Page 81 of She Saw What He Did

Joe nods.

‘In cash,’ I say. ‘He’s phoning back in an hour.’

‘I’ll get it,’ he says without hesitation.

‘It wasn’t him that killed Maria and Kristof,’ I say.

Chapter Forty-Nine

Weis sipped his coffee. It was his third in an hour and yet still he felt hungover. Still, it had been a good evening. He hoped Ellen had enjoyed it. He wondered what her head was like this morning. He should have kissed her. He was close enough. Just as well. He didn’t want to frighten her off. The door to his office opened and a tired Bill Waters walked in.

‘Don’t you knock?’ asked Weis.

‘Why? Have you got something to hide?’ retorted Waters.

‘No, but it’s just as well.’

Waters’ hair was ruffled, and he hadn’t shaved. The bags under his eyes stood out more than usual.

‘You look how I feel,’ commented Weis.

‘You must feel rough then,’ laughed Bill. ‘I can’t even blame the booze, can I? I’ve got a one-year-old who doesn’t sleep.’

Weis laughed.

‘Anyway,’ continued Waters. ‘I think I have some interesting news for you.’

‘Oh yeah, and what’s that?’ asked Weis cynically.

‘Some old dear has just reported a missing person. Went missing, by all accounts, around the time the Millers saw that murder.’

‘Who’s the woman?’

Bill pulled out a chair and sat down.

‘Maggie Wallace. She owns this dump of a B&B in a pretty rough part of town. Someone should close those places down. Anyway, seems this bloke was staying there. She thinks he’s run off without paying but that doesn’t make sense because he left his passport. That’s what made her report it. She didn’t know what to do with it. He’s from the Ukraine.’

Bill stopped and nodded at Weis.

‘You think he’s a terrorist?’ asked Weis, his eyes widening.

Waters shrugged and held up his hands.

‘There’s a shed load of political unrest right now. Don’t you watch the news?’

‘Yeah and it scares the shit out of me.’

‘Bloody government,’ sighed Bill. ‘It worries me, having a kid, you know.’

Weis drank the last of his coffee. It was cold, and he shuddered.

‘So you think this could be our guy from the beach?’

‘You never know,’ smiled Waters. ‘Forensics can’t trace him. We can’t match his dental records, or prints. That would make sense if he’s a foreign national. Maybe you should phone that officer on the island. You know,’ he winked. ‘Just in case.’

Weis wondered if he should. It would be a good excuse to phone her. He decided against it. After all, he didn’t have much to tell her yet.

*

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