'
'Who knows?' She sipped again. 'This coffee's bitter.'
I grinned. 'Okay, I believe you're not jealous and now I know you're rational. I make lousy coffee. That's enough fencing-how do I find Malouf?'
'We.'
'You'd better explain.'
She pushed the coffee cup aside and drew in a breath. As at our first meeting, her hair was perfectly groomed and her makeup was expert. Her features in repose were unremarkable, but when she smiled or spoke the movement animated them and made her interesting to look at. Standish wouldn't have objected to her money, but it was easy to see why he would have been attracted to her even without it.
Her voice had a hard, determined edge. 'I'm not jealous about Miles anymore as I said, and it's not exactly jealousy I feel about Richard. I knew about the wife, of course, and I imagined there were other women, but May Ling's sister? Something sticks in my gullet about that-the way he used people.'
She waved her hand at the bookshelves. 'You read about people like that, but you don't expect to actually meet them. You don't expect to be one of the people who get used.'
'I'm not sure about that,' I said. 'You're from a privileged background, Felicity. I think you'll find that people from more ordinary circumstances get used all the time.'
She shook her head emphatically. 'No, they get exploited, sure. They're ill-treated, overlooked and ignored. But not used in the way Richard Malouf used me.'
She went on to tell me that in the full throes of her love affair with Malouf he'd asked her for a favour. He'd said he was negotiating an important business deal that involved convincing an investor that he knew about and understood the needs of children.
'It was something to do with persuading someone to sell a property for development on the understanding that there was to be recreation space for children. Richard told this man that he had two children, a boy and a girl. You can guess the rest.'
