The Cuckoo's Calling

“Yeah, no problem. An’ Kieran Kolovas-Jones might be comin’,” Wilson added.

He seemed to expect Strike to know who this was.

“Who?” asked Strike.

“Kieran Kolovas-Jones. He was Lula’s regular driver. He wants to talk to you too.”

“OK, great,” said Strike. “When will he be here?”

“I dunno. He’s on a job. He’ll come if he can.”

The waitress put a mug of tea in front of Strike, who thanked her and clicked out the nib of his pen. Before he could ask anything, Wilson said:

“You’re ex-milit’ry, Mister Bristow said.”

“Yeah,” said Strike.

“Mi nephew’s in Afghanistan,” said Wilson, sipping his tea. “Helmand Province.”

“What regiment?”

“Signals,” said Wilson.

“How long’s he been out there?”

“Four month. His mother’s not sleeping,” said Wilson. “How come you left?”

“Got my leg blown off,” said Strike, with an honesty that was not habitual.

It was only part of the truth, but the easiest part to communicate to a stranger. He could have stayed; they had been keen to keep him; but the loss of his calf and foot had merely precipitated a decision he had felt stealing towards him in the past couple of years. He knew that his personal tipping point was drawing nearer; that moment by which, unless he left, he would find it too onerous to go, to readjust to civilian life. The army shaped you, almost imperceptibly, with the years; wore you into a surface conformity that made it easier to be swept along by the tidal force of military life. Strike had never become entirely submerged, and had chosen to go before that happened. Even so, he remembered the SIB with a fondness that was unaffected by the loss of half a limb. He would have been glad to remember Charlotte with the same uncomplicated affection.

Wilson acknowledged Strike’s explanation with a slow nod of the head.

“Tough,” he said, in his deep voice.

“I got off light compared with some.”

“Yeah. Guy in mi nephew’s platoon got blown up two weeks ago.”

Wilson sipped his tea.

“How did you get on with Lula Landry?” Strike asked, pen poised. “Did you see a lot of her?”

“Just in and out past the desk. She always said hullo and please and thank you, which is more’n a whole lotta these rich fuckers manage,” said Wilson laconically. “Longest chat we ever had was about Jamaica. She was thinking of doing a job over there; asking me where tuh stay, what’s it like. And I got her autograph for mi nephew, Jason, for his birthday. Got her to sign a card, sent it outta Afghanistan. Just three weeks before she died. She asked after Jason by name every time I saw her after that, and I liked the girl for that, y’know? I been knocking around the security game forra long time. There’s people who’d expect you to take a bullet for them and they don’t bother rememb’ring yuh name. Yeah, she was all right.”

Strike’s pie and mash arrived, steaming hot. The two men accorded it a moment’s respectful silence as they contemplated the heaped plate. Mouth watering, Strike picked up his knife and fork and said:

“Can you talk me through what happened the night Lula died? She went out, what time?”

The security guard scratched his forearm thoughtfully, pushing up the sleeve of his sweatshirt; Strike saw tattoos there, crosses and initials.

“Musta bin just gone seven that evening. She was with her friend Ciara Porter. I remember, as they were going out the door, Mr. Bestigui come in. I remember that, because he said something to Lula. I didn’t hear what it was. She didn’t like it, though. I could tell by the look on her face.”

“What kind of look?”

“Offended,” said Wilson, the answer ready. “So then I seen the two of them on the monitor, Lula and Porter, getting in their car. We gotta camera over the door, see. It’s linked to a monitor on the desk, so we can see who’s buzzing to get in.”

“Does it record footage? Can I see a tape?”

Wilson shook his head.

“Mr. Bestigui didn’t want nothing like that on the door. No recording devices. He was the first to buy a flat, before they were all finished, so he had input into the arrangements.”

“The camera’s just a high-tech peephole, then?”

Wilson nodded. There was a fine scar running from just beneath his left eye to the middle of his cheekbone.

“Yeah. So I seen the girls get into their car. Kieran, guy who’s coming to meet us here, wasn’t driving her that night. He was supposedta be picking up Deeby Macc.”

“Who was her chauffeur that night?”

“Guy called Mick, from Execars. She’d had him before. I seen all the photographers crowdin’ round the car as it pulled away. They’d been sniffin’ around all week, because they knew she was back with Evan Duffield.”

“What did Bestigui do, once Lula and Ciara had left?”

“He collected his post from me and went up the stairs to his flat.”

Strike was putting down his fork with every mouthful, to make notes.

“Anyone go in or out after that?”